Researching photographers…
You will regularly have to carry out independent research into photography techniques, styles or specific artists and photographers. To ensure that you are successful, use the following to help you:
- Find a photographer that inspires you. Select the photo that gives you the most ideas and print it out ready to present in your book. Write down the name of the photographer and if you can find it, make note of the title of the image.
- See if the photographer says anything about their style, influences or photography technique – if they do, print this to help you later.
- Use some of these questions to help you, and always use key words to achieve the best marks:
- How does the photographer take his photos?
- What camera settings and photography techniques do they use?
- What formal elements do they use and how?
- What effect does this have on the images?
- What kind of editing is used?
- How does this affect the way you view the photos?
- What do you like about the style? Be specific and explain your answer.
- How does this photographer give you ideas for your own work? How will you take inspiration from them?
- Always create your own version of photographers work where possible as this is the best way to demonstrate an understanding of their technique. Don’t just copy though, make it your own in some way in order to get the higher marks.
Going for gold
Advanced analysis: Talking about a specific photograph
It is unnecessary to discuss everything in this list, but choose a few additional things to discuss in addition to the above. Choose the bits that will be most interesting to talk about.
When you are writing about how you FEEL about the piece you could use…
When you are writing about the STRUCTURE of the piece of art you could discuss…
When you are writing about EFFECTS (filters or layers) you could use…
When you are talking about CONTEXT (how it relates to other things) you should talk about:
When you are writing about COLOUR use words like…
When you are writing or talking about a STYLE of work refer to Photographic genres like…
When you are writing about how you FEEL about the piece you could use…
- Mood
- The photograph gives the impression of…
- Attitude and Focus (is there a key feature?)
- Subject (what is in the picture)
- The photographer gives a sense of….
- There is a suggestion of…
- The scene portrays a…
- There is a feeling of…
- The immediate impact this image has on me is…
When you are writing about the STRUCTURE of the piece of art you could discuss…
- Composition (the layout of the piece, is it in thirds? Off centre?)
- What is in the Foreground/mid-ground/background? (where is the focus?)
- Diagonal/vertical/horizontal lines
- Form (what is the shape of the key objects in the image?)
- Layers (building it up, in Photoshop)
- Sections (different parts, is it broken up or merged together?)
- Procedure (the steps taken to achieve the finished piece)
When you are writing about EFFECTS (filters or layers) you could use…
- Different lenses (wide angle, telephoto, macro)
- Balance of Curves, contrast, colour (with lots of expression)
- Filters- Glows, Vignette, Blur, render, sketch
- Collage
- Saturation of colour
- Cropping (this can massively change the way you read the image!)
- TONE – (is there lots of extreme black and white or soft mid-tones/greys?)
When you are talking about CONTEXT (how it relates to other things) you should talk about:
- Influences (e.g. My photograph is influenced by the Photographer…)
- Does it look like any other Photographers work? How?
- Why did artists of this time choose to work this way?
- The culture of the time
- Are they influenced by FILM, PAINTING, THEATRE or MUSIC
When you are writing about COLOUR use words like…
- Saturated, de-saturated
- Warm, Cool, atmospheric
- Certain tints of one colour
- The Photographer has used a very limited colour palette (range)
- Complimentary colours (these look good together)
- Clashing colours (these look bad together)
- Sensitive (careful and with much thought)
- Does it fit with the image? What does it add/take away?
When you are writing or talking about a STYLE of work refer to Photographic genres like…
- Portrait/Landscape
- Surrealist (dream-like, make-believe)
- Documentary (recording events, political, informative)
- Conceptual (with complex ideas and meaning)
- Fashion
- Media (news, magazine, newspaper)
- Fine Art ( geared towards galleries, can be very experimental and abstract)
Key Words
Camera settings
Macro, fast or slow shutter speed, zoom, focus, panoramic,
Ways of taking a photograph
Digital (DSLR), traditional (SLR), wet film photography, darkroom, pinhole, photogram, Tripod, flash, light reader
Formal elements
Shape, Texture (natural or man made), Pattern (natural or man made, Line, Tone (shadows), Lighting (see highlights on something, eg. shine), Colour (Bright, dull, contrasting, monotone), Composition (centred, off centre, to the side of the photo), viewpoint, Framing (line up edges of photo with edges of subject)
Viewpoints
Distance, perspective, angles, distorted, birds eye, aerial, forced perspective, illusion, close up, macro
Photoshop
Brightness, contrast, hue and saturation, layers, filters, curves, colour splash, de-saturate, crop, select, magic wand tool, levels, erase, alter, manipulate, enhance, change, develop, correct
Darkroom process
Aperture, enlarger, exposure timing, negatives, developer, stop bath, fixer, wash, under exposed, over exposed, focus, blur
Portraiture
Traditional, environmental, candid, lifestyle, surreal, conceptual, abstract, emotion, mood, facial expression, eye contact, gaze, pose, position, interaction, engaging the viewer, character, close up, full length, head shot
Macro, fast or slow shutter speed, zoom, focus, panoramic,
Ways of taking a photograph
Digital (DSLR), traditional (SLR), wet film photography, darkroom, pinhole, photogram, Tripod, flash, light reader
Formal elements
Shape, Texture (natural or man made), Pattern (natural or man made, Line, Tone (shadows), Lighting (see highlights on something, eg. shine), Colour (Bright, dull, contrasting, monotone), Composition (centred, off centre, to the side of the photo), viewpoint, Framing (line up edges of photo with edges of subject)
Viewpoints
Distance, perspective, angles, distorted, birds eye, aerial, forced perspective, illusion, close up, macro
Photoshop
Brightness, contrast, hue and saturation, layers, filters, curves, colour splash, de-saturate, crop, select, magic wand tool, levels, erase, alter, manipulate, enhance, change, develop, correct
Darkroom process
Aperture, enlarger, exposure timing, negatives, developer, stop bath, fixer, wash, under exposed, over exposed, focus, blur
Portraiture
Traditional, environmental, candid, lifestyle, surreal, conceptual, abstract, emotion, mood, facial expression, eye contact, gaze, pose, position, interaction, engaging the viewer, character, close up, full length, head shot
Talking about your own photographs…
All of your work should have a brief explanation. You do not need to write about every photograph, and you should NOT write pages and pages! However you should include the following for each task:
- What was the task: what skills did you develop and how did you apply them?
- If you linked to a photographer: which photographer inspired you and how?
- Explain the photography techniques: which formal elements, camera settings, and editing techniques did you use? How and why?
- Reflect on the strengths: what works well and why?
- Suggest ways of improving: what would you do differently next time? How would the photo improve as a result?