contextual influences

man ray
-key in contributing in the dada and surrealist movement.
-considered his self a painter but was best known for photography.
-renowned for fashion and portrait photography.
-also noted for his work with photograms which he referred to them as rayographs.
-he began his career just after his graduation when he declined a scholarship in an architecture course and wanted to pursue art.
-his parents although disappointed in their sons decision to become an artist, allowed him to turn his room into a studio.
-he remained in the house for 4 years with the same studio.
-during this time he began establishing himself as a painter.
-to generate income man ray was a commercial artist and a technical illustrator at several companies in manhattan.
-the surviving drawing from this period of time suggest he practiced in the 19th century style of artwork.
-was already at this stage an avid fan of contemporary avant-garde art e.g the european modernist.
-however, with a few exceptions he wasn't initially able to implement this into his work.
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Cubamania collage

after looking into various types of existing surrealism. i came across a collage technique which required you to cut up your existing image into either triangles or squares mix them up and randomly places them back down after shuffling. so initially i tried it out with one of my already existing images. cutting this one into square pieces. i then chose a different image and cut that one into triangles and pieced it together in the same way and immediately enjoyed the image more. i then began thinking of was to alter the method and make it more my own so i then put made individual 3d shapes and put them together to create a relief. 

Illustrations for the post box

Experimental work

these are some experimentation pieces i used to influence where my project will end up. 

this technique is called automatic drawing and basically you allow your subconscious mind to come through, forgetting about your conscious. this allows you to show your true emotions and thoughts through a simple line drawing because of this its good as a stress relieving exercise. artist have used this technique as a way of letting there emotions out before creating art work and some have even used it as final pieces. 

  

this is a piece i drew which started off with the can of pop at the bottom of the image. i basically expanded from there drawing whatever fitted and came to mind and then towards the end review the whole piece and gave it a meaning. i discovered this technique when reading about surrealism on wiki and it said to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality. this got me thinking and gave me the idea to draw in this manor. whilst i was doing this it was almost as if i was back in maths class drawing random things because i was bored. 

key elements in a good portfolio

varied platforms
show that I've got both digital and printed work
most photographers these days are discovered online

style
its important to have your own style and identity when taking photos
obviously your going to be influenced by certain photographers and magazines but its important to use those influences to add to your own style not copy someone else

show personal work
employers prefer to see project that have been done off your own back rather than project that have been set by say a college, uni etc
this also adds to you being different as a photographer and creating your own image

best work first
make sure to priorities your best work for the first 5,6,7 pages so that the employer will really get a feeling in what you thinks your best work and what style you have

the story
make sure every image you put in has a meaning, a story behind it.
make sure your images are in an order where it creates a good conversation flow

repetition
put in maximum of two of the same sort of photos otherwise the employer will either get bored or think thats all you do

get a second opinion
show your portfolio to others and get there opinion on it, also allow them to ask you questions a take criticism positively

post box graphic intitial ideas

to start off with i basically brainstormed all relevant places and subjects in worksop with out any research to simply see if anything jumped out. the places and subject were things like the canch(skatepark), cinema, underground tunnels, town centre, pubs(ship inn), bus station, hospital, college etc. I then hit the macs and looked deeper into the history of worksop and came across a few interesting points like were used to be the best at making liquorish and the there was a battle of worksop!
looking further into the battle i found the war of the roses logo which was the name of the whole battle, which took place in st albans, northampton, wakefield, towton and worksop. this logo can be laid out in a few different ways but has to consist of both a white and red rose.

instantly after seeing the mannerism and shape of the logo i was thinking about surrounding it with some kind of mandala, tribal esc pattern because it'd both be fairly easy to do due the shape of the logo and make the post box a major focal point.