Rebekah Weiss
Project #1 Photoshop: 3 Postcards
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| Repetition |
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| Fantasy |
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| Image Word
Project #1 Photoshop: 3 Postcards
During the
creation of this project I was very much so influenced by Haung’s article on
the artist Tom Bamberger. I was inspired by the notion of making the horizon
extend infinitely. Tom Bamberger made his photos physically look like the
horizon was never ending, and I think my photos extend the horizon
metaphorically.
I started
with the library. While taking photos of the library inside and out, I realized
that there is a lot of meaning behind the library as a place that people go. I
started thinking about knowledge and in fact how much we as individuals do not
know or understand the world we live in. And on the contrary to that how much
we as individuals have the potential to learn, and explore.
The first
postcard that I created was based on the idea of repetition. I took an image of
bookshelves standing all in a row. This represents repetition in itself. Also
while transforming this photo I realized that the repetition of book after book
on a shelf could be very overwhelming in the sense that one will never know
even half of the information on that very shelf. Then I copied and pasted those shelves in an
outdoor setting. While doing so I exceeded the shelves back into the horizon
showing that there is an infinite amount of information about the world that we
will never grasp.
The send
post card that I made was based on fantasy. A library in its own has a very
spiritual and unknown feeling behind it.
So I decided to take that literally and show that in my image. I took a
picture so that from the viewers perspective they are looking through a normal
everyday bookshelf, but on the other side they find something so unknown and
mysterious, the universe. I was trying
to show that fact that while reading a book, whether it be fantasy, horror,
sci-fi, etc., it takes you to another world with so much new information.
The third
and final postcard that I created was based on concealment/revealing. I enjoy
art that has words and images incorporated into it. The idea behind this
postcard was to get the viewer to see deeper than what is on the surface. I put the word “imagine” in this image because
of all of the unread newspapers on the wall, and the empty chair facing the
window. I wanted just one simple word to
encourage viewers to think about how much is out there, even just in out
community that we don’t know about. With elections coming up I thought that was
a pretty relevant point to make.
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Hi, Rebekah. How are you? I enjoy the first on having the book shelves be these towering structures in an open landscape. However, with the angle at which the shelves recede they seem very off in that environment.
ReplyDeleteSecond one, love it. Simple as that. There are only small erasure issues that I notice but they are small and don't matter, the concept, the technical, all of it. Just fantastic.
I like this, I really do. The concept is reached through a subtle change in the location of that chair and with minimal word use. A fantastic image and fantastic thing to think about.
thanks Chris im doing well.. hope the same to you!
DeleteYour big idea was the unknown, and I think you conveyed it very nicely through your images. The use of the library is an interesting twist on the idea of knowledge. The idea that our main "source for knowledge" is also a source for so much that we will never know is really nice. Your technical alterations are very smooth in the second and third images, but I think that you could have integrated the bookshelves in the first one a little better. Maybe add a little shadow.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly was your big idea...was it horizons?
ReplyDeleteIf so, then I thought the postcards did a good job at getting the viewer to think further than what the image itself pictures.
For the first postcard, it would have been cool to have one aisle of bookshelves going on forever. I think breaking apart the shelves makes me think less about the horizon.
The second postcard is definitely the most effective. Books are a good way to expand your horizons, even to space. Even though we may not be able to visit space ourselves, books can create imagined worlds for us to experience.
The third postcard also made me think of pushing our mental horizons. The magazines made me think that you were making a statement of thinking past the headlines and into a larger world.
Besides the fact that your big idea was somewhat unclear, I still thought they were a great series of images!
Your technological proficiency is really nice! Everything is seamed together really well, nothing sticks out too much as a stark cut and paste. (Maybe a little in the first one, but not bad).
ReplyDeleteYour second postcard visually works really really well! It is really visually interesting and I love how the shadows on the book lead into the darkness of space.
The third one was a little hard to understand. After reading your statement it made sense, but I feel like there isn't really a visual question that leads the viewer to imagine an answer...if that makes sense??
Conceptually, I thought that your Big Idea had something more to do with knowledge than the unknown. They all relate to each other really well, but because of that, none of them related to your intended Big Idea.
Your first image is very startling, and interesting in that stark environment. The grass is so incredibly green and unworldly. Very Powerful!
ReplyDeleteYour second image feels a little rote to me. It reminds me of a commercial for a library, there are more interesting ways to convey that transition between our imaginations and our reality.
The magazine rack image does not illicit a response to knowledge to me. Also the word "Imagine" is sooooooo super loaded, and overused. Why do we read magazines? How can they be further related to knowledge? What knowledge do magazines give us?
Your big idea seems to be education but I am not sure. I really enjoy visually your second postcard. I think that that one is the strongest one. It makes me think about all the adventures I could go on if I read all of those books. Your first postcard would have been stronger if the grass and sky weren't so fake looking. Then the bookshelves would be more interesting. They would seem more out of place. Your third one is nice visually but I think you could have picked a better word or phrase. I jump to a meaning too fast and then don't want to look at it anymore. It would be nice if the words made us think a little before we came to a meaning.
ReplyDeleteYour first image is crazy to look at. The background is so saturated and clear that pasting the old Zumberge stacks into the image were a huge contrast. Using the Library a spot is hard because there are so many different elements involved with the context. It is good because the elements can mean many different things and make it more complex.
ReplyDeleteI think to combine the new and old library pictures could have been very interesting because we have a desire to know more about the new library and we are going to learn so much more with the new technology and information that will be at the new library.
Hey Reba! I think your big idea was about knowledge, and how there is really no limit to what you can learn. Your first and second images work really well to illustrate this idea – I am really interested in the difference between the two, in that one is about an endless supply of books, but the next is about how our world is endless, yet they relate really well! These two are also interesting in how you play with space. For me, the third image doesn’t fit as well, just because I am not sure how the text relates to your big idea. I wish it had been more of a statement about imagining and knowing and how they relate. I also don’t read this as a library anymore; it could be a waiting room.
ReplyDeleteReally love the space on first off! How the books are blurred and the space is in focus led me to think about the the cover of a book and how unimportant it is, but where the book can actually take you. And good skills! The first postcard I wish maybe wasnt so saturated but i like the concept.
ReplyDeleteBig Idea: Learning and exploring through knowledge; specifically, through books and libraries.
ReplyDeleteI would say your strongest postcard is the second. I really get the feeling of another world and imagination from the image. The aspect that I like the most is that you have to go "through" or experience the books before you can really take in this alternate universe.
I think your least successful postcard is your first one. I am still interested in it, but I think it could have been more interesting to have actual rows and rows of books instead of having them broken up.
Your third postcard works really well with your idea. My only suggestion with this one is to make sure your images connect. This photograph seems like it may have been taken at a different location.
I definitely understood your big idea of the unknown and imagination. I think your idea is portrayed well in each postcard, as well as the series as a whole. The second post card is the strongest I believe. It somehow just fits, and every person can relate to the situation and feeling of the unknown.
ReplyDelete