Rosas_Marion_Midterm Local Edits and Five Categories

'Detail'

'The Frame'

'The Thing Itself'

'Time'

'The Vantage Point'

The image of the Starbucks coffee cup represents John Szarkowski’s concept of ‘The Thing Itself’ that he describes in his article ‘The Photographer’s Eye’. The original image of the cup was slightly darker, underexposed, and unclear. Although its simplicity made it beautiful, it was a vague and empty photograph that lacked a deeper meaning. I brightened the body of the cup in order to display its surroundings that were not captured in the frame. A subtle reflection of the photographer and the kitchen where the photo was taken now appears in the cup, giving it a story and making it more relatable to the human eye.

The self-portrait of the photographer represents the concept of ‘Detail’. This was the image that I edited the least in order to preserve its integrity. The only edits that I made were to enhance the small aspects of it that were not as clear. For example, I darkened and refined the hair and neutralized the overall temperature very slightly in order to clarify the photographer’s curly hair and the camera lens. As described in the article, the end result remained a recording of how the image was in real life rather than an interpretation of something it could have been.

The image of the backlit triceratops piggy bank represents the concept of ‘The Frame’. The point at which the triceratops’ horn leaves the top of the image creates the upper point of a triangle and the shadow that its overall body casts across the desktop creates the triangle’s base. If the photograph had been shot from the other side of the triceratops so that the body was illuminated, then the image would not appear as brooding and oppressive. This photograph was framed at a particular perspective that makes the object appear overbearing in the image. It would appear a different way if taken at a different angle in a different frame.  

The image of the candle reflects the concept of ‘Time’ as conveyed in the article. A flickering flame changes shape and brightness very quickly, so that every photograph taken of it will be very different from the previous. This image is an example of photograph caught at a certain moment, and that moment in time becomes special because it can never be caught again.

The photograph of the heart-print coffee cup correlates to Szarkowski’s concept of the ‘Vantage Point’. The window in this image is the most obvious vantage point, and is achieved through its brightness and contrast with the other colors in the image. It has a blue hue, making the rest of the image appear somewhat orange. Its contrast and vagueness foreshortens the proximity of the coffee cup, making the cup appear even closer to the photographer than it actually is.

Reading Response 1: ‘The Photographer’s Eye’_Marion Rosas

This article begins with the question that arose with the development of photography on whether or not it can be considered ‘art’, and discusses the conflicting values of both this new medium and conventional painting. It then continues to discuss the five elements that pertain to capturing the ‘truth’ in photography—‘the thing itself’, the ‘detail’, the ‘frame’, ‘time’, and ‘the vantage point’. Each one of these elements affects the way in which reality is perceived in a photograph, and can either be used to manipulate or enhance the truth depending on how the photographer utilizes them.

            ‘The thing itself’ conveys how the ‘truth’ within a photograph—the message attempting to be made—is not necessarily the same as the superficial reality of the photograph. This concept relates to the idea that a photograph is worth a thousand words, and I feel as though it is the element that encompasses the four others. The result of every other element alters the outcome of ‘the thing itself’.

            The ‘detail’ element is a recording, not an interpretation, of the clues that suggest the story in the image. This articles plays off the notion that perhaps the best way of displaying the truth is not to attempt to organize these small details—these ‘clues’ as they are referred to—but to display them in the order in which they were found, and to let their story speak for itself.

            The ‘frame’ element refers to the photographer’s inevitable condition of never being able to capture the entirety of an image. Therefore, it is the photographer’s responsibility to choose a part of an image that will most accurately display its overall truth.

            The ‘time’ element deals with the phenomenon of time and how everything in life is constantly changing. The article discusses how adjusting the exposure and aperture settings on a camera can obtain different sensations of time, but can never fully capture the eternal aspect of it. It can only capture one moment—or a short period with the use of a longer exposure—but the never reality of time forever.

            The ‘vantage point’ element was similar to the concept of framing an image. It refers to choosing a perspective that most accurately depicts the truth of a moment. It can either alter the image for better or for worse depending on the precision in which it is used.

            The main difference that I see between photography and conventional visual art—like painting as use as an example in the reading—is that all of the skill and precision used to create a photograph has to amount to a single moment when the photographer takes the shot; in painting, the painter can continue to add paint until the work is perfect. In order to readjust the moment in a photograph, the photographer would have to reshoot an image; this is not considering the editing capabilities of software like Photoshop. I also think that photography has also been accused of disguising the truth in an image, a form of morphing reality. On the contrary, I think that a painter can portray reality in whatever form he or she pleases, and that it has not always been the truth. In addition, Pablo Picasso was quote saying, “Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” There are many cases in which painting and photography have both manipulated reality in order to convey a deeper truth.

            Furthermore, it is difficult to capture reality in any form of art—whether it be photography or painting or something else entirely. No moment in life can ever be exactly the same because the world is always changing. Therefore no photo taken can ever fully capture the idea that we call ‘reality’. “But he also learned that the factuality of his pictures, no matter how convincing and unarguable, was a different thing than the reality itself.”

Lund: Reading Response 1

This reading allows us to go through photography in the view of the past. It explains how photographers struggled with themselves to paint scenes, capture them using photographic tools as well as their own creativity. In the beginning, photography was not so much an art as it was a very extensive process. However, as the camera developed from the old models to the ones of today, photography became easier and more accessible to the average person. The author describes the photographers most important five tools as such.

             

   The Thing Itself: 

      Everything happens, and then it is gone. Nothing will ever happen the exact same way ever. Even if it appears to do so, it is never the same. This makes each individual moment a memory. A photograph is original in it's way to tell the story of this moment and the subject can help portray this ability.

          

The Detail:

     As you walk along your day you pass millions of things that your eye is not drawn too. The photographer must teach himself to stop and observe the world around him. Textures, patters, lines, curves, shadows. All of these elements made the world seem surreal if used in the proper manner. It is the job of the photographer to express their own personal experience of the world using the details that they notice that others may not. This is something a painting could never accurately represent. If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."              "

              

The Frame:

     Tree branches, windows, door frames, clouds. All normal things that allow us to limit what is seen or what our eyes are drawn too. The photographer has full control over the edges of their frame and this gives them the power to limit understanding of a subject. In using framing the photographer chooses what is important.Additionally, the idea of filling the frame became very important.

Time:

     Before cameras were at the caliber that they are today, they were actually extremely slow. Both film and shutter speeds took large amounts of time to create an exposure. This however gave the photographer a creative tool that allowed them to express the passing of time. They could make a scene feel busy, or quiet, or loud etc. The goal was always to capture the moment, but we can see the importance of slowing the frame down at times.

         

Vantage Point:

     Lead them and they will follow. The use of angles and lines to create rules for the viewer is something the photographer mastered over their years of experimentation. The use of low angles looking up made things feel dominant. Or the angle looking downward could make the subject feel small and weak. Additionally the photographer used vantage points to lead people around their image forcing some subjects to be more important than others.

                

Personal Response: 

     This article is interesting. It is hard to fully understand the struggles of photographers in the past but it is still completely possible to understand their tools. The tools that we still to this day attempt to use and master. The tools that everybody views just a little differently. The tools that some rarely touch and the ones that if they were tangible objects would need to be replaced almost every month. It is every photographers goal to express the world in their own view and these tools can allow them to express that view in both a artistic and mechanical way to the world around them.

Alandra Chavarria - Final 5 Selections

Vantage Point

The Thing Itself

Time

Detail

Frame

The five photos I chose are examples of the thing itself, detail, frame, time, and vantage point, as described by John Szarkowski in The Photographer's Eye. Some are even combinations of these five components, which makes for an even more intriguing photo. I chose photos that I felt were interesting in angle, subject, lighting, and perspective. I tend to be drawn to details, colors, and subject matter which I think I also exposed in these photos. The photo titled "Detail" in particular, is a combination of timing, lighting, detail, vantage point, and framing. Probably one of my favorite of the five. The photo titled "Frame" was originally in color, but after focusing on the subject and the way the light hits the detailing of her hair, and the expression of her mouth, I found it to be more artistic and aesthetically pleasing in black and white. Aside from these five components, I find the collection of the photos to be important. Although they should be unique and different from one another, there should be a cohesiveness to them.

Bell, Tyler - Midterm: Five Selections

These five photos as shown below relate to the reading of "The Photographer's Eye," as I selected them to represent the five points listed in the article: Framing, Time, Vantage Point, Detail, and The Thing Itself. My photo for "Framing" is composed so the rock pathway draws the viewers eyes to the center of the frame, forcing the viewer than to view the reflections and detail of the photo. The path also separates the highly reflective and contrast of the water, making the eye scan around the photo. My photo for "Time" focuses clearly on a rusted fence, showing how time has displayed itself on a chain-linked fence through the orange, textured rust. In "Vantage Point," my image shows a point-of-view perspective of a rail-road track, putting the viewer in the same perspective the photographer was in. The  photo of "Detail" shows all the detail of the rocks. The solid background draws your eye back down to examine the rocks' detail. In "The Thing Itself," the image focuses on a single subject, a 'No Trespassing' sign that is attached to a chain linked fence. This strengthens the image as it separates the subject from the faint detail of a construction zone that the sign and fence is guarding. Overall, these images illustrate the points stated in the reading "The Photographer's Eye." 

Framing

Time

Vantage Point

Detail

The Thing Itself

Alandra Chavarria - Global Edits

Assignment 3 - Creative Camera

Single Subject

Abstract Subject/DOF

Stop Motion

Christine Gray: Photographer's Eye 5 Local Edits

Photographer's Eye Local Edits Contact Sheet

The Photographer's Eye talks about five extremely important aspects of photography: the thing itself, detail, frame, time, and vantage point. While all of these aspects are important in every photograph, it is interesting to me to see how different the photographs are when picked to represent each single category.  I would like to experiment more with focusing on each of these aspects individually when taking photographs, and then try focusing on different pairs, trios, etc. My goal is to get to the point where my mind will automatically think about each of the aspects when setting up a single photograph. Most people think about these aspects in some way when taking photographs, but it was very helpful to have them laid out so specifically. This article definitely helped me to define very specific and crucial things to think about whenever I'm setting up a photograph.

Autzen Reflection; The Thing Itself

Spider Web; Detail

Willamette Fog; Frame

Running Dog; Time

 

Creek Water; Vantage Point

Shannon Price: Local Edits and the Photographer's eye

The Thing its Self 

Detail

Frame

Timing

Vantage Point

                 These photos best capture the descriptions of vantage point, timing, frame, detail, and simply the photo alone. The vantage point photo is interesting to me because of the specific off-kilter shot. The timing of the cat shot is very cool as well. As we all know, cats are fairly quick and nimble and photographing them can be sort of difficult. I chose this photo among others because it is very crisp and has eye-contact. The framing photo of the car is my favorite because of the subject matter. Also, there is a sort of intimidating factor that comes from this photo between man and machine. The detail shot is really the lack of detail. When I think of detail, I think of one smaller aspect of a larger image. I tried to go with something contrary than the norm. the subject is a few string lights that are very out of focus. Finally, the photo alone is very funny to me. The photo is very odd and eye-opening to the viewer and I believe that is what a photographer should want with a photo. It should be able to draw the viewer in. 

Phun Mitchell - Local Edits

The Five photos that I have chosen according to the points made in "The Photographer's Eye" with relevance to the points that he made: "Detail, Framing, The Thing Itself, Time and Vantage Point". 

Each of the photos represent things discussed in the article. In detail, there are points of the photo that stand out to the viewer, things such as the 'Public Market Center' sign and and the little elements of the photo bring the viewer's eye to it (especially the reflection on the wet bricks). For framing, the photo I chose was taken at the Big Four Ice Caves, North Washington state, there isn't much to be said about the photo because the cave itself frames the subjects in the photo and the trees in the background. The cave forms a frame in which the viewer's attention is just drawn to the center focus of the photo. For 'The Thing Itself', I decided to choose a photo that had my two subjects smack right in the center of the photo, there's a difference between the photo and the subjects, the subjects bring the attention of the viewer to the photo, the expressions they have, the stance, the pose all give the viewer a sense of the atmosphere of the scene. For 'Time' I decided to use the time of the day to my advantage, the sun had just peeked through the cloudy skies of Seattle and made a nice color tinge in the clouds and the little puddle in the ground caused a great effect, a reflection from the sky in the water and the colors just popped. It gave a good effect based on the time, if it was too early in the morning I wouldn't have been able to capture the darkness of the scene, if it was in the middle of the day there would be a washed out effect and we wouldn't be able to see the details in the clouds and if it was too dark, there wouldn't be a reflection at all. In 'Vantage Point' I decided to go from a higher point of view and perspective, I was on top of a hill at Kerry Park, Washington facing down at the city below. The vantage point gave me a birds eye kind of view but not totally, it was more of a looking down at the city kind of feeling. It gives you the idea that the city was small enough to fit into one single frame. Vantage point gives the viewer a sense of the whole scene, the whole city was displayed, if I wanted to make the city look too big and over powering I would have picked a photo which was shot from below making the city look big, overwhelming and intimidating. 

Detail

Framing

The Thing Itself

Time

Vantage Point

Alandra Chavarria - Writing Response The Photographer's Eye

         This article discusses the relation of photography to traditional art, and what photography is as it’s own art form. Because it is it’s own medium, rather than a painting, drawing, or sculpture, photographers had to find their own ways to make a photograph a piece of art. At first, it wasn’t considered an art form because it required no training or schooling, the way a painter or a sculptor would need to learn skills and techniques. A photograph could be produced with skill and techniques, but many have been produced by “accident, improvisation, misunderstanding, and empirical experiment.” Slowly but surely, more and more “casual” photographers began their collections and soon enough people started to see the difference in these photographs. They found that no matter the subject, the photo was never the same whether it varied in lighting or composition. Finally, a new art form began.

            Photographers learned that photos were made of what was reality, what was seen right in front of the eye. It’s about the precision of capturing what is then and there, and anticipating what will happen next in order to successfully snap a shot of what the photographer is looking for. Photography is seen as an artistic form of capturing what is true. It was even seen as a form of capturing the symbolism of the event or subject in the photograph.

            The discussion of narrative within a photograph brought up the statement by photographer Robert Capa, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” Detail is an extremely important component of a photograph. Not only is capturing detail important, capturing the right piece of detail is equally as important. It is what tells the story, what reveals the truth and reality within the photograph.

            Framing is another critical component of photography. Choosing what should be left in or out, at what angle, and where the subject should be placed can make or break a photograph. It can completely change the mood, the symbolism, the message, or the narrative. It can cause question and discussion, or clarity and awareness, when studying the photograph.

            Photographs are moments of time being captured; a time frame that has been recorded and exposed on a piece of film or digital data. Given the amount of lighting the photographer has, a required duration of shorter or longer exposure is what creates the image in the photograph. Sometimes, photographs are even recorded time lapses, revealing that change of time whether it is seen through a mixture of lighting, movement, etc. Shutter speed plays into effect, freezing time within the frame. Moments of action can be frozen and captured, even in mid-air. This is when photographs begin to change from narratives to pictures.

            This makes for an interesting photograph, often more unique than a classic portrait. Photographs taken at worm’s eye or bird’s eye view, or from behind a subject gives the photograph perspective. From what view or angle a photograph is taken creates a shot with depth and intrigue; gives it a sense of the unexpected or the unknown being discovered.

            I found this article to be accurate and interesting. Photography is such a personal experience, and each photographer truly develops his or her own style and point of view, that when it closed with the idea that photography influences photography, I couldn’t help but agree more. I personally find a lot of inspiration and grow to love photography more and more simply by looking at photographs, and studying other photographers’ work. Aside from that, each component listed is exactly what I find essential for an artistic photograph. Sometimes I don’t realize it in my own work, but when I study someone else’s, I can critique his or hers and use it as a learning opportunity for my own work. That’s what I love about photography. You don’t have to copy someone else’s piece exactly the way they produced it, like you might for a painting or a drawing (replicate something as exact as you can), but you can allow it to filter through your work and combine techniques and ideas to create your own.