Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a theoretical movement it is said to be one of the most “unstable” terms within philosophy because of how much the usage of the term varies. Postmodernism is anti-foundationalist; this means that it rejects the scientific truths which make sense of society, history and science. It is concerned with aesthetics; it has had an influence on many aesthetic elements of culture such as architecture, literature, music, art and design.
Postmodernism is a response to Modernism which was a movement within culture and the arts which questioned traditional ways of thinking and traditional forms of art and music etc. it also rejected established and accepted philosophies.
Post-modernism then is constantly focused on the future, post-modern art takes traditional ideas and uses contemporary methods or vice versa to create a piece of art. Post-modern music may bring back an old genre but make significant changes to make it more interesting and accepted in today’s society. The idea is that there is no one objective truth but we are each free to determine our own after considering the facts and interpreting ideas.

- ‘Megawords’ by Richard Osbourne
- ‘Communication, Cultural and Media Studies’ by John Hartley

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is a photographer whom I have only recently become familiar with however I did recognize a number of his photographs as they seem to have become iconic images. I think that his work is relatively similar to Nan Goldin in that they both have a similar photographic style and they both photograph directly from life. However, Egglestone’s images don’t grab me like Goldin’s do; I find that there are a few interesting images throughout his books but that they don’t seem to work so well as a body of work like Goldin’s do. I think that she takes what she saw as banal images as they depicted her everyday life but she made these images extraordinary in the way that she photographed herself and the people around her; also the pictures were the medium by which she let people see her extraordinary life and discover things about her. However I find Egglestone’s work to be not only banal to him but banal to me as well. He doesn’t seem to have a relationship with anything that he photographs and he doesn’t seem to be searching for anything or studying or observing. The images seem to have been taken at random which is good because they are honest photographs depicting genuine moments in time but the thing is that nothing much seems to be happening; they are not remarkable moments. Also I feel that photography is a means to an end whether it be discovering something as a photographer or teaching the viewer something and making them think and interpreting things in different ways and I don’t feel that Egglestone’s photography does this for me.

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs, Signs which appear everyday in contemporary society. Semiotics relate primarily to language and the way that we understand things through relating words with concepts. For instance if an object is mentioned in conversation one will always associate the word with an image of the object mentally. This is how language works as if we all had different words for the same object we would not be able to communicate.
One example of the use of semiotic signs in art is in Rene Magritte’s painting (seen above). The caption below the image reads ‘Ceci nes pas une Pipe’ or ‘This is not a Pipe’. This makes the viewer think about the image in a different way; his point is that it is not a pipe but that it is a painting of a pipe it is a representation of an object but not the object itself. On looking at the image the viewer is thinking “it’s a pipe” but on reading the caption (providing they understood it) would think again, question their own ideas, work the idea out or simply reinterpret the message completely. This makes for a very god piece of art as it has made the viewer stop and think about what they have seen. I also think that this painting raises questions about the values we bestow to inanimate objects in order to make them more human, more understandable and less cold and lifeless.

Feminism

Feminism is something that I have only recently been exposed to and have begun to understand. I have never before felt affected by patriarchy but I have recently ascertained that there most certainly is need for feminism in our society which is something that may not be widely agreed with. Women are still being oppressed and belittled in today’s society though it often goes unnoticed. For instance there is an advert running on channel 4 at the moment which I find to be very sexist. The advert for Strongbow cider depicts a hall full of men who are being accredited for having credible jobs however there is not one woman in sight until the end when a woman serves each of three men a pint of cider. I find this distasteful as I don’t think that it is fair to assume that women a) are less likely to drink cider and b) to have jobs such as burglar alarm fitters and pork pie fillers. Also I think that the worst thing about this advert was the fact that the only woman featured is serving the men. This represents a now seemingly old fashioned stereotype which has taken a lot of hard work to attempt to eliminate. There is a lot of sexism within the world of advertising with sexualisation and female stereotyping but I thought that this, in particular was especially remarkable.

David Hancock

David Hancock is a realist painter from Manchester. He is one of my favourite artists as I love his painting style, I think that he is extraordinarily talented, you have to look closely to realize the images are paintings rather than photographs. I think that it is clear that he likes to use his own friends as models and paints them in surroundings that have been personalized by the subject such as their own bedroom or kitchen. This is effective because the viewer really gets an insight into the model’s personality. I have been inspired by Hancock in the past in my own work as I did a project on my friends using their own bedrooms as backdrops to really get a feeling for their personal space and how they have incorporated their personality into the way that they decorated their room.
I think that it’s hard for photographers and painters to get inspiration from one another because with painting it takes so much skill and patience to create a good image that it renders the subject matter less important to some extent. A photograph of a person that has been captured well may not necessarily be remarkable but the same image when painted then becomes more impressive because more skill and effort has been exercised. It is easier to draw inspiration from Hancock as a photographer because the paintings are so photo-realistic so the skills required are easier to re-contextualise into the field of photography, than say, a more abstract piece of art.



Image: http://www.david-hancock.com

Black and White vs. Colour

It is easy to take colour for granted as it features in our everyday lives. However within the context of photography, along with lighting and subject matter it becomes a key component of a photograph and often what makes an image effective. A good digital photographer will know as soon as they take a picture whether or not they want to put it in black and white because they will know what effect they want the image to achieve. Colour can be used in fashion and advertising to make a product seem more attractive but in fine art photography colour can often completely dominate and therefore define an image. Recently as digital photography has become more accessible we can manipulate photographs and therefore choose exactly how we want the colours in the images to look.
De-saturation can be used to change an image entirely; it can be used to add depth and mood and some may argue that it makes the image look more “stylish”. Black and white is also used in fashion and advertising to emphasize a romantic or classic theme in the photographs. I like black and white for a number of reasons. I like the fact that photography began in black and white and therefore this effect will make an image look classic and elegant. This comes through in a lot of my work as a lot of the artists that I am inspired by work in black and white. I like the idea of taking their ideas and developing them in my own way in order to pursue a more modern approach and I think that this helps my own photographic style to develop. I find it fascinating that an image can be made up of an endless amount of shades of one colour and how this contrasts with colour photography. colour is the medium through which everybody sees the world and this cannot be changed; black and white can only be seen through photography and film which I think makes the process singularly captivating.

Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2010

When I went to see the exhibition I was interested to see what kind of portraits were being exhibited as I hope to enter similar competitions one day. I find portrait photography very interesting and most of my work centres on this genre.
When I saw the winning image I was surprised that it had won; I wasn’t particularly impressed by it and I felt that there was nothing particularly extraordinary or distinctive about it. However, I later realised that because it featured a potential Olympian it was associated with the 2012 Olympic Games and that this was probably one of the reasons why it had been chosen as the winner. Considering this I thought it was unfair that the other photographers who were more deserving of the prize in terms of the aesthetic quality of their photographs had been discarded. Many of my peers agreed with me that it wasn’t the best of the collection and although art is subjective and it is not likely that everyone will agree what is “good” and what isn’t I was dismayed to find that the winner was determined due to a reason other than it was simply beautiful, thought provoking or emotionally inspiring.
Another thing I’ve noticed about this kind of prize exhibition is that they don’t use the winning photograph to advertise the show; they usually use another image in the collection. Usually it is a stronger image and I feel that if I were to enter and it was my shots that were used on posters and leaflets I would be happier with this outcome. Your work is more widely received and advertised which I would personally have preferred to winning.


Image: http://www.photographsdonotbend.co.uk/2009/09/taylor-wessing-photographic-portrait-prize-2009.html