Project 7: Surrealism and Photo Montage

Pre Work

The surrealism movement was an artistic movement that started in the 1920's and ended in the 1960's. This movement was led by the poet Andre Breton and lasted through World War II. The "surrealists" as they called themselves aimed to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the imagination. They were very big on imagination and breaking the standard thoughts of realism and rational thought. They believed that the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighting it down with taboos. Their aim was to point out contradictions in everyday life and spark revolution. Surrealism artwork often had a collage of images that juxtaposed each other and caused the viewer to think. They also had elements of fiction and nonfiction mixed to affect the viewer.

Examples of Classic Surrealism

Vladimir Kush, African Sonata

The Persistence of Time, Salvador Dali

Examples of Surrealism In Modern Photography

Kyle Thompson 
Link: kyle_thompson

Ronen Goldman 
Link: magical-surrealism-photography

Ahermin 

Link: ahermin.deviantart

Final Edits

                              Many Men

For this image, I used two separate pictures of Lake Odell at different times of the day. One was the water and the other was the trees in the background. I started by merging these two photos together, then I took two mannequins that I photographed and added to the picture. I put the woman on the log and then put many copies of the man all around the landscape. I cropped the mannequins and changed their size to create depth and make the image more interesting, as well as adding a shadow to the closest one. Cropping created the effect of swimming. This picture was fun to make because I got to play around with positioning the mannequins and blending of photos. This is my favorite of the bunch. 

                             Watch Tower

This image was similar to the last one. I used a photo of a mannequin and a robot, as well as another picture of Lake Odell. The first thing I did was place the robots along the tree line and position them to look like sentinels. Then I put the mannequin in the foreground looking back at the viewer to give it a sense of realism and I put a very subtle texture over the photo. After all of my images were added, I made the photo black and white and tinted it a light golden yellow color. This was a hard one for me because I thought it was missing something until I added the mannequin. Overall I enjoyed making this picture.

                                  Legion

The original purpose for this image was to imitate the American flag by using the birds, but it didn't really work. I used two cutouts of birds and made a pattern with them. Then I isolated the flagpole and brought it to the front of the image. After all of my edits, I made the photo black and white and changed the color balance to give the photo more contrast. Even though this picture didn't work out the way I wanted it to, It helped me make the next image. 

                    Wing Spangled Banner

This is the result of the first images failure to replicate the flag. For this photo, I used the same background but I removed the flagpole and patched the hole with the healing tool. Then I took the same bird cutouts and made the stars and stripes with them. To really emphasize the fact that this was supposed to be a flag, I added colored boxes to separate the sections of birds and give it the red, white, and blue of our National Flag. I enjoyed making this much more than the last image because I got to work with colors, and still kept the pattern theme. Overall, I enjoyed this project. At first I was lost but once I had some guidance and used abstract thinking, it was much easier to create. Inserting images that don't belong in a setting is very fun to play with and leads to some crazy creations in Photoshop. 

Project 6: Alternative Process Through Digital Means

Pre Work

Wet Plate Collodion is an early photographic process invented in 1850's. The process entailed the material that the photo was on to be coated, sensitized, exposed and developed within the span of about fifteen minutes. A portable dark room was needed for this. The end product of this process is a photo that had a metal look to it that often had a grey or sepia tone. This was often on a glass or metal plate and had a ornate frame. (Photo from Quinn Jacobson. URL- http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/10/29/article-2478802-190C1A9900000578-128_964x750.jpg )


Cyanotype is a photographic process that produces a blue-cyan print. This process was used in the 20th century by engineers as a cheap way to reproduce prints. This is where the term blueprint came from. The process includes the two chemicals ammonium iron(III) citrate and potassium ferricyanide that are used. (Photo by Christian Marclay URL- http://www.usfcam.usf.edu/gs/artists/marclay_christian/marclay.html )



Gum Bichromate is a photographic process that was developed in the 19th century. It is based off of the light sensitivity of Dichromates. It is often a multi-layered printing process and any color can be added. There can be one layer or many. The desired effect can be achieved through use of different layers. Colors that are used often include: Red, Yellow, Blue, etc. (Photo by Marc San Valentin URL- https://vargasmuseum.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/nostalgia-by-marc-san-valentin/)

Original Artwork

For my original artwork, I wanted to experiment with different textures and colors and I really liked to use a rainbow effect. The brushes are very versatile and are useful for adding to a photo. 

Final Edits

Wet Plate Collodion

Cyanotype

Gum Bichromate

For project 6, we experimented with three new processes of digital editing. Each process is a mimic of a traditional process that was created and used before the digital camera. For each process I used brushes to make borders for my edits. Then I added a texture for each edit to give it an authentic look. After that I made each photo black and white and then adjusted the tint of the photo. After that I either added more textures, color layers, and brush effects. For my wet plate collodion, I tried to make it look aged by adding a sepia effect. This project helped me develop my knowledge of layers, editing processes, and Photoshop as a software. I think that this project was successful for me but I think I could have made better gum bichromates. Overall, I liked the project and thought it was useful.