Assignment 4 Virtual essay

The photographs that I choose are from Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison. They are Cloud Drift, Harbinger, Spring Arm, Summer Arm, and The Crossing.

In my opinion, Cloud Drift is describing a person standing on something in the middle of the lake. There is the reflected cloud in the lake, but you can’t see clearly if the cloud is floating or not due to the wave. Although the person doesn’t seem to be important because of his little rate in the image, the standing point of the person is just the start of those waves. That may shows small things can also make huge impact. We don’t know what the person is watching, but I can feel the persisting.

Harbinger, which is my favorite of those five images, shows a person jumping from a chair, dropping several black feathers. The wind from outside is blowing the curtains. Then I find there is something like a flying bird. The whole image is based on a blurred moment, and I think maybe he wants to fly. Even he may have a pair of black wings.

Spring Arm and Summer Arm are one series of photographs. The plants are sprouting based on an arm, which is in spring. And the flowers are blooming, attracting some butterflies, which is in summer. The difference between two arms is that some pipes under the second one which is also stronger. Nurturing lives need more and more supporting, just like those pipes. And additionally, it is us, the person, to maintain those lives growing rapidly and healthy.

The last one is named The Crossing. A person is walking on lots of tires. If I make the connection between this image and the real life, those tires would be the rough events, and we were moving hard.

There are some similarities among these five images, such as incomplete images of people, sharp contrasts between points, and the analogy. We can see people are not the most important targets of those photographs, but they are indispensable to present the mind of the author. We need him to be the center of Cloud Drift so that the cloud can be drifted. In the Harbinger, the image is actually caused by the bird, but the conclusion focuses on the person. Spring appears in the third one and summer comes from the next. However, the arms are just the grounds. And the ground supports the life. In the last one, someone is walking. We feel his arduousness by integrating him and the tires together. So, the clearest similarity is that those images are creating the processes. They are either static or dynamic through different expressions.

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison is the husband and wife team whose photographic tableaus took the art world by storm more than six years ago. (1) From 1990 to 2003, they received numerous awards and engaged in a lot of One-Person Exhibitions and Group Exhibitions. Through their art, I can feel a lot about the nature and the relevance between people and the world. They are good at producing interesting associations from shooting and combining variable materials.

As Robert ParkeHarrison said in the foreword to his monograph, "I want to make images that have open, narrative qualities, enough to suggest ideas about human limits. I want there to be a combination of the past juxtaposed with the modern. I use nature to symbolize the search, saving a tree, watering the earth. In this fabricated world, strange clouds of smog float by; there are holes in the sky. These mythic images mirror our world, where nature is domesticated, controlled, and destroyed."

References:
1.http://www.edelmangallery.com/parke-bio.htm

Photographs:
Cloud Drift (2007) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Harbinger (2008) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Spring Arm (2007) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Summer Arm (2007) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
The Crossing (2005) Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
http://www.edelmangallery.com/parke-counterpoint.htm

There are other five photographs made by Keith Carter. Keith Carter grew up in a small delta town on the Louisiana border, raised by his mother who worked as the local portrait photographer in Beaumont, Texas. Years later, Carter began his own photographic career, capturing the people and spirituality of the Southern landscape in which he was raised.(2) The first one named Dawn, It presents a man stands on the road to the house, watching some birds flying. These birds fly really low, which seems they just take off. In my opinion, the connection may be shown as the dawn is the beginning of a day. Also, the guy has more clear view to his goal. The second picture is called Darwin’s Dream. Basically, it’s a man walking behind the trees. However, the trees look dead, and there is not any life on the land. Darwin is one of the greatest naturalists, and he proposed natural selection. This photo maybe presents the relationship between plants and humans. We must respect the nature. The third one, Stairway, is a man standing on the steps. It looks like that he is confusing whether he should go or not. This stairway is shown as the corner of one’s life. Sometimes people must make choices. The next two photographs seem to be similar composition. Boy and Hawk shows that a boy puts one hand over his face toward the Hawk. He may be scared, or hurt. Phonograph is describing a man facing to the phonograph. He may be listening or helpless because the phonograph may be broken. The similarities between two artists’ photographs are the simple composition and sharp color contrast. They both shoot photo with human and life to present the comparison and relationship between static and dynamic. When we are looking at those photos, we will have many associations to our real life. The impact of Keith Carter’s art is presented more straightforward than Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison’s. Black and White style can easily describe what the key point is, and make people surprised. Using selective focus to highlight a gesture, person or place, Carter creates powerful images of international icons in a fresh and unique way that is unequaled among photographers working today.(2)However, I prefer Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison’s because they have great integration among human, nature and life.

Photos:

http://www.edelmangallery.com/carternewwork.htm

reference 2

http://www.edelmangallery.com/carter-bio.htm

Topic3: Alterations in journalistic photography

Photojournalism is developing and now it comes into the digital age. Though several technical methods, we can easily edit a photograph, adding or deleting objectives, even change the image. However, that should only be presents in personal interest or something like advertisements. The impacts of photo alterations on journalistic photography can be either positive or negative, but the alteration changes the accuracy and honesty. Have a look at the photograph in the New York Times. The photo shows soldiers in Iraq grazing at a member of a dance group. Looking carefully, we can find a microphone cord that appeared to disappear in air in the middle. Jim Wilson, who shot this photo, responded that nothing was "removed from the image nor was anything enhanced." The part of the cord is blurred because of his way of shooting photos and the dancer’s moving. In an e-mail interview about the Iraq photo, Jim Wilson said that he could not believe that so many people believed there was some sort of conspiracy involved.⁽¹⁾ Although there may be no alteration on that picture, people still doubt because the strange and inconsistency. Any alterations of objectives on journalistic photography will lead to the public’s guessing and even distrust. Additionally, photo alterations on journalistic photography may change the truth of the news story if changes are made to some main points. Thus, the reputation of a news publishing is effected.

In my opinion, it is not ethical or acceptable to alter press photographs. Alterations will cause any possible negatives, such as things said before, the fact of the press. The not-so-good news is brought to us by CBS's Watch! magazine -- the miracle Katie Couric digital diet that reduced her neck and waistline digitally to make her look about 20 pounds lighter. ⁽¹⁾ Gil Schwartz said that "this is not something that is going to happen again." As it is press photography but not art photography or advertisements, the authenticity is required. However, changing was sometimes necessary like playing mosaic on sensitive news. Some examples may include adult crimes.
The rule of ethics about alterations on press photography is more and more accurate.
The Code of Ethics in SND presents that:
As members of the Society for News Design, we have an obligation to promote the highest ethical standards for visual journalism — for all journalism — as they apply to the values of accuracy, fairness, honesty, inclusiveness, and courage.⁽²⁾
The Times has very clear guidelines in place that prohibit image manipulation without clear cause and disclosure. One sentence said:
No people or objects may be added, rearranged, reversed, distorted or removed from a scene (except for the recognized practice of cropping to omit extraneous outer portions).⁽¹⁾

1. Photojournalism in the Age of Scrutiny , Kenneth Irby
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=110342

2.Code of Ethics
http://www.snd.org/about/code-of-ethics/

Photograph1:Jim Wilson/The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/27/world/27morale2.html

Photograph2&3: AP Photo/CBS, Jeffery R. Staab
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=110342

Assignment 1 Web 2.0 Photo Journal Topic 2

Press photography versus art photography

There are many differences between press photography and art photography. The main reason should be their different purposes. Press photography, shot usually by photojournalist, is basically used to record facts and tell news stories to public. Art photography is for displaying the art photographer’s feeling or opinion in some scenes. I picked two press photographs and two art photographs.

We can see many people in these press photographs. They had variable gestures and expressions, but the scene was just in that frame. For example, there might be thousands of photojournalist shooting an incident at the same moment. The result was that we can get the same news about what happened at that time, whether they were shooting at the same point of view or not. But if there was just prosaic things, such as birds flying, a tree in the wind, etc. , we still can feel something different from a variety of photographer catching pictures at different angles. Although the target can also be people, the model should exactly do what the artist wants in order to achieve the art goals. When we are looking at the other two art photographs, I think the first impression for us is a flower and a vestibule. Then we start to think what the artist would like to show us. And we may get different results.

However, there are also some similarities between press photography and art photography. Through those four photographs, we can see that both types of photography should have key targets. It’s an atmosphere. No matter that is for art or for press, photography requires to catch the moment. In 1952, Henri Cartier Bresson expressed his much quoted credo: The Decisive Moment: “To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression” (Salgado, 1990, p.147). He mentioned that the essential component in photography, which is Decisive Moment.

In conclusion, press photography is the press, which tells us news. And Art photography is the art, which tells us a sort of feeling.

Photos:
1. Cartier-Bresson: India: Funeral of Gandhi 1948 (The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Photo 170)

2. Cartier-Bresson: Michigan 1960 (The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Photo 146)

3,4. Andre Kertesz Photographs at Photography
http://www.photography-now.net/andre_kertesz/portfolio1.html

Shooting the truth: Photojournalism

Photojournalism is the use of photographs in conjunction with the reporting of news in media such as print newspapers, magazines, television news and internet reporting.¹ To tell news stories, journalists create images through shooting the photos of the scenes, combining the groups of pictures, and presenting them in publication. Today, the role of the photo journalism is general and even essential for the press releasing. Photos can show you the events visually, which is more stunning, direct, and effective than the text.

Because of the technical development, the smaller, lighter and more advanced cameras greatly enhanced the role of the photojournalist. There are not any the limitations of film roll length, information timeliness, and photography accuracy. Thousands of images can be stored on a single memory card. Photos can be promptly transmitted to the newsroom at the same time. Photographers can easily catch the key moments. Thus, the incorporation of photographs into news reports is so ubiquitous that a story without photographs to a contemporary audience feels incomplete, as though they were only getting half the story.¹

In our opinion, there are several rules that photojournalists should follow. Photojournalism distinguishes itself from other forms of professional photography by its adherence to the principles of journalism: timeliness, accuracy, fair representation of the context of events and facts reported, and accountability to the public.¹ Basically one of the rules is formed by itself because it is the journalism, which is authenticity, timeliness and accuracy. The other rules are some requirements of photographs, such as clear topics, strong atmosphere, and accurate freeze-frame. For combined editing of photographs and texts, there are some rules like connection between words and pictures, and appropriate layout. Therefore, photojournalists should follow both rules of journalism and photography, and also the photography skill is in high standard.

Besides, photojournalists have to follow many potential rules such as government policies and business partners’ point of view. For instance, the government doesn’t want the public know for security purpose, and then the photojournalists will have to follow it to meet the government purpose.

There are some differences on photo journalistic and journalists with the presentation format. Journalists could give some comment on the event directly by words. However, photo journalist has to reflect the truth and personal opinion by pictures indirectly most of the time. This difference makes the ethics to be diverse. Journalists have to be careful with the words they use. In other word, they have to pay attention to distinguish between their own opinion and the facts which could directly affect the ethics in their story. Photo journalists need to figure out how the truth from pictures will create ethics problems with what to shoot, how to frame and how to edit.²
However, both of them are responsible for their performance. Therefore, they always try to avoid the ethic problems from happening.

Reference:

1. http://www.photography-schools.com/photojournalismhistory.htm

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photojournalism

Pictures reference:

1. http://sports.sina.com.cn/j/p/2010-02-02/17204822806.shtml

2. http://liaoning.nen.com.cn/shishi/137/3424637.shtml

3. http://news.163.com/10/0312/14/61J4TME1000146BB.html

4. http://news.china.com.cn/rollnews/2010-03/12/content_1026526.htm

5. http://www.dep-ped.forces.gc.ca/dep-ped/jdep-jped/2008/images/war-guerre-ph1.jpg

6. http://www.unistar.cn/html/Article/20070730/20070730091926001943_1.html

Group member: Yehui Tao, Chi Zhang

Assignment 3

Before:
After:

This is the photo I made in 2009. It was a show in the MarineLand.
I used photoshop to edit it. Just for fun.
First of all, I reduce the size of the picture because the photograph was too large for posting.
Second, I created a layer for future changes. This is a beginning step in the photoshop working, which provides the convenience to deal with errors.
Then I started making ellipse. The purpose was to make a background for words, separating with the main picture. Though the adding shapes tools, we can also change the transparency of the photo. I chose 50% so that the main picture wouldn't be covered.
Fourth, I added the letters but there's no special meaning for those words.
Changing fonts and colours of the words was easily done by photoshop.
Also, I moved them to the right area.
Fifth, I transformed the picture to black and white to make the sentences brightly.
Finally, I combined those layers.
The main idea came from "Tom and Jerry". Once there was a sea lion caught by the zoo. Jerry tried to release it. While I was shooting this picture, I remembered I wanted it jumped out for surprise.

Before:

After:

This picture I token it when jog around after snow in last year. This is the one of my favorite picture. Snow covers every thing let me feeling placid and beautiful of nature. In this picture, colors became sharp contrast. Snow and sky to form a unified entity, tree looks like flower bloom on it. It’s so beautiful.
I use a lot of blur effect to make this picture looks like a painting .
At first step, I use desaturate layer and Smart Blur to create a one layer of blur. After this active, picture get a basic effect for became painting.
Second step, I increase blur effect before change layer’s type and transparency. Then I Merged the layers to get better painting effect.
Third step, I use brush to advantage some special area’s colors like house’s wall. After this I use Gaussian Blur to make area looks more naturally where pigmentation. Through this active, picture wills more unfeigned and colorful while became painting.
Fourth step, I change Hue/Saturation and layer type to advantage picture’s painting effect.
Final step, I Used texturixer option to change picture’s Texturixer to painting Texturixer.
Finish, I use text tools to add a Chinese ancient poetry to sets off the picture and make it specially.

Assignment 1

Topic 1: The role of portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today

The portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today have many differences and also similarities. Those main differences may include the quality, the sense that a photographer want to show, and the purpose. Because of the development of the technology, portraits are changing from black and white to color. This is the most visible thing. Also, they are more detailed as new technical tools are able to catch the specifics of the targets. The sense that a photographer want to show can be solemn, relaxed, and cheerful and so on. By having one's portrait done an individual of the ascending classes could visually affirm his new social status both to himself and to the world at large. To meet the increased demand for portraits, the art became more and more mechanized. The photographic portrait was the final stage in this trend toward mechanization. (1) However, the portraits in the early days may be always solemn as most of them are for recording events. Since there are so many other reasons for making the portraits, the sense is easily changed when you are in different ambiances. The photographer in the past might be an official for recording kings or emperors, and today, they are more likely the hobbyists or even the sellers. The subjects of photographs were mostly about record. Some of the earliest portraits of people who were not kings or emperors, are the funeral portraits that survived in the dry climate of Egypt's Fayum district. These are the only paintings of the Roman period that have survived, aside from frescos.(2)

Work cited

(1):Precursors of the Photographic Portrait

(2): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait

Introduction

Hello, everyone. My name is Yehui Tao. I'm an international student from China. Currently, I am in Business Administration program, and this is my last semester in George Brown College.

I was very interesting in photography since I was a child. This picture was shot while I came here and visited the Niagara fall. It was so amazing.

And I hope for a good semester with you.