Realism,Formalism, Expressionism

Sorry. Photos will be up soon. Blogger hates me.

The initial intention was to define creep as the time that strides slowly. I had wanted to capture these in queues. Whenever people are lined up alone in queues, (be it for the buses, taxis, or in foodcourts) they wonder why time creeps by so slowly: some look at their watches impatiently, some sms their friends to 'look' busy, some yawn while slouching over the railings ...and etc.

picture 1: This is a window to reality. This is a scene we often witness at bus interchange. It is night, people are feeling tired after a day at work and are waiting for the bus to arrive so they can get home to shower and rest. From the commuters' body language, they are leaning against the railing and they look bored. It's almost like a window to show the boredom of waiting in life.

picture 2: The is an abstract view of a queue. This is part of what bounds a queue- the railings. Under the yellow lightings, it seeks to reveal a sense of time, since such artificial lightings is only available in the night. The chains of the rails are creeping downwards. The whole composition is supposed to evoke feelings of waiting in the late, empty night.

picture 3: This last picture has something to express. Over here, creep works two ways. The first reading is pretty much creep as time procession at an indefinitely slow rate when people are in queues. In the second reading, the creeps refer to the queue jumpers who inconsiderately cut the lines of the other people.

However, I think i failed in capturing the emotions that show the bore and impatience of people. It was even more difficult to execute when it seemed a little inethical to shoot right at people's faces while they are bounded in their queues and seeking their permission for an upclose shot was almost impossible.

Thus i came up with the second plan.

The dimension of creep I am exploring is the chill of 'murder and perversion' in a broad sense. The subject, the mannequin, was found in the dumps behind an alley at Chinatown.

Realism

The first picture is a window to what the eye sees when a person walks pass the rubbish dump. Over here, the creep element is only felt when one looks at the picture carefully. If you notice, there is a mannequin's body jutting out of the rubbish dump. When I first spotted the mannequin, it immediately came to me that it resembles a murder scene which we always watch in detective shows on television. The creepiness the audience is supposed to feel is that of the savage killing and the perversion to the extent of dismembering a women's body.

Formalism

The second picture is a formalistic view of the mannequin. This shot is zoomed into the hangars that extend from the stacked mannequin. In this photo, the meaning of creep is not hair-raising, as that shown in the first photo. Instead, it is simply using the metallic of the hangars to give notions of 'cold' and 'chill' that is usually associated with the feelings of creep. There is no direct meaning. It is only borrowing the metallic to associate feelings of creep to chill.

Expressionism

The final picture is shot to express the perversion of gaze. For this shot, I moved the mannequin's body into the rubbish dump. I lay the body in an alluring position to express a 'deadly attraction'. Deadly: creepiness due to notions of death (body in a 'coffin') Attraction: body of a woman, a perversed gaze of a creep. This pleasure of looking also termed, scopophilia, has been discussed by Laura Mulvey. In the photo, the angling of the camera lingers on the curvatures of the female body. This angling is such that one would immediately divert his or her attention to the naked mannequin. The intention is to speak of the relationship of power by putting audiences in a superior position to the object of gaze.

Problems encountered while doing this assignment is that I had too many ideas about one subject. Comparing to my classmates, like Gerald who worked on the idea of beauty creeping away, and Hui ling who focused on showing the creeping nature of smoke, I learnt that mine seems to have a broader definition, which might have complicated my message.

Comments that I received from the class is that the over treated colors of my photos looks a little distracting. I had thought of this as well. However, I went ahead with the large contrasts because I wanted to show intentionally the juxaposition of the mannequin and the environment.
From my classmate's presentation, I also learnt that I should have kept the realistic photo more natural and 'snapshot' like.

For my realistic shot, I realized that I had unconsciously framed the photo in the rule of thirds. Interestingly, Gerald did the reverse. He made sure that sihoulette of the building and the trees at the sides, breaking the rules of third. I think Gerald's shots were technically well taken as well. The colors contrast in a nice manner, they don't look artificial. Also his pessimism about the beauty creeping away is portrayed quite nicely throughout the photos.

Huiling's concept of smoke is also interesting. I particularly liked the expressionalism shot. Instead of just talking about the creeping motion of the smoke, she goes on to discuss how it diffuses in the air and cause second hand smoking. And the photo also almost gives a feeling that second hand smoking is so subtle: you don't really realise it, as shown by the group of people who seem unaffected by the old man's act of puffing his cigarette. In fact, I have heard of reports that say that second hand smoking can be more deadly than first hand smoking!

Hence, for this assignment, I rate Huiling: 9.0 and Gerald 9.7. Against Gerald's grade, I give myself a 8.7.

The day after a Beer Party

I was a little stumped by the theme. The day after sounded quite philosophical and futuristic because all that was going in my mind was "The day after tomorrow, where would you be?"- Yes, it's that American movie that kept resonating in my head.

After some conceptualization, I had a sense that, hey, it could be something as simple as "A day after a walk in the garden" or something along that line..Hence I decided to create a picture that portrays of a slice of one's life, like a "cut-out" sequence of events in a character's life.

when I first started embarking, the few problems I encounted with were: How to visualized the place? Have I taken enough pictures to piece the subject? What is the trick of shooting- is it a point, zoom and shoot? or is it a point, move about, zoom and shoot?

After my first attempt failed, I studied David Hockney's work and tried to understand the way he shoots- such that each piece seems to fit one another like a jigsaw and yet still has some sense of juxaposition.

Things that I have learnt after a little more experimenting with random objects was that before embarking on a shoot, I need to have a clear image outcome in my head and be systematic when taking the shots.


The day after a beer party

My photomontage shows some beer bottles left behind at the back alley around the red light district. What I was intending to show was a "cut-out" scene of what had happened the night before- I was almost imagining an atmosphere of good camarademie among a group foreign workers who are residing in the nearby hostels, eating, drinking beer, and making merry right into the late night (afterall they deserve it after a day's hard work), and then leaving the mess behind to return their dorms.

This picture was taken by squatting so as to capture the leading lines from the beer bottles to the road and finally towards the building. When I took some shots, I chose to zoom in to amplify the details of the object, for example, the pipe along the wall, the broken pieces of the bottles, the antennas on top of the old building etc., because I tried to keep in mind the criteria of our assignment which is to explore the "mechanical view of the mind".

When I went back home to compose the pictures, I decided to do something funny by using the pictures taken from my first attempt. Thus, I planted in the wet grounds, more rubbish, banana skins, stones, and parts of a bluer sky to complete my piece. I also cropped, enlarged the beer bottles to put them in focus. I did not fix the photomontage as fully completed pictures because I had wanted to emphasize the leadings lines. The second justification is that, the montage was of a messed up setting; putting it into a complete picture will give a neat feeling. And taking a leaf out of Hockney's style, I added a shot of my feet in the picture to give an element of presence. For this, I recieved feedback that it was rather effective in conveying a message that a person was overlooking at the mess created overnight. Thanks class, and also, credits to Hockney! By the way, the pair of feet was read by my Dad as some bugger who was still dead-drunk and lying on the road. Well, this is open to interpretion : )

Also, it was pointed out that my photomontage seems to have alot of empty spaces. Although the original intention was to show the leading lines and to keep the audiences inside the picture, I also agree with this criticism. I tried to work around with the spaces, but it was a give and take thing: I either had to sacrifice the feet and stretch my photomontage, or keep the feet and make do with the empty spaces. However, overall the class seems to have come to an agreement that the picture should be kept in the way it is. Any other ways to improve my piece? Your comments are appreciated.

I think the students who have greatly explored the interesting perspective of the "mechanical eye" are Shena, Yi Kang and Gerald because in their photomontage, they have met the requirements of creating a final piece that shows a different image from how one would normally percieve a real scene, which I did not effectively show.

In Yikang's work, I like that fact that he had created a panorama view around the house, making it seems as if the road is a U-bend. This photo has worked out because it managed to trick many classmates into believing what is being showcased.

From Gerald's montage, I learn the power of manipulating reality. Interestingly, his work made it seem as if the heavens and the earth were combining and reflected in a continnum. Also it gives me a feeling of viewing through a kaleidescope, where patterns work in symmetry, just like his montage.

Shena's montage brought across the theme really nicely. The criss-crossing railways reminds me of the times where I stand at crossroads, unsure and fearful of which route to take. It also struck me that she has quite brilliantly portrayed what was initially resonating my head, " The day after, where would you be?". On top of that, she tried to magnify objects to put them in focus of the picture. This reminds me of the photomontage by Hockney's Pearblossom Highway.

I rate
Yikang: 8.9
Shena: 9.0
Gerald: 9.7

Against Gerald's piece, I will rate myself 9.0 because though I did attempt to fulfill the assignment's criteria in terms of the mechanical's eye and composition, my piece seems lacking in terms of creativity and exploration. More improvements to be made! On to the next assignment.