Assignment 5 : Creep

Assignment 5's Theme: Creep. One subject three intentions: Realistic, formalistic and expressionistic interpretation. Select appropriate subject under given theme. Create three images (photographs) exploring three aesthetic intentions of a photographer.

----------------------- Snails`-----------------------

The theme for this assignment was creep. I thought of many different interpretations and decided to make snails my subject. This topic was inspired by the fact that most people refer to snails as slow moving creatures. I think it has a bad name to it because of that. But, my perceptions towards snails have gone beyond that because of a song (by jay chou) I've heard about snails a few years back. Inspired by the song, I wrote an essay on it during my jc days and thus, my choice for this topic was something I could relate to.

----------------------- Realism`-----------------------

Realism is the notion that the photograph offers a straightforward "transparent" view of the world, subscribing to a tradition that considered pictures to offer "a window on the world': close to what we would have seen had we been there at the time the photograph was taken.

This was one of the first few pictures I took of the snails before the concepts saturated my brain. That's why I chose it for the realism photo. I had a similar close-up shot of this picture. However, I chose this because i think including the background would give viewers more knowledge of the context which the photo was taken. I had some qualms about whether zooming in on the subject would still portray realism.

----------------------- Formalism`-----------------------

Considered the photograph as an aesthetic object. The view holds that while the photograph may offer a limited view of the world, it is primarily a flat surface that supports a pattern of light, shade and colours. In this context when we look at a photograph we are always aware of the properties of the photographic medium.

For this photo, I thought the patterns on the snail's shell and the fence provides a nice soft mood for the photo. I think I have lots to learn about taking macro shots. I suppose there is another type of lens suitable for taking macro shots? The lens that I was using didn't allow me to take closer shots of the snail. I did wanted to try out just taking the patterns on the snail's shell for the formalism shot. I could visualize how it would look. Unfortunately I couldn't implement them. But still, this shot was one of my favourite formalism shots because the colours of the fence and those on the snail's shells compliments each other. It could be the colours that tied them together, as well as the lines formed by the snail's shell and the fence. It was through taking these pictures that I realize why we were always told in class to take as many pictures as you can. Sometimes you end up realizing there's something interesting that you could have overlooked.

----------------------- Expressionalism`-----------------------

Implies the use of the photograph to express the feelings or ideas of the photographer that may go beyond the initial appearance of the image and its material qualities. In this context the photograph may express the photographer's emotional feelings or a strongly held political viewpoint or social comment.

No matter how slow you are moving, even the slightest progression you make can bring you to the top one day. For me, what I wish to express could be intepreted through this 3rd picture. I thought of how to express the desire to reach a destination and I thought the bottom-up view could best portray it. Just to share, during my JC days, my maths was quite bad haha and my maths teacher, Mr Chia gave me extra lessons and said something to me I always remember, especially when I feel I'm making little progress about something I do. He said "slow and steady wins the race". Haha sounds a bit cliche to you? Though it's not a new metaphor about how slow moving animals like the tortoise or snail are often used to encourage people not to be disheartened and that every bit of progression makes a difference, I just thought there's something really encouraging and warm about it. Hopefully this photo could be inspiring to others as well. :)

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

Sitting in critique session this week was rather mind boggling. Mainly because of the 3 concepts. The 3 words kept recurring in my mind and looking through tons of pictures really drained me to fatigue level. I guess it really wasn't easy to identify the intentions of a photograph. I would say because of the unique experiences everyone of us have, each photograph would be interpreted in a different way. For me, it was my candid expressions towards the snail and because of my perceptions that I already have in mind, that was the best way I feel could portray my views.

Remember I said I had some qualms about whether zooming in on the subject would still portray realism? Some of my classmates said that my realism photo showing the background could portray realism better. Mr Reddy said zooming in on the subject could still show realism. If you look at some other pictures I took, there is a close up shot of the snail. How I thought realism could be portrayed is that the picture is mainly on the subject-the snail. The snail is realism. Haha I hope you get what I'm trying to say. It's so hard to put my thoughts down in words sometimes. Anyway, I guess it wouldn't be possible to take a photo that is 100% realism. Like what some of my peers said, then wouldn't framing a picture, changing the colours or even simply adjusting the shutter speed already take realism away? I feel it's a compromise, nothing is perfect or absolute. Even realism can be unreal. Why are we given such a difficult task? haha...... but anyway, it's good brain exercise.. I have never thought of something in this manner.

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

For my group session, I thought Ivy did a nice rendition of the 3 concepts. She really notices things that sometimes others wouldn't, like the multiples of 3 and the prison bars. It might be abstract because I wouldn't have noticed the multiples of 3 especially but, I give her full marks for her interesting rendition of the 3 concepts. I really wouldn't have thought how vandalism on the wall could depict creep like how she did.

I thought Jasmine has taken a series of very emotive pictures, STRESS CREEPS; HOPE SEEPS. I like how she talked about newspapers soaked in rain were not as strong as bundled papers. Soaked and drenched gives me a sombre feeling. Maybe that's why her three photos are expressionalism to me. Nonetheless, I give her 9/10 for the nice and thoughful exploration of her three photos.

I like Mike's expressionalism photo. I enjoy such photos of depicting life in a gloomy environment. It was a very nicely taken shot! Love the colours, especially the crisp green of the leaves in contrast to the tiled monuments. I give him 9.5/10. Maybe because of the melanoid colours, it also gives me a sense of expressionalism for the other photos.

I liked some of the individual photos of some of my classmates. I like Paul's picture of the angels. As always, his nicely taken pictures have an allure and makes people think beyond what they see. Meimei's picture of the heart shaped-part of the leaf that was eaten away, she could actually spot that. Interesting. I think ever since we started doing photography, we notice tiny details that we normally wouldn't. Stephanie's state land photo really speaks aloud about her feelings about the people who made her granny sell the land for a miserable few thousand.

From the other class, I notices Huiling's (chee) series of the creep of second-hand smoke. I thought it was really very interesting. Especially for the expressionalism photo, I think her perspective really shows how the smoke creeps to the unknowing people nearby. Really nice concept :) For the great concept, I give her 9.5/10. I agree with her that formalism pictures are difficult to take. A little more would have an inclination towards expressionalism. Just a suggestion, maybe just taking the patterns formed by the smoke can show formalism better? I think there is a good potential for her series of photos. :)

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I was glad that some of my classmates like how I showed the concepts with the three photos. Thank you for the encouraging comments some of you gave me.

I would give myself 10 for effort, 9.5 for creativity/concept and 9 for techniques. Total of : 9.5/10

The 0.5 marks/10 left for improvement would be for better photo taking techniques, more understanding and experimentation of the three concepts. Though I think I did manage to show the 3 concepts quite adequately, I feel there is still room for better understanding. And Mr Reddy mentioned a small part that can be improved for the expressionalism photo would be to show more of the sky. I think by showing more of the sky it would give more space for the viewer's eyes.

-----------------------Other pictures I took`-----------------------

This is the close-up realism photo I was talking about. Is it still realism to you?

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I tried to show formalism with the twirls on the snail's shell.

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Assignment 4 : The Day After

Assignment 4's Theme: Photomontage in artist David Hockney’s style which he called “joiner”. Hockney explored difference between mechanical view and eye’s/minds view (single vs. multiple point of view). Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs.

It had been a long time since I played with jigsaw puzzles. :) This assignment was tedious but fun at the same time. It is definitely time consuming to piece tons of photos together. For me, the beauty and intriguing part of a photo montage would be how the imperfections looked perfect. It may be an indulgence for some of us to piece bits and pieces together to create a picture in the way we see things. You can even create your own dreamland. :)

---------------- What was for dinner yesterday?----------------

The photos were taken during dinner on a Saturday night after my photo taking outdoors. I enjoy taking pictures when eating with friends and family so anytime I look at them, it will remind me of the happy moments then. Making this photo montage was enjoyable because when piecing the photos together, I could recollect the fun moments :) I was glad the camera was with me because this was not my initial idea. I was trying to be as discreet as I can in the restaurant but once I got into the mood, I couldn't stop shooting. Ended up taking more photos than eating. My brother said I was like a paparazzi haha (At least he had moments of how is it like to be a celebrity) Anyway, in the photo, I wanted to include a little bit of myself so I took shots of my hand and the food I was eating. Hopefully when you see the picture, you can imagine yourself sitting beside me and enjoying the food as well.

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

I decided to remove the lights which I added in after feedbacks from Meimei and Christina that the initial light added to the picture didn't really fit in the ceiling due to the colours. Adjusted the lightings and colours but couldn't make it look more natural.

I made some mistakes during my photo taking, I didn't take shots of everything in view. Thus I didn't manage to include more angles to the top/bottom and the sides. Other feedbacks about my montage was it was quite interesting to see the people without legs such as the waiter and the boy, as well as my hand that provide an interesting view to the montage. If you have any other ideas on how I can improve, please drop me a comment? :)

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

After seeing all the works in class, I realized I was more captured by those that were not joint exactly but still looked so compatible next to each other. Really allures me. My favourite would be Meimei's 'The Day After - Uncover it' (edited version one). The montage was just so beautifully done and the fact that she was doing a montage on her favourite backalley added lots of sentiment to the picture. Maybe I am personally fond of things that changed in condition over time, every detail such as the rusty pipes, the signs of burns on the floor, the windows, ladders and creeping plants made my eyes glued to the picture. I give her 10/10 for the montage. I would love to see the completed version of the whole row of all the shophouses!

I also like Zhen Qin's montage. His idea of 2 moments in time merged into one was splendid. Sometimes I really thought of what is it like for a world to be more random. There are too much systematic things and we always have to follow...... For me, his montage says something like 'let's just have fun'. I really like this idea of an impossible traffic. I used to think how is it like for people to be walking upside down. Might be an inspiration for my next montage :) I give him full marks for his idea. Total of 9/10, a little improvement on his execution and techniques can enhance the aesthetics of his montage. I think Jasmine has a somewhat similar concept but it felt quite scary to see people on the mrt tracks.

I like Paul's concept of 'Day after tomorrow' a lot. Sometimes when you sit down quietly, thoughts would just engulf your mind. In his concept, the same bench but everyday there are different people who sits there. And all of them sits there with different feelings. For some, it may be an escape from the buzz of the stressful life, it may be loneliness that fills the person or just a simple place for a family to enjoy the happy moments together. The bench may just be a static thing, but different individuals sitting on the bench day after day gives different meanings to the bench. I give him full marks for his concept. Really very thoughtful and thought provoking. Anyway, this module seems to have become quite philosophical for me... haha :)

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I would give myself 10 for effort, 8 for creativity/concept and 8 for techniques. Total of : 8.6/10

The 1.4 marks left for improvement would be for a better execution. I should have taken more photos and include more angles such as those on the left and right on me and even above and include them in my photo montage so I can display a better overview of the place that I was in. :)

Assignment 3 - Change

Assignment 3's Theme: We live in a country where only thing which is constant is change. Photo essay: Create 8 to 12 pictures essay on above theme. Select appropriate point of view which addresses the theme.

----------------------- Deteriotation`-----------------------

My theme for this assignment was deterioration. Very often when we talk about change, we thought of changes for the better. There are many things around us that are deteriorating everyday and most probably we wouldn't pay so much attention to them.

I chose this theme for myself to discover and capture the little details around me and hopefully give deterioration a little appreciation.

-----------------------'Cracks'-----------------------

This was one of the first few pictures I took. I don't usually pay much attention to them :) But when taking this photo, I was quite amazed by the beautiful cracks because they are the art of nature. Each line went through years to form and are unique in their own ways.

-----------------------'Rustic'-----------------------

I took many pictures of plants that deteriorated but this one attracts me because of the rustic look of it. Though the bright yellow colour of the flower had faded, the petals remained strong. I really like the sepia tones of the petals.

-----------------------'Fallen'-----------------------

I took this shot in a back alley. There was a fallen pink flower in the middle of the ground. There were no trees around and the beaming pink colour of it caught my attention quick . The interesting part of this photo was the cigarette at the side of the drain. Seems to be talking about health and no matter how pretty and radiant you look, if your health deteriorates from smoking, you are just a fallen flower.

-----------------------'Crayon'-----------------------

This photo was taken at the same back alley as the previous photo. This is one of my favourite photos. I don't really know why particularly, but I guess the dirt and filth of this place attracts me in an unusual way. Especially the black portion on the right, looks like black crayon coloured on the white walls.

-----------------------'Depreciation'-----------------------

I wanted to portray deterioration through the downwards angle of the depreciated spiral steps.

-----------------------'Natures' trials'-----------------------

I like this picture because of the stages of deterioration I could see. The obvious ones would be those you spot on the wood. It was gloomy at the same time because something as sturdy as wood couldn't escape the trials of nature. Upon deeper thought, the other deterioration was that of the trees used to make this wooden chair.

-----------------------'Buried'-----------------------

This is a picture of an old dictionary. I believe for most people, there is a dictionary hidden somewhere at home. We use it so often when we're a child but at different points in our lives, we stop using it as often and it gives me a feeling of abandon and deterioration.

-----------------------'Is it fresh?'-----------------------

In the wet market, people often ask if the fish is fresh. I thought of this question while taking this photo. When you look at it as food, it might be fresh. When you look at it as a living thing, definitely not, because it had deteriorated from its natural state.

----------------------- 'Dump'-----------------------

I choose to end off my series with the rubbish dump because it's the place where we throw away things that deteriorated. I guess it's probably the most overlooked thing around us. Smelly and dirty.... but didn't the things that landed in there started off clean and beautiful?

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

I was pretty impressed by some of my classmates' works... This assignment was a difficult one because it wasn't easy to make a photo essay, the concept has to be clear. For me, even if you were taking separate things that reflects the concept, it would be pleasing to see that the photos looked like a set, maybe a certain mood that could bind the photos together. This was one of the things I paid attention to when taking the photos. I didn't just want to take things that reflects deterioration but also wanted to create a mood somewhat like a beautiful melancholy.

I got some feedbacks from classmates like maybe I could take away one of the wall pictures since I had two of them (thank you steph). I guess i have to make a choice after all so I took away the picture of 'Refreshing Corrosion' and used 'Cracks' instead. I like the orange colour for 'Refreshing Corrosion' and the point of focus was on the obvious crack and colour. However, I decided to use 'Cracks' even though there wasn't really a specific point of focus, the different intensity of the cracks was what made photo looked complete to me. That's why I chose it to be part of my set. I also took away one picture of the wooden chair since I had two shots of it. (Reason why I presented 2 was because I couldn't make a choice) Maybe I'm not a very decisive person, I tend to stare at the picture for very long and still can't make a choice. :) Got to learn to be more stern when making choices.

Even though 'Rustic' and 'Fallen' had flowers in both of them, I kept both because I was portraying different types of deterioration in the 2 pictures. Wanted to remove 'Forgotten' initially but since the class thought it should remain as they could relate to it, I shall keep it in the set. Well Mr Reddy I'm afraid the fish picture is here to stay haha maybe you can overcome the creeps of fish eyes' stare by looking at it more and getting used to it.

Mr Reddy's suggestion that taking away a few pictures would still make the photo essay make sense of the concept and for it to flow better makes a lot of sense. I think after doing that, my photo essay had a more perpetual flow. I could enhance on this flow factor more, especially after seeing some really good works in class which mirrored that aspect really well. I couldn't expect a sequential flow since my photos weren't bound by a time factor eg. a few photos to represent the past vs some to represent the present. I would work more on a flow in the mood of the photos.

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

I though Ivy had a very nice concept of changes in art and presenting it with a poem really complement the flow in her pictures. I give her 9.5/10. Her concept is very thoughtful, probably a little brush up on techniques. Paul's concept of skin deep beauty was great. What I like about his concept was covering up the imperfections, something we are guilty of in someways or another. I especially like the photos 'Our coverings' and 'All dressed up'. I give him 9.5/10 for his amazing and well-thought concept. I thought he could explore his concept of society's shallow perceptions of beauty more, it has potential to develop further. His concept of how a baby's carefree spirit is eroded away was touching as well. I thought it had some relation to Eileen's concept of different feelings from young to old. Very emotive :)

Stephanie's concept was on corrosion and I think she did well as her concept was clear and what made her set worked for me was the nice hold the colours gave to the photos. I give her 9/10. A little more variations would be great. My fav of her photos was 'wall' because with all the corrosion taking place, it was captivating to see growth with the plants on the wall. Gives me a sense of comfort, it seems to be saying growth and corrosion are inevitable and part of nature's cycle. Meimei's photo, 'Forgotten' could portray a somewhat similar idea . The old lady was forgotten by the fast pace of life. Very thoughtful shot. This photo is a good inspiration to my initial idea. I wanted to capture the things that goes unnoticed against the face pace of life within the same photo but I wasn't able to develop it nicely.

I like Samatha's concept of 'What's left behind?' With change, there are certain things that would be left behind. 'The Road Less Travelled' was my favourite, it was the photo that could most reflect her concept. What I thought was she could strengthen her concept more to better show things that are left behind. Nonetheless, what I like was the strong attachment each photo had with each other because of the mood and style which she often display in her photos-one that evokes strong emotions.

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I would give myself 10 for effort, 8.5 for creativity/concept and 7 for techniques. Total of : 8.5/10

The 1.5 marks left for improvement would be for a stronger flow in my photos, to be more decisive and make better choices for my photos as well as to develop on my idea further :)

-----------------------Other pictures I took-----------------------

'Refreshing Corrosion'

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'Cobbler'

What I like was how a person who mend things looks in need for someone to mend his sorrows. He seems to be smoking his troubles away. This is a photo which I like but I didn't include because I wasn't sure if it could fit in my set.

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