Havard Referencing

In this lesson, we learnt how to Harvard reference, as it will be a technique we need to learn and use from our chosen essays.

The bibliography should be in alphabetical order from A-Z

This is my example of Harvard referencing:

As Liz Wells states 'A simulacrum is a copy for which there is no original it is, as it were a copy for which there is no original;it is, as it were, a copy in its own right' [Wells, 2000]

Bibliography;
Wells,Liz, [Second Edition][2000] Photography: A critical introduction, USA and CANADA, Routlege

Surrealism In Photography

12/11/12

The movement on surrealism photography based in and around Paris, began around 1920's- and is a continuous movement which occurs around today. Surrealism photography was an expression of truth trying to reach the unconscious mind through rational ways presented in a abstract and 'dream' like style.

Surrealism photography was majorly orientated around Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) theory of the consciousnesses  He believed that you could access someones unconscious mind through everyday thoughts, proposing different methods, such as free association and the sequences of words and ideas and how this can be interpreted in your unconscious mind.  

Through photography, photographers expressed this visually, by approaching it in the similar ways of psychoanalysis  For example they would maybe point there camera irrationally recording everyday life to try and access the unconscious mind. Lee Millers approach to surrealist photography  was very similar to this method as he would constantly photograph everyday life, this element of freezing chance in an everyday world was a explorative way to surrealism. 

As you can see here the image,  Untilted (exploding hand) 1930 appears very naturalistic however can be interpreted very mysterious and 'dream' like. From the repetitive scratches in the window, and the link with the caption 'exploding hand' we associate the two together which relates very abstract imagery. The simple shapes within the image also make it very delusional appearing to also be abstract. 

Similarly, to these ways of photographing everyday life Brassia (1899-1984) photographed everyday objects, but he did this in a complimentary artistic way which represented these everyday objects to be sculptures/works of art. This way of approaching everyday objects, was to explore the different ways our minds work, and how our unconscious mind and thoughts can influence to create this 'involuntary sculptures'. 

This image here 1993 Involuntary sculpture' explores the way how our unconscious mind has creatively ripped up this bus ticket to create this 'work of art'.

Surrealism can also be defined by making no social message, but just photographing the 'ordinary next to the extraordinary'. For example Brassai did another series of work, this photograph here of what appears to be an old woman looking at lingre. The stereotype of what we see elderly people to be, and the association of the lingre is very unusual and weird. This everyday actions, which is captured to be unusual can be seen as surrealism. 

Surrealism can also be used as a way to communicate representations of signs and symbols. For example Renne Margritte was a belgian surrealist painter who explored the differences between representations and reality. An example of this he used was where he painted a pipe, he argued ''This is not a pipe, its a painting of a pipe' .

Constructivism, Dada and the Bauhaus

Constructivism was the artistic and architectural movement of this era, that emphasized art as a practice for social purposes. It reflected architecture, graphic and industrial design and other cultural aspects.

AAn example of a constructivist artist was Alexander Rodchenko who was a main part of this movement ad in 1921 h exhibited work of paintings that declared and confirmed ''the end of painting''.

In 1923 and 1924 Rodchenko was influenced by the German Dahdasits, which inspired him to use his own images and recreate and collage together to make a 'photo montage'. Dada in 1918 was focused around Cabaret Voltaire, in Zurich and writers,artists and poets would meet up together to make art which objected to war. This create these similar styled propaganda poster images, which were very collaged, abstract to grab attention.


Here is a good example of Alexanders Rodchenkos work from the constructivism era. As you can see, the ladder is much darker against the mid tone background (sky) which allows the ladder to be very prominent. The ladder is in the center of the image, and it leads our eyes to look further into the background of the image, creating a large depth of field. This is a technique of leading lines which draws audiences attention. The ladder creates repetitive lines within the image, which have this abstract theme within the image. There is also a repeated use of geometric shapes, from the darkened windows that are very formatted squares, adding to the abstract and linear style. We also see an outline of the figure, who seems to be a working class man from the shape of his flap cap and the reasons why he could be on a ladder. This integrating political and social issues within Rodchenkos image. The use of using an outline of a body, and the outlines of the geometric shapes intertwine to create this abstract imagery that fits into the constructivism era.

Key features of Constructivism would be the context and themes within the imagery. For example the body in the city was a main aspect of this era, and linear lines and the integration of the architecture and outlines of the body would create abstract imagery. Celebration of technology and science and political statement from the time would also be expressed through constructivism.
Visually, most of the image are in black and white, which creates simple tones, however harsh contrasts allowing the image to look more dramatic and straightforward. This allows the geometric shapes to stand out a lot more also. Usually a photo montage image would include some for of text or type, which would help add to the collage of other and used manipulated images. These images would create a scrapbook like theme, or look very similar to propaganda poster imagery, and this way of photo montage became very popular as it was a dramatic and abstract way of expressing.