What is OCD?

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterised by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry. People show this by repetitive behaviours aimed at reducing the associated anxiety; or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions. The main characteristics that you most people are familiar with are turning a light switch for a certain amount of time before they feel comfortable. Or even washing the hands thoroughly, until they are happy and relax. Other symptoms that you may see is stacking shelves in a certain way e.g. alphabetically or size order. OCD is very common but you would probably not recognise someone walking down the street who needs to lock every door in their house 3 times before leaving. 

First Prints

Here are my prints from my first black and white film for this exam project. There is a range of different photographs relating to the theme of Inside, Outside & InBetween, they are Animals, OCD and Reflection.

 

These first selection of photos are of a drawings of a farm animals, Cow, Lamb and a Pig. I wanted to try and create something that involves what is actually inside the animals body. As you can see I used a strip of bacon for the pig, a piece of steak for the cow and liver for the lamb. With the different parts of the animals with contrast with the drawings, making them slightly more life like. I placed the meat/organs on top of cling film which I laid on top of the drawing. The only light I used was the kitchen, making the piece of paper seem more bright and part of the image light up. I took these photographs from a quite a height so that I could get al of the image in. I got the image in focus, then had the aperture on about 8 and had the shutter speed between 1/250s and 1/60s. I again adjusted the focus again so know for sure that picture below was crisp. Once developing the film and printed the image, you can see where the kitchen light as almost has hidden apart of the image or made the even lighter.

My next idea was to take pictures of peoples hands. This expresses OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) meaning which some people need to turn the light switch on and off a certain amount of times, washing their hands thoroughly and locking/opening the front door multiple times. I decided to take photographs of this because I feel like it shows what people are thinking or need to do a certain amount of times, but you may not think they do these things when you look at them. With all of this photos I got really up close so that only the hand was in focus and everything around it was blurred or out of focus. This shows good depth of field. For the lighting I used natural light only. However I feel if I were to change anything about these collection of photographs, it would be to shot them again but with a poised table lamp. This is where I can change the position of the light and giving different shadows in the photos.  

Here is my final photograph that I took. This shows an image of myself taking a picture in a mirror. This relates to the theme of inside, outside and in between, because the reflection of myself shows what its between me, the camera and the mirror. Even though this was a last minute idea to take a portrait of myself, it still links within the theme. If I had more time to come up with a more detail approach to taking a self portrait, meaning having different lighting set up, or even making a double exposure in the camera having two self portraits but with me moving slight over to the right to get a more experimental feel.    

First Film Shooting Plan

5 Senses Photo

Here is a photomontage of all the five sense. I took pictures of my eyes, ear, nose, lips and hand. I thought I wanted to do something different with images that I took. Instead of just digitally enhancing them, I decided to make a collage of them, it unusual places to make it look more contemporary. I like the black background because it really shows off the body parts well. I have been inspired by Linder Sterling collages  

Linder Sterling

Linder Sterling is a photographer that uses collage in her photos, meaning which she uses different objects within her original to create a new abstract image. In this picture you can see that the model in the background is the main focal point that first captures you to the arrangement. I like the fact that the woman is in black and white, as it looks simple but you still get a magical effect from it.  As I have looked closer to the image I can see that the lace on her shoulders looks more realistic than it would be just in a photo. I do believe that the lace has been placed onto the woman's body to give the image more texture. As you begin to look else where on the photograph you see that there is a spoon and folk on the models eyes. I feel this adds quirkiness to the image. Even though the cutlery is covering the woman's eyes you can still see how powerful they are through them, they still look very piercing. As you begin to look down the image you notice some plump red lips that don't seem to belong to the model. I feel that Sterling wanted to add a splash of colour into collage, and by added the power of the red lips, adds a lot more contrast to the image. All in all the placement of each part of the collage works really well within its own element. I really like Linders' style because of how random things can be put together to create a complete new picture within which every part of works so well together. I really have been inspired by this sort of art work because it can express lot of emotions and feelings towards something. And by having a model as the main source of influence to bring in different object that can either relate to them or not it a really unique idea that can portray many different things.    

Analysis - The 5 Senses

Carston Witte is one photographer that I have been really drawn too, this photo is a reason why!! I really like how the model is wearing hardly any make-up, so by adding the skull design on top of her face works more naturally and look are stunning. I also like how the photo has been taken black and white as I feel it gives the model a more define look and stands out. Witte technical skills are really simple but his final outcome is very impressive and instantly grabs your attention. I would like to experiment with this sort of photograph because you could either use double exposures to get this same effect. Or even paint on the skull carefully. I love this photographers work.   

Adam Fuss is a strange photographer in my opinion because of what he takes pictures of. At a first glance you can see two rabbit silhouettes and what looks like bits of food or leaves. As you look closer you can see that the image is a photogram of rabbits with the insides placed around them. I find this image very hard to look at, but in some respect that the quality of the picture is really good because you can definitely identify what is in the photo.  





Sarah Illenberger is the final photographer that I have looked into for the five senses. I love this photo because you can see it is an apple but you soon realise that the apple is covered in hair. I think this is a amazing idea of trying to portray the sense. This is because normally when you see an apple you would want to eat it, but seeing it with hair wrapped around it, you instincts is to turn it away. Sarah's creations of different foods covered or turned into something is really imaginative. I like this concept alot. 

Starting Point 2 - The 5 Senses

ONE - Olivia Parker

TWO - Andrea Bricco

THREE - Carston Witte

FOUR - Adam Fuss

FIVE - Sarah Illenberger

David Bailey

Jack Nicholson

David Bailey CBE is a one of the best British photographers. He has taken some of the most famous photos of different celebrities and the one above is one of them. This picture is of actor Jack Nicholson who is most famous for being in films The Shining and The Departed. I like this image as I feel that it shows a lot of expression, which can convey many meanings. When I first look at this image, I automatically see anger because of the way that he's face looks sort of distorted and disgruntled. I also get the impression that he is upset, as his eyes seem to be squashed together more closely, looking like he is about to burst into tears. Another reason why I like this photo is because of the lighting Bailey has used to light up one half of Nicholson's face and not the other. This gives clear indication on how well black and white photograph work well more than colour in my opinion. I feel that the contrast between the darker part and the lighter part of the image work really well together, this is because of the amount of detail shown throughout the picture. Even though you can see more detail within the lighter part of the shot, you can still distinguish a lot of detail in the darker half of the image. Of course the main focus of this photo is of course Nicholson's facial expression, but within that you can also see a lot of definition within the face. The lines on his forehead are very prodominate in detail and makes the image come to life, and making it more than just a picture. When I look at this image I automatically feel the pain that he his expressing in his face, and with the lighting as well, it makes you more drawn into an image. Whereas if this image was taken with rubbish lighting or not had been taken in focus, I wouldn't be taken in as much as I am now. I defiantly feel that the light and the model expressions are really inspiring to captivate in creating them in a different way. 

Movement Photos

Here is a movement image of a fountain. I feel that this is a really good example of movement and capturing the water spraying out into the air making a rippled effect on the water below. It also captures the sun being reflected into the water, making the water seem more eye-catching and appealing.  

Another image that I took was this when I was in the car going at 30 miles per hour. I feel that the image has really compensated with the colours of the trees outside, also you can see the refection of glass window in the picture too, which gives the photo another element of texture and colour.  

Movement & Light Photos

Here are my edited photographs of Movement & Light. The five images are of a moving lampshade, a view from a car window, a lamppost, a coloured lamp and a shadow. What I have done is that I've edited them to add a different effect to the images and added contrast or more layers to the original pictures.  

Colour Theory photos

Here are my colour theory photographs. I have taken all of these photographs using a digital camera. I have edited them all slightly in Adobe Photoshop, so that I could improve or even change the way that they look. As I have researched into Colour Theory, I wanted to give this images a new diminution that was expressing a lot of colour. 

For this image above, its original was a lot darker, so I have changed the exposure slightly and added a pink tint so it looks slightly more pink than it should be.

For this next image I only edited the colour of the street lamp that was shining through. Even though the light its supposed to be yellow, I changed it so it was a vibrant green so it could catch more attention. 

This next image, I changed the whole picture to a brownish green, I then used the magic wand tool to erased the sky, taking it back to its formal state of being blue. So it looks the person looking at this photo can only see two colours.   

Finally this is last photograph that I edited. All I did to this image was changed the whole picture to black and white. Then I deleted the grey from the actual roses so that the flowers would be the only colour that 

More Movement & Light Analysis

Here is a website that I have found that has many different types of photographs involving reflection and light. >< 

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This image above is one that I found on this website that caught my attention first. I really like  the way that the liquid in the glass reflects the' mountain range' in the background. I also love the amount of focus of that is directed to the glass. You can still see detail in the background but what draws you in the most is the crisp focal point of the glass. I really like this type of photography because it is quite simple to create but you have to be so accurate with getting the right angle of the reflection of the backdrop in the glass. I would like to experiment with creating something like this to see how easy or hard it can be to get a photo as stunning as this. 


    

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This next image is a mixture of light and reflection. I like how the image was taken at night so you get the best possible opportunity to use the fairground lights. I love the reflections that the lights make on the water, because it grabs you're attention as you begin to look down the image, you automatically become attracted to the bottom section. I love this image as the camera has captured a really unique effect, with one click. You can see alot of detail in the image and all of the picture is in focus instead of having two different depths of field.


   

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This final photograph is my favourite that I have found. This is because of the how beautiful the curved mirrored object gives you a panoramic view of the cityscape behind the camera. I love the way the people in the reflective image look almost like silhouettes, making you wonder if they are actual people there. I also love the colour saturation that has been used in the photo, it might have been edited on photoshop but I really love they way it has worked well with image. 

Analysis - Movement & Light

This image by Brad Carlile relates to light, in the way that the room has been lit up in UV lights. You can see the room has three different lights that are shown within the image as well as in the reflection of the mirror. The main colour light you can see is the turquoise/blue. I like this colour effect as it is reflected in the mirror. Also the contrast between the pink and blue lights work really well together making the edges between the lights become almost purple. The small amount of orange light that is being reflected. I like that he has incorporated mirrors in the photo because as you can see, it makes the picture looks slightly bigger and you get a better contrast out of the image.     




Ego Signienko is the second photographer that has used movement and liquid together, to create a really unique captured image. The shutter speed that was probably used was quite a fast one, this is because of the way that the liquid is forming in the middle of the air. Another reason why I like this is because of how well the camera has captured the movement of the liquid, 'exploding' as such from the glass into the air. I really want to experiment with this type of photography myself to see what the possible outcome or remake of this image would be like.   







This final image by Uta Barth is another photographer that I really like because of the technique and closeness she has with her subject when taking the image. I really like this picture by her because of the mount of focus and depth of field that she has used. Also the light that she has managed to depicted in the scene is very subtle. Even though the background is out of focus, that is what draws you in to look at the image. The background has many different areas where you can be attracted to. The light reflecting off onto the chairs has worked really well in contrast with the girl in the foreground. 

Colour Theory & Shutter Speeds

In the visual arts, colour theory is a massive part of practical guidance to colour mixing and the visual effects of specific colour combination. 

There are three types of colour groups: 

Primary Colours: Red, yellow and blue
Secondary Colours: Green, orange and purple
Tertiary Colours: Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green & yellow-green

Most people only think that animals are colour blind, but people can be as well. This means they could totally have colour blindness or have it only to one colour.

All of these colours can be related to a feeling or emotion that many people can relate to when they see this colour

RED. 

Physical

Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, 'fight or flight', stimulation, masculinity, excitement. Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.

BLUE. 

Intellectual.

Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.

YELLOW. 

Emotional

Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity. Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide.

GREEN. 

Balance

Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace. Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.

VIOLET. 

Spiritual

Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality. Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority.

ORANGE.

Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun. Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity.

PINK.

Positive: Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, survival of the species. Negative: Inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness.

GREY.

Positive: Psychological neutrality. Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.

BLACK.

Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance. Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness.

I wanted to experiment with the concept of colour blindness and maybe having a go at create an Lin Osborne piece, as she using colour a lot in her work. 

Starting Point 1 - Movement & Light

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

Inside, Outside & In Between