Project 8: Surrealism and Photomontage

For this project, we created surrealist images meant to be fantastical or dreamlike using three or more different pictures.

This image was created from 10 separate pictures and several copies of them. There were pictures of street signs, a picture of a post from a beach volleyball net near Lincoln City (still continuing the beach picture trend I've had since project 2), a picture of a trail I took while on a hike, and a picture of Carly taken on our walking field trip. I chose to make everything but the street signs black and white to make the signs stand out, and to give the image a gloomy mood. I also chose to make the stop sign far brighter than the others to make it stand out, so that your eyes gravitated there. There was a lot of editing involved in this picture, all of which was done using Photoshop. I had to edit the detour sign in particular--the words needed to be flipped back around when I rotated the sign horizontally.
I took inspiration for this photo from Alice in Wonderland--the Disney movie--when Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are telling Alice to go in multiple directions (hence the two "one way" signs on the same post). I think my final project is creative and really reflects all of the work I put into it.

Surrealism in Photography

One of the more famous surrealist photographers, David Hockey, gained recognition because of his photo montages, such as the one below, entitled Telephone Pole. The image fits in with surrealism because it is made up of several different images knitted together, creating a fantastical and creative image.

David Hockney

Another surrealist photographer is Erik Johansson, whose work (such as Fishy Island, below) is made up of multiple photographs in order to create his images, thus fitting in with our surrealism project.

Erik Johansson

Erik Johansson

Surrealist photographer Stephen Criscolo creates surrealist images by imagining up is own worlds, like the example below with the jellyfish. The dreamlike image fits in with the surrealism movement.

Steven Criscolo

Surrealism

Surrealism is an avant-garde movement in the art world  that is aimed at releasing the creativity of the unconscious mind. The results often capture dreamlike and impossible-looking images.

A couple of famous artists of the surrealist movement include Salvador Dali and Andre Breton.

Salvador Dali

Vladimir Kush

Tim O'Brien

Project 7: Alternative Processes Through Digital Means

In this project, we emulated daguerreotypes, cyanotypes, and gum bichromate photographs using Photoshop.We didn't really make them, because real daguerreotypes and such are on metal plates and made using entirely different methods, but by using an editing process and other images we were able to make photos that resembled the final result of the other means.

Daguerreotypes

This daguerreotype was made from a panorama of upper Multnomah Falls I made for the last project but never posted because of its composition. I used pictures of scratched surfaces, concrete, and a basic frame to make the final result. I really like this picture because the original (right) had blurry parts and spots from where there was water on the lenses, but for this project, those imperfections made for a good daguerreotype.

Because every project I have done since project 1 has contained some sort of beach picture, I figured I might as well continue the tradition here. This is a picture I took near Salishan, just south of Lincoln City. I like the final result because of its texture, and because of the way the scratches brought a certain dimension to this photograph that wasn't there in the original (below).

The two above photos are of the same daguerreotype with different frames. I personally prefer the one without the frame, but I decided to post both of them regardless. I took this picture just outside of Stevenson, Washington, in the gorge, and though the photo include modern things like the bridge and cars (which are easier to see in the original, posted below), I really liked the daguerreotype effect and how it turned a plain photograph into an interesting one. I also really like the spots on the final image, from the concrete.

Cyanotypes

This is an image I took at the beginning of the year on a walking field trip, and I thought that the floral imagery would look good as a cyanotype. I am particularly fond of the edges of the brushes on this photograph, because it makes it look a little like a painting. The original is posted below.

This is a picture I took of some chalk on the sidewalk on our most recent walking field trip, and I made two version--one as a cyanotype, one with only the brush strokes and no color, which I included because I like the non-blue version best. The original is, again, posted below.

Gum Bichromate

The two gum bichromate images above were made from the same picture, of a flower in my backyard (original below). The first one has a really interesting color contrast from just two layers of color, and the blending I did on it created a cool color contrast. The one below it is more subtle and a little more whimsical in the coloring. I like both versions, especially the splattered edges.

This was a photo I took while out on a walk with my family and my uncle. My dad and my uncle talked about birds nonstop and prompted me to take pictures of the many ducks, herons, and other birds around us. I turned the original photo (below) into a bichromate because I was interested to see how the Mallard, whose colors are vibrant compared to that of the water and the trees, turned out. There are three layers of color in the gum bichromate version.