Image Bank - Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe is a simplistic American photographer who focuses plenty of his images around the gay community. He took an assortment of photographs portraying people's nudity which some viewers found to be uncomfortable, whilst others found it magnificent. His vast, provocative, and powerful body of work has established him as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Robert Mapplethorpe is known for his sometimes controversial large-scale, highly stylised black and white photography. 

This is one of Robert's more lightly lit pieces of photograph. A lot of his pictures are in front of a black backdrop, but this one stands out from the others because it's less bold and features himself too. Robert Mapplethorpe does his own self portraits, because he was catholic and gay and never came out to his father so would use his own photographs to explore his identity. 

Here I like the contrast that is clearly evident between the different races of human faces.  The faces being both male means that Robert Mapplethorpe has captured the gay community effectively as he has also placed them both in a close proximity.   

This photograph is intriguing because the black backdrop blends in with the woman's dark piece of clothing so it looks as though her ghostly complexion is floating in the middle of the screen. Her face and neck has been softened to create a more feminine touch to the image.

Image Bank - Multiple Imagery

Multiple Imagery's are pieces that tell a story through more than just one picture. The photographer takes a range of different pictures of one thing and then merges them together separated by a thin white grid to mask together one overall picture. It's extremely creative and so many different things can be done with this topic. Below are six pictures demonstrating multiple imagery. If one photograph can speak a thousand words, then nine or twelve etc. can speak thousands more. In my opinion, multiple imagery is a topic that can makes a boring photograph interesting. You don't have to focus on just one subject, instead you can take pictures of small sections to then physically create the image. Multiple imagery could also perhaps show more than one facet of an object, place or person.

This multiple imagery piece has been created by the photographer taking a picture with the frame filled by two different block colours. They've then slid across the wall and taken another one similar with a different colour. From this picture I assume that the original image would have been one long landscape brick wall painted all kinds of different colours. The grid  breaks up the length of the wall, making it more like a multicoloured building from somewhere like Tobermory or buildings by the beach.

This piece portrays a journey of someone through only nine pictures. At first they start off standing up straight on a patch of grass. Five pictures into this piece and they're half way under the ground. By the 9th picture the model is nowhere to be seen, only a dark black oval shaped pile of mud in the centre of that specific picture. This multiple imagery demonstrates the process of someone being burried or sinking which could be interpreted as a deep meaning.

This is just a simple picture of an old fashioned telephone demonstrated through 25 individual pictures. This doens't include the white grid so it makes the picture look more like a constructed piece rather than separate sections of the subject.

Here the model has posed in three different styles: facing left, straight on and right. As a finished piece it has been built up as one single picture of what could look like three different models, when in fact it's just one person. That's the ability of a multiple image.

This would have to be my favourite multiple imagery piece; it's so incredibly detailed and perfected with precise pictures. The photographer has intentionally zoomed in on certain areas of the woman's limbs and placed them all around her original body to make it look as though she's performing all of these crazy actions when really she only has two feet and two hands, not ten. An interpretation that could be revealed from this piece would be the photographer attempting to apply the sea life to human beings, as the model looks like a crazy octupus which would be impossible for her to look like in real life naturally. I think this would make a fantastic picture for a dance agency advertising themselves.

This multiple imagery is humorous as well as fascinating. It demonstrates all kinds of different mouth poses that many people act. It includes people of difference races to portray equality and perhaps women aswell as men also; it's difficult to tell a man from a woman by a mouth apart from facial hair. Overall this image is clever and amusing and a different example of multiple imagery, as instead of one mouth having an assortment of pictures taken from it, a variety of different mouths have been used to create this composition.

Image Bank - Contrast

 These six photographs below are perfect examples portraying contrast. They all have their own style of contrast all hidden in photos that look attractive and photographic. The types of contrasts that have been illustrated are noted in the captions. I like all of these pictures because some discretely convey contrasts whilst others scream it from the photograph.

This picture is demonstrating rough and soft textures along with colour contrasts. The elephants are tough skinned mammals with a rough outer layer whereas the sea water is delicate and 'run your fingers through it' smooth. The contrasts in the colours is extremely effective as the outline and shade of the elephants stand out brilliantly against the sea colour and sky colour.

Mmmm chocolate. The solid and liquid formations are clearly evident in this photograph above as three cubes of chocolate are half way through sinking into the melted chocolate that they're resting on. The layer of melted chocolate is extremely smooth with minimal shadow while the chunks of chocolate include a lot of shadow to demonstrate their 3D nature, therefore still being solid and unmelted.

Winter and Summer has been portrayed in this picture through the collaged photo of the same tree during winter and summer time. Winter has been portrayed through leafless branches, snowy grounds, mountains in the background and snowflakes falling from the sky. Summer has been portrayed through shining sun in the top right hand corner, bright green leaves, fresh green grass and a cloudy yet blue sky.

This is a photograph making the tourist attraction of Disney Land Paris evident in the background with two different coloured cameras infront. The people behind this photo are obviously going to use their cameras to capture memories. The different coloured cameras contrast well together whilst also forming a cute little piece of photography. If the cameras were of identical colours then they would not contrast.

This picture could demonstrate a variety of different contrasts such as rough and smooth, straight and curly or plain and patterned. I believe that the contrast between plain and patterned is most effective in this pciture because one side of the sand has squiggly lines going all the way down it whereas the otherside is plain and soft with no interruptions to its structure.

This is a photograph illustrating the unhealthy side of life along with the healthy side. Both types of food in this pictures are extremely yummy, however pancakes are not good for you whereas strawberries and bananas are. It's ironic that both these foods pair perfectly together yet have completely different benefits for a person's lifestyle. Pancakes bring tasty goodness yet naughty ingredients whilst the fruits have a positive effect on the immune system and keep you healthy; they have no negatives.

Image Bank - Back Of Head Portraiture

All of these images below portray 'back of head portraiture'. They all have a backdrop/background that fits the feel of the picture for example, the man in the cap is clearly standing infront of a train track wich could hint at suicide. It's a photograph that exhales a lot of impact on the audience and creates quite a negative mood. Not one of these pictures is of just a head infront of a plain backdrop. Each pictures tells a story and that's what I like about photography. They all have separate meanings, yet all cover the same topic no matter how different they may be from each other.

A popular reaction that could be created through this picture is "that's soooooooo cute". The miniature cat contributes to this popular reaction. It's head is at an angle nearly identical to the girl's. This portrays a close bond and trustworthy friendship between the girl and the cat. The colours in this photograph look vintage which is what I really like, so the white background compliments the subject.

From this photo it is evident that the subject is at a wedding, in a wedding dress with a hair style that probably took hours to create. The wedding scene is portrayed through the floral blur in the back groud. Most of this picture is white and refreshing which is the stereotype of a white wedding. It's an extremely pretty picture, but could be improved by the woman being more in the centre standing at less of a twisted angle.

The setting that this woman is surrounded by is established in this picture. It isn't only a photograph of the back of her head, but also the fact that the viewer can see that she's in the middle of a field with the sun shining down on her perhaps hints at it being a warm spring day. Her holding her head illustrates how she may possibly be worn out, nevertheless this picture still looks relaxing and peaceful. 

I love this picture. The sunshine is deonstrated through the different shades of the girls hair. Sun in the middle of a frosted scene is an extreme contradiction, but one that also looks breathtaking. The beanie is an effective accessory in this photograph as it make the woman look warm even though she's in the middle of possibly Antartica. The background that's been used in this picture is extremely photographic and it really captures the viewers attention.

Image Bank - Portraiture Photography

Portraiture is a Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture plugin that eliminates the tedious manual labor of selective masking and pixel-by-pixel treatments to help you achieve excellence in portrait retouching. It intelligently smoothens and removes imperfections while preserving skin texture and other important portrait details such as hair, eyebrows, eyelashes etc. These 6 images  below are perfected examples of portraiture, each model having flawless skin with a brightened effect to enhance the appearance of their facial features.

This photograph includes virtually the same colours throughout, even in the background. These identical colours give this photo a neutral effect and the usually dark shades are brighter through editing.

Cling film has been wrapped around sections of this woman's face and neck which appears to look like water, creating a clever piece of photography. The picture has been lightened to make the cling film look more transparent.

Most of this picture is white, with tiny areas of shading except for the model's eyes and eyebrows. These are the two features which stand out due to the effect that's been used which illuminates her skin.

Areas of this picture have been darkened to exaggerate the formal element form. Her ginger hair pairs nicely with the light shade of teal background. This photograph has edge and character and her eyes look crystal clear.

Image Bank - Photojoiner

Photojoiner photography is where multiple photographs are taken of different areas of the object/building you've chosen to take a photo of. These groups of photos are then joined together to create one image. Examples of this have been shown below. It is evident what's been captured, however the different sizes of miniature photographs make the overall image look artistic and intriguing. It's an extremely creative way to form a photograph.

This photojoiner photograph makes the building on the left look as though it's toppling backwards, even though it isn't. There's so many creative ways you can be with photojoiner pictures, and this illusion is one of them.

This photograph exaggerates the amount of clutter within this bedroom. Becuase multiple pictures of messy areas have been taken and put into one image, it makes the amount of mess look as though it's increased, when in reality it's most likely less crowded with clutter than what's being demonstrated.

This chair looks extremely crippled and jumbled up. This photojoiner creation makes the chair look like an unstable piece of furniture, even though in real life it's probably safe and sturdy as most chairs are.

Although this picture of a phone and earphones hasn't literally been taken, it's obvious that this is the subject of the photograph. The earphone wires somehow show the path the wires take, even though each miniature picture hasn't been lined up perfectly with eachother. Furthermore, the phone's structure has been fractured through individual pictures, but the music playing is still visible which is all the audience need to see.

Image Bank - Texture

Texture comes in all kinds of surfaces. It is found in practically everything because it contributes to the feel of something. Texture can be discovered in solid, strong, rough, rugged amd bumpy objects/materials to smooth, soft, silky, sleek and glossy objects/materials. Below are six images portrating the variety of textures that can be identified in a range of materials. There are four photographs which demonstrate a rough texture extremely effectively. There is no flat feature found in any of these photographs, therefore it's evident that their textures are slightly harsh and of course rough. The last two images are extremely attrative and eyecatching. The smoothness trapped in these two photographs make a viewer want to just reach out and run their hands across the material. The sand mountains look exceptionally delicate, meaning their texture is soft and fragile.

The texture in the bark on this tree trunk is emphasised through the dark shadows below and next to each section of bark. The different colours on the trunk portray that it's old and rugged, therefore making the texture of it even more rough because it's wearing away.

This is a close up picture of veins on a leaf. The colours have been edited in photoshop along with the curves and levels because the tone and dark shadows on the picture are emphasised. The tiniest details on the leaf is evident as there's a continuous pattern of what marks spread all over the leaf.

This texture is silky and looks as though it's just a pile of silk material. The shine on the fabric is portrayed through the white stripes complimenting the cream material. There is no detail covering the fabric, it's clean, flat and smooth, therefore making the texture soft and angelic.

Image Bank - Shape

Out of all the formal elements, shape is the most economical since most objects can be identified from their outline alone. There are millions of pleasing shapes to capture a photograph of in this world as practically everything has a shape. Shape is best shown off against a simple background, whether that be one block of colour, the sky, bedding, nature (leaves) etc. All of these photographs below demonstrate shape against a simple background, except for the leaves. This photograph includes shape alone, collaged with other shapes making up the whole composition of the picture. 

This is a photograph of three pairs of glasses, all with a lens that's a different shape to the others. These shapes are actual geometric shapes; a circle, a heart, and a circle with a corner which could be interpreted as a triangle. This photograph is extremely simple but demonstrates the formal element effortlessly.

I like this photograph. It's clear that these two black swans are making a slight heart shape with their bent necks. I like the fact that this shape can only be formed; it isn't always there. 

This image demonstrates two bottles with a wine glass placed in the foreground in front of the bottles.  Their shape is  identified through their outline. The blue bottle has a more defined and evident shape because it's against a yellow background whereas the yellow bottle stands out the least. 

This is a picture illustrating a variety of silhouette trees against a sunrise background. The shapes of the trees are all in a variety of sizes to emphasise that trees (nature) grow to different heights and widths as growth is not precise and therefore neither is their shape.

Image Bank - Movement

Image Bank

Movement is portrayed in some of these photographs through the background of the subject being blurred. In others, things have been captured mid air or in media res. All photographs illustrating movement only ever happen at that particular time. The human eye cannot see movement as well as a camera can capture it which is what is so special about the formal element movement being used in photography.

This photograph is similar to the one below. The subject of the picture is defined whereas the rest of it (the background) is blurred.

This picture instantly makes an audience go "aw" because the subject of the photograph is a dog, and these animals are "aw" in general. It's fur is blowing in the wind and this is evident through it all flowing in the right direction. The background of the dog is blurred which portrays how this dog could be bolting through the wind or spinning on a roundabout perhaps. 

The audience are aware that a wave is an example of movement. This wave has been captured in media res with different areas of the sun shining down on it to emphasise the shine in the water, creating a beautiful photograph.

This photograph demonstrates a sequence of movements that this woman is performing. Her current position isn't blurry like the other ones as these portray her progression. The audience can see that she began bent down to the floor, and now she is in the air performing an interesting jump.

This image is of a powder bomb/bombs exploding and having it's contents captured through a lens when it's set off. Different combinations of colour have been mixed in the air against a white background so that each spec of powder is visible. It is evident that this photograph portrays movement because if someone was to visit the area this powder bomb exploded, the contents wouldn't be there. Therefore the only way it could have been photographed was if it were moving.