How do photographers recreate our relationship with the everyday objects they photograph?
Thinking into how photographs can alter how we view an everyday objects I had a few thoughts, by photographing an object that may go unnoticed in its everyday settings you are taking the object out of its normal context and making people notice it. As well as that if a photographer has taken the time to make an image of an object it will make people more inclined to study the image and look for the beauty in the image questioning why the objects been photographed immediately changing the relationship as its gone from being overlooked and unnoticed to analysed and studied . In addition to that the photographer has also changed the function of the object it has now lost it's everyday function where it goes unnoticed and has been given the new function of being the subject of a piece of art which means it has to be noticed and looked at. I also was thinking about the still life genre in general and how the whole idea of turning mundane objects into beautiful paintings or photographs and why people do it and how its the decision to turn certain objects into art and the process of actually creating the image or painting that actually makes a still life image of everyday objects beautiful. As well as the idea that photographs themselves are everyday objects so you are effectively using everyday objects and a camera to create even more everyday objects.
ARTIST RESEARCH
André Kertész
Andre Kertesz was a 20th century Hungarian photographer. When he started off his work in the early 20th century was off people specifically Hungarian peasants, in these images composition was one of his main focuses and he challenged himself 'solving compositional problems'. His work branched out in to genres such as Dadaism, surrealism and constructivism, considering his interest in composition his advance into taking still life images seems obvious, as it allows the artist to be in complete control of the composition and position of every object in the image, much more easily than when taking images of people. Some of his most famous work includes 'The Fork' taken in 1928 and 'Mondrian's pipe and glasses' 1926 he also took a series of polaroid images in later life that could also be considered still life although different to his early photos.
Irving Penn
Irving Penn is an American photographer from New Jersey born in 1917 he worked through the mid to late 20th century. Better known for his fashion photography he has worked for magazines like vogue, however he has also made lots of typologies and still life images of everyday objects. He collected objects to photograph for his work over a number of years such as glass, metal and even bone. He has made typologies of everyday objects like cigarette butts he picked off the floor and flowers he's also used some less everyday objects such as animal skulls. His still life images consisted more of metal and concrete more industrial materials but again they were found objects that he had accumulated over a period of time, as well as all of this some of his most famous still life images are of food.
Peter Keetman
Peter Keetman was a German post war modern photographer who worked through out the mid to late 20th century, he studied at the Munich photographic school. In the 1940's he became a part of 'Fotoform' a group of young photographers all inspired by the pre war avant garde. He took a range of images that turned everyday sights in to a spectacle, one set of his images being close up very detailed images of drops of water on metal, glass and feathers. One of his most famous works was a set of photographs he took inside a volkswagen car factory the images highlight the beautiful patterns and shapes produced by all of the car parts stacked up next to each other.
Brassai
Brassai was a 20th century Hungarian photographer who lived in paris from 1924 onwards. Although a lot of his most famous work is all about Paris he took a set of images titled 'involuntary sculptures' that are very relevant to my theme. In the set of images he photographed small and generally overlooked objects such as toothpaste , small bits of cotton and folded and torn train tickets items that he saw as ready made surrealist sculptures. He transformed these objects into the centre pieces of beautiful images by taking them out of context (photographed them on a plain glass table) and highlighting their shapes and forms in up close detailed photos.In my opinion by doing this Brassai has got rid of the objects original everyday functions and purposes and given them a new function , the new function being to just be looked at and viewed as art, to me this encapsulates the whole idea of photographing everyday objects.
Paul Outerbridge
Paul Outerbridge was a early 20th century photographer from new york born in 1896. He studied at the Clarence H White school of photography in NewYork photographing mainly nude bodies and still life on large format. He is best known for his still life images of objects like eggs , cutlery, glasses and other abstract objects and shapes. His images a renowned for being simple and minimalist with a concentration on very simple composition, there tends to be quite a contrast between the well lit and shady parts of the image and they quite often contain a single centre piece with a plain background.
Jan Groover
Jan Groover was an American photographer born in 1943, she studied at the Pratt institute in Brooklyn New York and most of photographs were taken during the late 20th century. She moved into taking still life images of household objects after spending some time taking mainly street scenes. She described how 'formalism is everything' and that is evident in her work where objects are used purely for the shape, forms and textures they provide rather than having an interest into what the objects actually are and what their function is. Cutlery became a main feature of her work which obviously fits in to the everyday theme however when looking at the images you don't really view it as an everyday object your eyes are more drawn to the detail and intricacies of the objects and the shapes they create.
The ecstasy of things.
In the chapter 'Form and material' it explores the idea of photographing everyday mass produced items and the motivation behind it. Describing how the 20th century was the turning point for industrial mass production and that the uniformity and functionality of these products being mass produced should be celebrated. It discusses how photography is the only medium that is able to celebrate 'the transparent and the opaque, the porous and the smooth, the matte and shining surfaces of this new world.' In my opinion photography is the best way of capturing these mass produced everyday objects because modern day cameras themselves are mass produced uniform products and because of this they are able to create images just a precise and functional as the objects they are photographing.
Early still life Photography
Early forms of photography replicated painting and at the time still life painting was very popular, there were a number of objects that often occurred in still life paintings and therefore became a common occurrence in still life photography. Fruit, skulls and books were very common the pictures below are examples books being used which obviously fit in with the theme of everyday objects very well. The composition of the books , how they are stacked up ,leaning against each other ,open or closed in my opinion is the most important aspect of the photos in the left they are almost being used as building blocks to create a sculpture similarly to the one on the right how the books lean against each other supporting each other also creates a sculptural feel ,I would like to attempt to take some photos of my own in this early still life style maybe using more modern objects too create similar shapes and structures.
Edward Weston
Edward Weston was an American photographer born in 1886 he is most famous for his still life's and nudes and his rejection of early photography's attempt to imitate painting which most photographers did in the early stages of photography. His interest in light goes so far that the main focus of his images aren't the actual objects being photographed but the way the light reacts to them. His images are very simple which could be explained from when he said "The camera should be used for a recording of life,for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh" displaying how is interest was only really to portray the object as it is he had no interest in representing any message or telling any story through his images by not including any backdrop or other images in his images he can avoid this. It's also interesting in how he says this but the way he controls everything that we see in the image we aren't seeing these objects as upfront as he describes photographs should be in a sense once the image has been taken of the object it has transformed it and the photograph itself is now a new version of the object. This could be seen as linking to threshold concept 8 photographs have there own language and grammar they present the world in a different way to how we see it they are essentially capturing and remembering something that is no longer there.
Photographers at Work, Everyday Things
Neil Winokur is an American still life photographer from New York who was born in 1945. He released a book titled everyday things that consists of a random assortment of everyday things, from dogs to food to toilet paper, with each image there is a different vivid background colour illuminating the picture. I really like the images and feel to the book some of it almost feels quite comedic like the images of the dogs, the images in this are quite different to the other artists works I have looked at so far, the majority have been black and white and have had a more serious sombre feel. Apart from the fact the background colour changes each time the book is essentially a typology with a very detailed image of one subject almost as though its trying to document as many everyday things as possible in a way similar to a scientific journal. If I could ask the artist one thing about his work it would be what his thinking was behind picking the each colour to with an object as in my opinion the colour is almost as important as the subject of the image.
Christian Boltanski
Christian Boltanski is a French artist who was born in Paris in 1944, He started off mainly painting but by the 1970's photography was his main interest. He created a series of images for a exhibition titled "Inventory of objects belonging to a young man of Oxford' in the early 1970's although he didn't actually take the images they were taken by Peter Ibsen under Boltanski's instruction, He also made another series of photos for a photo book done in exactly the same style known as 'inventory of objects belonging to a young woman of Charleston' . this piece of work is a perfect example of everyday objects being used as a subject in art they are the sole focus of these pieces of work. The presentation was very simple the photos all side by side forming a large grid standing back and viewing it from a distance as a whole in my opinion has a different affect on the viewer than viewing it from up close, as the closer you get the more you find yourself being drawn in and studying each individual image.
MY PHOTO EXPERIMENTS
First set
For my first attempt at taking photos I used a range of items to photograph, I started off by using the contents of my pockets (phone, wallet, headphones and keys) along with my watch and school ID I chose to use these because they are the most everyday objects to me every morning as I'm leaving for school I check I have them on me. I tried to photograph them in range of ways some where an attempt at taking typology style images others were taken in from close up trying to present photograph them to show them in an unusual light, however with the exception of a couple of images I wasn't that impressed with the outcomes as I don't really think the way I have photographed the items is particularly original or unusual. I also tried to photograph an object that is everyday to someone else so I used my Dads work boots I also chose to use them because I like how they looked and thought they would look good because of how beaten up they are. I photographed them again in a sort of typology style keeping the same backdrop and changing the position of the boot the majority of the images are taken in focus and quite detailed being taken in black and white and with the amount of white in the background the images look quite washed out. However my favourite images are actually the more blurred ones which weren't really taken in that way on purpose I made the room darker and increased the shutter speed experimenting with trying to add a bit more contrast to the images. Id like to experiment a bit further with my use of lighting to try and make the images look a bit more dramatic and make people have to think a bit more about what it is that i'm actually photographing also the focus on some of the images is a bit off so I'd like to rectify that. Some of the images I think look like they could be included in a typology so I would like to experiment with making a few typology's.
Second set
For my second set of images I used some of the same items (keys,watch headphones) but I also experimented using kitchen paper and my laptop. I experimented with much lower lighting, long exposures and using the flash. I was pleased with some of the outcomes from this set in my opinion the most successful images were the ones with the more dramatic lighting and shadows in particular the ones of the kitchen paper lit from underneath, as well as my watch and my headphones were very successful. By lighting these objects in this way it makes it less clear what they actually are but what they actually are isn't significant because there form and they shadows and shapes they create become the main focus similar to Jan groover who photographed cutlery purely for the shape. The images of the keyboard I didn't put much thought into however the ones in focus I think are quite successful , the longer exposure ones where the keys become a blur aren't particularly inspired or original so I don't think I'm going to develop that idea any further.
Third set
Third Set
I took this set after looking at early still life photographs and still life paintings I wanted them to feature similar objects for example books, fruit , drinks and food and flowers. The first images of the books I think are quite successful I like the lighting and how it highlights only specific parts of the books from quite an obscure angle, I would like to build upon this idea first of all neatening up the images lining the shots up better and cropping them to make them a bit more precise. I would also like to use the books to create more obscure shapes instead of photographing them in the bookshelf taking them out and changing their composition myself. The shots of the chair were inspired by William Henry Fox Talbot's image of a broom in a doorway, I like how simplistic the image is with only two subjects the chair and the doorway the rest of the image is made up of different tones of light filling up the empty space. The photos after that of the candle, the flowers and the glass of wine were taken with out any plan to i noticed them all lined up on the mantle piece and thought the gloomy atmospheric lighting and the objects would all make an interesting still piece.
Increasing brightness on a few images
Fifth Set
I took these images during a university visit to sheffield passing through Nottingham, although not all of them are really linked to the everyday objects theme I took them as a set so I thought I'd upload them together. These images have a different feel to my previous sets of images which have been still life's where I have been able to control everything about them like the composition, lighting and the objects I'm photographing, with this set went out looking for everyday objects on the street and in charity shops. I suppose one aspect of the images that links to my previous set is the fact they are quite gloomy taken in black and white. The images with everyday objects in have quite a lot going on apart from the shot of the glasses and jug there isn't a lot of empty space in them which I like even the images where theres quite a simple shop front the cracks running through the glass fill up the rest of the space. I think I will try and add to this set of images as I'm building on my still life images but they won't be my main focus as I feel like theres more opportunity to experiment and take the still life set further than this set.
Sixth Set
After discussing some of my previous photos with my teacher specifically the dramatically lit images of my watch it came up that when taking images like this of quite nice objects the images can quite often come out looking more like advertisement images rather than more artistic images. So I decided to try and use similar Lighting (using my phone light) and similar shutter speeds (from 1/30 to 1/500) however this time I wanted to use less desirable more mundane images in an attempt to avoid the images looking like adverts. I picked three objects Firstly a shoelace I wanted to find a less conventional way of capturing it in the end I chose to put it in a glass of water not only because of the light reflections and shadows it created but also because I liked how it made the shoelace float so its all wound up suspended in the middle of the glass. I then chose to use an old bar of soap at first I captured it in its original form well lit in quite a lot of detail. I then decided to crush it in my hand photographing the process I did this to try and make the shape and form of the soap unrecognisable, partly inspired by Brassai's involuntary sculptures where he photographed everyday objects up close in a lot of detail to the point where some were unrecognisable. The final object I picked to use was toilet paper as I had done this previously and was very pleased with the result. At first I made three small shapes out of the paper before laying them on top of my phone lighting them from underneath, I then rolled a smaller piece of paper up and put it in a glass also lighting this from underneath. I thought these images came out really well and particular the images of the soap being squashed in my hand I'd like to build on this maybe experimenting with crushing a range of different everyday objects in my hand and possibly turning them into a typology, as well as the idea of putting everyday objects in water and photographing them floating suspended in a glass both of these ideas are focused on the concept of highlighting everyday objects by taking them out of context and changing there setting.
After looking at the photo book by Neil Winokur I was inspired to take some photos in a similar style. I picked out some everyday objects I thought would be good and then photographed them using coloured paper as a background. I then selected the best 4 images and edited them into a grid turning up the brightness and vibrance of the images using photoshop . Looking at the Image that was produced it reminded me of Pop Art style images so I though I would experiment further by changing the colour of the image by adjusting the hue on photoshop, as I changed the hue I thought it would make a really good video clip or time lapse documenting the gradual change of colour so I saved the image 8 times at different colours and uploaded it to a slide show on here. I then discussed with my teacher the idea of changing the arrangement of the images as well so I decided to move the images round in a clock work motion and saving each different arrangement at 8 different colours each time so it could be turned into a video loop of the images moving and the colours changing. Further experimenting with the images after looking at some photographers who frequently use photoshop as a main feature in there work I started layering the images of different colours and using the eraser tool to reveal the multiple layers of colour again in a kind of pop art style and taking the everyday objects completely out of their usual everyday context and viewing them in a completely different light. I am interested in using projections of these images in my final piece as I feel the experiments were very successful.
Eighth Set
These images are an extension of a previous set using different materials this time paper, moisturizing cream and a lighter.
Selecting and Grouping Images for Final Pieces
I began sorting through my work looking for images that could be used for a final piece I was selecting images and thinning them out and refining until I had a selection of four images of different everyday objects, which I am planning on presenting in grids. What I like about these images is the way the objects have been manipulated physically and through lighting and camera angles to a point where it isn't entirely clear what they are anymore and the viewer has to put more thought into working out what they putting even ore attention and emphasis on to people noticing these usually overlooked objects. Some of the images are in black and white and some in colour but there isn't much of a noticeable difference however I might retake them in colour as the brush is bright blue which would look nice and add a bit of vibrancy to the set of images. I had to edit some of the images on photoshop increasing their brightness and exposure slightly so when printed they wouldn't come out too dark. In my opinion my most successful images are the photos of the bar of soap and the shoelace as I was able to manipulate them the most to create more dramatic images, to me the others all look quite similar and have a different feel to them, So I am reconsidering whether I'm going to use all these images for my final piece. I am only going to use 4 of the 4 sets but I'm going to lay them out to create one big grid with the 4 photos of each different object in a horizontal line, Similar to the lay out of Christian Boltanski's inventory exhibitions however much more scaled down.
Final Evaluation
After picking everyday objects as my theme I began researching some of the suggested artists, looking at André Kertész, Ivring Penn and Peter Keetman . All had different styles Kertész took very well composed simplistic still lives of everyday objects, Penns images were slightly more abstract using less obvious objects including lumps of metal, Cigarette butts and raw foods , Keetman's images of patterns in industrial settings were almost scientific looking they were so precise and detailed . I then moved on to researching some Artists and photo books I found myself the ones I took the most inspiration from including Brassai who photographed overlookeed everyday objects in away where they were taken out of context and what the objects actually were was no longer a main focus the images concentrated on their shapes and forms. Also researching Edward Weston who similarly to Brassai had little interest in the object itself or its everyday function he was purely interested in the way light reacted to it and the shapes and forms it created. I was also influenced by Neil Winokur who's images felt slightly less serious to the other artists I had looked at his images had more of a focus on colour compared to the other images I had looked at that were predominately black and white. After looking at a range of different works I realised my interest was mainly in the way the viewer reacts with a mundane everyday object usually overlooked when it is presented to them in an image completely out of its normal context no longer its everyday function it is now in an image that wants the viewer to focus in on its beauty and the shapes and forms it creates. I started off photographing everyday objects such as the contents of my pockets (keys, phone, wallet) on a plain white background taking photos in black and white I was also quite interested in the idea of objects being everyday to different people So I photographed my dads work boots as they were an object that were completely everyday to him but weren't for anyone else in the family. I then moved on to using more dramatic lighting with a range of other objects still all in black and white, I also took a couple of sets of images in a different styles out on the streets and in my house however I was less interested in taking those any further. I realised the more extreme the lighting and the more obscured the object was by the lighting and composition the more I liked it. So I began photographing objects and trying to obscure them to the point where it wasn't clear what they were any more I did it with lighting and also manipulating the objects myself physically for example sculpting the tissue paper around the light source , putting shoe laces in water and crushing the bar of soap in my hand . As well as this I took some photos inspired by Winokur which I used coloured paper as a background and editing the images into a grid and making the images brighter and more vibrant with photoshop, which led to me experimenting with the hue where I got the idea of creating a video with the image continuously changing colour and formation. When it came to my final outcomes I just had to pick my favourite images which I thought would work best together , I decided to pick four images of each different everyday object which I could then present in a four by four grid this layout was inspired by Boltanski's inventory exhibition. For the other piece I just picked eight different colours for each formation of the 4 everyday objects and put them into imovie so there was a continuous change in colour and I could loop the video which I could then project on to a wall. The desired effect of my final pieces is for the viewers impression of different everyday objects to be warped by the manipulation of ten through lighting , colour and composition and the relationship between the viewer has been changed to the point which they are no longer looking at the object in terms of what its everyday function is but looking at it as a piece of art.