I created montage of photographs using a digital camera. I took the photographs and loaded them into Photoshop. I changed the colour of the photos to black and white (Image>Adjustments>Black&White – Alt+Shift+Ctrl+B) This was to give more impact to the pictures.
What worked well?
I have managed to show my fear of being trapped and imprisoned against my will. The change of photographs from colour to B&W has worked well, it provides more uniformity in the images and removes some of the changes in coloured walled backgrounds and lighting levels. All the photographs look to be part of the same series and theme.
How can I improve the pictures?
I can improve this pentaptick by making the pictures bigger, this would make the pictures easier to see and more impactful on the screen.
How does this fit in with my theme of destroy and fears?
These images are suitable for the theme of destroy and fears, because I have tried to show my fear of being silenced, overlooked, ignored and hidden. The fear of heights with the low perspective behind bars. Is this to protect me from falling down the stairwell, or bars to keep me locked away?
The photographs also are aligned with the theme of destroy because it shows how a person can be destroyed by their mental as well as physical emotions and change their personality.
I have also experimented with the same 5 photographs to change the sequence and background to see if this is more powerful.
Rankin “destroy” project was a charity fund raising project. Rankin asked 70 musicians and visual artists to destroy their own portrait photographs originally taken by Rankin.
The series of portrait photographs were radically modified to destroy the image by their subjects. The destroyed images are so strong that for the majority of images you can still recognise the individual.
The portraits were destroyed by a variety of methods. Cut up into strips and reassembled in different sequence, torn apart, stitched back together, drawn over their picture. ridden over and covered with tyre tracks, wrapped in bandages, scratched. Some have attempted to recreate their image with stylised drawing of the original photograph.
I have posted about my theme of destroy and Rankin on my blog
Rankin “destroy” Florence and the machineRankin “destroy” Debbie HarryRankin “destroy” Debbie HarryRankin “destroy” Michael StipeRankin “destroy” Joe Strummer
Liquify is a tool and technique to manipulate the image. The tool is used for shaping, retouching, and special effects
There are 3 main tools used when using liquefy:
Forward Warp – moves the image around so you can re-shape objects
Bloating – makes things swell or enlarge
Pucker – makes things smaller or pinched
Other effects that change the shape of the image are possible such as Twirl, push left, mirror, turbulance (wave).
The effects are controlled by using the tool options, the brush size, density and pressure.
Make a copy background layer. Make amendments to the object or face using the tools. The use of the liquefy tools can affect more than the intended object and the background can become distorted. The use of layers referring back to the background layer can be used to put back an undistorted background.
How did I create this picture?
I created this picture in photoshop I used the liquify tool this was to enlarge and destroy parts of my face. The tool is found by going on the tool bar then clicking on filter and then liquify or shourt cut Cmd+shift+X.
I enlarged the eyes and eyebrows, fattened the nose and lips. I also plumped up my cheek.
How does this fit in with my theme?
This fits in with my theme of destroy, this is because my face has been manipulated and destroyed.
I created this picture in Adobe Photoshop. I used the paint bucket tool to fill up certain parts and elements of my face I, used bright colours such as red and yellow so they would stand out against the black and white. I then added a new layer this is so I could add the stripes to the picture and change the opacity making it blend in with the picture and look more natural against the original picture.
Does this fit in with your theme?
This fits in with my theme of destroy because I have managed to use bright colours that can make the picture look un-natural. My destruction is similar to the picture of the Rankin image below of Sophie Ellis Bextor that has been destroyed by cutting into stripes and reconstructed with gaps of white highlighting the fragmentation of the image. I broke my picture up with similar pale strips in Photoshop.
Rankin “Destroy” Sophie Ellis-Bextor
How does this represent me?
It shows that I am sometimes restricted on what I can and can’t say. This also shows that I cant do what I want and I am sometimes forced and pressured into things by people around me.
What does this picture make you think of?
The picture makes me think of loss of freedom and imprisonment. This is because it looks like there is someone else’s hand covering the mouth. This makes me think that she is not allowed free speech, to say what she wants and if she does then there will be a punishment. The feeling of loss of freedom is increased by the stripes across the picture these symbolise the prison bars separating the person from the rest of the world.
Does this remind you of any one elses work?
this makes me think of work by Andy Warhol. this is because I have used bright colours that standout in the picture just like some of Andy Warhol’s work.
Andy Warhol – Marilyn Monroe
What worked well?
I think that this picture worked well because I have used bright contrasting colours making the face and hands stand out against the grey background and darker features on the face. I also believe that this picture has worked well because I have managed to display my point well and keep with in my theme of destroy.
How can I improve the picture?
I believe I can improve this picture by making more of the face stand out, this is so people can sea more of the girls emotion this would bring more impact to the picture. I could also improve the picture by making the stripes vertical this is so it would give a better symbolisation of prison bars.
Picture 2 Destroy
Destroy 2 inspired by Mondrian
How did I create this picture?
I created the picture by using Adobe Photoshop. I used a photograph of my self, changed the photo to black and white. I did this by clicking image and then adjustments, clicked on black and white. I made a new layer, and added a another picture of bicycle wheels to the new layer. I lined up the outline of the hair to approximately the same lines of a wheel to frame the face. I changed the opacity of the picture making the face still visible through the bicycle wheels. I used the paint bucket tool to flood fill in some of the shapes created by the spokes of the wheels. I limited my self to a limited colour pallet (red, yellow, green, blue). The colours add an abstract stained glass effect to make the picture more interesting.
Does this fit in with your theme?
This picture fits in with the theme of the self and destroy. I have managed to make the picture look as if it has been smashed and broken like a broken stained glass window. The photograph also fits in with the theme of the self and destroy because I have used bright eye-catching colours in applied randomly, these are not the colours of flesh or bicycles. tones not normally see on black and white photos as this destroys what would have been just a B&W composition, it is neither a completely coloured photograph.
How does this represent me?
It represents me because I can easily get tangled up in confusing and tricky situations that I don’t always fully understand. It also represents me because it shows that I can get lost I my own ideas and thoughts and emotions, also feelings of being just a small cog on a wheel. Sometimes I get caught up in other people’s web of lies.
What does the picture make you think of?
The picture makes me think of spiders webs, this is because of the bike spoked wheels over lap each other creating a web that keeps overlapping with no end. I am the spider sitting, waiting in the middle.
The composition also makes me feel like I am trapped with a little window covered in bars, I am trying to of escape, but the bars keep closing in.
Finally the picture makes me think of camouflage trying not to be noticed I am hiding and the bicycle wheels hide me and change the outline of the face similar to wearing army camouflage hiding from the enemy.
Does this remind you of anyone elses work?
The photograph reminds me of some of the work by artist Piet Mondrian. Mondrian used lines and created spaces that he filled with a limited pallet of bright colours creating an abstract picture. I have used the lines of the spokes of the wheel to create spaces and filled some of the spaces with bright colours. This also reminds me of some work done by Rankin in his destroy project
Composition Oval with colour panes 1. (1914) Piet Mondrian
Hoe does this fit in with Rankin’s destroy project
My photograph fits in with Rankin’s destroy project because I have managed to divide the picture similar to lines below of Joe Strummer. Strummer destroyed his photography by painting over his portrait with oils, then scribed through the painting, the lines are similar to my destroy image.
I created these pictures in Adobe Photoshop, this is so I could layer four photographs and change picture opacity for different layers.
I used the same 4 individual photographs. layerd on top of each other. I set all the opacity to around 50% (Layers > Opacity 50%). I varied the opacity so that no one image over powered the others.
I selected a layer and increased the opacity so that the image layer becomes more dominent and visible above the other images. I saved the merged layered composition.
I reset the dominent image opacity back to the previous level, selected the next image and increased the opacity so that it became more dominent and showed more, saved the modified layered composition as a new image.
I then repeated the process so that I had in total 4 compositions that looked different although they were made up of the same images.
What do these pictures make you think of?
3 of the 4 pictures remind me of fear and punishment. The person standing in the middle wearing a blind fold looks like they are about to be punished . This is reinforced by the faint images of someone about to have their hair chopped.
What worked well?
I believe this worked well because I have managed to show and display destruction through the series of pictures. Different elements are more visible by the change in opacity of the mergerd images.
What didn’t work so well?
The 4th image bottom right image, there is not a large spalsh of red that can been seen in the other 3 images. The last image all there is also a lot of elements are showing making it difficult to focus on any one thing.
Do these pictures fit in with your theme?
These pictures fit in with my theme of the self and destroy, this is because I have slowly made the pictures harder to see through the photos
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