Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Final Idea
After researching different artist, toys and stories. My final idea is using the objects: China doll, Bottle of Red wine and a glass. The three objects are to represent the child and the reason behind the abuse. I want to image to have an eerie haunting feel about it yet also for the viewer to feel sympathetic towards the doll. In order to create the theme of child abuse, I want the image to include the glass broken and the doll cracked and dirty, as if portraying the child. I want the background to be matte black, to create a dark effect and also so that the only focus is on the objects. During the shoot I will experiment with composition to try and find the best way for the doll to look child like and dependant on the bottle of wine, maybe leaning or laying on it. I want the broken glass to represent 'a broken home' and the china doll to represent 'the china doll of the family.'
China Dolls
Photography by Louise Daddona
I found this image of a china doll immediately very disturbing. The dead-pan expression on the dolls face is particularly moving as the massive crack down her face is clearly obvious. The clear pale texture of the doll in comparison to the matte black background is very effective as the doll is in complete focus and
the only thing the viewer is made to look at, making the image quite uncomfortable and full-on.
I think using a china doll is perfect sybolism of child abuse. The doll represents something very innocent and calming and when broken and taken out of context theres something very eerie and sad about the whole image.
Deeper research into the story behind my idea.
I decided to talk to my friend more about her personal experience, the more I knew about her childhood, the more I could put myself in her position and hopefully have a more believabe outcome. She spoke about how her mother used to abuse her due to alcohol and she'd had this sort of childhood every since she was born so never knew any different, it wasn't until she grew up she realised out wrong it was. Something intresting which she said was 'I was the china doll in my family....'
This was the exact inspiration I needed without even asking her about my idea about toys, the term china doll, to her, meant that she was treated like a doll and not like a child. The china doll idea immediately inspired me with lots of ideas in which I could do further research into.
This was the exact inspiration I needed without even asking her about my idea about toys, the term china doll, to her, meant that she was treated like a doll and not like a child. The china doll idea immediately inspired me with lots of ideas in which I could do further research into.
Brian McCarty - toy photographer.
Brian McCarty is a Memphis-born toy photographer and director/producer. Working with toys for over 15 years, McCarty’s unique and innovative vision has attracted a huge international following. His postmodern integration of concept and character has earned McCarty’s photography a prominent position in the growing Urban Vinyl / Art-Toy movement, popularized by fellow artists such as Takashi Murakami and Brian "KAWS" Donnelly. McCarty is featured in several books chronicling the artistic movement such as Vinyl Will Kill, Dot Dot Dash, and Toys: New Designs from the Art-Toy Revolution.
In Brian McCarty's toy photographs, he aims to give each toy a personality, create an image around that toys story and make the story obvious within how his composes his image. As part of my research I think it would help alot in the process of my own project to analyse some of his images and try to understand how he created each story, in able for me to create my own beleivable child abuse story using a toy.
In this image it's clear the photographer used the weather to create a story around the toy. There is life created for the toy with how the scarf is moving in the wind, giving a sense of movement in the photograph creating a life for the toy. The dark grey colours in the sky relates to the grey tones of shadow on the toy, giving the toy a personality which links with the weather. The angle of the camera creates a sense that the toy is more superior than the viewer by using visual hierarchy, also making the toy look taller than the mountains creating a powerful image, however the grass around the toy shows reality and that the toy is actually very small.
This photograph is slightly different to the first one as there are also humans in this photograph. Again, the low angle of the photograph creates the impression the toy is the same height as the humans, creating a more realistic feel. The positioning of the toy and the expression on her face creates sympathy towards her from the viewer. The dark clothing of the humans aroung her and the bright white sky creates and overall sadness about the image, mirroring the emotions of the toy.
In Brian McCarty's toy photographs, he aims to give each toy a personality, create an image around that toys story and make the story obvious within how his composes his image. As part of my research I think it would help alot in the process of my own project to analyse some of his images and try to understand how he created each story, in able for me to create my own beleivable child abuse story using a toy.
In this image it's clear the photographer used the weather to create a story around the toy. There is life created for the toy with how the scarf is moving in the wind, giving a sense of movement in the photograph creating a life for the toy. The dark grey colours in the sky relates to the grey tones of shadow on the toy, giving the toy a personality which links with the weather. The angle of the camera creates a sense that the toy is more superior than the viewer by using visual hierarchy, also making the toy look taller than the mountains creating a powerful image, however the grass around the toy shows reality and that the toy is actually very small.
This photograph is slightly different to the first one as there are also humans in this photograph. Again, the low angle of the photograph creates the impression the toy is the same height as the humans, creating a more realistic feel. The positioning of the toy and the expression on her face creates sympathy towards her from the viewer. The dark clothing of the humans aroung her and the bright white sky creates and overall sadness about the image, mirroring the emotions of the toy.
Abandoned Toys Research
I've decided to do some more research into how toys can be represented in photographs. In particular, I want to look at abandoned toys and how photographers create an image with the toy creating a feeling of being lost and abandoned, a feeling I want my viewer to feel when looking at my own final image...
In this photograph it shows an abandoned teddy bear sitting alone on a step. The simplicity within the composition and positioning of the bear instantly creates the feeling of being lost and alone, the bear in my opinion is instantly given a personality and to me looks sad, making the image quite powerful yet in a simple way. The burnt orange colour of the bear in contrast to the dirty white step is very effective and the composition using the rule of thirds is simple and effective also.
In the first image, the hard grainy surface of the pavement in contrast to the fluffy toy creates an intresting juxtoposition of both textures in the image. The black and white effect immediately makes the image more dull, the grey relates to the dirt on the animal and makes it more visable. The placing of the animal in contrast to the open space around it makes it have a more abandoned feel about it and again creates a sad image.
The second image is different in comparison to the first two as there are other objects in the image. The toy seems to blend in with the leaves in contrast to the dark ground, given the sense that the toy no longer has a personality yet is just decoration on a pavement.
In this photograph it shows an abandoned teddy bear sitting alone on a step. The simplicity within the composition and positioning of the bear instantly creates the feeling of being lost and alone, the bear in my opinion is instantly given a personality and to me looks sad, making the image quite powerful yet in a simple way. The burnt orange colour of the bear in contrast to the dirty white step is very effective and the composition using the rule of thirds is simple and effective also.
In the first image, the hard grainy surface of the pavement in contrast to the fluffy toy creates an intresting juxtoposition of both textures in the image. The black and white effect immediately makes the image more dull, the grey relates to the dirt on the animal and makes it more visable. The placing of the animal in contrast to the open space around it makes it have a more abandoned feel about it and again creates a sad image.
The second image is different in comparison to the first two as there are other objects in the image. The toy seems to blend in with the leaves in contrast to the dark ground, given the sense that the toy no longer has a personality yet is just decoration on a pavement.
Notes from The Object review tutorial.
- Need to make a decision whether I want the teddy bear to be symbolism of the child, therefore the teddy itself is abused like a child would be, Or is the teddy representing the comfort a child needs?
- Maybe try focussing on the story more and maybe include some sort of alcohol in the photograph, experiment with how it can relate to the teddy in terms of composition.
- Research more into child abuse stories for inspiration.
- Experiment with types of lighting.
- Maybe experiment with more toys other than a teddy bear. Research into how different toys are represented in the media.
- Be more specific to the personal story I'm basing the image on, speak to her about her childhood toys and see if any ideas come from that.
- Decide what effect I want on the viewer from the image. Do I want it to be Disturbing? Uncomfortable? or Sad?
Monday, 17 October 2011
The Environment: Brief
1. Submit a photograph that pastiches one of below images. You must imitate the photographic language of the image by researching and reproducing compositional form, camera setting, lighting conditions, depth-of-field, scale. Your work should recreate the aesthetic and feeling/mood of your chosen image. Your image is a reconstruction of the visual style of the chosen reference image.
2. You are also required to submit a set of images (minimum of three) based upon your personal conceptual approach to representing the landscape. Drawing upon the knowledge of your references, you must formulate your own visual choices to best reflect how you wish to represent the landscape. There may be political aspects you may wish to consider, or investigate the relationship between human intervention upon nature, or there may be ideas of the 'cultured' landscape that interest you. Whatever are you wish to work, it is paramount to consider the relationship between your visual strategy and how that affects the representation of the landscape.
2. You are also required to submit a set of images (minimum of three) based upon your personal conceptual approach to representing the landscape. Drawing upon the knowledge of your references, you must formulate your own visual choices to best reflect how you wish to represent the landscape. There may be political aspects you may wish to consider, or investigate the relationship between human intervention upon nature, or there may be ideas of the 'cultured' landscape that interest you. Whatever are you wish to work, it is paramount to consider the relationship between your visual strategy and how that affects the representation of the landscape.
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