COMM-105-001

Prof. Menke-Fish

15 December 2008

Production Journal: Photography

Culture in Décor

Pre-Production: My original aspiration for my photo essay was to focus on architectural structure around Washington, D.C.  I changed my mind when I looked around my house for inspiration.  I recognized that a lot of the furniture and décor situated throughout my home is inspired by different cultures.   As an artist, and as a student, I am always interested in participating and learning about anything that has to do with the different cultures of the world.  So why go out and about when there are such aesthetically appeasing objects around you? Each furniture piece gives off a special aura and mystique, and in a way, a story.  I had no particular artist’s style in mind when completing my photo essay.  If I learned from anyone it would be my classmates.  Many of their photographs shared during the course of the semester captured images from unique and creative angles. I kept photographer Frank Van Riper’s advice on editing photos during my post-production phase as well: not to overdo it with the editing. I was also inspired by photographs in one of the course’s reading materials, Photo Index.  I sought to match the colorful, detailed, and thought-provoking works that are consistent throughout the book.  I strove for variety when taking my photos as well by attempting to incorporate different textures, light temperature, shadows, angles, symmetry, and color.  The preparation for this project was not at all difficult.  I used an HP digital camera, a spotlight, and little props and items around the house that I thought would bring appeal to a particular photo.  The batteries to my quite unprofessional camera, had to be charged constantly throughout the day which was difficult at times.  While I had to alter the positioning of some of the furniture to get my desired angle or perspective, some furnishings were not altered at all.

Production: The production phase of my photo essay lasted for about 3-4 hours.  I shot sporadically throughout the day: sunrise (about 7:00 am), midday, and around 4:00 in the evening.  I was very particular in my choice of lighting, angles and positioning, so production took a lot longer than I anticipated.   I shot my first photograph, Sunday Morning, in my living room on a Sunday morning coincidentally. My original idea for this photo was to capture the entire painting and the front of the couch at a high angle.  The cultural theme for this picture is inspired by African-American traditional Sundays– how my family primarily spends their Sundays; attending church, then relaxing.  The painting depicts African-Americans going to church, and the couch symbolizes comfort. Space limitations combined with the size of the aperture prevented me from accomplishing my original vision.  I decided to incorporate the soft, blue light from the window instead, and captured the corner of the couch with a section of the painting.   In using the photo editing software Adobe Photoshop 3.2, I decided to take the color away from the picture.  The black and white effect emphasized the soft light and shadows more effectively (setting a soft, subtle tone), and gives the photo a classic look.

            The second photo I took is titled Imperial Chinese Dawn, for its powerful depiction of a Chinese chair.  It was taken in the morning in my kitchen’s dining area.  I positioned the chair so that it would be centered perfectly between the two windows and below the brass sun that adorned the wall.  The vertical positioning of the windows and their being symmetrical gave the chair a powerful aura.  The brass sun symbolized sunrise.  I did not take many shots; I got the desired visual within minutes.  To intensify the morning light coming through the windows, I raised the light temperature using my Adobe software.  This gave the picture a bluish tint.  The third photo, Chinese Dusk, is the same Chinese chair that was in the aforementioned photo, but accomplishes something different.  I wanted to capture the detail and texture of the chair.  The engraved dragon is clearly visible, along with the rectangular pattern on the chair.  These two factors give the picture its cultural significance.  I also altered the angle by making this a low angle shot (I stood on a chair to capture this angle).  I lowered the color temperature to give the light a reddish tint, which helped achieve the “dusk” look.

The next photo taken was Nightstand from London Town.  The idea was to create a European-inspired look with the furniture.  The painting of London’s Big Ben, glasses, and dangling beads from the lamp I felt helped achieve a classical, European feel.  The high angle shot captures the lighting so that it frames the photograph. The combination of the greens, blues, and dim lighting set the mood and tone: a relaxed, romantic feeling and look that resembled night.  The fact that it was taken at night in a bedroom helped mold this idea.  The fifth photo in the photo essay is titled Treasures from the East.  It is a small table covered in a purple and gold cloth from the Middle East.  I strategically placed the candle holder and gold Indian bracelets diagonally so that I could get my desired shot.  I wanted to make it appear as if I was peering over the bracelets onto the table.  I knelt on the floor to get a high angle shot and focused my camera on the bracelets.  To highlight the gold colors, I used a spotlight to direct light onto the bracelets.  The shine of the gold and the unique pattern of the cloth give this photo a magical, whimsical tone.

The Bamboo Lamp is my favorite photo because I felt it offered the most unique perspective.  I used a pussy willow tree from my living room to place in front of the Asian lamp, and took the picture through spaces in the tree to make it appear as if the viewer were peering through bamboo or tree limbs at the lamp.  The tree also gives the photo texture. I framed the shot so that the tips of the triangular top (or hat, as it resembles a Chinese hat) so that they touched the edges of the photo.  This helped frame the picture.  I also thought the spherical base of the lamp resembled a person’s head wearing a triangular hat, thus giving the photo multiple perspectives.  My final photo for the photo essay is titled Dreamcatcher, and captures a Native American wall décor called a dream catcher (a web-like contraption meant to snare nightmares from people’s dreams).  I shot this at a high angle to give it power.  Using my spotlight, I was able to create shadowing from the couch below the dream catcher.  The shadow can be interpreted as mountains appealing to the nature tone that the feathers set, or dark dreams that are being lured into the trap.

Post-Production: I considered the final outcome of my project a success, and, even pleasantly surprising considering that I had only a little photography experience and interest at first.  My final product came very close, if not rising above, the quality of my original ideas.  I was most pleased by the outcome of Sunday Morning.  I did not realize black and white would make the picture so much more attractive, and symbolic of the theme.  I felt I achieved less than what I had originally planned in Nightstand from London Town.  The angle and lighting did not capture my imagination like I envisioned it in doing; it came off as a little bland.  To improve my work, I would get a better variety in the types of shots; maybe more longshots.  If I ever do another photography essay, it would be a focus study on nature.  Photographing flowers and trees would be a much easier task than trying to make mundane furniture look visually appeasing

African-American

This photo has a classic, American look and gives a very relaxed and soothing mood with the soft light coming from the window.  My choice to make this photo black and white also accomplishes this.  Culturally, it reflects my typical Sunday routine:  attending church and a day of lounging on the couch.

Chinese/Asian-Inspired

 This second photo of the Chinese chair depicts dusk.  I gave this a low color temperature to give it a red tint to it.  The red gives the photo intensity and adds to the Chinese theme (red is a favored color in the region).

European-Inspired

  This photo gives a high-angle shot of  a lamp flanked with a framed painting of Big Ben.  This gave a European look to the photo.  The blues and soft tent of light compliment each other, and the direction of the light almost frames the photo.

Middle East Inspired

  This photo of a table covered with a patterned cloth is inspired by middle eastern and Indian culture.  The lighting, gold bracelets, and gold color on the candle holder bring out the gold color in the patterned table cloth.

Asian-Inspired

 This photo depicts an Asian-inspired lamp.  The soft colors and tint of the light give it a relaxed, foggy, almost mysterious aura.  The spherical shape of the lamp’s base along with the triangular top is reminiscent of a person peering through trees, or even bamboo.

Native American-Inspired

This photo reflects Native American culture.  I took this photo at a high angle to emphasize its importance in Native American society.  I also did this to capture shadow, making it seem as if it were hanging above mountains (Native American culture values nature).

This film has a very simple concept and style.  The character is getting ready for a date (hence the zoom on the date on the calendar) and is working hard to choose an outfit.  My group wanted to emphasize how shoe crazy the character is.  Her panic or since of urgency and frustration is reflected in the way the shoes continuously pile up in the film.  When she finally finds the right outfit, she leaves, and a pile of shoes remain as well– reflecting the famous painting Dusty Diamond Shoes.

Taken by Andrea Lisac

This musical scene (“America”) has similarities to that of the Hairspray scene.  There is singing and dancing with a little dialogue mixed in while a joyous musical piece is being played.  The time period depicted in both movies is the 1960′s.  But how these scenes are comprised are almost completely different.  The set of this scene is very plain and dark and it seems as though the characters were actually on a stage.  In the Hairspray “Welcome to the ’60′s” scene, the set is much more elaborate, having very vivid colors and detail in the many locations for this scene: the Turnblad house, the dress shop, and the street.  In “America” the dance sequences are very synchronized throughout, while in “Welcome to the ’60′s,” different characters take part in the dancing at different periods in the scene.  As for camera shots, “America” has limited cuts and only seems to use long shots, medium shots, pans, and high angle shots.  It seemed that the focus was to encompass all of the dancers in the shots. I felt the limited number of cuts gave the scene smooth continuity. In Hairspray, there are many cuts and a variety of shots were used: closeups, medium shots, longshots, and high angle shots.