Brassai

Gyula-Halász which he then changed to Brassai was a Parisian photograoher born September 9th 1899 in Brassó. He felt very passionately about photographing cities at night and even wrote that 'photography allowed him to seize the Paris nigt and the beauty of the streets and gardens in rain and mist'. Although he focused on the streets and gardens he also photographed some of his artist friends including Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti and many others. I am looking at his work because in my opinion his work is very representative of reflection as when he takes a picture of a river he always includes the reflection of the street lights in his photo. I think his ohotos are very effective and this is partially due to the use of black and white as it shows reflection very well.

In the background of this photo, there is a bridge with lots of lights over a river, in the foreground there is a silhouette of a tree branch. Although the tree branch is in front of the bridge, the bridge is the focal point of the image. This image shows reflection because the lights on the bridge are reflecting off of the river under the bridge. If someone was to look at this image, I believe that they would say reflection is shown in this image.

This image also shows reflection by lights on a bridge reflecting off of the water however in this image there is a silhouette of the eiffel tower in the background behind the bridge and this is effective because it emphasises brassais love for paris and also sets the scene. 

This photo shows a street lit by street lights, this inage is more subtle at showing reflection than some of his other photos however there is a slight reflection of light off of the pavement. This picture may not be the best at representung reflection however I felt that although this was subtle, it was still an effective image.

This image shows a women walking down a street, however you cab see the women's reflection in the ground. This suggests tht maybe it was raining prios to taking this photo. This photo represents reflection in a different way to the other examples of brassais work however I think this is very effective.

Influence
Brassai's work influenced me because I found his use of black and white for every photograph very interesting. I also liked how within his images there was a variety of different formal elements being portrayed. I also found that Brassai's images were all very dark and found this similar to how i like to photograph within the studio. The image below is one of my photographs which I took whilst out on a walk, I took this for sense of journey however with a black and white filter I felt that this was very similar to Brassai's images. After looking at Brassai I took this image and noticed how the composition of the two images was very similar and this was slightly influenced by Brassai.

Summary
When I first looked at Brassai's work I found it very interesting and unusual however after looking at more photographers I have found that I do not like his work as much anymore. In my opinion I prefer some of the photographers who use more colour within their photos because they makes them more eye-catching. 

Pete Turner

Pete Turner is an American photographer born May 30th 1934 in Albany, New York. He is a famous photograoher most commonly known for his work on colour. Hiw work focuses on bright, bold, contrasting colours, especially the three primary colours. I think his work is the most representative for colour because within all his images there are very limited amounts of dull colours, for example his images include lots of reds, blues and yellows but very little black, white or grey. Also it is very clear within his work that colour is the main focal point of the image. 

This image shows a bubble with a dark background. The bubble also contains lots of different colours due to the reflection within the bubble. The strips of colour at the bottom of the image are also very colourful and show colour very well. If someone was to look at these images, they would most likely know that this photo is representing colour.

This image shows a bubble with a dark background. The bubble also contains lots of different colours due to the reflection within the bubble. The strips of colour at the bottom of the image are also very colourful and show colour very well. If someone was to look at these images, they would most likely know that this photo is representing colour.

This photo shows a black silhouette of a giraffe with a red sky background and a purple ground, this is effective as it id very different to some of Turners other images as usually his photos show a colourful object with a dark background whereas this is the opposite where the focal point of the image is the darker area. This photo is representative of colour because there are very latge amounts of colour and these colours are all very bold.

This photograph shows a row of books which are all coloured, they are allined in a rainbow order and this makes the composition fit together. This background of this image is also blue adding to the colour theme. The fact that the only hints of black are thebsmall shadows on each book and the only hints of white are the small edges of the cover which is visible. In my opinion this is the most representative image of Turners for colour

Influence
Pete Turner's work has influenced me because I like his style of photography, I find it very unusual how he can make the colour within his images so vivid and eye-catching however I think it looks very effective. After looking into his work a little more it has influenced me more as I find all of his images very interesting and eye-catching. The image below is one of my images and I have edited this image to make it similar to Pete Turners photography, I have done this because I like Turners work and I think that his style is very effective and it has influenced me to explore editing my photos more to his style.

Summary
I like Pete Turners work very much because I love how he can effectively use colour within his images. I also like how he uses quite unusual things to photograph, for example the giraffe against the sunset or the book pages. Another element of his work that I find very interesting is how he contrasts the bright strong colours with darker colours, for example the image of the lips, the persons skin is very dark. The only improvement to Pete Turners work in my opinion would be to take a more images as I found that he did not have very many images. 

Discussion on Formal Elements

The formal elements are important because they make up everything, whether we realise it or not, the formal elements are everywhere. I felt that this made it very easy to photograph them because there is always somewhere to go and take the photos, I felt that some of the images show various formal elements however if you was to focus on one it is easy to find somewhere to take the images. The formal elements in art and photography are; line, colour, pattern, texture, tone, form, depth, reflection and shape. There are many examples of each of these anywhere, for example we went to a small park and within the park you could have photographed colour, shape, depth, form, pattern, line and even reflection. Other areas also include many of these formal elements and this made it very easy to find lots of photographs. Focusing on a single formal elects when going out to take photographs makes it very easy because you have something to focus on and because of the wide range of places showing these formal elements you can produce a large amount of images.

The formal element line is one of the most important formal elements in my opinion, I think this because there are examples of lines everywhere which makes it very easy to photograph. We take for granted how useful lines are because they also make it easier for us to talk about an image, for example we can talk about whether it is straight or curved, continuous or changes, long or short or even whether something is made by the line. The image below is an example of a line photograph, I like this image because the lines are very dominant within the photo and in my opinion it is very clear this is a line photograph. 

 Colour is also very important because this is a very common way of describing or explaining something, for example it is very common to ask what colour something is. You can describe colour in a variety of different ways, for example you can just say the direct colour,explain the shade or describe whether it is bright or dull. These are all effective ways of describing colour and makes colour a very important formal element. The image below is an example of colour photography, this represents colour because the colours are all very vibrant and there is also a variety of colours.

Pattern is also a very common formal element, for example it is very commonly used in art or textiles, especially within clothing in textiles. There are also very many ways of describing pattern as there are many different types of pattern. The image below is an example of a pattern photograph, this image show pattern because there is the repetition of the similar shapes which are also similar colours. 

Depth is very important because it shows how an object is three-dimensional by showing it getting smaller as it gets further away from the camera. Depth is a good way of showing how an object can look different and the space decreases as it gets further away from the camera. Depth and line link very well because quite often you use some form of line to show depth, for example a pipe. The image below is an example of depth photography, I think this effectively shows depth because the bridge gets smaller towards the middle as it gets further away from the camera. 

Form is very important because it shows the three-dimensional state of something using shadows, therefore you can show form by taking a photo of anything with a shadow as it shows that this is not a two-dimensional object. The image below shows form, this is done by taking the image in black and white as this creates shadows which show form very well.

Tone is very important because it shows the different shades or tones of something, for example skin tone. This is useful because it gives us a way of describing something. Tone can often link very well with form because you can demonstrate both form and tone using a person. The image below shows tone because there are a variety of different shades within the petals of the leaves. 

Texture is important because nearly everything has a texture, some are common, some are unique textures however they all gives us a way of describing the way something feels. Texture doesn't link particularly well with the other formal elements however on its own it is a very useful way of describing something. There are lots of examples of different describing words for texture, for example; rough, smooth, furry, hard and soft. The image below shows texture effectively because we can see shadows between each detailed area.

 Reflection is very important, reflection occurs in lots of places however it only really occurs on certain surfaces, often metal or glass. Reflections can be an exact repetition of something or a distorted version of something. Reflection is very important because when taking images of something through a window you would often also capture your reflection in your image as well. The image below shows reflection because there is the image the child and then their reflection in the table, this is effective because his face lines up where he is biting the table. 

Shape is very important in photography because everything has a shape, whether it is a regular shape or irregular, everything has a shape. You can use the shape of something to describe it very well and this also links very well with line because lines make up a shape. The image below shows shape because there is a normal object and then distinctive shape has been taken out of it. 

In conclusion I think the formal elements are very important within photography. They give the photographer something to talk about when talking about their work.

Formal Elements mind map

Definition post

Dictionary Definition

'The general effect of colour or light and shade in a picture'

Words to describe tone

-Light

-Dark

-Shaded

These are four example images of tone, I chose these images because They show tone in a variety of different ways, for example the first image shows tones within the clouds, the second shows tone within a plant, the third also shows tone within the clouds however also within the wooden building and the final image shows tone within different skin tones. 

My definition

Tone is the different shades of colour within something, it is easily represented within black and white images. 

Work Diary

Monday 29th September

During this session we were tasked to shoot tone, the easiest way to do this is to shoot in black and white. Originally I found this difficult because I did not know how to set my camera to shoot black and white. I googled how to set my camera to shoot black and white and once I knew how to do this is became much easier. I liked this task because in my opinion any pictures look professional in black and white. I took a very wide range of photos during this session of a variety of different things, both natural and man-made. I am aware that some images may be blurry and not show tone as well as others however I have such a large range that I have may others to choose from.

This is one of my tone images, I think this image works very well because it shows tone within nature by showing all the different shades of the plant. I also like how the plant in the front are focused however the plant in the background is blurred and out of focus. To improve this image I will change the levels and curves.

This is another of my tone images however this image shows tone within something man-made. I like this images because the Black and white shows the different tones within the wool and I think this looks very effective. Again I would need to edit the levels and curves however I also think it would be better if I went out and shot this photo again however shot it straight on so the image was straight. 

Progression

To improve my images from this session I would change all the levels and curves and also straighten some images as they are slightly tilted. I could also go out and take some more photos of man-made objects as I do not have many of these and think some things would be very good to show tone. Finally I would also like to take some images of people or figures as I think these would show tone very well as people all have different skin tones, I was not able to do this during the session as none was willing to let me photograph them. 

Computer experiments

Printing techniques

  Curves

Repetition

Duotone

Black and White

Selective Colour 

Soft Focus

Straight images

Image bank

These are my tone images. I chose these because I think they all show tone however some show tone in a different way for example my first five images show tone by the photo being taken in black and white however the last two show tone using different shades of colour, for example a variety of shades of blue. 

This image shows tone very well because of the different tones of the Eiffel Tower and also the different tones within the clouds in the sky. I think this works very well because the photographer has taken this at a low angle looking upwards and then put the colour into clack and white which meant that the tones are very evident and this works well.

This is another example of a tone image, although this is a very different to some of the tone images above, this shows tone very effectively because of the different tones of blue within the water and the sky however the fact that one side is much darker than the other also shows tone very clearly because of the contrast between the two.