Montage: Activity 4

Activity 4
Find two examples of photomontages that are either from a commercial source or from a fine art background. Discuss in what context they have been produced and what techniques they share with political photomontages.
What messages, if any, are communicated through these photomontages and how effective do you think they are? Consider different ways that each image could have been tackled by the artist and come up with an idea for ‘another in the series’.

Calleja Anthony

Artist Jim Painter

This photo by Manuel Strehl was produced from a fine art perspective. The photo combines pictures of two different fruits and creates an illusion by putting one image inside the other, rather than creating the illusion by changing the position or physical location of objects- as in the political photomontages. This photo is very well done and looks natural.

Photo by Manuel Strehl

Photo by Joachim Beyrowski

This photo by Joachim Beyrowski was produced from a fine art background. Like the political cartoons, it moves two images to make it seem like they are one. By putting someone swimming in the street, the photo may be trying to convey a metaphorical message such as taking the "road less traveled" through hard work displayed by the swimmer. This is a very interesting image that must have taken a lot of editing to get the shadows and highlights look real.

Montage: Activity 3

Activity 3
As editors exercise their ever-increasing power over information control, what limits would you impose on them as to the extent to which they can manipulate the photographic image?
Devise a series of guidelines that will control the release of images that have been constructed for media use so that the public is aware as to the extent of the manipulation.

Doctored Image of President Hosni Mubarak at Mideast peace talks!

 Un-doctored Photo

Guidelines:
1. The image should look similar and not drastically different from the original
2. Physical appearance of a person should look similar to original
3. Pictures should not be changed drastically for hateful purposes
4. If changed, there needs to be notice of the change to the public wherever published


As editors exercise their ever-increasing power over information control, I would limit them so that they could not display altered information without telling the public that the image is altered. They should only be able to distribute altered images if the people who are going to receive the image are aware that the image has been altered in some way, but encourage them to keep the photo as real as possible. This will help avoid misinformation in the media and display things as they truly happened.

Montage: Activity 2

Activity 2: Blog Entry
Find two examples of political photomontages that are either from a historical or contemporary source.
Discuss in what context they have been produced and how effective you think they communicate their intended message.
Discuss the techniques that have been used to assemble the examples you have chosen and offer alternative ways that the artist could have put over the same message.

Photo by: Alice Matkins

In this example of a political photomontage, they are trying to communicate how Hitler only let people of his Aryan race compete in the Olympics. The artist of this photo has put dog collars on the athletes with Hitler, who is shown as a small powerless child, holding the leashes. It shows how the competitors were under Hitlers control and did not really have a choice in the matter. It also shows how proud Hitler was of his Aryan race, even though Jesse Owens beat them in the Olympics. 

Photo by: John Heartfield

In this photomontage, Adolf Hitler's face is cropped into a monkey's body and wearing a war helmet with a sword in hand. My interpretation of this image is that Hitler is being depicted as a wild and untamable animal. The photographer is showing their feelings of what they think they truly represent. I feel that this photographer could have cropped this character into a zoo or location with large amounts of animals to show the uncontrolled nature of this subject.

Montage: Activity 1

Activity 1: Blog Entry
Briefly discuss why you think painters of the Victorian period might have criticized these early photomontages and why the pictures were popular with the general public. (This technique of piecing together separate images to create one picture is again very popular with both artists and the media).

What two reasons can you think of for this revival of an old technique?

Image by: Jerry Uelsmann

Image by: Jerry Uelsmann

Painters in the victorian times might have criticized these techniques because they were untraditional. Painting is an art that has a direct focus instead of all over the place like the images that are pieced together. The images would appeal to the general public because they were unexpected and interesting, not seen anywhere else. I can assume that this technique is in revival because it is very interesting to look at, it gives a very different message than what is originally seen in the image. It might also be revived because it is fun for the artist to take an image that already exists and create something completely new and interesting. It is taking an art that is made to capture a moment and twist that moment into new art form.

Portraiture and Studio Photography: Activity 3

Activity 3

Collect four portrait images with two to five subjects. In at least one image the subject should have been placed in the foreground. Comment on the arrangement of the subjects in relation to the camera and the effectiveness of the design.

Photo by: Arina B 

This picture shows two women laying their heads against each others with flower decoration in their hair. The frame is filled mostly with their faces and upper half of their bodies, along with some blurry and very faint flowers in the foreground of the image. The way that these ladies are placed suggests that they are similar and very close in their relationship as sisters.

Photo By: OSU 

This image shows a subject in the background and foreground. This has helped to bring depth and variety into the frame and has created more room for landscape to be apart of the photograph. The camera was placed at a lower level, allowing more of the ground to show and be a component of this particular image.

Photo By: Amelia Lyon 

This picture shows a family in nature. Both parents are looking at the child while the girl is facing towards the camera and looking directly into the lens. The placement of these subjects brings them in full view and captures all of the audiences attention towards them.

Photo by: Medscape 

This picture shows two people walking with their dog through nature full of trees. The photographer is using a great depth of field to show the detail of everything in the picture.

Portraiture and Studio Photography: Activity 2

Activity 2
Find four portraits that demonstrate the different ways a photographer has framed the image to alter the design and content. Discuss the vantage point, depth of field and subject placement in all of the images.

Image by: Monika Penkuku

This image is framed with the car window from a straight on view. It's a very simple photograph but seems well though out as the model is also framing her face with her arm.

Image by: Caterina L

This photo was taken from slightly above looking down at the subject. This is typically flattering on the subject. The tree branches that are out of focus help frame around the model.

Image by: Darren Rowse

The woman in the photo is being framed by the window on the building, this draws attention to her being the subject. The photo is being taken straight on and is flattering to her.

Image by: David Peterson

The girl in this photo is being framed by the piece of glass in her hand. There is a shallow depth of field being used which allows for the background to be blurred and to draw all of the attention to the girl.

Portraiture and Studio Photography: Activity 1

Activity 1
Look through assorted media, magazines, internet and collect four portrait photographs. The environment should be a key feature in two of the four images.Describe the subject’s character in each of the images. What can you see within each image that leads you to these conclusions about the subjects’ character.

The subject's character is shown in this picture by her soft, gentle face. She looks serene and kind hearted.

The subject's character is reflected in this photo by showing his goofy personality and his ability to have fun with life. You can conclude this by his facial expression.

This photo shows a woman in the ocean with cuts all over her. This could be showing her sad, weak side. This could also be a negative effects of pollution add showing what happens when you liter in the ocean.

This photo looks like something you would see from Dust Bowl photography. It shows that she was brought up in a dirty, desolate environment and she looks sad and poor.