Term 2: Week 5: Digital Tech Uxbridge Art Centre Research

Term 2: Week 5 Digital Tech Haru Sameshima Response

Haru Sameshima Research

Haru Sameshima was born in 1958, Shizuoka City, Japan.  Immigrated to New Zealand 1973.  He was taught photography by his scientist father at early age.  He worked in small Dunedin photographic studio learning the craft before attending Otago Polytechnic Art School in 1980, then completing BFA (1992) and MFA (1995) at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland.

Sameshima has been exhibited and
published widely in New Zealand. His on-going photographic essays include eco- Tourism 1990 to present – photographic investigation of the touristic-construction of places and imagery of New Zealand, Souvenir from the tourist sites of popular tourist destinations from the globe. He is the author of Bold Centuries: a photographic history album, published by Rim Books and PhotoForum in 2009. This publication features Sameshima’s own photography along with historical and found images. It is compiled with essays examining the various ways in which photographs depict the surroundings to construct sense of histories.

Sameshima has also shown portfolios in International Triennial Bright Paradise at Auckland Art Gallery (2001), Wonderland at Govett-Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth (1999) and  Fotographia, Festival Internationale Di Roma. Italy 2006.

Haru Sameshima Response

Evaluation: Haru Sameshima is a very versatile photographer and publisher. He is involved in a variety of works. His work space is geared with a darkroom for developing film and a studio area. Haru does all is own post production work in house. This includes scanning and doing outside work for other clients. Mark Adams and Haru both use the work space. Haru is very much old school technology. No internet or phone present in his office except a mobile phone. A lot of archive is kept on the premises. He does not believe in getting rid of the old to replace with the new. He recently upgraded to digital camera. I would say that if he was commissioned to shoot a venue or area with his skills light and composition would come naturally. A lot of his photo are portraits documenting history for the books to be published or have being published. 

Contextualisation:
Haru photographs many different areas of genre. These include documentary, editorial and fine art. He works on creating the best photo for the client. This is seen in the Bold Centuries by Haru Sameshima. Documenting the works of the environment of the past and continuing into the present. Their is an emphasis on the impact of foreign influence, historically from the British. Documenting the images for the viewers give them the chance to explore and understand New Zealand.

Experimentation:
Looking at some of Haru work as above the motorway and off ramp. I felt the photos taking just after listening to Haru of the building across the road is a good example of documenting architecture. This was a big difference between the old building Haru has being in for the passed 20 years and new glass design.

Using natural light was a bit difficult to capture the true and amazing colours of the glass and reflections. Definitely would like to go back and capture in different light perhaps at night of early morning. Not sure if the building get a large amount of light due to the area built.

The architecture of this building is quiet fasinating. The glass captures the building in the reflection. This was enjoyable photographing the building. Needed a different technique to capture the colours. I will need to research and go back and shoot. The camera lens did not capture the beauty of this building. Open to suggestions on new ideas. Low angle with wide DOF. 

The leading lines of the stairs and tight crop. The reflection compliments and completes the photo. This could have being a bit brighter too many shadows. The eye goes to the top of the building. Need to re shoot. Warmer colours would enhance the look and definitions of the detail of the building.

 This photo is over exposed.

At first glance the photo looks a bit confusing. The viewer will need to stop, look, understand? I like this photo a bit creative. Looking around the area I have realised always be looking for the unexpected. Thanks ladies most enjoyable.

 The rustic colour of the building, looks like it is falling in.

Street Graffiti:

Poster of Roots on Haru wall very interesting.

I tried to find a similar looking tree of roots. Close but not the same. 

Term 2: Week 2 Portfolio Research Juxtaposition and Contrast

Andrew S. Gibson is a writer and photographer living in New Zealand.

Reference: digital-photography.com

How to Improve Your Composition Using Juxtaposition and Contrast

A Post By: Andrew S. Gibson Reference: digital-photography-school.co

Juxtaposition occurs when you place two contrasting subjects side by side. The difference (i.e. the contrast) between the two subjects creates an interesting photo.

I took this photo at sunset in the Argentinian city of La Plata. The cathedral is one of the largest in the Americas and was only completed in the 1990’s. The juxtaposition here is between the statue in the foreground and the spires of the cathedral. You can’t tell from this photo but the statue is located in a square in front of the cathedral. The two are some distance apart, separated by a road. By finding a position from which I could include both the statue and cathedral together, I created a composition that is more interesting than one containing either the cathedral or the statue alone. There is also a contrast between the gothic architecture of the cathedral and the weathered stonework of the statue that encourages the eye to move between the two.

A classic example

A great example of this is the Annie Leibovitz portrait (bottom of page linked) of jockey Willie Shoemaker (4’ 11” tall) and basketball player Wilt Chamberlain (7’ 1”). Placing the two men side by side (juxtaposition) emphasizes the difference in their height (contrast). As we’re not used to seeing an extremely short person standing next to a very tall one, the difference in height appeals to our sense of curiosity.

Juxtaposition and contrast in action

Here are some more examples, this time using my own photos, showing how you can use juxtaposition and contrast to improve the composition of your images.

I took this photo in the remote village of Iruya in north-west Argentina. It was late afternoon and I wandered beyond the boundary of the village towards a pass through the mountains. I saw two people walking down a path cut between the rock, one of them leading a donkey.

The juxtaposition here is between the human figures and the mountainside. The contrast is one of scale – the difference in size between the people and the landscape they are passing through.

This photo is a simple close-up of a seashell on a beach. The juxtaposition of the white shell against the black sand emphasizes the difference between them. It’s not a coincidence that I chose to convert this photo to black and white. Sometimes, good black and white photographyis created simply by juxtaposing a black subject with a white one.

I photographed this waterfall on the side of Mount Taranaki, a conical volcano on New Zealand’s North Island. I used a tripod to support the camera and a shutter speed of 1/3 second to blur the water.

The juxtaposition here is between the rock and the water. The rocks are still, hard, and have a beautifully textured surface. The water is moving, soft and blurred. This type of contrast is the basis of many long exposure photographs.

Andrew S. Gibson is a writer and photographer living in New Zealand. He is the author of over twenty photography ebooks and he's giving two of them away. Sign up to his monthly newsletter to receive complementary copies of The Creative Image and Use Lightroom Better.

Team 2: Week 3 Portfolio Research Night photography

Night photography refers to photographs taken outdoors between dusk and dawn. Night photographers generally have a choice between using artificial light and using a long exposure, exposing the scene for seconds, minutes, and even hours in order to give the film or digital sensor enough time to capture a usable image. With the progress of high-speed films, higher-sensitivity digital image sensors, wide-aperture lenses, and the ever-greater power of urban lights, night photography is increasingly possible using available light.

Long-exposure photography or time-exposure photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements. Long-exposure photography captures one element that conventional photography does not: time. The paths of bright moving objects become clearly visible. Clouds form broad bands, head and tail lights of cars become bright streaks, stars form trails in the sky and water smoothes over. Only bright objects will form visible trails, however, dark objects usually disappear. Boats during daytime long exposures will disappear, but will form bright trails from their lights at night.

Motion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single frame, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.

Bulb, abbreviated B, is a shutter speed setting on an adjustable camera that allows for long exposure times under the direct control of the photographer. With this setting, the shutter simply stays open as long as the shutter release button remains depressed. An alternative setting common on film cameras is Time, abbreviated T, where the button is pressed once to open the shutter and again to close it.^[1][2]

Term 2: Digtial Tech Week 4 Self Directed Task Contextualise

Self Directed Task Contextualise

All images copy right James Porto 2008

What were you thinking about when you made this work?
The contrast in the world. War and peace. Black and White. Honest and Corrupt. Radical differences.

What was going on in the world and did any of these events influence your thinking at the time?
ISIS and Christians conflict. Seeing the white on black flag of ISIS. Many atrocities committed by religion.

What photographic genre and sub genre (if applicable) does your work fit into?
Creative genre and Editorial documentary

Who are your photographic influences? What photographic genre do these photographers fit into?

James Porto: http://www.jamesporto.com Creative Genre (Commercial)
Evan Sharboneau Reference trickphotographybook.com Creative Genre (Commercial, Creative Stock)
Vera Lutter Body of Work http://www.prixpictet.com (Fine Art, Creative Stock)
How to read a photograph by Ian Jeffrey Editorial Genre (Educational)

Eugene Atget's trees Editorial Genre (Nature)
Thomas Struth Paradise http://www.prixpictet.com Editorial Genre (Nature)

Are you influenced by artists working in other disciplines? (eg: film or painting)
Fames on the Land Early Landscape Painting in New Zealand by Francis Pound  Pohutukawa, Edward Friström, 1903-1915, 1967/9/1 Editorial Genre (Nature)

Who took the photo and why?

James Porto took the photo. He was commissioned by Bell Helicopters and Boeing aircraft Corporation.

What is their ethnicity and does this influence the work?

He is european and this does not influence the work? James Porto was born in 1960 in Saudi Arabia to an Italian American father and Belgian mother.

When and where did they take this photo? America.

The challenge of the assignment was that my team’s access to the aircrafts, of which only a few prototypes were available at the time, was very limited. We had a to shoot the aircrafts overnight on a military base, from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily, because they were either out for testing or being worked on during the day. We then shot them on their training runs as the sun came up. In the images that I created, I had the aircrafts straddling the hanger (on the left), where they were being tested and worked on, and the field situations that they were being used in (on the right). I was so impressed by the machine and what it could do that I created an art piece titled, Rescue at Sea. Reference: http://jamesporto.com

  

What are their political beliefs and are these relevant to the work?

Political beliefs do not influence this work.

What is their social status and background and how does this relate to their subject matter?

This is a military craft and it does not have any bearing on his social status and background.

In what decade or century was the work taken?  Does this influence your reading of this work?

2008 this does not influence my choice of work only inspires me to learn more.

  

Were there events happening at the time that may have influenced this work?

Yes, In the run-up to formal approval for the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, the American military workhorse tilt-rotor aircraft, I was charged with creating images that would show the capabilities of the one-of-its-kind hybrid helicopter-jet. The military had experienced some difficulties mastering the innovative craft—designed to function as a helicopter as well as a long-range, high-speed turboprop jet—but it had been redesigned and rebuilt and the push was on to gain Congressional approval for full production. Reference: http://jamesporto.com

  

How is the work presented?

Professionally presented in the run-up to the formal approval for the manufacture of the aircraft. 

Where are you viewing this work and how does this affect your reading of it?

I am viewing his work on the internet. It inspires my photoshop creativety and the need to learn more about new techniques used to present the final work.

Term 2: Week 4 Digital Technology Richard Mosse Exercise

Richard Mosse

http://www.designboom.com 

What genre/s does Richard Mosse’s ‘The Enclave’ fit into?

Documentary | Fine Art

What is the history that relates to this project?

War-torn Congo Richard Mosse: Making visible an invisible conflict

Is there anything in his own history that influences this work?

Richard Mosse is from Ireland and grew up as a Quacker. He no longer practices being a Quacker but uses a lot of the morals and ethics taught in his childhood. This comes through in his work. Experiences in his childhood and teens could have had some influence to his work coming from a country of conflict.

Why did he choose to use the Kodak infrared film for the project?

The army used the infrared film to detect hiding or camouflaged area of conflict. Richard breaks the norm of documenting images with the infrared film. Creates amazing photo's capturing the viewers attention. With the bright pink colours. 

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org (In 2007 Kodak announced that production of the 35 mm version of their color infrared film (Ektachrome Professional Infrared/EIR) would cease as there was insufficient demand. It is assumed that the 70 mm Aerographic format will continue.

There is no currently available digital camera that will produce the same results as Kodak color infrared film although the equivalent images can be produced by taking two exposures, one infrared and the other full-color, and combining in post-production. The color images produced by digital still cameras using infrared-pass filters are not equivalent to those produced on color infrared film. The colors result from varying amounts of infrared passing through the color filters on the photo sites, further amended by the Bayer filtering. While this makes such images unsuitable for the kind of applications for which the film was used, such as remote sensing of plant health, the resulting color tonality has proved popular artistically.

Color digital infrared, as part of full spectrum photography is gaining popularity. The ease of creating a softly colored photo with infrared characteristics has found interest among hobbyists and professionals.)

How does the use of this film fit into the documentary genre? 
This does not fit into film documentary genre.

How many times has he been to the Eastern Congo for this project?  Why do you think he has been back so many times?

http://www.designboom.com

Richard Mosse returned 8 times over 4 years. He has an amazing connection and respect of the people and being able to document the different events. He is drawn too the war-torn Congo as he said on the video it is his calling not the correct choice of words. But this explains his passion to be photograph the Eastern Congo.  

What justification does he have for creating such beautiful images to represent such horrific events?  Why would he be criticized for this? How does this differ from other war photographs you have seen?

The first impression he would like the viewer to see is the beautiful and full of life country. But on a closer look they see the distraction and devastation of the people in the Congo.  One could defiantly criticise Richard as words cannot explain the horrific things that have being and still are going on.
I don't think at any time does he want to down play the event going on but the need to bring some beauty into the photo's help with the healing he has experienced.


War photographs are cold and express death and distraction. This is so meaningless. A lot of war photos are in black and white. Film was used and often no time to compose the photo just point and shoot. 

Term 2: Week 3 Portfolio Shoot 4#

Myers Park Playground and Stairs

Day 3 continued

F14.0 30.0 ISO100 EF24-70@26mm 17 May 2015 time 6.40pm ORIGINAL

• Slow shutter speed • Tripod and remote • Wide DOF • Focused and detail captured of the very colour and modern playground

F2.8 1/100 ISO100 EF24-70@67mm 19 May 2015 time 3.42pm ORIGINAL

I did not capture the day photo of the playground only this interesting piece of art in the playground.
Back to Myers Park to take a day photo with the same focal length and position the same as the night shoot.

Reshoot: The photos below show the area I need to go back and capture during the day for position. Marking the photo helps with positioning and direction the tripod and camera needs to be placed. 

Combined Night and Day not working position off.

 F14.0 30.0 ISO100 EF24-70@26mm 17 May 2015 time 6.40pm ORIGINAL

F3.5 1/125 ISO100 EF24-70@24mm 19 May 2015 time 3.40pm ORIGINAL

Photographing in the city is most enjoyable so many different buildings and trees. So much is happening in this photo. Adding to my collection of different projects. The reflection and light enhances the photo. 

The reflection in of the building looks so alike left and right, just an idea.





Myers Park | Auckland Daily Photo

www.aucklanddailyphoto.com 484 × 680Search by image

A block of apartments on the edge of Myers Park in Central Auckland

Research: MYERS PARK: AUCKLAND’S HIDDEN TREASURE

The Park in 1913

Initially the park extended over six acres of land [extra areas were added in the 1920s and 1940s to make a total of eight acres.]

The site was actually chosen because it was comparatively empty - only 14 buildings, most of them very small, occupied the six acre site. [Thus the gully was not the packed slum as it was represented in contemporary news reports]

The fact that 13 of them were sold for removal suggests they were not decaying hovels either. The one remaining house was converted into a caretakers cottage and still stands on the hill to the south of the new Kindergarten building.

Opening Day 1916

The Myers Park gully is the watershed area at the head of the Waihorotiu Stream or Queen Street River as it was ironically called.

In 1845 the merchant David Nathan built a house for himself on the Karangahape ridge with a view of the fledgling town of Auckland (which at that time extended no further than about Victoria Street).

The Playground circa 1916

The idea of ‘organised play’ was part of the ‘progressive’ educational attitudes prevalent at the turn of the 20th century.

The ‘Reform Park’ movement was a newly developed concept in the United States where rampant urban growth was raising many concerns and resulting in the systematic provision of safe spaces for children to play and green spaces to relax in.

Play Schools and Kindergartens date from the middle of the 19th century but became more common around this time.