Tim Walker Pictures

Tim Walkers book Pictures is a collection of his work, editorials for vogue and pages from his scrapbooks. The scarp book pages show his inspiration and drawings of his ideas with lighting diagrams. 

The book gives an insight as to how he works and how he generated his weird and wonderful, quirky ideas.

By having all his work laid out together shows how imaginative Tim Walker is and how versatile his work is although all his work looks similar at first.

I love how his work is all natural, he doesn’t use any Photoshop in his work, I think that is why his work is so beautiful, any one could take a photo of cats and turn them pink in Photoshop but Tim Walker has some how turned them pink for the shoot.

I love this photo and how all the dresses are lit up, it has a very weird and dreamy feel. The way it has been lit enhances the dreamy feel as it id very bright  and unnatural, Tim Walker got his inspiration for this shot form a vintage dress shop in Bath where dresses would be hung from the ceiling as they were so big, I the winter light would glow through them.

This photo has a strange messy elegance to it, the beautiful old house full of pretty lamps, which are all wonky, Lily Coles beautiful dress teamed with numerous hats give the image a dreamy miss matchy feel to it. The  huge watering can fits in perfectly, looking like they should be there which is odd as there would never be a huge watering can and butterflies in an old room. The soft yellow lighting makes the photo seem warm and inviting.

I love how this photo has a very British feel to it with the British cars and traditional beds and all the picnic baskets, rugs and all the other items that may be small but with out the it would not be the same. This is one of my favorite Tim Walker photos, it has a very traditional feel to it with a bizarre twist. 

Genius of Photography Episode 2

Genius of photography was an episode illustrating wartime photographers and how cameras affected them and the world. Photography was they key to the future, and a machine like process. Photographers experimented with camera and darkroom techniques to both make photography more accessible and dynamic. At the time it was unclear who the photos served the photographer himself or society.

Eugene Atget

Eugene Atget is a French photographer from Bordeaux, he started his photography career in Paris in the 1890’s although he had a limited background in visual arts.

He advertised his work as visual aid for artists, he sold his work to artists from local towns and cities. He also sold his work to architects and interiors. The Cranavalet Museum commissioned him to document famous landmarks and historical sites in France.

He shot Paris on a medium format camera, developing them at 18x24cm glass dried plates.

this image is eye catching because the path stands out against the ground around it, it is the brightest part of the picture. The buildings in the back ground  are all different tones but they all stand out against the background by again being lighter. The path also gives the photo a sense of journey and movement. it makes the viewer feel like they are being taken somewhere. 

I chose this photo because it is so simple, is interesting because of the reflections in the water and the different tones in the light sky and the dark trees.  There are also the eye catching statues which make the picture a lot more visually appealing because there is something to focus on rather than just the trees and there reflections. I also like the tones used, although they are black and white there is sepia feel to it. i love the feel of this photo, it is very relaxed and pretty. The reflections give the photo a very dynamic and interesting feel. 

 I like this image because of the soft bright lighting used it emphasizes the contrasts between  the background and the man in the middle with the cart which is the most important part of the image. this photo gives a feel as to what Paris was like then, it has emotion and a very natural feel to it. 

Walker Evans

Walker Evans is famously an FSA photographer, as he liked to set up shoots rather than document he was dismissed as an FAS photographer.  He started his own work shooting in new yourk subway with his camera hidden, this was later published in a book of his. He was an avid reader and writer, he became a writer for the times.

Rodchenko

Rodchenko started his work as an artist which he soon gave up to peruse graphic design in posters and books. He was inspired by a Dadaist photomontage, which prompted him to start experimenting with a medium format camera. 

Channel no5 Bottle

Channel no5 Bottle

Perfume was traditional worn by two different types of woman. “Respectable” woman would wear a single pure scent, often a flower. Perfumes which were more interesting such as jasmine and animal musk were associated with more provocative women.         

                                                                       

Channel wanted to create a modern perfume which would reflect women of the 1920’s. Channel designed a bottle that would be contrary to the fussy crystal bottles which were common at the time. Her bottle was to be “pure transparency…an invisible bottle”.           

                                              

Although the bottle was simple Channel claimed that what was inside the bottle itself was much more important and significant. She named the bottle Channel No 5 as the date it was to be released was the 5^th of May, the fith month. The sample she was given by the creator earnest Beautiful was ladled No 5.    

Channel No 5 is a timeless classic perfume which had remained the same since 1924, sustaining only minimal changes to the stopper. Channel No 5 is the most fashionable and famous perfume, worn by the elite.

The 1920's

The 1920’s was an exciting time of change  where there were advancements in Technology, travel and fashion. Being pre war there was lots to look forward to and many changes on their way.

Fashion Changes dramatically, more so for women than for men. The means fashion became less stuffy and formal, the emphasis on youthful. Whereas for women it became about personality and expressing yourself through fashion. The two famous items were the cloche hat and the flappy dress creating the flappy girls. The cloche hat was small and sophisticated where as before hats had been wide brimmed. The flappy dress was short and straight which was a contrast with the long skirts pre 1920’s.

The FSA

The FSA (farms security and administration) is an agency set up by the government, sponsored by Roy Stryker, in 1935 during the depression to document what was happening.

They visually documented the state of the nation, the photos were not taken to inform they were taken to move people.

The photos would be taken using a series of strategies known as “dramatic language.”

Notable FSA  Photographers

These are 5 of the most famous FSA Photographers

Dorothea Lange

Margaret Bourke-White

Arthur Rothstein

Russell Lee

Walker Evans 

About Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange was born in 1895, New Jersey where she had a hard and scaring upbringing. She was a fiercely independent person, when she was older she went to the studio of photographer Genthe, where she asked for a job and her career grew from there. Her hard upbringing as a child gave her photos compassion, and showed an understanding of the destitution and despair people were suffering during the depression.

The Migrant Mother

This photo is one of the most famous photos form the depression called migrant mother, taken in 1936. The mothers face show everything that she has been through and how tough her life has been. She has her arms around her children which shows her love and responsibilities. This reflects on how people cope with things, although she has been through a lot she still loves and protects her children. 

  

Conceptual Art

What is Conceptualism?

Conceptualism is where an artist will focus more on the concept and the development of the piece rather than the final piece. the final piece will be representative of the concept and the idea therefore can often be quite odd or very simple as it is not considered as important.

History

Conceptualism started as a philosophy not an art form in the 20^th centaury, questioning the meaning of art, what we take for granted and that the concept and idea is more important than the final outcome.

Conceptual art doesn’t have to be traditional art, it can be a performance or something abstract.  It is the rehearsals and the preparation that are important as the concept and only the scripts and photos remain to show for the work.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

An example of this is Christo and Jeanne-Claude, they became famous for their wrapped up buildings, trees and coastlines.  Their first creation, was a coastline in Australia, they progressed to trees, walkways and world famous buildings. They work closely with photographers to ensure their work is documented in a beautiful creative way which will reflect their work and evidence what they had done.

 I love how the tress have a dreamy bubble around them , they lock really interesting and beautiful with the light shining through the material. 

Conceptualism to some is not art, people don’t understand how something so simple and strange can be art. I feel the same in some cases like Tracy Emin, there is little skill in creating a messy bed or moving a beach hut to a gallery, any one could do the same. Although It is subjective to the artist, some conceptual art is just a wacky but shows creativity and ideas like Christo and Jeanne-Cluades work above.

Tracy Emin

Tracy Emin is a conceptual artist who’s work is very abstract and controversial. She was born I Croydon and brought up in Margate. In 1980 to 1982 he studied fashion at Medway College of Design.  In 1983 she opened a shop with artist Sarah Lucas where they sold their work. It was simply called the shop. Although she was well known in art circles she was not well known to the public until she appeared on TV in 1997. Tracy Emin worked with both art and photography.

I do however like this Tent, i think it shows something about the artist herself, her ideas and her skills as an artist 

Conceptualism was a rebellion against very contemporary art and a commercial world.