Surrealism Final Photos

Final Photos

When creating my final image, I used various lights and props to create my desired effect. Firstly, I used a pink backdrop to emphasize and add a pastel colour to the image entirely to imitate the Surrealist style. Moreover, I used the studio lights with various additions such as the soft box. This allowed me to direct the light to evenly spread the light over the given area. In addition, I took the photos in portrait and landscape as the composition of each piece was different. The camera set up I used was ISO 400 and the white light was heightened.

Within the first photo I have been able to create a contemporary twist on the usual connotations of an egg. I used egg shells, golf ball and grass to create this piece. By removing the typical outcome of an hatched egg, it creates a unfamiliar feeling that is uncomfortable. I decided to do this as it is impossible for a golf ball to hatch out of an egg. This links into surrealism as two found objects with no or little relevance to one another but into an scenario. This piece is also a reference to Salvador Dali's 'Lobster Telephone'. As both involve sexual connotations like 'speaking into the genitalia lobster' and 'hatching new life', these two pieces are linked. This piece of Dali's inspired me to create this piece as surrealism was inspired by sexual desire and the unconscious. By involving the two elements into one piece I have been able to create an unsettling feeling when viewing it which ignores the natural connotations of an egg. Moreover by using grass instead of a yolk or its whites I am removing the actual life from the egg. This mimics an egg being infertile however it creates an unsettling feeling as something irrelevant has hatched from the egg. By using a golf ball, I am mimicking a yolk of an egg however by replacing it with something irrelevant it creates an unfamiliar sight.    

Within the second photo I have been able to create a contemporary twist on 'found objects' from Surrealism. I decided to use a cherub the appears to have been holding something prior to this photo shoot. However when I bought these cherubs they weren't holding anything. This makes me believe that these cherubs had a previous use than shown in the photo. This develops the 'found object' subtitle as I have been able to re-purpose an already purposeful object. It appears to have been a candle holder that held then as the cherubs stand up when placed on a flat surface. Moreover by pairing this with paint brushes I have been able to re-purpose the cherub but also animate the cherub to a certain extent. This piece is a reference to Salvador Dali's 'Bust of a Woman' as both involve re-purposing objects in the term of art. Dali's representation of this is more figurative and challenges the imagination whereas my contemporary twist is more direct with its link. I decided to paint various brush strokes onto the background as it adds a sense of movement within the piece as it appears the cherub has begun to paint or moved due to the trail of paint. Out of the two final pieces I have created, I believe that the golf ball hatching from the egg best represents Surrealism. 

Both images relate to Surrealism as they both share common characteristics as Surrealism. For example they both involve 'found objects' and resemble the uncanny. This links to Surrealism as it creates the idea of the unconscious mind and unsettling feelings. When carrying out the process of creating these images I encountered a few problems. Firstly when shooting the images lighting was a problem. When I shot my images and uploaded them, they appeared to be darker when displayed on the computer than on the camera. This could have been due to the screen being smaller. I was able to correct this by digitally manipulating the images in Photoshop. Within Photoshop I adjusted the brightness of each image by increasing it to make the image brighter. Another problem I was able to fix with Photoshop was missing background. I was able to adapt my images by cropping them to removed the other coloured background to keep a one coloured backdrop without any kinks or creases in. The other problem I ran into was limited resources. As a class of 15, the cameras were limited so was the space. As there was only one soft box, there was a queue to use it. I was able to use it for most of my photos however when experimenting with the cherub I had to substitute the soft box for the light within the classroom. Also this removed the coloured background as well due to the paper not being big enough. Therefore a few of my photos have a white background. In addition using the studio lighting presented problems as well. As the light was directly above me it cast a shadow over my piece as my arm blocked the light source. 

Overall I think the final photos relates directly to Surrealism and artwork by various artists. I believe I can adapt each piece by adding or removing objects and try different ideas. If I were to do this shoot again i would try using multiple objects that would either replace or change the composition.  Also I would try different ideas and concepts.