Research
Irving Penn
Irving Penn was born in 1917 in Plainfield, New Jersey. Penn attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial between 1934 and 1938. He studied with Alexey Brodovich in his design laboratory. Brodovich taught Penn the applications of principles of modern art and design through exposure to magazines, exhibitions, architecture, and photography. Years later, a Russian émigré, Liberman, viewed Penn's photography and recognised "a mind, and an eye that knew what it wanted to see." Liberman encouraged Penn to continue with the way he approached photography to progress towards a long and productive career.
The following images are pieces by Penn that represent form:
This image is of a dirty plate with a knife, fork and napkin all on a table. The fact that the items are dirty provides a negative feel to the image as it suggests uncleanliness and disgust.
This image is very complex and shows a variety miscellaneous things such as a chess piece or a cup of tea. The connotations and denotations are hard to identify as there is a lot going on, but one thing that I interpreted from this scene was that there are lots of game pieces which makes the theme of it 'game'. Games are seen as enjoyable activities, therefore this gives the image positive effects.
This image shows a pear on a camembert cheese with an ant on it. Viewers could see this image as having positive effects as they might look at the cheese or the pear and think it looks delicious, however, I would say that it looks dirty as there is an ant on it, which must be covered in germs. This would be a negative connotation as it shows uncleanliness.
This image shows a few kitchen items and food items all in what looks like a random position rather than a fixed position. I would say that this image gives more of a positive effect as the image is rather bright and there are enjoyable things that people might like such as an orange or garlic. However, the way it is layout makes it look messy and dirty which is more of a negative factor.
This image has similar connotations to that of the previous images as the viewer might think it looks delicious, but then again, it also looks dirty and inedible.
Image bank
The following images have been taken from the internet to represent 'form':
I selected these images after researching Penn to find photography in a similar style. I also selected these images I thought that these are ideal for myself to photograph at home. I decided to recreate some of the images that I found in and making my interpretations of the photograph, using alternatives if I didn't have the exact same items. The images I found for research and image bank will help me visualise and consider the type of things I need to be capturing and how I will do so.
Selected images
Contact sheet
Best images
The following images I have selected from my contact sheet that I thought resembled Penn's images the most regarding form, including the best angle and perspective of the item(s):
Images that need improvement
This image was inspired by one of Penn's images related to 'still life' in 'form'. I intended to recreate the image using my own items, but the quality of the photo turned out rather badly. First of all, the angle isn't straight, meaning that even if I crop it in Photoshop, the items will look out of place. The image also turned out slightly blurry as I must have moved whilst the camera was capturing the scene. The lighting was too dark and there were too many unnecessary shadows. I captured this scene in many different shots to experiment with the angles and lighting, but this image was one of the worst out the ones I took of this. I intended to use Photoshop to crop the image so that there would only be white background. I would also experiment with the colour levels to brighten some parts and darken others. However, the photograph has too many issues for this to be done. If I were to retake this scene, I would use a tripod so that I wouldn't get the risk of accidentally moving the camera and making the image blurry. I would also use a studio if I could so that I could get the best lighting for the items to resemble Penn's image.
For this image, I used the wrong ISO value which made the whole image turn out rather dark. I had done everything else correctly such as using a tripod and the lighting in the room, but the incorrect ISO made the image look like this. The gaps where the paper is parting could be seen as something to improve on, but I know that I would be able to edit this in Photoshop to remove the gap.
AO3 Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress
With reference to my 'best images':
The first image shows a variation of items in a fixed position. I was inspired by Irving Penn's image (2nd in research section) and decided to recreate the scene. I used a few pieces of paper as a background for the items and set up the items in a similar way to the photograph I was inspiring from. I spent some time looking closely at Penn's image and found items that were either the same (but looked a bit different, i.e. the domino that Penn uses is white with black dots, whereas the domino I used was black with white dots) or alternatives (i.e. Penn uses a chess piece, which I didn't have, so I stacked 2 Monopoly pieces together as an alternative to this). I tried to find items that were as similar as possible to the original scene and positioned them to look like Penn's scene. I captured the image, purposefully leaving some of the background visible so that I could crop the image later in Photoshop. I took multiple shots of this scene to get the best angle and perspective. I crouched to take this picture and angled my camera 90 degrees anti-clockwise, facing directly forwards. I think using a tripod would have been easier to capture this and also using a studio for the lighting to be better, but the lighting and angle did turn out well in the way I did it. I intend to crop the image in Photoshop, change the level of colours and blend the visible line between the pieces of paper so that it looks like one piece (not including the back piece). I didn't use the zoom as I was able to get close enough without, but I did use the flash on the camera so that I could improve the lighting for the picture.
For the second image, I was inspired by Penn's 'still life' photography, particularly an image that I found in my research (5th in research section). To create this scene, I poached 2 medium-sized eggs and set them up on a plain piece of paper, to use as a background. I wasn't sure at all what Penn had used to add to the eggs, so I decided to make my own interpretation of this and use things that looked similar. I ended up using a variety of kitchen spices. I placed small piles of different spices onto the eggs in a similar way to how Penn had done. I them used a paint brush to wipe away any spice that had fallen onto the paper, however I didn't quite get rid of all of the excess spice as some is still visible on the picture. I intend to use Photoshop to remove the spice that fell onto the paper so that it looks clear. I also want to change the level of colour in the photo so that it resembles Penn's image even more. To capture this picture, I held my camera at a 90 degree angle anti-clockwise and directly above the scene to get a bird's eye view, just as Penn's image is. I didn't have a use for a tripod in this picture but I did use the zoom lens because I couldn't get too close or else I would block the light source which would make the image turn out dark. I also used the flash to improve the lighting quality.
The third photograph was inspired, again, by photographer Irving Penn. I found an image whilst researching this photographer which I decided to recreate in my own way (3rd in research section). I used a whole camembert cheese and heated it up. I then cut it open, similar to how Penn had done his, then I placed a red apple on top. This was all on a few pieces of papers which I used for the background. There are a lot of differences between my image and Penn's image but I decided that it I don't need my image to be exactly the same as it is my own creation and I should make my own interpretation of his work. The differences include Penn's image having a shadow cast behind the items, the use of a pear and an ant, whereas my photograph doesn't have a shadow or an ant as I was unable to get these, and I used an apple instead of the pear. I used a tripod for this image. The lighting came out rather yellow but I will edit the image later using Photoshop to increase the brightness and decrease the amount of yellow in the white paper. For this image, I held my camera at a 90 degree angle and captured the items from a frontal perspective.
The fourth image was a set that I created using several books and stacking them up in an unorganised way. I was inspired to capture this by the images that I had found for the image bank along with the images by Irving Penn. I stacked the books on a piece of paper and had a piece of paper leaned up for a background. I used a tripod to take this and didn't have use for the zoom lens as I was fairly close. I captured the image at a frontal view without having to angle the camera.
The fifth image is very similar to the third image, but includes an additional item on top of the camembert. Instead of using just an apple, I also used a pear. I did this because when doing this shoot, I had red apples and green pears, but Penn used a red pear which I didn't have, so alternated these items. Then I decided to use both to make the image unique, but in the style of Irving Penn. I captured the image at a frontal perspective without having to hold the camera at any angle.
AO2 Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
I used a Nikon D3300 to capture all of my images. I used Photoshop to create a contact sheet for all the images I had taken for 'form'. To create a plain white background for my images, which most of the images I was inspiring from had, I used pieces of paper. If the items for the picture were too big to fit on one page, I would overlap other pieces of paper to make it look bigger, however, this creates a visible line where the pieces of paper overlap which the photographs I was inspiring from didn't have. This isn't such a problem though a I can edit the line out and make it look smooth. I used this method because it works effectively for my items and creates a similar effect as to using a studio. However, a studio would be a good idea to consider for future projects as it would help with the lighting for my images. For the lighting in my images, I used an lamp with which you can bend the neck of the lamp to change the position its in. I also used the flash on the camera for a lot of my pictures to increase the amount of light and brighten the picture. I also didn't use a tripod, but came to the realisation that it would help to improve the quality of some photographs. For some captures, I had to crouch, stand on surfaces or just stand normally, but moving the camera around to experiment with the different angles and perspectives to find the best. For some pictures, I used the zoom lens, but for others I didn't because I was able to get close enough or it was already perfect as it was without the need for zooming in.
I used Photoshop to edit the images from 'best images' so I could improve them. I have taken screen captures of how I edited one of them as an example. To start, I opened up the image in Photoshop.
I cropped the image to reduce the amount of negative space. I did this by selecting 'crop' from the tool bar and dragging the sides of the picture to where I wanted the new side to be. I tried to crop the image like the image I was inspiring from by estimation of how much of a gap there is between the item and the side of the picture.
Next, I removed the excess bits of spice that fell onto the paper. I did this by using the 'spot healing' tool from the toolbar. I would click and drag the mouse over the area I wanted to clear, as shown above (grey spot). It is hard to see the bits of spice that were spread around the paper, but I was able to clear them all.
The last thing I did to the image was adjust the level of colour in the picture. I did this by selecting 'selective colour' from the adjustment panel. The colours that I changed for this image were red, yellow, white, neutral and black. I was simultaneously looking at the image by Irving Penn that I was inspiring from so that I could try and resemble this image as much as possible.
AO1 Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other resources, demonstrating analytic and critical understanding
For my research of 'form', I found out about a 20th century photographer named Irving Penn. In this research, I was able to find out about his birth and death and events within the duration of his life. This information was interesting to know, but I didn't find it useful for myself regarding photographing 'form'. I did, however, find a series of images taken by Penn that were very helpful for my photography work. I found the images and decided to recreate the things he took by using my own items in my own interpretation of the images. I did this for several of the images. I found that 'still life' is very popular in the topic of 'form', which all of the images I found, both in research and image bank, were of still life. The images I selected and recreated had a number of things within the picture to create the effect of it looking like a 3 dimensional item. It appeared to me that this was the style of photography that Penn approached, so I approached my own photography in this way to interpret Penn's photograph work into my own.
AO4 Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions, and where appropriate, make connections between visual and other elements
When taking my pictures, I tried to resemble the same images as photographer, Irving Penn, in a similar way. I intended to recreate some of the pictures he took by creating a scene with similar items. My images would never look exactly the same as Penn's images I don't have the exact same items as he used. I would say that I was successful in recreating his work with my own interpretation. I had the idea to use pieces of paper as a background because the background in Penn's images were simple white backgrounds. I am unsure of how Penn took his photographs, but by visualising his work, I could get a clear picture of what I needed to be doing, so the piece of paper is an example of how I took Penn's photographs as an inspiration to create the set in my own way. Another intention I made was to capture my work and also capture the setting behind the scene, for example, I would capture the pieces of paper on the table I was taking it on, so that way I could crop the photograph later on to remove the setting behind. I was able to do this using Photoshop.
I made similar edits to the example above for the other images from 'best images'. The results of the edits are shown below:
