Title: "Lux"
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Exhibition Text
For this piece I chose to focus on one of my main interests, which is photography. My meaning for this project is to show the beauty of simplicity with the light representing the little things in life. My inspiration for this pice is Michael Kenna and his overall work not just one specific photo. |
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Planning
Over this Thanksgiving break I knew I wanted to do another photography project. Since I was going to be in Arizona and also in Nevada visiting various places I decided to take photos of the gorgeous landscapes and natural scenery. This led me to my artist inspiration which is Michael Kenna. Over the period of several days I spent some breathtaking moments with orange rocks, pink skies and vividly green cactuses, I got the chance to experiment taking photos they way my artist's inspiration did to show the similarities between my work and his as well as well as deepening my meaning and understanding of his technique.
Process
The first thing I did was to choose my top 12 photos and then my top 3 from the top 12 to display as my final work. I had to look specifically for the photos that bring my meaning out the most, the poetry of my words displayed in the photo. After I selected my 12 favorites I uploaded them onto Lightroom and I started to edit them. I did them all black and white because that is the type of photos my artist's inspiration displays. I myself enjoy more at times to make my photos black and white. The first thing I did in Lightroom was press the button that says Black & White in the Treatment section on the right side of the tool box at the top. Then I started to work on setting the right lights,darks, highlights and shadows etc. In addition I set the exposure and contrast to the right setting for each photo hopefully result in the perfect image.
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Experimentations
The main experimentation that I did though out my editing process was using the circle tool on the upper corner above the tool box, next to the brush option on the left side. What it does is to darken the angles that I wanted. I choose how dark the edges or how light they should be by moving the circle around. I was changing the exposure to always be a negative number, I had to experiment which would suit the best so the black and white colours could blend with each other in a certain harmony. Another experimentation I did was to decided on the clarity percentage, with the increase of clarity level it adjusted the midtone contrast, making the photo look sharper.
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Meaning
My meaning for this project is to show the beauty of simplicity. That is why I chose to do black and white photos to create simple but beautiful photos. I believe that in some cases black and white photos can have a more powerful message then the colour photos. That is why I enjoy black & white photography. It can grasp a certain moment that can be anything from dramatic to happy. I also concentrated on the way the light is shown in the photos, that's also why I chose Michael Kenna to be my artist inspiration. The light in these photos represent the simplicity in life, how simple things are powerful and beautiful in this case light can be beautiful itself or add an extra spark to the photo. Life is made up of so many things that we forget about the little things in life, because the bigger things tend to overshadow, cover up the little things that truly make us happy. For example social media, a phone is a powerful object that takes us from our quieter routines that we once had before we got so busy with our phones. Our life in general is now more complex. It's time to stop and think about the little simple things that make us happy, for example reading a book or having lunch with you mom before we get so consumed by unrealistic expectations of happiness. The word "lux" comes from Latin, which means light.
Inspiration
My artist inspiration for this piece is Michael Kenna. He is an English photographer well known for his black and white landscape photos. Through his career he has received many awards for his work. His style stands out among other talented photographers, because he uses ethereal (something that is airy, insubstantial, delicate or light) light as a result of photographing at dawn or at night with exposures up to 10 hours. His work has been showcased around the world from The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague to The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC,
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Reflection
Overall I enjoyed this project since photography is one of my main interests that I want to pursue in depth in college. I enjoy taking black and white pictures, because for me they are sometimes more powerful then coloured images. Black and white photos portray a sense of beauty and style just by the simple contrast between white and black,
ACT Questions
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My inspiration impacted me, by setting an example and pursuing my thought into the successful direction of black and white photography.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Though my work I was inspired by the use of light and contrast of black and white photos, it guided me during my own creative process for this project.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Black and white photography makes us focus more on the image itself as we are not distracted by the colours. However even with two colours the landscapes still have their own individual beauty. Black and white images makes us look more closely at what we are seeing and we see the variations in the different landscape photos.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to incorporate my interest in black and white photos to create a deep and reflective meaning for my piece.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I learned more about Michael Kenna and his unusual style of photography and the way he creates his photos.
My inspiration impacted me, by setting an example and pursuing my thought into the successful direction of black and white photography.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Though my work I was inspired by the use of light and contrast of black and white photos, it guided me during my own creative process for this project.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Black and white photography makes us focus more on the image itself as we are not distracted by the colours. However even with two colours the landscapes still have their own individual beauty. Black and white images makes us look more closely at what we are seeing and we see the variations in the different landscape photos.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I wanted to incorporate my interest in black and white photos to create a deep and reflective meaning for my piece.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
I learned more about Michael Kenna and his unusual style of photography and the way he creates his photos.