And it's done!

And finally, all the hard work has paid off and I'm happy to present...............

But hold on!

I meant to say "my final portfolio", but it should be portfolioSSSSS instead.


It was a loooong story, but here was how it went:

I basically envisioned my portfolio to be in a photo-book format. However, being new to printing books, I didn't know where I could go to print photo-books and I had to take into consideration the time and cost factor. I was contemplating doing up the photobook through Apple's iPhoto and just send to Apple to print, but apparently it takes days/weeks to be delivered to my doorstep. So, it happens that I have a friend who is currently taking NM2208 and asked her for good printer options since she had already printed her storybook.

So.. I went about happily designing my book in Photoshop and when the day arrived for me to go down to the shop to get it printed, I was kinda dismayed at their range of papers (I used the most suitable that was available - slightly heavier than normal paper and with slight gloss). Afterall, they are a printing shop, not a photo-printing shop - this was a lesson I learnt. Still, I wanted to print my portfolio in hardcover so I just agreed to let them print.. As a result, I burnt a huge hole in my pocket.

As I went back home to mull over it, I realise some of the shots didn't turn out so well during the printing, which I thought wouldn't be a good idea to submit that and jeopardize my grades, hence I thought it better to print on photo paper instead. So, I went to Popular, bought 3 packs of photopaper and 3 ink catridges (and burnt another big hole T-T)....

And voila!
That's to air out the printed copies. :)



This is my two versions of my portfolios.
The above is the one printed on photo papers, while the other one at the bottom is the hardcover version + lousy paper.



Anyway, I submitted both because I wanted to show the actual 'book mechanism' I had in mind.
I had wanted it to be landscape.

However, for this file portfolio version, I can only flip through the file like this (i.e. at the longer edge rather than the shorter edge).


As you can see, I have initially intended for my designs to be printed into a book, therefore I had edges of my designs left blank so as to accomodate the edges that will be stuck to the binding.


This illustrates the difference in quality.
The one on the left is printed on photo paper (much clearer) while the one on the right is on normal paper (a lot more artifacts/noise).

So this concludes the end of my workload for this module.
During submission, I saw a few portfolios which were carefully crafted as well.. I believe everyone has put in devotion and hard work into this module and I hope everyone does well!

I have really learnt alot during this module and I had definitely enjoyed myself.

Old School ver 2 (Final)

Introduction
Would a PSP be considered "old school" in the years to come?

I want to investigate what it means for something to be "old school" after an inspiration by a friend's comment on a childhood snack, Pola Snack, as being "old school". It seems that the term itself embeds some form of nostalgia.

Through this series of photographs, I attempt to create a sense of nostalgia for the people of this age (and perhaps a slightly earlier generation) while extrapolating to the future. What I mean is simply this: I imagine a futuristic audience who will look at the photos and think to themselves, "Hey, this is old school!"


Reference artist/Photographer
I refer to the style of the photographer, Kurt Tong, who created the "In Case it Rains in Heaven" series at the Singapore International Photography Festival 2010. Though the theme used is vastly different, I like the way he has captured the items - i.e. a black background framing the objects.


Research/Idea Development
To further develop the idea, I brainstormed about the various objects (from my parents' generation to my own childhood, to current modern times). I had to think of familiar objects that people at large generally have seen/used.

I broke down the structure of the concept into segments: the first two or three photographs that showed items from my parents' 'era', then the next two from my own (but being phased out already), and then the current 'era'.

For the items, I got my father's help to bring out the nostalgic items that he once carried - things like pager, his childhood toys, SMRT cards, phone cards etc. I also ransacked my belongings to find suitable subjects.

Finally, these are the items I settled upon:
- An old abacus (presumably belonging to my late grandfather)
- A spinning toy from my father's childhood
- Pager
- Phone cards and TransitLink cards
- Samsung mobile phone (somewhat modern)
- PSP (modern)


Technique Used
I experimented with two techniques - to shoot with a normal exposure, and shoot using low key techniques.

I found the low key images to be more effective as they bring with it a sense of mystery and the readers will spend more time in trying to decipher it and once they do, there is a higher chance that they will realize the nostalgic moment. In other words, I want to invite the readers to participate in the decoding rather than just putting the images plainly in their face.

I also employed photoshop techniques on the images to try to make them look equally faded and ancient, so that readers see that I am trying to draw a similarity between the items even though they do come from different 'eras' - that they are all going to look 'old school' to the reader anyway in the future.


Reflection
I have learnt that it takes careful planning to effectively carry out what I want to achieve in conceptual art. It takes into account the various contemplation of a single idea - i.e. the subjects to use, the techniques and the framing.

The artist is only incharge of encoding the image in the best way that he/she can with the resources available. It is still up to the individual readers to decode it and it is in this 'uncontrolled' decoding that I find very interesting and exciting as their interpretations can even open up new ideas or revelation that I perhaps had not thought of before.

Old School ver 1

Would a PSP be considered "old school" in the years to come?

I want to investigate what it means for something to be "old school" after an inspiration by a friend's comment on a childhood snack, Pola Snack, as being "old school". It seems that the term itself embeds some form of nostalgia.

Through this series of photographs, I attempt to create a sense of nostalgia for the people of this age (and perhaps a slightly earlier generation) while extrapolating to the future. What I mean is simply this: I imagine a futuristic audience who will look at the photos and think to themselves, "Hey, this is old school!"









Photos here are of normal exposure levels. In ver 2, I explore using low key lighting.

The Moment

This moment is captured during a friend’s birthday party. I was attempting to capture the emotions of the birthday girl and the present-giver during that special moment - the joy of the giver and the surprise of the receiver.



Previous attempts:
I have previously managed to capture some chance photos that kinda suit the theme, like a dog approaching me when called, a tiger in the zoo feeding, a kangaroo scratching its butt etc. However, I realised that all of them are based on animals and that a requirement of the assignment is to show human emotions (not animals'!).

Week 10 - Field Trip to SIPF

Questions

1. In the exhibition, choose a few series of work that inspired you. Explain why.

Fade Away - Kris Vervaeke

I found it interesting that the photographer framed the tombstone photos as if they look like actual portrait photographs. I think that the meaning of people "fading away" with time is created very well here because through the tombstone photos, we know that these people have already passed and the author is trying to say something about "death". The gradual intensifying of the faded-ness of the pictures exude the important concept that after death, people simply just 'disappear' with time.


Home Visits - Alecia Neo

I was inspired by this piece because it wasn't like those random point-and-shoot portraits of people. By stringing the photographs together, it evokes a deeper thinking of the photos and it is then that I got to notice the way the subjects pose for the photos in their homes. All of their living environments are different (through sharing certain similarities) and all their facial expressions are kinds of different. We are able to 'conjure' up a background story for each of those characters and it felt like in a way, we knew them personally.



2. Observe how photographers convey their concept/idea through their chosen media and subject matter. Choose one series of work that you think the photographer has effectively conveyed his/her concept in his/her work.

Physical Realities of Death, A memoir of Toivo Laukkannen by Tristan Cai

The artist used video, actual objects of the deceased and photographs of the late Toiyo Laukkannen as the artistic medium. Photos include pictures from the subject's childhood, youth, adult, old age, all the way till his death (site of his death and autopsy). I think the use of pictures (childhood to old age) and the personal collection of his medals showed that he was a real person and the viewers sort of are able to 'read' through his life in the exhibition. The use of video also complements this as the commentary or eulogy given by family and friend served to help us gain more insight to the person - all these serve to let people know this person at a deeper level rather than just an anonymous someone who had just died. This results in the viewer connecting with artwork emotionally as it felt like 'we know him' and the images of his death brought the notion of his death (or any person's death for that matter) very real to us. The concept would not have been as evident if the artist only used photos of the death and autopsy - it would have just been a cold body without any background story to it.



3. Observe how photographers present their work (i.e. choice of framing, hanging etc.). Choose one or a few series of work that you think the photographer(s) has effectively present his/her/their work.

Museum Anatomy by Chadwick & Spector

I think the piece is interesting because the original artwork (i.e. the painting) is painted on a human body - thus the frame being the body. The photos are blown up to the size of the original painting so it's very clear that artist is trying to make a point/a link with regards to traditional artwork.

The series of photographs definitely does bring about a different feeling towards the original paintings.

Assignment 5 - Appropriation

The term appropriation refers to the use of borrowed elements in the creation of a new work (as in 'the artist uses appropriation') or refers to the new work itself (as in 'this is a piece of appropriation art').

- Wikipedia

Appropriation is a new concept to me as I have never tried to do a photo montage that would eventually have to result in bringing across a certain message. Most of the time, my artwork only consists of leisurely photoshoots and church posters... I had never thought of creating a conceptual piece.

However, I'm glad I'm finally now exposed to this technique as it opens up another way of visual communication. It is in these conceptual pieces that the notion of "a picture speaks a thousand words" becomes more apparent..

So, I'm really very new at this. And here are my iterations:

Presenting first, my favourite piece:

Caption: Pining for family

The idea of this piece is that I wish to invoke a certain sense of outrage in readers regarding the living conditions of the elderly in Singapore. We have a population that is aging, and we have been reading a lot in the papers or hearing from our family/friends that the elderly (who might even be family) are getting abandoned.

This picture shows an image of an elderly couple living physically in an old and abandoned home - an environment not conducive for living, and such is the kind of environments that some elderly folks live in.

To the left of the picture, there is a picture of a happy family - the elderly couple's children and grandchildren. The picture is nicely framed up and looks well taken care of compared to the rest of the house, showing how much they treasure and miss their children.


Some critique from classmates (during e-learning):

• Generally, my classmates like my piece and the message that I wish to drive across could be grasped by them (so, success! yey!)
• One feedback, however, was that the image was not provocative enough. I agree that it wasn't as provocative as some of my other classmates', but upon reflection, I realise that what I was trying to do was not to outrightly put the message to the viewer's face. The picture, I believe, gives the viewer a sense of sympathy for the elderly folks first. Then, I was hoping that the viewers would grasp the notion that they themselves are, or could be, the ones who would render that exact pathetic state to their own parents. It should make them realise and question their own sense of filial piety.
• However, I do agree that some improvements could still be made to the image to make it seem more 'provocative' in the sense that it will encourage the viewers to ponder more about the message. One suggestion would be to find suitable images of elderly folks who 'seem' like they are looking at the family photo (introduce some form of interaction with the photo) to make the notion of "pining for family" more apparent. One difficultly for doing so is, as mentioned by other fellow classmates, the difficulty of finding suitable images online.
  

Photo credits:
(pic of elderly) http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/03/10/408525/fact-finder-elder-care.html (pic of abandoned house) http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs13/i/2007/080/4/2/Abandoned_House_by_Vonjuntz.jpg (pic of family) http://www.easyaupair.com/viewprofilefamily/18002/



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Caption: Real Heroes

Basic explanation for the piece:
I was trying to get the picture to imitate the style of a Charlie's Angels poster (see below). Many teenage girls look up to such female heroes often portrayed in movies - being sexy, smart, bold and.. perhaps being able to kick butt. However, they do not realise that such idols do not exist in real life. The real heroic spirit, in contrast, comes from women who have made real impacts in the world.

Many of my friends were not able to catch the message, probably because the style of the piece doesn't quite match that of the original movie poster, and also that I only have 2 women in the poster (reason being that I rushed this out last minute and couldn't think of another female hero that everyone knew).






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Caption: Classic

Basic Idea:
To show the iPhone achieving a classic status (by borrowing from the style of classic literature books published by Penguin)

In Class - Appropriation/Photo Montage

My group's subject: Bathtub.

We did a simple brainstorm and came up with some of these interesting ideas:
- The bathtub as a luxurious item
- Bathtub as evil because it wastes water (therefore the idea was to superimpose a classy image of a bathtub against a barren wasteland)
- Bathtub as just simply evil


So to bring our ideas to 'reality', we headed to 'build' them in Photoshop:

The bathtub is seen as an oasis amidst the dessert. Gives an aura of comfort (hence the glowing effects and the nice beach view).