Visit to the Institute of Contemporary Arts

Juergen Teller

On the 13th March 2013 I travelled to the Institute of Contemporary Arts, in London to observe the Juergen Teller's gallery; 'Woo!' As I entered the gallery I noticed three pictures straight away;

I noticed these pictures due to their positioning and large scale in the first room of the gallery. My initial response to the pictures wasn't shock, but I would say I was quite surprised at the content displayed in the pictures. The pictures seemed very intimate in more than one way; the fact that the model (Vivienne Westwood) has allowed Juergen Teller to photograph her without any clothes on presents an intimate relationship between them  both. Also, the display can also be seen as intimate to the public due to the explicit nature of the images. However, the scale of the images takes away the intimacy of the display as they are so large so that we notice them.  

I believe that all of the photos displayed in Jeurgen's gallery were very personal as the photos display a sort of hidden meaning behind the model used, which is what I think was the purpose of his exhibition. (This relates to theme; Cover and Obscure). As he has mentioned in a video that he didn't want to be restrained, or involved with any dress code shows that he wanted to portray very personal photos. 

I like the way Juergen Teller has thought about the display and scale of the photos within the gallery; the large scale of the photos that should be kept hidden/covert are exposed which shows that Jeurgen Teller has brought the covert and obscure out in the obvious. 



Man Ray

This is one of Man Rays photos that was displayed in the National Portrait Gallery that I visited. 

Man Ray was a modernist artist from America, born on August 27 1890 and died on November 18 1976 and took this photo in 1929. He spent most of his career in Paris and took part in the Dada and Surrealist movements. Although he produced work using a variety of media, he considered himself a painter. He was well known for his 'avant-garde' photography as well as his fashion and art photography. He is also known for his photograms which he personally named 'Rayographs'. This is a technique that I have been inspired by to use for my final outcome. 

Initial Ideas

Idea 1:
Using Hans Peter Feldmann and his photo collections as an inspiration, I will use this theme as one of my initial ideas. I will explore this theme in two different ways using different 'ideas' of obscurity and covertness. I intend on using footwear for my first idea where I will take photos of different trainers at different angles. This will relate to the theme of covert and obscure as the footwear belongs to someone but looking at the photo we are unaware of who it belongs to, therefore the owner is hidden. Another idea that I will use is taking pictures of facial features; mouths and eyes only, rather than the whole face. This will make the model seem covert and obscured as the rest of her body will be unseen and left unknown, while only a section of their faces will be revealed.

Inspiration photos:

Collage made by Hans Peter Feldmann

Idea 2:
Keith Piper and his 'Go West Young Man' has inspired me to explore the theme: Quest To Find Truth using my mother. Throughout this project he has created collages using photos revealing the truth behind something. I will use his ideas to take pictures of my mum doing certain things (cooking and reading), and modelling with specific possessions of her own (jewellery) to reveal the kind of person she is. Using these pictures I will create a collage. 


Inspiration photo:

Image created by Keith Piper

Idea 3:
Using Sannah Kvist's theme of 'All I Own' I will use my sister as a model and take pictures of her surrounded by her belongings to visually reveal the person that she is. I can develop this idea using specific objects that my sister owns to make photograms. I think that creating photograms would be a better way to develop a final outcome compared to my first idea using this theme. This is because a photogram of someones belongings can seem obscure as the technique allows the object to look abstract and keeps the person covert.

Inspiration photo:

Starting Point

Chosen theme: quest to find truth behind my Mother, inspired by Keith Pipers theme of art work: The Quest To Find Truth

Although my chosen theme is 'The quest to find truth' I will explore other themes as initial ideas: All I Own and Collections

Why? I find my chosen theme the most interesting as it relates to the theme of 'covert photography' which I can develop to making my outcome seem obscure by focusing on the strange perspective of the secrets I will reveal/research.

What are you planning to look at for your primary/secondary research? 
Primary research: directly from my mother by asking her questions about her past. Secondary research: asking my mothers mum about my mother. This gives me two perspectives of her life.  

Which artists/designers will you be looking at?
 - Keith Piper
- Sannah Kvist
- Hans Peter Feldmann

What materials/techniques would you like to experiment with?
I would like to experiment with taking digital as well as SLR photos, I would also like to use acetate, or burnt paper and a collage for my final outcome. 

Final Outcome:
For my final outcome I will make a collage using either burnt paper or acetate for pages of a diary (A4 size). I will then place my pictures on the written pages as a collage. 

• • 
    
  I will do a mind map of my Grandma of the different 'themes' relating to her life and past for me to photograph. 

Themes to look at for my final idea (The Quest To Find Truth): -
                                 - Possessions 
                                 - Purchases (e.g shopping list); presenting the kind of person she is.
                                 - Clothes? (fashion trends when she was younger) 

                                 - Home

Rankin Destroy Experimentation

Out of the four experiments that I did these two are my favourite. For the image at the top, I used a black fine liner pen to draw over the main features of my face; mouth, nose, eyes, ears, eyebrows and hair. I also drew flowers and a butterfly around my face to give the viewers a sense of my personality/me. I wanted to bring across my personality artistically as that was the main purpose of the project that inspired me; Rankin Destroy Project. For the photo at the top, I was also inspired by Julian Opie to draw on the main features of my face with a fine liner, this allowed my photo to transform into a covert (as my bare face was hidden) and obscure (as I altered my facial features with a pen) image.

An example of Julian Opie's art: 

I was also able to allow the second photo to seem covert in a way as the ripped newspaper around my face has hidden the outer sections but looks as if it has been teared to reveal the face. 

Rankin; Destroy Project

Rankin's destroy project relates to the theme of 'Covert and Obscure' as he has allowed models to destroy photos (of themselves, taken by Rankin), allowing their faces to seem hidden in a strange way. I have noticed that in many of the photos for this project, the models have distorted or covered their faces with colours/shapes/patterns/text. 

 
Rankin sent musicians and visual artists photos that he took of them to destroy.
This project was done as a donation to Youth Music for the celebration for its 10th birthday. For this project Rankin used musicians and visual artists as models to take portrait photos of, to then send back to the participants to 'destroy' personally. This involved celebrities such as: Debbie Harry, Robyn, Florence Welch, Andre 3000, Kylie Minogue and many more.

This is one of the photos that Rankin took of a singer called Robyn for his 'destroy project'. It is a digital image focusing on the shoulders and above bringing the majority of our attention to the face due to the interesting facial expression. It seems as if a light directly above her head was used, highlighting every aspect of her body that is visible, aswell as creating a shadow below her chin and the sides of her face/head. I believe that the technique Robyn has used to destroy her portrait gives it her own personal statement which is what she could possibly be trying to express. This is because she has created the elusion that the colours of the foundation, lipstick and hair are being smudged off of her face. A message that she could be trying to portray is that she is a colourful person which reflects on her personality. This message relates to the amusing expression on her face. 


Personal Response:
I like the way that Robyn has destroyed this photo as it is clear that it is personal. I realised her intentions when I noticed that the 'smudges' of paint came off of her face. As well as giving it her own personal stamp by signing her name onto the bottom right of the portrait.   


This image (by Rankin) is one of my favourites as he has put together two portraits in a specific composition that doesn't allow us to see the face's as we would in real life, preventing us from seeing their faces as they are. 

 This photo relates to another photographers art; David Hockney, who creates an 'obscure and covert theme by cutting up pieces of an image and sticking them together again. The theme of his photography is well known as: 'Joiners'. An example of one of David Hockney's joiners:

I like the way that he has used two scales of the same portrait and placed each piece roughly in the right place.

Exam Project: Covert & Obscure

Final Evaluation; Light Project

1. Write an explanation of your brief - what did you have to do? How did you come up with the ideas for this project? 

Throughout this project I had to research photographers who experimented using light techniques for their art work. I then had to do my own experimentation using their techniques so I could pick one to develop for my final project. The technique that I chose was the blending technique using light paintings and portraits on Adobe Photoshop. 

2. Write about the creative 'journey' of the project - how did the project and ideas evolve from start to finish through experimentation and research?

Throughout my creative journey I changed my idea from landscape to portraiture. This is because I didn't have the correct equipment to use in order for my outcome to be at the standards I intended it to be. Also, when I begun to develop my light painting photo's to blend with the portraits, I changed the equipment from christmas tree lights to christmas tree ball balls which I think created a better effect as they created waves of light rather than 'spots' of light as shown on 'My Christmas Tree Light Experiments' page

3. Who inspired your final outcomes? - You MUST talk about who has inspired your work - include images and links where possible. 

I was inspired by Patrick Rochon and David Bailey to create blending experiments. I took both of their experiments and combined the two together;

Light portrait inspired by David Baileys portraits, e.g on the right

Light painting to blend with portrait to create the same
kind of effect Patrick Rochon has on the left

4. What do you think you have done well? What has worked? Are you happy with your final outcomes?
I think my outcomes did come out well as the light paintings on each photo were clearly visible, as well as the strong colour used which was essential. 

5. What do you think you could have improved in your final outcome? - you need to talk about something, nobody is perfect!
If I could improve my final outcome I would take a variety of portrait photos with the model doing different emotions in order for me to match a colour of a light painting with the mood presented.

6. Conclusion - overall how did you find the project? What techniques would you like to develop further in the future? 

Overall I found the project fun and interesting as I completed experiments that I hadn't done before. I also discovered a variety of ways to create light paintings, for example: using an iPad, christmas decorations and a light pen which I would like to further develop in the future.