The Exam Stimulus

The other day I was given an exam stimulus entitled 'Combinations and Alliances'. This initially came across as the exam board just being awkward but I soon came to see it as an opportunity to express a great deal of creativity. Combinations and Alliances are present absolutely EVERYWHERE. Almost everything needs some sort of combination/alliance to work to it's full efficiency and if it doesn't then at some point in it's origin some sort of combination was needed.

Combinations and Alliances don't even need to be seen in nature. Just put two things together and it can actually be seen as either or both. I decided to take this opportunity to delve back into the world of photo-manipulation and see what I could create because the whole idea of photo-manipulation is essentially combining to images/ideas and creating some amazing out of it.

Research - Sarolta Ban

As part of the creative process I decided to research a photographer named Sarolta Bán. She's found fame as a photo-manipulator and I like the way she takes ordinary elements and by combining them, she creates various stories, personalities. The meanings of my pictures are never too limited, they are open in some way, each viewer can transform them into a personal aspect. Everyone is able to draw their own meanings from an image.

This image in particular is one that caught my attention and I immediately aspired towards being able to create this type of image.

The scale of everything in the image is definitely an aspect that I want to follow up on. The fact that the crows are bigger than the man and ironically form a gang around than the person is interesting.

What's even more interesting is the fact that the 'head crow' seems to be offering the man his hat while he maybe seeks to walk on oblivious to them.

The two crows further into the back ground seem to be the same bird but they may have been manipulated so that they are facing each other and the man.

The background itself seems to be two images stitched together (the ground and the clouds) but I think this helps add to the surrealism of the picture where the boundaries are quite visibly blurred.

The man himself has obviously been lifted from another image. In reality his photograph could have been taken with him unawares.

 She generally uses similar (the same) images throughout her photographs and this actually creates a surreal experience.

Some of her images are often taken and re-contextualised to create a greater meaning in her photos and hr portfolio in general.

She uses some some of filter on her images that gives it a painted feel. When I first looked at her images I had to do a double take because her work doesn't actually resemble a photograph at first sight.



Toast contact sheet

Multiple angles to experiment with the best possible shot. I eventually settled on the simple front-on shot because it gave me more room to experiment with it. It was also easier to add the wisp of smoke.

A Toast

With this image I put my own spin on Sarolta Ban's knack for putting completely irrelevant pictures together and creating one image that has multiple interpretations. This image itself was inspired by a Writer's prize giving ceremony and I thought it was ironic when they said things like 'Let's have a toast' especially when I'd seen images of book burnings earlier. The image itself was a relatively simple shot with the only additions in post-production being the wisp of smoke and some vignetting around the edges of the image. Overall, I think the image went well, it could have been better if the books were more politically motivated.

Smoothie contact sheet

Took a while to find an appropriate setting on he phone to assure that the numbers where visible on the screen. Also had to make sure enough of the blender was visible so onlookers could realise what it was and hopefully work out the concept of the image.

Smoothie



Final natural lighting)



Artificial lighitng



 Further working on Combinations and Sarolta Ban's knack for place objects in unusual places, I decided to do some more experimentation. I got the idea for the BlackBerry in a blender from watching my little sister making smoothies. It caused me to think about the advent of technology and where brand's draw their inspiration from and where they may look to improve their goods.

I found the idea of a BlackBerry in a blender very funny as it is a visual play on words and it was actually something people are contemplating doing due to the BlackBerry's notorious unreliability. The idea of the phone calling emergency services also came to me when I realised that the BlackBerry is actually a smartphone, a technology that it constantly getting more advanced as the months go by. A phone trying to save it self from 'murder' might actually become a reality (an idea I found extremly funny).

After a few attempts I managed to capture an image I liked (after experimenting with artificial and natural lighing). I upped the contrast and converted into black and white whilst paying special attention to the screen to make sure it didn't white out. I also added some vignetting to the corner of one the images for added effect.

The Plan

This is a rough plan I have in mind for a shoot. I want to create an image reminiscent of a stairway to heaven with photo-composition playing a key part with the clouds staircase and light bulbs all comprising of separate images. Hopefully the image would be versatile enough so people can develop their own interpretations of the photo. While planning for the shoot, I'll also need to take into consideration the fact that the authorities at Southwark Station  might not want me taking photographs within the station so I need to find out what stipulations they may have in place before I actually go out for the shoot.