Presentation

Object

Self assessment over view:
The initial concept i was going to work with was to be a be about the constant contrast between the rich and poor, this was after looking at the work by Irving Penn and his Cigarette Butts body of work, this i thought at the time, would be quite a good way to show the contrast by using objects of the same genre in a way but which might have different connotations i.e a cigar and a self rolled cigarette. The intention was to have it as a very flat photography and fairly documentary style. This all soon changed when i started to look at the paintings of still life Pieter Claesz and the movement from stilll ife representing one persons wealth to the still life making a comment on the divide.

This is why I'm happy with the resolved out come of this project, as after doing my research and looking into different techniques of how to represent my idea from general sayings, past economic bubbles and contemporary  art and still life artists i feel as though its fairly well informed and shows the effect of excessive  global spending and how when one thing falls apart it can have huge effects on each of us as an individual.

Robert Mapplethorpe 

The lighting technique i used does, i think, add to the narrative and adds to build a a darker meaning to the photo as a whole. I wanted to used the lighting influences of  Pieter Claesz with the large empty space of dark shadows and fairly harsh lighting, but unlike his painting have a smooth darkened background as apposed to a flat backdrop with sharp crisp lines of differing tone, this was really just for asthetics as i wanted to feel more up to date and contemporary, i suppose a little like Robert Mapplethorpes lighting for the background in his flowers body of work.
The increased shadows on the deflated globe, tulips and house of bank cards again adds a feeling of darkness to the narrative as i almost wanted to  increase the sense of no hope or despair. However the use of Chiaroscuro means that the image isn't totally lost in darkness and shadows and the deflated globe still retains its edge tot he backdrop.

Environment:

Self assessment over view:

on signal hill
Robert Adams

From doing the Pastiche i've learnt to really get involved and read an image, not just to glance at the face value but start to decode it and look further into what could be said. The photo 'on signal hill' by Robert Adams i read into it the relationship between natural environment and the environment we make to meet our own needs or desires. Thats why i chose to do the pastiche on Greenwich hill overlooking Canary Wharf. I chose Canary Wharf for the banking district of London. I've tried to keep the aesthetics similar to the print by Adams with the pale sky and overcast lighting, but the over all photo is composed slightly different, this is because if i'd composed the photo with the tree in the middle it wouldn't show the Canary Wharf which i think was important to show in the image. 

The three photos of environment i wanted to directly show the other half to Robert Adams images and instead of the focus being on the natural environment have it be on the environment we make and seem happy in, i wanted the most fake environment to show this, a place where everything is artificial, lighting, position and why its used. I chose Canary Wharf Shopping Center as its underground with false lighting and because of this makes itself its own environment.