Teaching Points - Crit 3

I was trying to get you all to make pictures that create an environment or a sense of space that your viewers could spend time in. And then add to that a sense of time by having a little bit of memory or dream in the mix. We didn’t quite pull all of that off, so I have included this in the next topic, ‘Memory/ Vintage’. Some of you are still shooting pictures of individual things with no particular connection to the space they are in or the time they are in. Pictures of singular objects with no relation to environment are not particularly interesting. They are too limited in scope. I am asking you to refocus your attention on the two essential aspects of Space and Time.

On the other end of the spectrum there are shots of things that are either too big or too open and become too vague. You really have to direct the viewer's eye towards what it is you want them to see. If there's too much stuff or no visual focal point then the viewer will get lost on the page and they will soon wander off. We are trying to make photographs that people will spend time with. This is the purpose of Mystery. You have to pose questions, or present subjects that will make people ask questions. 

In terms of technique, some of the over-saturation works well but a some of it goes too far. Since Vintage Apps are the technical subject of the next topic, this is something we will begin to investigate. Basically, it is all a matter pushing things beyond what can be done with traditional photography but not so far that it becomes 'gimmicky'. If your viewer sees the effect before they see the content of the photograph, then it is too much. This is a consideration of Legacy, as mentioned in the description of the Topic 4 that has already been posted. By shooting to achieve the best blend between extreme color and readability, one can find a good balance between reality and fantasy. 

Here are a couple of good quotes for you: 
“A photo artist has no responsibility to present the world as it really appears. Everything is just raw material to make the best photograph possible. So you can bend the truth or create something completely different from what you were seeing when making your photos. It is all fair game. All you have in the end is some color on a piece of paper (or in our case, on a screen).” 
“It isn't art until you have physically made something. Pushing a button and thinking you have made some artwork is not it.” 
This is where the post-processing with Camera Apps comes in. This is where we begin to make things happen to the raw material captured by pressing the shutter release button.

On the Photo Cliché watch list are the following:

No more pictures of concerts, as cool as they looked the first couple of times... 

No more pictures of nice skies and fluffy clouds. That is the prime Color Cliché.

No more graffiti or walls or signs with cool stuff written on them. 

               YOU have to create the image, not borrow it from someone else's effort.
               Although the Stop Sign from last crit was great because of the framing.

No pictures on TU campus.

Pictures of your feet or shadow are not self-portraits, but can still be cool pictures.

Can I remind you again that cute animals and cute kids just make cute photo clichés.

Here are some specific notes on successful photographs from this Critique:

There are several categories that photos seems to fall in this time around: Space, Personal Space, Stairs, Surrealism, Mystery, Flat/ Abstract. You will notice that quite a few of photos could fall into several categories, so you see this is not an exact science.
         

SPACE

First, there are the photos that have a distinct sense of space. Some are closer and more intimate while others are further away and become more expansive. Most utilize a unique angle of view. Some use color effectively and some use altered color to intensify their feel. There are shots that are more diffused and create an other worldly appearance.

There is one addition to make to this set, although this might also go into the surrealistic group below. These are a pair of images that almost create an extended space. I took the two shots and combined them to create a diptych.

PERSONAL SPACE

Then there are the photographs that are more about a personal sense of space. Some of these are self-portraits. Consider what I said above about shadows not being self-portraits, but being cool photos. And the last one proves that you CAN take a picture of a kid and not make a cute snapshot. The color treatment and the extreme framing make that shot about what this person is thinking, not just about their appearance.

STAIRS

It is curious when several people follow the same course of action. There were a few photos of stairs, that present ways of looking into one space from another. Or they present the potential of a place to go without defining what that space might be.

SURREALISM

Then there are the photos that create a strange surrealistic world through various means. The dreamy environments that these create could qualify for the 'future time/  imagination' category that I have been talking about in the Topic 4 definition. I wonder how the shots with very straight forward color would look if treated with an App or two. (The shot with the chairs is a good example).

MYSTERY.

Some photos keep the intrigue going with a sense of mystery. A majority of these use the quality of light to set up curious situations where we really do not know what is going on, and we want to look further to try to figure it out. 

FLAT/ ABSTRACTION

And finally there are those that fall into the semi-abstract mode using a very flat sense of space. The term abstract actually means to give an overview or shortened description of a subject in a few number of words. When you apply that to photographs you get these little snippets of visual information that can be very deep while still revealing very little. Photos get flat by removing the perceptual clues that define perspective. When the space is flattened the photos become more like paintings as well.

Those of you who have more than a couple of photographs on this page are doing the best in the class. (Although I am still waiting for everyone to catch up with posting Recipes to the Recipe Blog, and uploading their Web Pix and their Exhibition Pix to the OWLbox folder.)

I look forward to seeing what you come up with this next time around with the input for the new Topic, 'Memory/ Vintage'. Some of you have already started posting. Remember, you have an extra week to work out how to use various Vintage and Retro fx, among other techniques that are already being developed. Please share your recipes as soon as you post so we can all learn from each other during the process, and not wait until the end.  

thanks - - -