Sk-etchbook

I received an email today saying our portfolio is no longer working on our website?

The portfolio in question was powered by Flickr and displayed using a Javascript lightbox. This was a pretty nifty way of giving clients a low cost and user friendly way of uploading image files.

Upon checking I found this message on Flickr:

As of today, flickr pages displayed in an iframe break out and replace the entire page. This breaks my flickr app Discussr. Is there any particular reason for this change? It seems pointless and rude to me.

It seems like they've upset a few people by doing this. Not giving any advance notice certainly didn't help matters.

The main reason given is that they don't like having their content framed in other sites. They've never liked it. It doesn't drive direct.

I don't see what the problem was, Flickr branding was plastered all over the slideshows anyway so viewers still knew who was powering things.

Looks like I've got some fixing to do. A few options of app are given in the thread, I'll look into them.

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I absolutely love Wired's November cover. The baby's expression is priceless, the posture is perfect and the lighting treatment gives it the perfect unnatural intensity bringing about subtle feelings of uncomfortable fear. The bold single word is also a terrific choice which takes ultimate control over the viewers train of thought.

One image that really says a thousand words.

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BBC - Genius of Photography
Andre Kertesz – Meudon
Photography shows a world that lies beneath appearances.
A camera obscurer.
Roman, Pennin – woman traces her dying lover on the wall.
Silver salts, react to light.
1802 – experiments, couldn’t fix shadows.
1839 – method invented by Talbot (paper, reproducible).
1839 – method invented Louie Daguerre (Daguerretypes, better quality, not reproducible).
Photographs – a looking glass view of the world.
Process of framing says “look at this”.
Undiscriminates between important/unimportant.
Doesn’t have a hierarchy of psychological interests.
Stanford/Moorbridge – Horse photos capture the motion.
Intrusion in time.
Commercial use.
Carpet Z photographs (8 small images)
Japanese women – Simona
Gaspar Felix – Nadar
Charles Boudlaire – Nadar
Captured photographs changed fine art (people & objects would be cropped).
Stereoscopic photographs.
Kodak.
Brownie camera.
Vernacular photography.
Killed – William Burke
Jacque Lartigue
Pictorialism

Diane Arbus
Camera is a licence
People want the attention.

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I've been out wandering the village and the surrounding areas looking for some inspiration for my photography project today. I'm now thinking of doing a piece entitled Flowers & Rot. The concept is to capture images juxtaposing nature and man made, beauty and dilapidation, new and old etc. I have been trying to find good images of objects out of place ie. scenic views with pylons in the middle, flowers growing out of rusty old boats etc.

I suppose on a theoretical level I'm looking to capture images which convey the nature of the universe, how all that is created must be destroyed and how things will rot and decay. I'm not intending this in a macabre or pessimistic sense, I don't believe this is a negative thing, it is a simple fact. Unfortunately as a species we seem to be at odds with this concept, we consume, we want and we think of time and our lives in a extremely static and fixed manner.

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A few of the photographers and sources I have been looking at in preparation for my upcoming photography brief.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/

http://www.masters-of-fine-art-photography.com/02/artphotogallery/photographers/diane_arbus_27.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Penn

http://www.anseladams.com/

http://photography-now.net/masters/masters_of_photography.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Strand

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Seems I've managed to pull the leaning resources together for three briefs here which is exceptionally beneficial to me since my reading speed is officially crap. I have been making my way though a book titled the Psychology of Perception since before Xmas and also listening to the Prof. Patrick Grim Philosopy of Mind lectures.

Conveniently then I intend to do my critical studies essay on Human thought, belief and perception. This will briefly outline the development of the human sensory system from birth, cover some of the psychological and philosophical implications and discuss the factors influencing the development of identity, personality and preference. Once the groundwork has been laid the remainder of the essay shall cover issues related to perception and knowledge. Included in this section will be subjects such as culture, media, advertising, branding and manipulation. I have a broad selection of angles to approach these subjects from and a good amount of authorities to reference. Here are but a few of the afore mentioned:

Bertrand Russel – Theory of Discriptions
Wittgenstein - private language
Subjective / Objective
Colour Blindness
Homunculus
Sorites Paradox

Epistimology – Study of Knowledge & Belief
Agnotology – study of ignorance (more science related)
Agnoiology – Study of unknown

James Ferrier
Alasdair MacIntyre

Psychological Processes
Denial
Cognitive dissonance
Self-deception
Self fulfilling prophecy
Propaganda
Artificial_controversy
Denialism
Black_propaganda
Logical_fallacy
Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt
Obscurantism
Politicization_of_science
Historical_revisionism_(negationism)
Media_circus
Missing_white_woman_syndrome
Trial_by_media
Sensationalism
Media_bias
Shock_value
Pseudoscience
Deviancy_amplification_spiral
Popular_culture
FARK:_How_Mass_Media_Tries_to_Pass_off_Crap_as_News
Media_manipulation
Advertising
Branded_content
Communication_design
Conquesting
Coolhunting
Reality_marketing
Integrated_Marketing_Communications
Pseudo-event
Shockvertising

Gibsons Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson%27s_law

Distrust or hostility towards intellectuals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism


The other two briefs I refer to are the Professional Practice and Photography. This is however coincidental (if ya believe in coincidences?) the aesthetic requirements of the Feel Good brand call for use of colour and shape to represent their fun and playful outlook. These were some of the first aspects covered in the Psychology of Perception book which gives a blow by blow account of how we learn to use our sense of vision and decipher objects via learning to understand shapes and colours. This relates perfectly to the photography because the principles of shape, colour/contrast texture, light and shade are the most fundamental concepts of photography.

So why is this useful? Well, I've been doing tutorials for Illustrator and Photoshop going into how to mimic three dimensional objects. The more awareness you gain then in knowing what to mimic also allows you understand what can be manipulated in a photograph to enhance, subdue or shift focus around your imagery.

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Reet I was planning on doing a vid but after messing around and getting a bit more friendly with After Effects I decided I could achieve the look I wanted using still images and then animating the movements. This change in strategy was also influenced by the fact that getting a camera off Matt was not dissimilar to getting blood out of a stone! Anyway this suits me as then I can skip the FCP editing stage completely and focus on the After Effects hash up.

I got my photos done on Friday. Coincidentally the lights in the basement were about to die and were flickering on and off so it could have worked really well on video. I didn't take out a tripod either as I needed to shoot from low angles and this was a shame as I saw a few moments whilst on location where I could have done some stop motion trickery.

Anyway spent last week playing around with hue, saturation and a load of other experimental tweeks and now should be able to put all this crap together.

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I watched the Lynda.com Working with Color title a while ago but didn't really absorb it so I revisited it the other day. I have always found Colour Psychology and Theory very interesting. I can remember touching on the subject originally when I was doing my Media Studies GNVQ many moons ago. At that point I found it insightful in the ways it could explain how colours affect the moods and thought patterns of individuals and how preferences towards certain colours could also show what characteristic personality traits that person may have.

With colour theory specifically I appreciate the way it explains how the brain sees colours and how we are drawn to look at certain areas of a design without our conscious minds even knowing about it. The relativity of value, hue and saturation is also an interesting area as it coincides with what I have studied about accessibility and highlights the fact that colour and the way it is perceived is completely dependent on the viewer. The importance of value and it's strength above the other two factors also goes a long way in explaining why black and white photography has such an appeal.

Finally the way we attach cultural values to colours is also entertaining. Understanding this can be a very powerful tool especially in the area of web design as the market is global. Designing for a non-geographical audience can be a tricky subject and it is easy to simply apply our own perceptions to the designs. It is important to remain open minded and to try and put yourself into the mind of your target audience.

Now as most of the people on this course have a design background it would be nothing new to them however I have only been studying the design side of things in any depth for the past year. I'm still limited by technical ability and have not perfected detaching myself from the process however exploring my creative side has been incredibly beneficial. As I spent a good few years working as part of the rancid English rat-race I think many of the creative tenancies I possess had been suppressed. People by nature are inventive, creative and social creatures. It is necessary for our mentality to vent these things, to share ideas and to enrich the lives of others. Everybody can do something and the fact we are all good at different things is what makes society's work, be it design, music, painting, drawing, baking, telling jokes, literature, throwing mind blowing parties, standing on one leg, etc, etc...

?? Went off on a bit of a tangent rant then but never mind! Adiós!

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Why oh why did I ever think it would be alright to live back in England?

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The first couple of these pictures I like because of colour again, the second one also utilses light & reflection really well to create an atmosphere. The third & fourth (and I think the driver one in the last post) are by Pamela Henson. She has a real talent for capturing moods and the placement of objects/subjects in a way which seems to visualize ideas.
The fith one (Piano Legs) is by Ben Christopher. This incorporates some of the topics I've covered before however the use of cropping also adds to the image. The legs are framed in a way our eyes would not normally see, the view is irregular, unusual therefore interesting.

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Just having a clear out. These are a collection of random images I have collected over the past year which I liked for one reason or another.

Now I can't remember what some of theses are called now or who they are by but just a brief word about why I chose them. The first one of the stairs I like because of the composition, the way you are led deeper into the picture. The image also has intense contrast and texture which has a stark hardness almost making the area unwelcoming. The second image of has strong graphic symbolism, both the driver and the cab scream retro New York, the choice of angle is also interesting, it puts you into the position of a second person within the cab as to make you part of the picture. Finally on this one, the way the light is blurring as it shines through the windows add atmosphere, creating the feeling of hot summer days.
The third pic has great focus, the use of negative space makes you give your full attention to the subject. Regarding the subject, the use of graphic symbolism is intense and striking however the stereotypical associations are powerfully contradicted making the image more thought provoking rather than just leading.
The final two are composition and interesting content but I chose these for a colour thing for more than anything else.

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I went to Dublin for a few days last week. I had been once before but was about 10 at the time so this was a very different experience. My first thoughts were that pints are bloody expensive and there are not a lot of Irish inhabitants there. However like most cosmopolitan capitals it seems to attract cultures from all around the world which create an interesting mix of people, opinions and social interaction. It has a friendly atmosphere and has some really picturesque areas and a fantastic coloured stone is used in the local castles, the weather's not brilliant and, a slightly strange thing to notice but I'll mention it all the same, it has fantastic waste management.

We went to the Chester Beatty Library while we were there, this was full of eye candy in the form of ancient scripts, books and various other trinkets. There was some amazing calligraphy and illustration involved, works from China, Japan, Egypt, Turkey & Persia. It's easy to forget in our society of mass production an free access to creative materials what a specialist art form the creation of written text used to be and what treasured items books were.

My preferred item for ideological reasons not for aesthetics were the Egyptian
scrolls of the dead. These were a kind of guide or instruction manual that were buried with the dead. I like the notion of the recently departed sitting there reading the words "So, now that you're dead...".

It was a good experience and is useful for broadening my horizons, I'm hopefully going to get away to at least one other country over the summer.

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As we had finished the DVP brief and I had been thinking I do like doing video but unfortunately don't have time to learn more about it I have also been thinking about other aspect of media witch I enjoy but have not been allowing myself time for. Photography is coming out to be the obvious choice of something I should take up as a more permanent hobby. I also like animation and making flash games however due to time restrictions these will remain on the back burner for now.

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And I had to include a few trolley shots. There not really deserted in random places, they got there all by themselves!

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These are a few of the location shots from the videodrome brief. The key insight I gained here is that it's all about manipulation. The camera captures images differently from how we see them and the visual differences can be used to our advantage to enhance moods, focus, depth and intensity of a shot. Perspective and cropping are the most notable of these factors to me at the moment and I hope to apply this knowledge when framing photographs in the future.

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