Looking at the work of Jerry Uelsman...

Browsing the internet the other day I came across the work of Jerry Uelsman.  I think I may have seen some of his images before but didn't know who created them.

I think his images are very surreal.  They are also interesting in relation to this course and to 'ethics' when you consider they were not manipulated digitally.  I suppose most people believe the digital age gave birth to image manipulation.  However, this is not necessarily the case.

Looking at Graham Clarke's The Photograph which is a history of photography dedicating a chapter to each genre, image manipulation began in the early 1900s possibly with Alvin Langdon Coburn's vortograph.

I am still not sure where I stand on the entire manipulation thing but I can say that I am less resistant to the idea of manipulating images.  I can actually see the benefits now and also the fact that manipulation and the use of Photoshop doesn't mean you are cheating in any way.  It is just another part of the creative process in the piece of art you are making.

Back to Uelsman, I really like the dreamy feel to his work and I can see how his influence could work on 'Project Time'.

I also like the way the manipulation is subtle.  It almost looks like it has been painted/sketched.

http://www.uelsmann.net/

Researching assignment 4

Assignment 4 is all about using all the tools available to you to create a 'fake' or manipulated photograph.

As most of the work of photographers that I like does not use a lot of manipulation I decided to buy some Photoshop magazines for inspiration and I suppose guidance.

Some months ago I attended a seminar by Scott Kelby who is big into Photoshop.  The CD that was part of the seminar notes is a good resource for basic retouching especially for portraits.  There is also a section on compositing.

At the seminar he had a special guest - Glyn Dewis - who is a photographer, retoucher and Photoshop trainer.  He shoots a lot of promotional and commercial material and when I saw a section by him in Practical Photoshop I decided to buy that as a starter.

His 'How to create a portrait with punch' was interesting and although I liked the final image I was keen on attempting it myself.  Although the instructions were clear enough my portrait didn't look as punchy as his.  Perhaps my model just lacked that certain 'punchability' or else I just missed something along the way.  I abandoned the idea either way.

I liked some of the images that readers have sent into the magazine and I also found some of their ideas more inspiring than the real articles and 'how to' sections.

The challenge in the previous issue was a poetry inspired challenge.  The results in the issue I had were really good.  I liked the introduction of text to the image.  I felt that this was particularly relevant to my assignment.

I think I need to continue to buy Photoshop magazines to keep an eye for these types of images and to keep my options open as to how they would work in my own photography.