This first assignment on the OCA’s Art of Photography course is concerned with contrast in the broadest sense and not just with brightness, as is usually understood in respect of the use of the term contrast. The briefing notes for the assignment are found on Pages 65 and 66 of the course notes. However, a fuller explanation is found on Pages 34 to 37 of Michael Freeman’s The Photographer’s Eye, (Ilex, 2007) a core text for the course. Freeman, in his explication of contrast in The Photographer’s Eye, references Itten as a tutor in the Basic Course at the Bauhaus in the early part of the last century who focused on contrasts as a basis for composing an image. These were intended as art exercises but here in the Art of Photography they have been translated into photography exercises.
The project briefing notes ask that ‘…photographs…taken previously…’ are assembled in pairs that represent contrasting concepts. It is not clear to me that ‘…photographs…taken previously…’ refers only to photographs taken for the exercises undertaken previously for this course or photographs taken previously in general. For clarity, I have assembled seven pairs from photographs used in the learning blogs and have added a further two pairs from images captured separately to the OCA Art of Photography course. The final single image has been presented previously within the exercises to date.
Each of the pairs is preceded by a short note that considers the contrast displayed. The final section in this blog reflects on the course assessment criteria and review of achievements against the criteria.
Opaque/Transparent
Opaque refers to a quality of the image in which the viewer cannot easily see ‘through’ or ‘into’ the image. in contrast, ‘transparent’, refers to the quality of the image that does allow the viewer to see through or into the image. These qualities are seen to effect in the following images in which the first discourages the viewer from looking through where in the second the strong foreground leads the eye towards the horizon thus suggesting transparency.
Straight/Curved
The contrast between straight and curved elements is demonstrated in the two images below. The straight lines evident in the roof, walls and door in this image of the Popes’ Palace in Avignon contrast strongly with the curved synchronicity of the trees in the Glen in Sligo.
Broad/Narrow
The broad, face on, horizontal format image of the Leopard Spotted Goby contrasts strongly with the vertical image showing a narrow slit window taken, in turn through a narrow slit opening at the Pope’s Palace in Avignon. Avignon.
Rounded/Diagonal
The rounded elements of the first image below (the top of the window, the distortion caused by the ultra wide angle lens, the railing in the foreground and the seating and amphitheatre in the background) contrast very strongly with the diagonals formed by the intersecting structures of the crane in the second image.
Moving/Still
The first image shows the ‘ghost’ of a moving object with the effect heightened by the blur, the slow shutter speed and the streaking in the image. The second image, with its sharp focus and strong, saturated colour is clearly in the still category.
Light/Dark
The first image below was captured in a well, evenly lit swimming pool, with no flash and light from above reflecting off the tiled swimming pool floor so the overall feel is one of airiness and light. The contrast between it and the image below of two, pre-mating shore crabs is obvious. The second image relied on a single flash to light the dark conditions. The shadows, together with the dark coloration of the crabs provides an image that, whilst exposed correctly, is, nonetheless quite dark in tones. The contrast then between light and dark is clear.
Rough/Smooth
The contrast between the rough mussels and barnacles in the first image contrasts dramatically with the smooth boat hull in the second image. The contrast is heightened by the macro nature of the first image that allows all the nooks and cervices to be exposed while the wide angle and close up perspective of the second image smooths and rounds the the lines of the boat into the distance.
The two pairs of images below were not captured, or included, as part of the AoP course but have been included here to complement the seven previous pairs that have been presented to date.
Few/Many
The first image shows a single main point of interest, the scubadiver, in contrast to the second image which shows many corals of the same species.
Hard/Soft
The strong frontal lighting, sharp focus, general lack of colour and sharp edges of the barnacle encrusted mussels in the first image contrasts with the dreamier, soft focus, side lit dahlia anemone in the second image demonstrating the contrasts of hard and soft.
The final image is one which is required to show contrast in one picture. The image below is of a shell set against dark coloured rock. The main contrast within the single image is rough/smooth the rough textured rock against the smooth shell. The rough and smooth elements are heightened by the dark tones of the rock and light tones of the shell.
Assessment Criteria and Reflection
At Level 4 of the OCA programmes the emphasis is on the acquisition of skills and good working habits including the keeping of learning logs . Additionally, Level 4 students should be informing themselves about others’ work by reading and viewing exhibitions. The learning logs associated with this assignment, which is itself being submitted as a blog, are all found at adivinglife.wordpress.blog. There are four types of blog; exercises associated with projects, reflections, book reviews and exhibition reviews. In general terms, therefore, the requirements of the programme are being met. The specific assessment criteria for Level 4 programmes, together with my reflection of how this assignment measures against them, are given below.
The Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills – materials, techniques,observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills.
The images captured for these exercises have involved a range of locations, lighting conditions and subjects that, in turn, have required the use of the full range of camera settings and techniques including slow and fast shutter speeds, narrow and wide apertures, changes in ISO and the use of a tripod. Additionally, post image processing has involved conversions to black and white to emphasise structures within the images. The work to date therefore has demonstrated a wide range of technical skills.
Less easy to reflect upon is the demonstration of visual skills. However, in preparing the exercises I have attempted to use a wider range of visual opportunities to undertake the exercises rather than focus on a more limited range of situations that would be more reflective of my photographic interests. For example, I would not normally capture images in woodlands or people in urban settings, preferring to work on coastal, architectural or underwater settings. The images captured in the Glen, Sligo for the vertical and horizontal format exercises or the sequence of images exercise have pushed me outside my comfort zone and forced me to think about composition in these settings.
The Quality of Outcome; content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas.
Each of the exercises has addressed the particular task and contained reflections within the exercise as well as post exercise reflections to ensure that learning was embedded. The work has been structured appropriately and narrated to ensure that lines of thought within the work are clear.
The Demonstration of Creativity; imagination, invention, development of a personal voice.
Of the four learning outcomes required of the programme this is the one, to date, with which I am least satisfied. While the images have been made in a variety of circumstances I am not satisfied I have satisfactorily begun to develop a ‘creative’ or inventive dimension to the images being made. When I review the images that I have made or used in the exercises I sense similar compositions appearing regularly – close ups and images using rule of thirds – and fewer images demonstrating depth or transparency. Having read forward in the course notes it is clear that future exercises and assignments will challenge me to find ways to be more inventive in my image making.
Context; reflection, research, critical thinking (learning log).
Because I have a research background I am used to the need for reflection and critical thinking and am happy that the blogs in which the exercises, book reviews, exhibition reviews and reflections are covered are providing me with the appropriate learning opportunities. For the future, the relative absence of photographic exhibitions in Ireland generally, and specifically where I live on the west coast of Ireland, will be problematic and will have to be addressed with trips outside of Ireland (a short trip coming up to Amsterdam will provide an opportunity to visit exhibitions). To supplement the lack of exhibitions I have made extensive use of Google images in the reflections and contextualisation within the exercises. However, I recognise that I will have to start to include some of the library image databases that students of the OCA have access to in future referencing and reflections.
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