UEL DV1101- Topic Defined By Me- Diana Camera

This is defianatly on the top of my to buy list! I have been wanting one for such a long time. Diana cameras are mostly known as toys they are reasonably cheap and take 4x4 photographs. They take really soft focus and the Diana frequently suffers from light leaks, film advance issues, and other problems, but this is what I like the most about them, they are so unpredictable and every image created is so unique and such a one of becuase of these components. It creates really magical looking photographs and would be great for me to use and keep with me over the summer and create almost a Diana Camera summer project and all the effects I could possibly create by using one.

UEL DV1101- Topic Defined By Me- Annie Leibovitz & Lilly Cole Shoot

This really is one of the best high fashion shoots I have seen all year. It includes British model Lily Cole and actor Andrew Garfeild and they play the story of Hansel & Gretel through the photographs. Lady Gaga also makes a guest appearance in a few of the photographs as the old witch. Everything about it costumes, scenes and lighting is amazing I really recommend checking it out. It is very much like the Alice In Wonderland shoot Annie Leibovitz done a few years ago, however I feel Lady Gaga brings alot more evil and quirkyness to the shoot, ideas you just could not have got fro any where else.

References: http://www.vogue.com/feature/2009_December_Hansel_And_Gretel/

UEL DV1101- Core Topic- Semiotics

The mose simpliest way to describe Semiotics is 'The study of signs'. However rest assured it is not that simple, I myself am still understanding and learning more about the topic. When talking about semiotics. a sign is anything that stands for something else. It took me a long time to understand this very simple statement.

The British semiotician Daniel Chandler suggests that studying semiotics can make us “more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by ourselves and others in constructing it. Meaning is not ‘transmitted’ to us – we actively create it according to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of which we are normally unaware. Becoming aware of such codes is both inherently fascinating and intellectually empowering.”

References: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.html http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://christinabakerkline.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/magrittes-pipe-semiotics1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://christinabakerkline.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/language-geek-3-semiotics/&usg=__z2IYgaekfsc0yqHbNN2tFQaWmnw=&h=228&w=320&sz=11&hl=en&start=12&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=kCfFKec74ORT0M:&tbnh=84&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsemiotics%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Barthes 'Camera Lucida' By Roland Barthes

UEL DV1101- Core Topic- Modernism/ Postmodernism

I am still grasping the context of modernism and post modernism, however this is what I have come to the conclusion of so far. When looking a modernist peice of work it is normally one of the following; either highky description like a beautiful landscape, based on a social change & technology, never focused on today but tomorrow, revolutionary, never seen before. Whereas post modernism takes thins from the past and re uses them for example people like Cindy Sherman, William Eggleston and Andy Warhol all fall into the category of post modernism. However there are so many things surrounding a photograph that you have to think about before you make the decision, is it only about aestics and form? Certainty? Revealing something new? Referring to culture? Modernism references subject, shape, form and no other deeper meaning than that. Whereas Post modernism is either a re-evaluation of an artist of modernist, it’s not mad unheard of and it has been seen before, could possibly be political and question aestics.

UEL DV1101- Topic Defined By Me- Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus was an American photographer who was famous for photographing intense black and white photographs of strange and very unusual people. Often her subjects look sad, conflicted or physically abnormal. But they do not try to hide their insecurities. They openly stare at the camera. One art expert said Diane Arbus turned photography inside out. Instead of looking at her subjects, she made them look at her. Arbus's work has provoked controversy; for example, Norman Mailer was quoted in 1971 as saying "Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child, which is slightly ironic and possibly her most famous photograph was ‘Child with toy hand grenade in Central Park’
The photograph shows a young boy tensely holding his thin arms close by his side, clenched tightly in one hand is a toy grenade and his other hand is held in a very strange, awkward claw-like shape with a very strained expression on his face. Arbus captured this photograph by having the boy stand while moving around him, claiming she was trying to find the right angle. The boy became impatient and told her to "Take the picture already!” His expression shows his impatience with her, however in the other pictures on the contact sheet he appears a happy child.

References :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Arbus http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arbus.html http://www.manythings.org/voa/people/Diane_Arbus.html

UEL DV1101- Core Topic- Feminism

Feminism is a political and social movement that since being put into effect has completely changed how woman are treated throughout the world. Feminism is changing the way that men see woman, after all in the past woman were treated very poorly and didn’t have the same rights as a man. Feminism is for the equal treatment of men and women and just because of a person’s gender it does not mean they should be at any disadvantage. During the industrial revolution is when feminism really grew and had a major effect. Allot of the women were working in factories in appalling working conditions and started to want education and better things. But during the 1960s was when feminism really burst into life again in the US as part of a radical culture that included Civil Rights and sexual liberation. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was a bestseller in 1963. Feminist groups campaigned on issues such as childcare, health, welfare, education, abortion. Consciousness-raising groups proliferated. In Europe, Canada and Australasia too, new ideas and laws were changing society.

UEL DV1101- Topic Defined By Me- Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol is one of the biggest legends and masters of photography, but it is not he’s photography that I am most interested in, it is in fact he’s life and background all of which contribute to he’s art and made him what he was. He’s childhood was very unusual and unlike most as in he’s third year at school he caught chorea, which a hypochondriac, developing a fear of hospitals and doctors. Most of his childhood he was bed ridden, he became an outcast among his school-mates and bonded strongly with his mother. At times when he was confined to bed, he drew, listened to the radio and collected pictures of movie stars around his bed. Warhol later described this period as very important in the development of his personality, skill-set and preferences. When Warhol was 13, his father died in an accident. Another fact that really interests me is an event that happened in 1968 when a lady called Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol outside his studio and he barely survived. He made this quote not long after the incident;

"Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television – you don't feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it's all television."

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol http://www.warholfoundation.org/

UEL DV1101- Biography- Philip Lorcia diCorcia

'It might be said that twilight is a muddled form of clarity. The warm glow that suffuses the ' golden hour' in Los Angeles acts to filter the grim realities, the outright lies, the self-deceptions, which allow Hollywood, and by extension, America to flourish. 'Twilight' provides the rose-coloured glasses that make it possible to see out but not see in.'

Philip Lorcia diCorcia is an American photographer and at a first glance hes work looks very similar to Gregory Crewdon's work, however there is alot behind the photograph giving it alot of meaning. Philip-Lorca diCorcia made the Hollywood series (also known as The Hustlers) in an area of Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, frequented by male prostitutes and drug addicts.The photographs are a mixture of documentary and fantasy. Having set up the scene for each picture, diCorcia would find a man on the street and offer to pay him to appear in the photograph. The sitter's name, place of birth and the amount paid form each title, making every peice original.


References : http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/past_exhns/twilight/diCorcia/index.html

UEL DV1101- Biography- Stephen Shore

UEL DV1101- Biography- Taryn Simon

Taryn Simon is an American Fine Art photographer, allot her work is based around how particular issues are perceived in the American culture. In allot of her photographs she asks the viewers their opinions, if they think a story is right or wrong it all depends on your values and beliefs as a human. She documents extreme and diverse subjects from; science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. Her subject matter is always the darker side of the American society. In the photograph above is a tiger that is the the result of selective inbreeding to artificially create the genetic conditions that lead to white fur, ice-blue eyes and a pink nose. As a result of inbreeding, Kenny is mentally retarded and has significant physical limitations. Due to his deep-set nose, he has difficulty breathing and closing his jaw. This shows what lengths people are willing to go through to create an animal for entertainment purposes to gain money. She is questioning the animals rights and the people that decided upon the selective breeding. Of course she is a beautiful creature.. But at what price?

References : http://www.tarynsimon.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taryn_Simon http://www.gagosian.com/artists/taryn-simon/

UEL DV1101- Topic Defined By Me- Anna Fox

I had never heard of Anna Fox’s work until I went to the Photographers Gallerys and saw some of her work. She was one of the photographers who was nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010. Fox is considered part of the new wave of British colour documentary photographers that emerged in the 1980s, much similar to Martin Parr’s. The set of work which amazed me and was by far my favorite part of the day was titled ‘My Mother’s Cupboard and My Father’s Words’ which she created in 1999. From far away the images are barely seen and the font used is so very small you can only read and then truly appreciate it if you go up very closely and intimately with the work. On one side was a pretty photograph of her mother’s tidy cupboards and on the other side was a very nasty spiteful quote from her father in very famine calligraphic writing, such as ‘I’ll cut your bum off and serves it in slices, like raw ham’.It is such a great contrast which shows their claustrophobic relationship. It was designed and a miniature limited addition book.

http://www.annafox.co.uk/arc/11.html

http://www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pid=374

UEL DV1101- Topic Defined By Me-Martin Parr

Martin Parr is one of my favourite British photographers. He mainly works within the documentary style of photography and is most famously known for he’s critical observations of the British society that we live in, particularly tourism, family, relationships and food. What I love about he’s work is he’s saturated photographs so bright and colourful you would think they would be about wonderful happy things, however really most of he’s work uses semiotics very carefully in representing iconic British symbols, almost making fun of how such a simple think like a cream cake or fish and chips can be so amazingly iconic to Britain and our culture, making us see things that have seemed so familiar to us in a completely new way. He’s work is extremely exaggerated and at times may be extremely entertaining and then others can feel hard hitting as we may see a part of ourselves or past times in he’s photographs, how we live and present ourselves to others. There are 3 main topic areas that Martin Parr seems to stay contained in which are; leisure, consumption and communication of which he examines the national characteristics of how we do these day to day tasks.