Object Tutorial Outcome + Test Shot

Following my object tutorial earlier in the week, my tutor suggested my still life be an allegory of causes of Global Warming meaning the melting ice cubes would make up one part of my still life rather than be the focus of it.

My still life will represent 'Global Warming and Humanities Effect on the Earth'.


Objects
I now want to incorporate other aspects of this social issue into my still life. I've decided to use the following objects to represent these different elements:

• melting ice cubes - melting ice caps
• burning incense - pollution (smoke and C02)
• a toilet roll rube - recycling (and to look like a chimney for the incense/smoke)
• an oil can leaking - fossil fuels and oil spills

I also want to somehow represent deforestation which I believe is a large part of Global Warming so should definitely be considered in the still life.

Background, location and lighting

I have decided to shoot my objects on a blue reflective surface (to represent the sea and emphasise the objects). To do this for my test shot I used two sheets of blue textured paper, scrunched up and flattened out again to give it a more crinkled effect, laid side by side under a thin sheet of clear acetate. I have determined that to gain a clear and effective contrast with the smoke and the backdrop, the backdrop needs to be dark so I have chosen black. I used side lighting for the reflections and for the smoke. It looks powerful and enigmatic which I think fits the photograph.

The test shoot

The process of taking a test shot of my still life was frustrating. A couple of things went wrong but now I know how to do a better test shoot next time.

Improvements:

• I'm going to use more paper and more acetate to cover a wider surface. This will allow me to be further away from my subjects to include more in my photograph while not having any original surface area exposed.
• I will have a larger backdrop in the studio which will help with the above.
• Having a larger surface area covered with the reflective surface will also means none of the water will be able to leak onto the paper as it did during the test shoot.
• In my next photo I will have all the objects to finish my still life.

Another major aspect of my final image is that I need a large depth of field. Everything in my still life has an equal role. Much is the case of some of Thomas Struth's older work where everything in his images is sharp. I need to reciprocate this in my own.

Camera: Nikon D90
Lens:
Lighting:

Developments on Object Project

My initial idea for the object part of my 'Body and Object' project is Global Warming. It is a constantly occurring social issue so I thought this would be perfect for the project and I think I can easily put my opinion across though it.

First I was trying to think of objects that could portray the simple problem of Global Warming and that people looking at my photograph would be able to draw links between. I imagined using a bicycle wheel propped up against a large bottle of water but then struggled to think of anything else significant I could use in my still life image.

I also thought about setting up my still life on and with backdrop rolls of blue and green as these are Earthly colours. However, I didn't want it to make my photograph look unprofessional; especially using two different colours. If I was to set objects up with these colours they may not be able to be portrayed as nicely with the colours as they would with black and white backdrops.

The idea I really want to work with is melting ice on a reflective surface. I think melting ice would look really interesting in a photograph, and obviously, it relates to the biggest issue of Global Warming - the melting ice caps. I don't think this is too cryptic an idea either which I'm pleased about. The reflective surface the ice would be melting on would be simply to emphasise the effect of the ice melting in the photograph but could also represent the sea in it's reflective appearance. To really reflect the sea I could use something reflective which is blue - this would make it more realistic and relative and also add some colour to the photograph.

This is the idea I really want to work on and develop further if I can. I plan to find something to base the ice on by the end of this week and also have done a test shot to see if it works as a photograph.

Initial research and inspiration: Object and Body

To know where to start when beginning the Object and Body project, I read through the entire obect section in the brief; highlighting and underlining key points while I went along to make it easier to follow when I went back to it. One still life image which interested me instantly from the brief paper was Edward Collier's 'Still Life with a Volume of Withers' Emblemes' (1969).

I was drawn to it due to the musical instruments which I can relate to but also by the colours and style which depict (to me at least) an older time. This attracted me because I like to imagine how people lived hundreds of years ago and what it was like and this still life image - although a painting and not a photograph - portrays an idea of history. However, the subject of the still life seems to revolve around the arts and unless there is a current social issue of the same, it was not much help to me. I decided to bear this in mind but move on.

My next move was to look into the other photographs accompanying the briefing notes as they are examples of still life images and I assumed they were put there for a good reason. I thought Edward Western's sculptures were interesting in shape and idea but could not relate to my brief very well if I were to persue him as a source of inspiration. I found Laura Letinsky's work interesting as it seemed very conceptual to me - like each photograph was telling a story and you could come to your own conclusions about what that story was. But again, I found this a lost cause to draw inspiration from as her specific subjects would be difficult to relate to my project. Keith Arnatt's series of 'Pictures from a Rubbish Tip' could possibly tie in with the current social aspect of my project.

After this, I read up on some social issues that have been circulating recently which caught my attention through news websites (as I will admit I'm not very up to date on my current affairs and had to look these up). The next place I went to for inspiration was the BBC News website which I thought would potentially lead me right to where I wanted to be. After having a short look around and not finding anything I could imagine easily portraying in a still life I decided to explore my original idea of the issue of Global Warming since it is always a current social issue and a pressing one at that.

To try my luck, I did a quick search in Google for "global warming still life" but received nothing to really work on and gave up for now having a basic idea formed. I think with more exploration on this topic I could develop a stronger opinion than the one I already have and portray it powerfully while even evoking something within the viewer of my image.

UCA Summer Project

Still life self-portrait


Developing my idea
Upon reading I had the task of creating a self portrait without appearing in it myself I began thinking of what kind of objects I thought related to me and my personality; objects which would represent me well. The first whole idea of an image I came up with was the one I ended up sticking with and it came to me quite quickly while I was simply considering my brief. For this reason I assumed it would be a good idea to think of other ideas for photographs I could be portrayed in through still life but as well as the fact that this was harder than I thought, I was also happy with my first idea after finalising my photograph.

My original perception of my self-portrait changed as I developed my idea further. I first imagined a single pink gerbera flower lying on dusty, cracked ground. The juxtaposition between subject and location is what made this image appeal to me and caused me to want to capture it as my self-portrait.

Then I noted ways in which my still life self-portrait represented me. While I was trying to decide which flower would best suit the image and myself, someone told me about the passion flower. I thought the meaning behind it was perfect in representing me and went ahead that day in taking the photograph of the flower in an unusual place - with some help, as it was quite a difficult task.



Taking the photograph
I asked my boyfriend to help me with my photograph because I needed 2 pairs of hands - mine to take the photograph and his to hold the flower. We found the perfect place where the ground was cracked very effectively and looked just as I had imagined. The only downside was the wind which made it difficult to take the photograph in focus. After constantly changing position and angle and becoming a little frustrated that it wasn't looking as good as I'd hoped I eventually took a few that I was happy with and headed back to have a look at them.


Editing the photograph
I used Photoshop to edit my photograph. I chose the best photograph from the ones I had taken. I judged this mainly on the focus but also on which position the flower looked best in and how well you could see the ground and the flower protruding from it.

Firstly, I optimised the contrast and exposure of the whole photograph by using curves. I created separate layers for the flower and the leaves and edited these differently so not one of the two was too saturated or too different in tone and they needed to be different fro the background which altered when I made differences to the flower itself. Then I removed distracting elements from the background, behind the flower, by clone stamping. To make the ground look more African, I used the curves again to change the contrast and exposure of the ground. I then used the colour balance to change the colour and the shade of the ground and lastly I duplicated the background layer and made this layer darker and created a gradient layer mask to cause only the foreground to be affected. This allowed the colour of the ground to fade into the paler colour of it underneath the more recent layer.


How my still life self-portrait represents me:

• The ground represents where I am from in it's state and colour - Africa, my origin; which is significant to me and who I am. Spending my childhood with the people I did and in the place that I did has had an affect on who I am and is therefore very accurately representative of me.

• The flower being in this location is a surprise which symbolises the surprise that people have when they find out my origin.

• The flower being (made to look as if it is) able to grow in this unusual place represents my ability to flourish somewhere new and different to where I am from.

• The flower is one of my favourite colours which relates to me - one of my preferences.

• My reason for using the passion flower in my photograph to represent me is due to it's religious meaning which is relative to my life as I have been brought up in a Christian family and have been raised accordingly.

• The flower and I share similar qualities such as femininity and fragility which is another reason why it represents me.

• The single flower is to signify how I see myself as my own person; someone who doesn't follow the crowd and most importantly how I believe I have "found myself".

• Lastly, my style of photography is portrayed through the subject - my work is primarily of the natural beauty of the world and I find when I am in my favourite environments for photography, my photographic eye usually only deems such things worthy of taking a photograph of. 

My original image

My finished still life self-portrait