The cycle- pt 2
Artist Inspiration- MC Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world’s most famous graphic artists.
He plays with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces. His art continues to amaze and wonder millions of people around the world. In his work, we recognize his excellent observation of the world around us and the expression of his own fantasy. M.C. Escher shows us that reality is wonderful, understandable and fascinating.
His work relates to the ideas I want to put across in the cycle. His work shows repetition and confusion which is a key element of this project.
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After looking through his drawings I've decided this one is my favourite. I like how the illusion allows you to understand it more as you look at it longer. I find myself turning my head and turning the image in circles trying to follow the path he's made.
I can't imagine how much effort and thought went into drawing this. It's fascinating how I could genuinely look at this for hours just going round and round in a cycle. Creating something like this with photography isn't impossible but it's very hard. You would have to have very good editing skills. Maybe in a few years, I could attempt it.
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The people he's drawn in the drawing make the illusion flow as you can see the many directions of travel your eyes could move to. Every rotation of this image would look like the correct rotation and every staircase connects with another flawlessly. It's truly a brilliant piece of art.
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Examples of his work^^^
Multiple versions of myself-
Me in the kitchen doing different things- making tea -making dinner -sitting on the side with my phone – grabbing milk -waiting for toast – opening the oven -sitting eating dinner/ watching tv
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Me in the living room- sitting watching tv -playing chess -read a magazine -go on my phone -listen to music -lay on the floor
cameras I could use
canon 2000d, Minolta x300, canon
i think i will do this project digitally so that I can edit them to create a repetition and theme of the cycle.
I could use a slow shutter speed to show movement in a cycle and blur the focal point
The cycle ideas
Cycle definition- a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order.
I could use a slow shutter speed to show movement and creat ghostly like figures in order to disassociate my personal appearance from being involved with the message. This would unify the figures and connect with my audience effectively.
a series of pictures with me doing tasks i do every day- making a cup of tea - watching Netflix or amazon prime -watching tv - eating dinner -schoolwork
Previous work
When I saw his work I automatically thought of a photoshoot i'd done before. Although the message of that project was loneliness, I thought i would include it in this page to show that I'm done something like this before and hope that my experience editing it will help me create an effective result in this project.
Who- this will be a self-portraiture shoot as I have no willing models in this household.
Equipment -Canon 2000d 18-55mm len/Tripod/ sd card/ fully charged camera battery
Where- my house-kitchen, living room, study, stairs
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Shoot plan
What- multiple versions of myself in the same frame to show repetition in the cycle
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When- 19th February 2021
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What could go wrong?
camera could die- charge it
run out of memory space-have a spare ready
Weather? The weather will be bland and cold. Because this shoot is inside the weather wont affect the shoot much.
What do i want to show- By using multiple versions if myself I hope to show the repetition of the cycle of our lockdown lives and represent how many people will be feeling. The fist two lockdowns were hard but theres an easy feel of anger in the British air. People are ready now more than ever for this pandemic to end.
Contact sheet
How did the shoot go?
The shoot went well! I got all my desired images and there were no problems. The weather was bland but it had no effect on my shoot although sunshine would have been lovely. Along the way, I had some ideas for experimentation which I will explore later on.
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Final images
I took these images on a Canon 2000d with an 18-55mm lens and also a wide lens. I chose to use a wide lens so I could incorporate as much of the room as possible. This was so I could fit as many versions of myself in the frame. I used a tripod to get the frame correctly. This image represents the repetition in my day as I go into the kitchen three or more times a day. Either to make a tea(far right) or to get some food(middle) or to get something from the garage. The natural light in this image goes from light to dark horizontally from right to left. because of this, I chose to make the versions of myself include that balance and I edited them accordingly. so the versions of myself become darker and you move from right to left. I hope that this encourages the viewer's eyesight to glide across the page as they will most likely be drawn to the lighter side first. Another reason for the different light edited is to create depth and help show that these versions of myself are meant to be at different times in the day.
This image is my favourite because I like how the mess in the garage relate to the idea of confusion and chaos in our lives. There's so much to look at it makes the viewer feels overwhelmed which is what a lot of people in lockdown are feeling right now. Because it was dark I used a longer shutter speed to allow a lighter exposure. Doing this has meant that without realising it I've created a blur with my movement. Although this wasn't the intention I love the result. It shows movement and contributed to the theme of the cycle. There's almost a ghostly aroma to the image as a result of this and that works well with the dark tones within the image. The bright light coming from the window creates a silhouette of one of the versions of myself. I love this because it reminds the viewer that the image isn't about me or what I look like it's about the action and process itself. I used a shutter speed of 5/2 sec. f/4.5 18 mm.
How I edited it?
Using photoshop i selected each version of myself using the quick select tool and put them all on a background copy of a picture I took without me in it. I then lined up the copies of myself and used the eraser tool to blend them into the background. If there were any light irregularities i changed it by selecting the particular layer and using levels.I also used the dodge and burn tool to create shadows and add highlights where needed. I then flattened the image and used levels again to create the correct balance of light and darken the black tones. If i wanted to fade a particular copy of myself i would select the layer and change the opacity or alternatively if i wanted a particular part of my body faded i would use the ereaser tool and lower the opacity.
This image was taken using a timer and a tripod. The camera was connected to an app on my phone so I could take the picture by pressing the shutter button on my phone. This meant that I could see myself in the camera and position myself accordingly. It also meant I could review the images on my phone straight after id taken them and then make any technical changes on the app (like shutter speed). This made the shoot go smoothly and effectively. This area was particularly dark so I used a slow shutter speed. The dark blur reflects the dark thoughts and feelings everyone has about the cycle. It illustrates the darker side of lockdown and our trapped thoughts. The version of myself is stood observing it knowing that even knowing the effects will have the enter this cycle again.
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For this image, each version has a different effect on it. This is to show that you can feel so many different ways during the lockdown and still be stuck like everyone else. Not everyone will struggle as much as others. Some may feel like they are fading away from everyone(copy 2 sat on the stool) some may feel perfectly fine and steady, they may be occupying themselves with new activities(copy 1 watering the plant)some may just feel like there life is on pause but they still know themselves and their friends(copy 3 sat on the sofa arm) and finally, some may feel disorientated and as if they are changing shown by blur and reading represents finding a new them. ( copy 4 sat reading)
Personally, I find myself relating to figure 3- lives on hold right now but I still know myself and I still know hope.
Experimentation
I took my favourite image and joined it with some of the similar shots I got. I overlapped them to create a blurred look. Parts of the image were too overwhelming so I used the eraser tool to calm it down. I love how it turned out.
Whilst editing I also used the burn tool to create depth and to outline the silhouette of my body as it was quite light and blended into the background.
I like how confusing the image is. The message behind its image is the same as the others. The cycle can make our alter our vision of things and situations mentally and this image shows that but physically altered.
This experimentation was something I thought of whilst in the shoot. I had this idea of the versions of myself interacting. What I can evaluate from this is that this version of my work shows ideas of loneliness. In this cycle, we often feel like we get to know ourselves more due to all the time we have to spend alone. This represents that.
Using text in my images
I experimented with three different styles to see how they would affect my message. In conclusion, I found that using text in my images can really help make the message clear to those who don't automatically assume it's about a certain subject. Images without text or explanation are often presented like that so the viewer can interpret their own message and feelings to the image. Whereas using text presents the purpose with intention of the viewer understanding easily what the Image/images are about.
Different font and colours of font can paint different emotions. Black font is associated with serious situations like in a newspaper or a book. Contrastingly bright coloured fonts such as pink are associated with happiness and childish themes. You may find a pink font in a children's book or magazine but you would never find it in the new york times.
Knowing this I chose black and white as my font colours in order to match the tone and setting.
Evaluation
Overall I'm very happy with the results.
I think I've effectively achieved my intention with the message which was- By using multiple versions of myself I hope to show the repetition of the cycle of our lockdown lives and represent how many people will be feeling. The first two lockdowns were hard but there's an easy feel of anger in the British air. People are ready now more than ever for this pandemic to end.
The fading and blurriness of the images represent the fogginess of the publics brain and the overwhelmed feelings they have about how the government are dealing with the easing of restrictions.
I really enjoyed making my experimentation as I enjoy editing and finding new ways to manipulate an image. The text below or around the images are thoughts that the subject may have. Some text is more evident than others. For example in the first text experimentation, the start of the statement is close to the light, the next statement is darker and the final statement is the darkest. This was done to guide the viewer's focal point to different parts of the image. There are three figures each represent a lockdown as we have had three so far. As well as there being three corresponding statements to match the rule of three which is a composition technique used to balance the image.
The shoot went well! I got all my desired images and there were no problems. The weather was bland but it had no effect on my shoot although sunshine would have been lovely. Along the way, I had some ideas for experimentation which I explored whilst editing.
If I were to do it again I would perhaps try it outside. One idea could be a model peeking through the trees and coming out on the other side. A very important change I would make is that I would love to use an actual model so I could physically take the pictures myself instead of using an app to take them. Although that is a brilliant idea it just takes more time to set up compared to if I were taking the images on the camera. I also am not a model so I am not completely comfortable in front of the camera. In fact, I'm much more comfortable behind it where I have full control of what's seen and what isn't.
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