World record paid  for a digital image :Rhine II  Andreas Gursky

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/andreas-gursky-rhine-ii-photograph 

A digitally manipulated image by Andreas Gursky has sold for a record £2.7 million and I must confess I am a bit bewildered by it ! 
Its a minimalist image consisting of strong horizontal lines but any other elements that were originally in the  frame have been digitally removed. I personally find it cold and emotionless to look at. However Gursky's images are printed huge--this one is 80 x 140 inches--- and is probably better viewed as such rather than on a computer screen to appreciate the scale. Manipulation is frequently  used to enhance or alter reality but interestingly Gursky states "his  aim in using digital technology is not to create fictions but rather to heighten the image of something that exists in the world.  "   http://beta.tate.org.uk/art/work/P78372?text_  The   image could be of anywhere--a generic place--that symbolises the fictional truth Gursky wants his image to represent. What does his image tell us about the Rhine itself ? Not a lot as any elements that might provide clues to the exact  location have been removed. "Christie's  described it as "a dramatic and profound reflection on human existence and our  relationship to nature on the cusp of the 21st century". http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/andreas-gursky-rhine-ii-photograph.
 Looked at in that context the image makes quite a  bleak social comment, and must reflect what I feel is Gursky's rather pessimistic view of the world around him. Hence in hindsight a rather good example of how digital manipulation can be used to not only alter reality but be used to show a very personal viewpoint. I initially commented I found the image emotionless--is that what he wants me (the viewer) to see and feel, share his vision? It certainly worked.

Image Copyright © Andreas Gursky

Delay

23/11/2011

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I can usually  work to a deadline but the flexibility of the OCA courses is one of the major reasons why I am able to continue to work full time & study at the same time. My1st assignment is due next week but my planned sessions and project work have been put on hold  & delayed for the past couple of weeks. First Mum's fractured finger , now I  have been unwell since last Friday. I feel awful and have been coughing all day  and night--I sound like I have croup! I have managed to keep going to work but  have been in bed by 8.30pm each night. With Xmas approaching I know , realistically , it will be a real struggle to complete the assignment before then, so I have emailed Russell , my tutor, and hope I feel well enough this weekend to battle on with project work and assignment planning. I  have managed to browse through, but not digest, a couple of library books I picked  up recently and will write about these later.
 
French Vogue caused some controvesy earlier this year when  these images of a 10 year old child, who has clearly been made-up and dressed to look like an alluring young woman, were published. They communicate an illusion  of idealised beauty and sexuality.I love taking photographs of children and  I took many of mine as they grew up in the 1970's and 80's , and continue to do so of my grand-children , but am very aware of what is now considered acceptable , or even safe, to share . Sadly many of mine taken in the seventies would be considred unacceptable now.But whilst my analogue snaps were seen by only a few family members and friends digital imagery is easily distributed and then viewed  around the globe. But is sexualisation of children a new phenomenon in photography unique to the  21st Century or has it always existed? All imagery needs  to be looked at in the context it was taken and to carefully consider the   photographer's intent . Social mores change , what is acceptable for one  generation is not for the next. 

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/parents-fury-at-10-year-old-supermodel.html

Shocking ? 
French Vogue January 2011
With this in mind I wanted to look in closer detail at the images of children taken by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, during the  1870's and 80's and decide for myself if he was not only a gifted photographer of children but (in the words of one reviewer) "a dirt-bag" !!!
<
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0500410984/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1>

Xie Kitchen , July 1873

Alice Liddell as a beggar girl, 1858

Lewis Carroll  (Photofile) by Colin Ford.

Paperback: 144 pages Publisher: Thames & Hudson (6 July 2009) . Many of the  images to modern eyes may look suggestive. I find the photographs very carefully  considered and posed, the exposure times ran to minutes , how he managed to persuade his younger subjects to remain so still I have no idea. Unlike his compatriot Julia Margaret Cameron, whose images were often deliberately out of  focus, his are technically good. The work of the  Pre-Raphaelites inspired him , his images are beautiful and I feel show a  passionate quality. Although some are quite innocent the subjects rarely smile and have an intensity that still manages to disturb me. Why is this I wonder , would I feel so uncomfortable if I knew a woman had taken them? The images were never ntended for public consumption , but does that somehow make his pastime of photographing young girls (often nude) even more dubious? What I need to consider before labelling him a pervert are the circumstances at the time the images were taken, the context. The book suggests the provocative pose of Alice Liddell posing as a beggar girl is the result of his model needing to steady herself during the long exposure. Viewing them well over a century later I have no idea if his motives were salacious or not ,how can I  possible judge him by today's standards ? 

 
I have had a vile week! Mum  shut her finger in a car door on the evening of the 5th after a family bonfire party  so any  college work has been totally abandoned . I have had trips to A & E  and  fracture clinic ,work has been awful, and my new iMac has driven me to despair.  I am sure once I get to grips with the  different OS I will be fine but I spent  most of Wednesday loading my new Mac versions of Photoshop CS5  and Lightroom and then trying to work out how to get them in  the dock area of my desktop. I have yet to actually process any photographs  on my sparkly new machine !  But on a high note one of my images ( the 1st in a  series of work in progress hopefully towards my final DPP assignment ) has been  chosen to be used on the OCA website this month (see below). So a good  end to a horrid week. 
 
I'm excited !!!  The postman has finally arrived with my parcel from Software 4 Students.  http://www.software4students.co.uk/Default.aspx
Having always  used a PC I have recently bought a 27 inch screen iMac. Hence I need new software--Lightroom 3 and  Adobe Photoshop CS5. The student   discount is a great help. I must admit I am a bit apprehensive about starting to use the Mac for processing , another challenge for me along with the  coursework. I have got to look at calibration too. I am ashamed to admit I do not have a calibrated screen on my PC, my prints , (after a lot of trial,  expense and error !!) are now fine but I really feel I now need to take a more  professional approach.
 http://mansurovs.com/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor        http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1017&message=39666382

 
Three bracketed  exposures of low, average and high contrast scenes are needed for this  exercise. I do routinely check the histogram on my camera LCD screen and when reviewing the images in LR. Additionally the highlight and shadow clipping warnings are always left on. However a histogram is just a guide , low or high key scenes will have very different histograms but this does not make them bad images. I am not a very technical person so describing how I see and interpret  histograms is actually rather difficult for me to write about  so please excuse any rather un-technical terminology I may use in my efforts!

A histogram grap below showing tonal range from very dark on the left to very light on the right.


Low  contrast.
I shall call  these my boring collection- a brick wall taken early morning !!!  My camera indicated that all three images had little tonal contrast with the values close to each other spread over only a small proportion of the histogram graph.They each have a pyramid shape.  None showed clipping but the values move towards the right hand side as the exposure is increased.  All images  F4.5 @ 14mm ISO 200. 

Picture
Darker exposure.
The tonal range is restricted to dark and medium tones. here to edit.

@ 40 secs

Picture
Average exposure.
The values have shifted slightly right towards the mid range tones.


@ 30 secs

Picture
Brighter exposure.
The values have once again moved right towards the lighter mid range tones.


@ 25 secs

High contrast.
All images taken  @ 50mm ISO 200 1/500.
The camera and on screen histogram indicated that all 3 images were clipped in the highlight and shadow areas. 
Unlike the low contrast graphs these are spread all across the tonal range with high and low peaks indicating a wide range of very dark to very light tones that will create a high contrast image
.
Picture
The graph indicates a darker  toned image than the other 2 exposures.

 It shows much lower peaks in the mid and light toned areas but a very high peak in the darkest area of the graph.

F6.3





Picture
The graph has shifted towards the right with very high peaks in both the dark and light areas 





F5.6

Picture
The graph's peaks are less prounounced moving towards the right. I actually expected this histogram to move further towards the right than it did using the larger aperture. However it does indicate there are now less dark and medium tones than before.

F5




Medium contrast.
Looking at the medium contrast graphs I can see that although the tonal range is quite broad it creates a smoother gradual curved graph than that of the dramatic high and low peaks created by the high contrast images.
All images taken  @ 50mm ISO 200 F 5

Picture
The tonal values are spread across the graph but indicating a greater amount of dark tones due to the shorter exposure.

1/320

Picture
This graph indicate less dark and more mid tones with some highlight clipping. here to edit.

1/250

Picture
The slower exposure time has increased the overall brightness and amount of clipped highlights.


1/200

 
 Three books arrived today (I love Amazon parcels !!) .
One of my aims is to improve and extend my lighting skills so I am sure I will  be picking this book up often during the course.
 Light  Science and Magic: An Introduction to  Photographic  Lighting[Paperback 4th edition] By: Fil Hunter, et al Paperback: 326  pages Publisher: Focal Press; 4 edition  (September 22, 2011) Language: English  ISBN-10: 0240812255 ISBN-13: 978-0240812250. I have had a very quick look and  towards the back are some amazing portrait images using flash  creatively,something I hope I can personally explore further .
 The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book: The  Complete  Guide for  Photographers  Martin  Evening (Author)   Paperback: 672 pages Publisher:  
Adobe Press; 1st edition (June 8, 2010)  Language: English ISBN-10: 0321680707  ISBN-13: 978-0321680709  My LR editing skills are mainly self taught. I hope to  gain a lot of  knowledge from this book and improve my processing  skills.
Adobe  Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: A  professional image editor's guide  to the  creative use of Photoshop for the  Macintosh and PC [Paperback]  Martin Evening  (Author)  Paperback:  768 pages  Publisher: Focal Press; Pap/DVD  edition (May  27, 2010)  Language:  English  ISBN-10: 0240522001  ISBN-13:  978-0240522005 . I do not do a great amount of PP but realise I will need to do more than usual as the course progresses and will be needing this book! I am looking forward to doing more creative manipulation.  

 
Ghosts of the Black Chamber: Experimental, Dada and Surrealist Photography 1918-1948
(
Solar Art Directives) Paperback:  136 pages Publisher: University of 
Chicago Press (23 Dec 2010) 
 Language  English ISBN-10:0982046448 ISBN-13: 
978-0982046449 
During my first OCA course TAOP I visited an exhibition of surrealist work and commented at the time I found it difficult to understand and actually found some of it totally ridiculous! However as my photographic studies continue I find myself being drawn more towards this genre. This is a VERY slim book , much smaller than I imagined when I ordered it , but it does contain some interesting imagesSurrealist art is frequently used to create erotic/pornographic images, but the book suggests that "even porn can be creative" pg 5. The Surrealists used photography as a medium to signify and reveal a more complex truth. Spanning  from 1918-1948 I find viewing the analogue images taken prior to the digital age all the more intriguing for the skills used to create them.