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Reading a photograph

Reading a photograph . Dr Amanda Crawley Jackson a.j.jackson@sheffield.ac.uk. So why are we doing this…?. (And what on earth has it got to do with French???). Interpret cultural products from France and the Francophone world

december
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Reading a photograph

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  1. Reading a photograph Dr Amanda Crawley Jackson a.j.jackson@sheffield.ac.uk

  2. So why are we doing this…? (And what on earth has it got to do with French???)

  3. Interpret cultural products from France and the Francophone world • Importance of art and visual cultures in France (and the importance of being able to talk about them / your general culture) • Importance of being able to understand an image; how it works; how it impacts on and influences us • Better understanding of the image-world in which we live • Usefulness in other areas – eg. film studies • Interpreting newspapers and magazines • Improving research and analysis skills • Employability

  4. EXAM! • Write an analysis of 2 images (by artist(s) you have studied on this course) • Images will be released on MOLE before the examination (at the beginning of the examination period); you’ll be notified by email • You are expected to prepare and research • You won’t have copies of the images in the exam • You’ll need to describe, interpret and analyse each of the images, compare and contrast them

  5. Reading a photograph • Using available information • Internal (what’s in the image) • External (academic and critical sources, press packs, gallery releases, artist statements, etc.)

  6. External information • Artist website • www.denis-darzacq.com

  7. Sheffield University Library • http://library.shef.ac.uk/ • Google Scholar

  8. Press resources • http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2007/mar/24/photography.features • http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/denis-darzacq-shop-till-you-drop-888009.html • (Easily located through Google and other search engines)

  9. Video resources • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O3f-doU9Kw • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HonzF8LbLE • (Easily located through Google and other search engines)

  10. Gallery resources • http://www.galerievu.com/ • http://www.kamelmennour.com/ • http://www.galeriechezvalentin.com/fr/ressources/

  11. Reading a photograph(What’s in the photograph?) • DESCRIBE • INTERPRET • EVALUATE

  12. DESCRIBE • Describe the images as they are – not as reproductions on the page of a book • (so think about size, the way they’re exhibited, etc.) • What’s in the photograph? • Who? What? Where? When?

  13. Context: Hyper series (2007-2009) Subject: Young man dancing/jumping in a supermarket aisle Subject matter: Consumerism; consumer society; supermarkets and other disciplined spaces/spaces of consumption

  14. DESCRIBE Guillaume Lemarchal, Salle de musique (2008) Context: Work in Chernobyl & Pripiat, 2005 - ; Paysages de l'après (2008) Subject: piano in an abandoned room at Chernobyl Subject matter: nuclear catastrophe; the impact of human activity on the natural landscape; ecological disaster; effect on human civilisation

  15. DESCRIBE • SOME BASICS • Is it a digital or film photograph? If it is digital, has it been digitally manipulated? • Is it printed or projected in exhibition? • How large is the print? • How has the photograph been printed?

  16. Nicolas Moulin

  17. How is the photograph displayed and exhibited?

  18. Denis Darzacq

  19. DESCRIBE THE FRAME • Is the frame rectangular (horizontal or vertical) or square? • What is inside the frame (of the image)? • What has been left out? • What does the frame tell us about the position from which the photograph has been taken? • Is there a frame within the frame? If so, why do you think this might be?

  20. Malik Nedjmi, From the Ramadan series (2004). Lambda print, 100x100cm

  21. Zineb Sedira, Another Sight I (2008), C-print, 120 x 100 cm.

  22. DESCRIBE COLOUR Black and white… or colour? • What is the effect of the choice of colour/b&w? • If the photo is in colour, what kind of colours are used? What is the effect of this?

  23. La Chute (2005-2006). Hyper (2007-2009)

  24. DESCRIBE CONTRAST George Dureau, Bergamo Joseph Robinson (1978). Philippe Bazin, Détenus (1999) Mathieu Pernot, Cour de promenade, quartier d’isolement (2001-2002)

  25. Are there any contrasts in the image? • Contrasts of shape? • Contrasts of colour? • Contrasts of texture? • Contrasts of tone? • Contrasts of scale? • Contrasts of lighting?

  26. Valérie Jouve • Contrasts of shape? • Contrasts of colour? • Contrasts of texture? • Contrasts of tone? • Contrasts of scale? • Contrasts of lighting?

  27. Valérie Jouve • Contrasts of shape? • Contrasts of colour? • Contrasts of texture? • Contrasts of tone? • Contrasts of scale? • Contrasts of lighting?

  28. DESCRIBE COMPOSITION Can you see any (actual or implied) horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines in the image? • What do the lines suggest about the image? What emotions and responses do they evoke? • Is there any repetition and/or parallelism in the image (shapes, tones, motifs, colours)?

  29. DESCRIBE THE ‘GOLDEN SECTION’ • Has the photographer applied the rule of threes? In other words, has the image drawn on any of the strongest/most emphatic visual lines?

  30. DESCRIBE PERSPECTIVE • MOVEMENT IN THE IMAGE • Describe the lines of perspective. What effect do they create? • Does the perspective imply a certain directional movement? • Where do the lines and shapes draw your eye? Where do they lead the eye to rest? What is the effect of this? What are they drawing attention to?

  31. DESCRIBE • EXERCISE Kader Attia, Rochers carrés (2009) Zineb Sedira, The Lovers (2008)

  32. DESCRIBE MOVEMENT • How is the movement created in the image? • Is it created by a person, a moving object (for example, a car), by something moving or pointing, the direction of a gesture, glance or gaze? In this case, this is a motion vector. • Is it created by a geometric shape or a line? In this case, it is a graphic vector.

  33. Denis Darzacq, Hyper (2007-2009)

  34. DESCRIBE FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND • What is in the background? What is in the foreground? • Whereabouts in the image is the subject? Is the balance symmetrical or asymmetrical? Has the artist used the rule of thirds? Has the artist used classical balance (a centred subject)?

  35. Mohamed Bourouissa, L’Entraîneur (Périphérique) (2007)

  36. Sébastien Erome, Une petite fille se baigne dans le Danube devant une usine pesticide à Turnu Maguerele en Roumanie en Août 2003 (2003).

  37. DESCRIBE FOCUS Bruno Boudjelal, Jours intranquilles (1993-2003)

  38. DESCRIBE DEPTH OF FIELD Shallow depth of field Large depth of field http://www.photoaxe.com/depth-of-field-photography-tutorial-part-3/

  39. DESCRIBE LIGHTING • Is the lighting natural or artificial? Strong or weak? • Does the lighting highlight anything within the image? • Are there any shadows in the image?

  40. Mohamed Bourouissa, La République (2007) Chiaroscuro (clair-obscur) lighting

  41. DESCRIBE POINT OF VIEW (POV)

  42. Frontal shot Low-angle shot

  43. High-angle shot

  44. http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/

  45. DESCRIBE INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES Mohamed Bourouissa, La République Lambda print, 137 x 165 cm (2006)

  46. Eugène Delacroix, La Liberté guidant le peuple (1830)

  47. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)

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