Shape

Shape

Definition & Theory

Shape: A shape is an area enclosed by a line. 

It could just be an outline or shaded in.

Shapes can be either geometric, like a circle, square or triangle, or irregular.

When drawing shapes you must consider the size and position as well as the shape of the area around it.

Negative space: The are which surrounds the main subject in your photo (the main subject is known as the "positive space")

BILL BRANDT - NEGATIVE SPACE

This image is of a woman surrounded by darkness. In this image the woman looks upset as if she looks depressed, also the neck is covered in darkness as well this could be that her mind is separated from her body as the photographer believes that most men choose body over mind. The term 'body over mind' can also be seen by how her breast is seen and that would be what most people would look at first because you wouldn't really expect to see such a thing. Also, she has half a face this can show how beauty is what is 'important' in this society.

Research of artist

The photographer I have chosen is Bill Brandt. He was a British photographer and photojournalist. Although born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his images of British society. He is widely considered to be one of the most important British photographers of the 20th century. During World War II, Brandt concentrated on many subjects – as can be seen in his "Camera in London" (1948) but excelled in portraiture and landscape. To mark the arrival of peace in 1945 he began a celebrated series of nudes. Brandt became Britain's most influential and internationally admired photographer of the 20th century. Many of his works have important social commentary but also poetic resonance. His landscapes and nudes are dynamic, intense and powerful, often using wide-angle lenses and distortion. The following images are examples of his work...

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

Bill Brandt uses natural settings in his photography. All of his work seems to be in black and white which adds a more in-depth affect on the image and on the person looking at the image. The first image is of some type of bird on a large field, this image captures nature and how pure it is. The second image is of a pair of legs, this is part of Bill Brandt's project called "Brandt Nudes", where he explores the details of a women's body and if put into a obscure position, how different it looks. The third image is of a girl at the beach, she appears to be shirtless which shows she is free and confident. I feel that most of his work has a meaning behind it and I like how I can decide what that meaning is without looking at the photo description.

Image bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research...

The above images I am inspired by and I aiming to try and achieve similar photographs. I feel as if these are very 'everyday' objects which I see a lot around Harlow and other towns, so I know I can make similar photographs. Shape is located everywhere so I can take a variety of images. The first image is some power lines - because of the composition the power lines looks larger but further away., this image has a high aperture as you can see what is further away from the camera. The second image is of some salt and pepper, I chose this image because of the shape of the shadow surrounding the salt and pepper. The last image is of some poles, this has the shape in the circles the poles create.

(A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

Selected Images - CONTACT SHEETS

I took a few of these photos when I was on holiday in Spain with family and the rest in Harlow. I am happy with these as I was used to shooting with the Fuji Fineopix and also some where taken with the Samsung camera. Shape is clearly everywhere but it was difficult not to mix it with pattern as they can sometimes merge together. I am going to put some of my photos into photoshop and change the filter to black and white to make my images more close to what Bill Brandt created. I will also experiment with some other filters to just see what is the most appealing to me. The images I have created are all average as I am still exploring what sections I am good and what sections I need to improve on - with the sections I need to improve on I will do this over my time of doing more photography.

My best images

The shapes I have focused this on is the shape of the dogs. This was taken in the Harlow town park, I like this image because it looks like the dogs have an interest in something on the ground and it lets the viewer decides what it is they are sniffing. This has a high amplitude as you can see everything in the frame but you can tell where the main focus is (the dogs). I will edit this by using the spot-healing tool to get rid of some leaves, etc so the scenery looks cleaner.

 This image was taken on a light box. The camera focused really well on the dice and captured the reflection of the dice on the light box. The shape I focused on was the shape of the actual dice and the shape all three dices make which is a triangle. As the dice are facing different directions, this can show how even though they all face different directions they can still come together and form something new. This was taken in the studio where I felt like I was being rushed because there were others waiting to use the dice, even though I felt rushed I was still able to take a reasonable image which is one of my best images.

This was also taken on a light box. The background of this image is a chess board which compliments the main focus of the image, as they both relate to each other. This image shows a knight and a rook which are both used to protect the king and queen during the game. So by them being in focus and separate from the others, it can show the importance of them. This had the same situation with the dice, I feel the composition could have been a bit better but I can edit this in photoshop. I used a low aperture so the background is blurred and the two chess pieces together are focused.

This was taken in Spain. This image was taken to resemble some of Bill Brandt's work, as he does a lot of portraiture. I like this image because it shows that the girl is looking at something but we don't know what. I like how her blonde hair stands out against the white and grey background along with her yellow bathing suit. The shape focus for this was her head/top half of body - this image will be edited into black and white.

Images that require improvement

The first image is of my back door keyhole, I wanted this photograph to represent wasted space (the area around the keyhole) but I did not focus it right. I wanted this to also similar to one of Bill Brandt's images as it is an everyday thing but it can have a different meaning but this did not turn out like that. If I were to re-shoot this image I would use a tripod so I am able to correctly see what I am focusing on and change the settings.

 The second image is of a crested gecko and was taken in my room. I did use the flash for this one as the natural light was not good and I was not yet used to my new camera's settings. The reason I don't particularly like this image is because I do not like the background. It is too distracting and bumpy so it just ruins the photo, if I were too reshoot this I would take the picture on a flatter surface.

(A03: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress)

My idea of recording shape was to find shapes wherever and create my own shapes with different objects. I found it difficult to take photographs of very different shapes as I feel most of my images are the same. I tried my best to relate some of my images taken to my image bank and my researched photographer which I feel I have done. I feel I need to work on taking more photographs than what I think I should do because then I can talk more about my images, select my best & worst and relate more back to my research - by having more images it gives me more opportunities.

With the images I have now, I have the ability to make a short series of edited photos which will all relate to Bill Brandt. Bill Brandt's work has interesting and unusual scenes which I could have done but I may not have had the time to do such a thing as once I finished taking photos for this, I was suddenly researching about the next formal element - so there is a sense of rush within my work.

(AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops)

I used a Fuji Fineopix S9600 and a Samsung NX20 20.3 MP SLR. All of these images were taken using the manual focus on both of these cameras. I am starting to have more experience on the Samsung camera, so I have been changing the aperture settings and using the shutter speed. I believe that by having experience on two different cameras helps me see what different cameras can do. I enjoy using the Samsung camera more as it is new and easier to use/understand. Below I edited one of my images using photoshop to make it more alike one of Bill Brandt's images. To do this I changed it to black and white...

The final image was formed by using the curves setting, and I made the scene look lighter. Next I used the colour balance tool and adjusted the sliders, I made the yellow slider a bit higher than the others as it makes the whole image a bit brighter. The rest of the sliders are lower as it adds a darker effect. I like what I have created as it looks like a more meaningful photo, as it is an image of a bench by itself insinuating loneliness. I wanted this image to look depressing - I want this because its a single bench in the woods, this can give a sense of loneliness and depression. Because it shows a single thing by itself surrounded by big objects that can be overwhelming. There doesn't have to be a meaning behind this image because its just a photograph and it's up to the viewer to decide what is happening in this image. 

(AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding)

By researching photographers and their intakes on shape, I realised how some photographers are really creative and have used some sort of abstractness in their work. By exploring the different photographs/photographers I then knew how to capture shape. I believe my work does represent shape which I am pleased with. I enjoy my images of the people, because they are effective and I like how shape can represent a person. There was a mixture of different types of shape and interpretations of shape within these photographers, which I enjoyed because it gave me insights into what photographers see when they take photographs. I was able to take multiple images of different/similar things but I think I could have accessed a deeper understanding of what shape is and how I can photograph it.

(AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements)

Shape appears to be quite easy to take photos of because shape is everywhere, the thing I found difficult was taking photos of the right shapes and getting the right angles. As I was looking at a variety of images and professional photographers I was able to get different insights of what their interpretation of shape is, some were creative and some were basic. I found looking at basic and abstract interpretations of shape inspiring as I was able to look at objects and scenery in a different way. Below are some edits I made, there are a mixture of my selected and best images...

Next I have made some edits to represent a journey from home to a forest...