Friday, February 27, 2015

Elements of Art - Shapes and Shrubs

Original

Edited

-Increased contrast
-Decreased exposure
-Increased Clarity

Shape is a two dimensional aspect of art. I chose this picture to represent shape because the harsh lines and thorns of the plant show how various lines come together to create a diverse shape. 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Elements of Art - Lines and Leaves

Original

Edited

-Decreased saturation and vibrance
-Increased clarity
-Cropped

This photograph shows the uniform linear motion of the plants. The parallel lines act as leading line, guiding the eye through the picture.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Lens Blog: "An Embedded Photographer Empowers the Poor"

Our Top Five Photos
  1. #4 - Playing a card game indoors
  2. #8 - Children running on a beach
  3. #14 - Ant carrying a grain of rice
  4. #22 - Child reading some papers
  5. #21 - Women working on a garment factory

Multimedia Poster Second Version

Our project is clear and concise. Our editing is minimal, but works well to tie the information and photograph together in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The photograph of someone taking a photograph sums up the whole idea of the festival; students have spent time and effort developing their art projects and they now have a chance to show them off.

This poster is better than our last because we spent more time developing the idea, so the familiarity of this poster helped us alter it slightly to make maximum visual improvements.

We took a fairly neutral picture that we used as a background. We saturated it and increased the focus on the foreground. This brought attention to the information about the Multimedia Festival while simultaneously showcasing the potential art that will be there.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Photo League Questions

1. What was The Photo League's credo?
The photo leagues credo held that the camera was more than a means of recording reality. It was a device with a potential to change the world.

2. What organization did The Photo League separate from?
The Photo League separated Workers International Relief. They were originally known as the Worker's Camera League.

3. What was the workshop?
It was a basic documentary photography workshop where Sid Grossman taught advanced technique classes.

4. Who taught "the workshop?"
Sid Grossman.

5. If you were to devote one year of your life to one project, what project is worth your time and energy?
I would travel on an expedition to Africa or South America to study various types of plants and animals, and perhaps discover a new species.

6. What was The Harlem Document?
The Harlem Document was a collection of portraits of Black urban American and the people, culture and lifestyles of Harlem during the 1930's.

7. Who started The Harlem Document?
Aaron Siskind started The Harlem Document.

8. A photographer discusses a photograph where "the children looked like they came out of a __________ painting. Who was the painter?
Caravaggio

9. Why did the photograph mentioned in #8 look like it was by the painter?
The sun was coming down and one kid was illuminated by the sun.

10. Who was Lewis Hine? (name two significant contributions)
He was an american photographer who inspired the Photo League’s collective portraits of urban life. He was a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee and he also worked for the Red Cross during the Depression to photograph the drought relief in the American South.

11. Who was Weegee?
Wee gee was the pseudonym for Arthur Felling. He was known for his black and white street photography and his quirky personality.

12. How did The League change when The Nazis took power?
The immigrating refugees from Nazi Germany and surrounding territories supplied an influx of new talent and faces to the photo league. Photographers like Laudi Jacobi, Erica Cocfer and Lizet Model were a few of the new photographers.

13. How did The League change during WWII?
Photo League members used their cameras in support of the war. Feature groups documented war production, parades and parties. Female members assumed a much larger role in keeping the League running. Trained photographers served in every branch of the armed forces.

14. How did Siskind change after WWII?
Siskind switched from documentary and realism photography, the type of photography he had championed before the war, to more abstract expressionism.

15. What was the Saturday Evening post?
It was a bimonthly American magazine that started in 1897.

16. Who was Barbara Morgan? What did she photograph?
She was a photographer from Kansas best known for her photos of modern dancers. She also cofounded the photography magazine Aperture.

17. What eventually undermined the Photo League?
The Photo League was listed on a government publication of subversive, communist, fascist and totalitarian organizations.

18. What was the "Growing Menace" mentioned in the film?
Communism

19. Who agreed to serve as President when The League was under investigation?
W. Eugene Smith.

20. What happened to the league?
Photo League Member and FBI Informant, Angela Calomiris testified that the League was a front for the Communist Party. Afterward, the membership dropped and members left and the Photo League disbanded in 1951.