A2 Photography Related Personal Study
 
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The personal study should, first and foremost, be about a topic that interests you. You will do a much better job, and will be much happier reading and looking at photographers/digital artists if it is something you are interested in. Think about photographers or digital artists whose work you feel strongly about. Passion makes the writing much easier. Secondly you should pose a question. It is much easier to write a study when it has a purpose. Some ideas: Compare and contrast the work of two photographers. Choose two that have some similarities, maybe in subject matter or the time they lived in. Discuss the similarities and then the differences. You can focus on just one area of their work if they were prolific. Discuss what has influenced the photographers work. How has one photographer’s work influenced many? Photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams have influenced hundreds of other photographers. Of course you can think of any question to set yourself. Next the study should be PERSONAL. This means it should be about your response to the works of art. How does it make you feel? What story does it tell you? What do you conclude from looking at the photograph? The study should be about your opinions and feelings. The study should explain the relationship between your work and the work of the photographer/s / digital artsist/s You can refer to other people's interpretations of a piece but you should always state this and never pass these opinions off as you own. Always write it in quotations and give the author's name. IMPORTANT !!!!!!! A personal study is not just a biography of the artist. You will get few marks for simply re-writing a book on an artist's life. Biographical details should be brief and could be included as an appendix if you have too many words! Here are a few suggestions of things to include in your study: Introduction. State the purpose of the study, the question that you are going to answer, the theme which you are going to explore. Make an analysis of at least two photographs by each photographer in your study. Describe the picture, how it makes you feel, what it tells you. Is it relaxing or energetic, narrative or impressionistic? Visit galleries to view original works and write about your visit. How does it feel to view an original work compared with seeing a reproduction? Were the colours different? Was it bigger or smaller than you imagined? Exciting or disappointing? Conclusion. What is the answer to your question. What have you found out? Was it what you expected or were you surprised by it? Add a bibliography and list any other resources that you used, such as museums, galleries or websites. Remember that there is no 'right' answer to your study; you simply have to show that you have thought about the photographers work.
Analysing others work. Some useful questions: What do you like about the photographers work? What techniques has the photographer used to achieve the finished image? What is the mood of the piece How do the techniques used add to the mood of the piece How could you bring these techniques into your own work Is there a meaning/story behind the artwork? Consider: Content What is actually going on in the piece of work? Describe what you see as if you are explaining to someone who cannot see it and has to photograph it themselves. How do lines, shapes, tones, volumes, textures, patterns, sizes, and their interactions effect the viewer's response?  What about the relationships, repetitions, and placements of the elements? Analyze cause and effect.  How? Why? Why? Speculate about the intentions of the photographer.  Why would this photo be made?  How would it be used? Why do you think so?  What is it about the photo that gives this idea?  Site the evidence. Process What techniques were used? What media and tools? Mood Is the piece of work sad, happy, frightening,etc. Why? How do the tones, colours and techniques used effect the mood? CREATIVITY? What do you see as the most innovative and creative aspects of the photo?
Analyze the photograph (Mark the correct descriptions &/or fill in blank spaces with descriptions.) A.  How would you describe the STYLE of this photograph?              ___ Realistic                                   ___ Dream-like / Surrealistic                 ___ Story-telling              ___ Expresses Emotion             ___ Abstract:       ___ Mostly Geometric Shapes             ___ Mostly Organic Shapes B.   Where do you think the EMPHASIS is -- that is, where did the artist want our eyes to go?       __________________________________________________________________________________________________   What did the photographer use to draw our eye to the point of emphasis? (eg.  leading lines, etc.)       __________________________________________________________________________________________________ C.  DEPTH OF FIELD: Are the things you see in the background in sharp focus or has a limited depth of field deliberately been used to make background elements appear blurry to keep the emphasis on the main subject and to avoid unnecessary distractions?       ___ sharp focus                  ___  selective focus (subject is sharp but background is blurry) D.  Which COMPOSITION guidelines or techniques appear to have been used? ___  Foreground Framing                               ___  Strong Geometric Shapes   ___  Point of View (bird’s eye/worm’s eye)    ___  Interesting Silhouettes / Shadows    ___  Fill the Frame                                         ___  Rhythm / Repetition / Pattern ___  Emphasis by selective focus (sharp subject / blurry background)    Peak of Action:      ___ Freeze Action          ___ Panning Leading Line(s):       ___Vanishing Point         ___Other type of leading line                       ___Other (describe: ____________________________________________ ) IV.  Visual / Graphic COMMUNICATION Answer each of the following questions as precisely as possible.  Please use complete sentences to answer the questions.  (If you need more space, use a separate sheet of paper.)  The answers to these questions should be directly connected to the observations you made in the earlier sections of this analysis sheet.  A.   Every photograph contains details or “clues” that help the photographer tell a story or communicate an idea.   Imagine that the artist is trying to speak to you using this artwork instead of words.  What do you think he or she is trying to say?  (i.e. What does this artwork make you think about?) 1.  List /describe as many details or “clues” that you see in this photograph as possible.  __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.  What message do these “visual clues” tell you? __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________   B.  If you were to see another artwork by the same artist what would you expect to see that is the same as what you see in this artwork?  (Please NOTE:  This is not a Yes/No question!!!) __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ C.  Either Compare this artwork to a different artwork you have seen (using art vocabulary) OR Relate this artwork to something you have experienced in your life. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ V.  Aesthetics  (If you need more space, use a separate piece of paper.) A.  In your opinion is this an example of ‘good’ art?      _____  Yes      _____   No       Why or why not? __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ B.  If you were the photographer taking this picture what would you have done differently to either improve the design or to communicate a message more clearly? __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________