Hicham Benohoud:
We started off the lesson by looking at a picture from Hicham Benohoud and we had to use singular words or short phrases to describe what feeling we got from the picture and what we though of image. We then had to write three sentences as if we were describing the images to someone who had never seen it before. After this we went around and said our sentences and realised that everyone
had a different way of describing the picture. |
We then spent a little time writing about another photograph of Benohoud.
Describe what you can see. - High contrast between the white wall and school children's hair. - Children are all very focused and working even though the situation is quite weird. - We can see the front of the shoe at the bottom left. - The image is black and white. - The background is very plain and there is a lot of negative space. - The table in the middle is weirdly tilted. -All the other tables are normal and there are other children working nicely. What do you find unusual about the photograph? The middle table is stacked on one side to make it tilt quite high yet the girl is still working efficiently at this table which is quite odd as it would be difficult to work there. What do you find interesting? The fact the girl has no problem with working at a tilted table and that the walls of the school are so plain and dull How would you describe the background? -Plain and dull. - There is nothing going on so a lot of negative space. How does the photographer use space within the image? He uses space the emphasise the emptiness of the classroom and how basic it is. |
Benohoud photographs:
Benohoud was a photographer as well as a teacher and he went to a school were education was taken very seriously. Whilst at this school he realised that the pupils were often following a day to day routine that seemed pretty boring and he wanted to change this up. He gave the students a task of making sculptures and then presenting them in anyway they wanted. This turned out very interesting as all the students had very different ideas and it helped them to express their inner artist. However, whilst this was good for the children doing the sculptures at this time the other students appeared to stick to their normal routine and have their head down whilst being stuck into work. This showed that the children were so used to their routine that even when presented with a new task the students found it hard to separate from their norm.
Light: The light in this photograph is artificial and you can tell that by the way it is spread across the room. It has not diffused at all and there is not any harsh shadows in the room. There is also a clear light that is switched on and this is another clear indication that the light it artificial.
Line: For me the two distinct lines in the pictures are the ones in the background on the wall that separate the floor from the wall and the ceiling from the wall. This is because it creates a high contrast within the photograph and to me makes the photograph more interesting. Strong lines are also created from the chair legs and these create geometric shapes within the lines. |
Space: The space is quite full in the foreground of the image and most of the image is filled with children. However, the background is completely different and has a lot of negative space. This makes the image feel quite empty and as the image is in a school quite dull as this is not the environment you would expect from a school. The space to me makes the boy standing on a stool feel quite isolated as he is centralised yet no one is close to him or paying attention to him.
Tone: There is a huge contrast in this image and you can see this most in the boys, who are sitting down, hair as it is very black compared to the white wall. The black and white feature makes the clothes of the boys appear very different to one and other too. The light above the childs head is very over exposed and so creates a circle that is very bright and this contrast with the boy that has a black bag over his head who is directly below it.
Colour: This image is in black and white and I believe this helps to emphasise the strictness of the school as everything is very simplistic yet set specifically.
Tone: There is a huge contrast in this image and you can see this most in the boys, who are sitting down, hair as it is very black compared to the white wall. The black and white feature makes the clothes of the boys appear very different to one and other too. The light above the childs head is very over exposed and so creates a circle that is very bright and this contrast with the boy that has a black bag over his head who is directly below it.
Colour: This image is in black and white and I believe this helps to emphasise the strictness of the school as everything is very simplistic yet set specifically.
My response to Benohoud's images:
In response to Benohoud's photography we were asked to produced portraits that we believed no one had ever seen before. There were many props we could use for this and all we had to do was try and be instinctive. However, this is not always easy when you are given so many options. So the best idea was to just play with possibilities and be open minded about what we were creating.
The initial approach I took to this task was to grab as many objects as I could and try to take as many different images as possible. Whilst doing this I enjoyed playing around with the objects I had chosen however, I do not believe all the images I had taken came out very good as even though my model was dressed up in a weird dress the pose was too boring. I started playing with the magnifying glass in front of the camera and these images to me were more pleasing to look at however, I still wasn't too happy. I then tried to experiment by using different objects through placing things in front of the camera which I enjoyed doing as it was not something I would usually do or think of doing. I did not want to take too many of the same images and so moved on to trying to take pictures with shadows and these are the images I believed worked best. I was really pleased with these images as I could create many different shapes and patterns with the shadows. These for me were the best images I created as they were so simple yet innovated.
My favourite images:
My favourite images:
The reason why I enjoy these photographs was because it was something I did not see anyone doing and whilst I was playing around with the shadows I could create many different shapes so that my pictures did not look the same. I believe these pictures work well as my model looks very connected to the shadow. This makes the viewer question what is happening and what connection the model has with the shadow. My favourite image is the fourth one in which there are many lines and shapes on the wall behind her and on her face. This to me is intriguing as it makes people question what the object is causing the shadow. This could also link to my personal investigation as it is still using a strong background of shadows to create abstract portraiture. I may try to use shadows more in my personal investigation while experimenting with space.