Digital Photography & Imaging

Assignment 6 - Conceptual Portraiture

2008-11-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

This assignment near murdered me...
I was struggling with the theme for some reason, maybe cuz I wasn't around to attend this particular lecture & the subsequent tutorials due to stupid gastric that I wasn't able to fully comprehend what exactly I was supposed to do, but that's not the point.
I went to see other people's blog and saw their work and all the more I was confused by the theme and all~
I probably struggled for two whole weeks with only a really vague concept which ultimately when I emailed ms chiang about it, she thought it was too much of a straight photography (I wanted to take pictures of unsung heroes, people who are always there but under the radar such as the sweepers, the kitchen cleaners etc, you get my drift. However it would be extremely difficult to ask these ppl to pose for me so in a way I was kind of glad that ms chiang didn't really like the idea... =P)
Anyways, I finally thought of this idea only when Jamie offered to be my model if I required her 'services' so I was really cracking my brain as time was running out and voila! Finally something just struck me la~

The concept is "Everyday Reading" meaning to say that everyday, everyone be it young or old, working or not, people are always reading something from somewhere. We people just cannot run away from reading. In fact I could have taken more photos of reading from different mediums but let's not go into that.... =P Anyways I managed to have 6 photos with this simple concept and photoshopped all the photos like no one's biz, cuz... Nobody's skin is perfect *wink* etc... Hopefully it looks conceptual cuz i know it's really not too wild and all so hopefully it won't come off as too straight photographic-like... =(

Hope you enjoy this series of photos! =D

Click to Reveal Photos

~Cheers & good luck to everyone's exams!

Blog Exercise 5 - Ethics

2008-11-04T03:27:00.000-08:00

Ethics can be a tricky question because there is no clear definition on the word. What is ethics exactly? Some may say that it is not ethical to do certain things but others might totally disagree on the same matter so there's really just a fine line~ And when photography comes into play depending on your profession, ethics are essentially what photographers should live by.
Without it, photographers lose their credibility and their sense of responsibility towards the public especially if the photographer is for a reputable newspaper say eg The Straits Times, unless of course if you're a photographer for tabloid papers or magazines, then in such cases, ethics sometimes count for nuts....
In this era of digital manipulation, whereby celebrities on magazine covers look almost always flawless, or whereby using composition with different photos to make something look incredulous such as a baby sitting in a crocodile's mouth, etc, how then do us readers judge the credibility of the images?

Personally like i mentioned above, if the photographers are from a reputable and credible medium in references to newspapers, then most of the time readers should be able to trust them as they are "supposed" to report on true events, or judge for ourselves if the photos look too incredulous to be true.
In cases of say fashion magazines, most readers should know that the models or celebrities on covers are photoshopped as in the case of the Dove commercial but there will still be some clueless readers who are not as tech saavy or knows much about photoshop so it really depends on the general knowledge of the reader. And as much as I can say a few more ways to judge the credibility of an image, if the person who is manipulating the photo is really good at what he/she does, then it is most of the time difficult to tell whether the image has been retouched before whether or not it comes from a credible source and whether or not the reader is tech saavy etc.
And if readers are constantly shown images that are manipulated, chances are that they might become unconcerned about the truthful content of the photos itself and that in itself is more of a concern.

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If i am working for a newspaper and I'm supposed to response to a reader complaining about a picture of a car wreck that was to him/her very upsetting, then referring to utilitarianism theory, I would response by saying that the photo was taken to show the truth to the public and by no means meant to offend anyone. It is shown to warn the public that these things do happen to people and will act for the greater good of the public.

However of course there has to be a certain limit as to how gruesome or violent the photo can be to be published for public's viewing as public also refer to children or the underaged. There might be certain materials that are deemed not suitable for these people. In fact the media has often been criticized for showing so many violent or gory images to the public that it results in the public becoming hardened towards violent injustices, which would be critically bad for the society if we were all to become emotionless.

Thus if the picture that the reader complained is really too gory, then I might have to apologise to the reader and inform him/her that we would evaluate the limits of such publications in future. I would do that because being from a newspaper organisation doesn't mean that we are always right or truthful. In fact we would have a responsibility towards the public over what we publish and whether it is ethical or not.

But if I do stand by the case that the picture which was supposedly too upsetting for the reader, was in fact within reasonable limits then I will have to let the reader know like what i had mentioned in the earlier paragraph, that we intend to show the truth for the better of society, so that the public can be more well-informed of such incidents and take better precautions themselves.

Assignment 5

2008-10-24T06:16:00.000-07:00

This week, we were supposed to take photos of things to portray expressions without the use of humans, animals or toys that resemble these things.
Meaning we were supposed to take pictures of happiness or joy of say maybe some colourful flowers etc instead of using human's expression.
Ah such a tough week yet again... But thankfully I managed, whilst barely but i managed to scrap past... I think...

Click to Reveal Photos

Cheers!

Blog Exercise 4 - Singapore Biennale 2008

2008-10-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

It was my first biennale and i must say I'm pretty impressed with how they converted City Hall/supreme court and South Beach Complex into a myriad of random art pieces that just seem to piece themselves together nicely even though there's no specific theme to all the work
And i love it that the pieces are all relatively highly interactive such as the huge Singapore map which was taken from Google Earth sprawled across the floor.
You'll be given two pieces of black sticker in which you can write and stick it onto the map/floor or do whatever you want with it =P

Click to Reveal Photos

Cheers!

Assignment 4 - Urban Fantasy

2008-10-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Theme: Surrealism

This was a really mind boggling project but I guess I managed it =\
The main concept is that Singapore being an urban city is being ironically (since it is an island~) consumed by water as a comet or whatever you make of it hits the Singapore River. Nobody or rather humans survived the catastrophe yet however the animals triumph through evolution, they grew wings so they are able to live on.
It's sort of saying that whilst we are advancing towards the technological side of life, we have in a way neglected our nature and the animals but nature has its way of having its revenge and prove us humans wrong that we can do whatever we want when it is nature who will triumph in the end.

The Process:

Click to Reveal Photos

Very tedius but it was quite fun to do I guess =)

Cheers!

Blog Exercise 3 - Analyzing a Picture

2008-10-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is a photograph by Sharad Haksar who is one of India’s leading photographers. He has won several international awards for his work and was even named one of the top 200 photographers by Luezar Archive.

Let’s go through the formal elements of this photograph to understand the photographer’s point of view then.

In terms of the light source, it looks to be from a natural source i.e. sun~ since it’s an outdoor shot, but it is either diffused by the clouds or might still be early or later in the day as the light is not harsh and coming from the left to the right of the wall. Thus the shot is neither overly bright nor dark and shadows are not hard hitting. Just natural.

The texture is shown through the ground and dirt and is not noticed immediately. It does reflect a sort untidiness and might suggest that is taken from a rural area or a kampong area, making the image more real.

The main focus of the picture is both the Nike logo as it is red in colour as compared to the dull brown or white colours around it, with the catchphrase “Just Do It”, and of the boy who is top naked and seemingly peeing on the wall whilst the puppy watch on. The image is rather simple with no complications in the background, so that the audience can focus on what exactly the photographer is trying to convey which are the subjects in question. The colour of the logo also reflects a certain dynamic feel to the brand, and with the boy peeing on the wall it just gives the audience an even stronger feel or reaction towards the brand.

Angle of view is roughly at eye level from the right side to the left of the image which shows the full picture of what is happening.

Overall, what the photographer is trying to convey and how the audience will see it exactly is the irony of the brand’s catchphrase “Just do it” with the boy doing exactly what he feels like doing at that moment. And the greatest irony of all is that he is doing it with no apparels or shoes (literally) that has anything to do with Nike. It is pretty direct to the point with the use of the simple background which portrays a rather run down area where probably the people there are not able to afford such a brand as well.

Another example which is also from his work where a simple background works well in conveying a message that is direct to the point:

It’s like another irony where it is saying yes, even Superman needs a wardrobe of clothes to change his outfits for his daily outings/work and for disguise despite his well-recognized spandex costume. =)

Cheers!

Blog Exercise 2 - Personal Comments on Rene's Les Amants

2008-09-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Basically Surrealism art is about the sense of expression of the unconscious, that psyche can be understood through reason

By Rene Margritte - Les Amants [The Lovers]

This painting, which is one of a small group of pictures painted by Rene in which the identity of the people are shrouded by a piece of white cloth, was said to be attributed by the memory of his mother's suicide when he was 12 or 13 years. It was said that his mother was found drowned in the river Sambre and when her body was recovered from the river, her nightdress was supposedly wrapped around her head even though Rene himself did not like that explanation that the paintings was inspired through the incident.

My own personal feelings to artworks in general is that art is normally made to express the feelings of the artist at that moment and through art tells a story normally inspired by something or some event. Most of the time these artists wants their work to be a link between their minds/thoughts and the real forms of the material world, using symbols and objects to represent their mind, displaying their subconscious minds to us conscious minds~

My take on this painting is that the setting of the painting is a commonplace where it could have been a romantic setting between a man and a woman, yet a piece of white cloth is covering their faces which could be a sign of ambiguities and uncertainties in a relationship. However if I flip the coin over, I can also say that it could mean that love is blind and people do many silly things because of love.

It's like his paintings are trying to say that human emotions are difficult to decipher since humans can change emotions as fast as in a blink of an eye so it's simpler to allow the audience decide on the emotions based on how they are feeling when they see the painting. For me this painting is more on the side where in a relationship, nothing is certain~ And that when in a relationship, one tends to experience many different kinds of emotions that is difficult to express to an outsider through words, or in this case a painting... =)

Cheers!

Assignment 3

2008-09-27T02:59:00.000-07:00

This was a pretty challenging assignment but I was quite heng to be able to capture whatever I was being able to and match the theme =P
Most of the photos were taken at the Esplanade area~

Enjoy!

Click to Reveal Photos
Cheers!

Assignment 2b

2008-09-26T03:30:00.000-07:00

So this was a CNM dept assignment, slightly deviated from what we normally do as our subject of photography is people itself
And boy was it tough. I have to agree with Ms Chiang that i find it hardest to photograph people cuz their expressions change so quickly and they can also be intimidated by your huge camera that they either start giving fake expressions or decided to be awkward =\

Anyways I managed to snap these few photos and as you can see I like to take it when when people smile or laugh cuz that's the most genuine moment i feel =)

Click to Reveal Photos

Cheers!

Assignment 2a

2008-09-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

For this assignment, most of the pictures are taken from the Botanic Gardens cuz I was thinking of where I could take pictures of frozen action and motion blur, and snap I thought of the waterfall in the park =D
I was really psyched during the trip too cuz there were so many nice flowers to take picture of but of course it will look like a flower exhibition if i place it all here, and all will be only under one category (shallow DOF =\)

Anyways here are the photos and enjoy!

Click to Reveal Photos

Cheers~

Assignment 1

2008-09-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Final Copy

This is a retake of my previous (at the bottom) shots, or rather new shots of the same theme~
I'm more satisfied with it this time so here are the final copies:

Click to Reveal Photos (final)

I'll most likely include some of the previous photos into the portfolio too =)

Ciao~

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(Draft)

Okay so this was a little tough for me cuz the school doesn't really have much to play with
The colours in school are virtually bland and dull plus my laziness to move to other faculty to see what they have there means that I have not a lot of locations to take pictures of (which is regrettable, I think I would have to take more pictures again since I don't find the photos satisfying...)

So anyway here you go:

Click to Reveal Photos

Cheers!

Blog Exercise 1

2008-08-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

Digital Camera Magazine Photographer of the Year 2008
Animals category: "White Tiger" 1st Prize by Sergey Bidun, USA

One of the reasons why I chose this particular photo is because I've always had a liking for animals because their emotions are always so raw and right smack showing in your face.
It's not difficult to see how they are feeling based on their expressions and the best part is, they are always so varied in colours be it fur or skin~
Anyway, I really like this photo based on the impact when I first lay my eyes on it.
It's as if the tiger is really leaping out of the frame and right straight at you.
Plus its expression is one of a kind, I mean I've seen documentaries where such predators attack their prey at vicious ferocity, but I can't just seem to say why this one just seem more ferocious with its fangs baring as wide as it can get and it's paws ready to pounce to you.
Though there's not much colours involved as well, mainly white, the rest of the remaining colours seem rather intense and saturated, thus the photo tend to stand out more especially in its facial area and its two front paws.
It helps to direct the audiences' attentions straight to where it really counts and that I think is what makes it a good photo.

Digital Camera Magazine Photographer of the Year 2008
Overall Winner: "Marta" by Andrzej Dragan, Poland

Marta applied to a modelling agency and was rejected. Andrzej then saw her test photos by chance just a few months later and that's how Marta became interested in being photographed. The photograph is interesting – not because of the fright it triggers, but because of a collision of two Martas. Thankfully Marta has now undergone treatment for her anorexia and is progressing well.

I have to mention something about this photograph as well cuz it's really outstanding and I don't even have to say why for people to understand the reason.
Her face as you can see is really very pretty albeit slightly skinny but it's her body that's truly jaw dropping.
It shows perfectly well the problems in the modeling industry and that this could very well be the result if young aspiring models are to be obsessed with being thin.
It's also heartwarming to hear that she has since undergone treatment for her anorexia and hopefully live a much more healthier, happier lifestyle.
Anyways~ I like how this photo is composed whereby the subject is right in the middle, defying the rule of third and with a plain background, sort of with a vintage feel to it to complement with her frail body, plus just a touch of orange coloured accessory on her hair so that the photo won't look entirely dull.
It really captures the essence of what the photographer is trying to convey thus it's no wonder that it was the overall winner for the Digital Camera Magazine. =)

~Cheers!