What is a selfie? A selfie is slang for self-portrait, and are often taken on mobile phones, and shared on social media. They are pictures used for self expression, and are shared between friends. According to a survey, 24 billion selfies were uploaded to the internet in 2016. The earliest known 'Selfie' was photographed by Robert Cornelius, in 1839. This was the same year that Louis Daguerre patented his own 'invention' of photography as a more widely accessible process. Self portraits were first painted before they began to be photographed. The selfie has since become a common staple, and is often seen in photography, as well as used by people every single day. |
For this part of the task, I liked Andre Kertesz's 'Self Portrait', because of how he used his shadow to clearly show his outline and camera; despite having no detail or colour. I tried to incorporate this into my work, using my sister as a model so that I was able to photograph her shadow from the best angles. I also tried to use Kertesz's style when photographing my shadow against a tree - as you can see my outline clearly as well as my phone. Using a combination of family members as well as myself allowed me to take a larger variation of pictures, and experiment with different ideas. |
For my reflected selfie task, Duane Michal's 'Magic Mirror of Uncertainty' inspired many of my distorted mirror images. I liked the way my reflection could be manipulated to however I wanted it to, by using different kinds of mirrors. The placement of the mirrors I used also had an affect on how my face distorted. I also used objects other than mirrors to reflect my face in - like my phone, car and shop windows, and water such as puddles and a pond. In some cases my face was blurred or partly covered, but you are still able to tell that the image is a reflection of me. |
Marta Bevacqua's 'Floralia' images really appealed to me as they use nature to partially obscure the models' face, while not completely covering it. The contrast between human and nature - or manmade, in the case of some of my images, for example the coloured
plastic - created interesting selfies. As part of the face is covered, it encourages the viewer to focus on other areas, that you may perhaps not notice as much when viewing the entire face. |
The Main Light: With the model directly facing the camera, the main light is positioned above her head and to one side. The light is quite close and low, to create shorter shadows on the side of her face and below her chin.
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The Fill Light: This light is less intense than the main light, and fills in the shadows that were created before. It is positioned on the opposite side of the models face.
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The Hair Light: This third light is positioned above the models head, towards the back/side, which highlights their hair and adds more light to fill in other gaps.
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Tungsten Lighting - This is a very warm artificial lighting. It is very yellow/orange, and can be seen in domestic environments, such as in ovens, bathrooms, lamps and kitchens; but also in exterior areas such as steel lamps and theatre stage lights. I used a tungsten studio light to create these images, which created a warm tone to my models skin, and also dark shadows on the side further away from the light. |
One of the Librarians:
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The Caretaker:
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The Canteen Staff:
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The Receptionists:
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The DT staff:
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Music office:
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This college of Muhammad Ali was inspired by Watts' work. I wanted to incorporate bright, bold colours like he does; but also contrast these with the black and white images. I think this contrast also made the black and white images stand out more, especially as I created silhouettes of the main image with coloured paper. I did this to represent the effect we see in cartoons/films, when someone is punched and are thrown backwards in slow motion, and also to show how there are many versions of ourselves - all building up to the version we present to everyone else. I included the cut out words to reinforce the idea of words and our own beliefs contributing to who we are - especially as Ali was confident and outspoken about what he believed in. The image of Muhammad Ali on his shoulder symbolises how no matter what, you always have yourself and the only person who can achieve what you want to, is yourself. This tied into Ali's famous quote 'I am the greatest', suggesting he thought highly of himself, which helped him to achieve his successes and fame. I coloured all of the boxing gloves red to make them stand out, and to emphasise the importance of them in the sport; and also the danger they represent. Lastly, the masking tape at the bottom of the collage cleaned up the edges of the cutouts, and is a technique Watts uses throughout his work. Overall, my collage was successful in representing the different ideas I wanted to include, in an eye catching and interesting way.
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Lastly, I chose to include the image of my face with red blocks over my eyes and mouth to symbolize the city and the environment I live in is so much bigger than I am, and how I'm just one tiny part of it all. People, especially teenagers like myself, may struggle to have their voice heard, and I think that is an issue we see a lot in the media/news. |
For my own 'Urban Culture' themed collage, the overall idea I wanted to incorporate was that London is represented as this big, amazing city where you can achieve anything you want to, and that the possibilities are endless. I wrote 'Welcome to London, where the sky is the limit...' over some of my images, to reinforce this idea. Next to this text is a cut out of the sky, to create a contrast with the grey background it is on top of. I think that we as young adults often take advantage of where we live, and don't really think twice about it, whereas in actual fact, we are so privileged to have grown up here and in this environment. There are so many opportunities available to us, and always things to go out and do - hence the skyline running down the side of my collage. I used masking tape for this, as it is a technique we see in Watts' collages. We are able to travel into the city and see these world famous landmarks virtually any time we want to. The slogan at the bottom of my collage - 'Home of amazing moments' - was the slogan for a tourist campaign to promote the city, which I thought tied in with my ideas about how London is represented. I then included some examples of these key 'London features', such as the image of Westminster Station to represent the famous Tube signs all over the city, as well as the BAFTAs award and other snippets of the city. The image on the bottom right was originally of my friends on the tube, but I cut them out and replaced them with an image of some buildings in the city - representing how where we live is a key part of us/our identity. Similarly, I included another image of my friends on an escalator going down to the tube, with the text 'One Of Many' written on the closest person. I added this text to match the image, as there are multiple people in it; and it also references all of the people my age across the city. Next, I used the image of graffiti on the top right, as it matches the colours of the Union Jack, which I tried to include throughout. The text on this image also reinforces the idealistic ideas of London.
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