Thursday, December 13, 2012

Quiz: Seeing the light

Photography
1. Chiaroscuro: a) painter's rich coloration b) deep light and dark areas in an image c) dramatic portraiture d) side lighted image.
2. Developed an early form of photo on paper that he termed the
Callotype. a) Louis Daguerre b) William Henry Fox Talbot c)
Nicephore Niepce d) Auguste Lumiere.
3. Earliest of French pioneers in photography. a) Louis Daguerre b)
William Henry Fox Talbot c) Nicephore Niepce d) Auguste Lumiere.
4. British pioneer in photography. a) Louis Daguerre b) William Henry
Fox Talbot c) Nicephore Niepce d) Auguste Lumiere.
5. US Civil war photographer Matthew Brady used the type of
metal-plate photo developed by this French inventor. a) Louis Daguerre
b) William Henry Fox Talbot c) Nicephore Niepce d) Auguste Lumiere.
11. Camera obscura: the word "obscura" refers to a) dark b) pin hole aperture c) using natural light d) a historic item.
12. Rembrandt lighting begins with side lighting but locates the light
source ahead of and slightly __ the subject. a) above b) below c)
behind d) aside.
13. Photography has its roots in a pre-film device called a __ __ . Literally, the term means "room," "dark." Visual artists used the tool for centuries before it was used in photography.
14. Literally, "writing" with "light:" __ .

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Camera Obscura

The camera obscura (Latin; camera for "vaulted chamber/room", obscura for "dark", together "darkened chamber/room"; plural: camera obscuras or camerae obscurae) is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen, says Wikipedia.

It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography and the camera. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it is reproduced, upside-down, but with color and perspective preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a highly accurate representation.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Photography assignment: 3 black and white portraits using side or Rembrandt lighting; due 12.12.12

- Shoot and place online 3 portraits featuring side lighting. Convert the images to black & white in your computer.

- Standards: sharp focus, plain & dark background, adequate lighting and contrast.
- Option: print on typing paper and frame via cardboard mats as found in crafts stores such as Michaels, Hobby Lobby. Please use 5X7 or 8X10.
- One portrait pose should be an imitation of a famous Rembrandt painting.


Be prepared to write an in-class essay on the process and outcome of your project.
- What you did; what you learned.
- Offer both description and insight.


‘Rembrandt’ or ‘chiaroscuro’ lighting accentuates the focal point of the composition by bathing it in light and surrounding the focal point by darker recesses, says David Bennett.

The Italian word ‘chiaroscuro’ means light and dark, and the alternative name of ‘Rembrandt’ lighting comes from the fact that he created that lighting effect in a lot of his paintings and may be the finest artist to have used the technique.

The contrast between light and dark areas also accentuates the three-dimensional appearance of the subject.

Your main source of light is about 45 degrees to the right of center - and Slightly Above your subject.

The key to Rembrandt style is to have the shadow created by the nose connect with the shadow on the far side of the face - creating a triangular highlight on the subject’s cheek.

Read a basic bio of Rembrandt van Rijn.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Christo & Jeanne Claude: across the globe on billowing fabric and anchored steel

While he has been based in NYC for decades, Christo is a native of Bulgaria, Eastern Europe.

Jeanne Claude, native of France, was both his wife and partner in the art projects.

In Australia, 1969, they wrapped synthetic fabric over 1.6 miles of the coast near Sydney, Australia. It was the largest single artwork ever.

Valley Curtain was produced in 1971. Fabric was stretched across Rifle Gap, a valley in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
The cloth was hung on four steel cables, fastened with iron bars fixed in concrete on each slope held by 200 tons of concrete. There were 2 installations of fabric; high winds soon destroyed each fabric span.

Running Fence (1972 - 1976) was an 18' high fabric fence of 250 miles length supported by steel posts and steel cables running through the landscape and leading into the sea. It was constructed in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California.

With "Wrapped Walk Ways" (1977) Christo and Jeanne-Claude covered 4.5 km of footpaths in Loose Park, a park in Kansas City, Missouri. Pedestrians enjoyed the artwork for two weeks in October.

Surrounded Islands (1983): eleven islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay were encircled in pink polypropylene floating fabric for 2 weeks.

In 1984 they wrapped the Pont-Neuf, a historic bridge in Paris, after nine years of negotiations with the mayor of Paris. In the two week display over three million people visited the work.

The Umbrellas (1984 - 1991), a temporary work of art realized in two countries at the same time, reflected the similarities and differences in the ways of life and the use of the land in two inland valleys in Japan and the USA. There were 1,340 blue umbrellas in Ibaraki and 1,760 yellow umbrellas at the Tejon Ranch in southern California.

One of the umbrellas in California was toppled by high winds, killing one woman and injuring several others. The exhibit was ordered closed immediately.[11] A second death occurred during the removal of the umbrellas.

Permission from 662 delegates, a 70- minute debate in Parliament and a Roll Call vote was involved in getting the Bundestag project OK in 1995 for Wrapping the Reichstag.

After 32 years of negotiation Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped 178 trees in Berower Park, north-east of Basel, Switzerland. The form-fitted silver fabric fabric remained almost a month in 1998 before being removed and recycled.

"The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005" referred to the time that passed from their initial proposal until they were able to get permission of the mayor of New York for a 2-week installation of steel gates and fabric in Central Park.

Over The River, is to be constructed on the Arkansas River between Salida, Colorado and CaƱon City, Colorado on the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. This scenic area is known as Bighorn Sheep Canyon, and is west of the well-known Royal Gorge.

Plans for the project call for horizontally suspending 6.7 miles of reflective, translucent fabric panels high above the water, on steel cables anchored into the river's banks. The project is planned for two weeks in the summer of 2015.

The projects have been financed by selling studies, drawings, collages and works. They have avoided sponsorships. Additional money has been raised from the sale of souvenirs such as postcards, t-shirts and posters.

Projects:
- Map and briefly describe their major works.
- List the pros and cons of their work.
- Compare to the work of Pablo Picasso. Brief essay summarizing their place in history.