After the initial response I replied with an image that was fairley simple. I didn’t want to respond with an abstract image straight away as I think it would be hard to follow the photographic conversation. I responded with a kiwi which obviously followed the fruit theme.  I had cut the kiwi in half carefully so the seeds were visible. I focused on one part of the kiwi and photographed it. I think this image is successful; it is sharp so it works really well. I used a kiwi as the colour reminded me of the corrupt green lines through the Edinburgh student’s video.

Thematic Friday

A Tumblr account was set up for our group called “Thematic Friday” The idea was that a theme was posted every Friday. The theme would often be a word rather than an instruction like on Learn to Love You More. The response was to be a photograph responding to that theme.

ex·traor·di·nar·y

 [ik-strawr-dn-er-ee, ek-struh-awr-] adjective beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established

The first theme was Extraordinary.  Around six images were posted which were all very different. There were dead animals on the road, a Jimmy Saville tribute and photoshopped pieces of work. Some images were a lot more abstract than others.

bro·ken

reduced to fragments; fragmented.ruptured; torn; fractured. not functioning properly; out of working order.Meteorology. (of sky cover) being more than half, but not totally, covered by clouds. Compare scattered

The next theme was ‘Broken’ which I participated in. I instantly referred to the jumper I was wearing which had ripped down the seam. I took the photograph and uploaded it on to Tumblr. There were other images on there that related to the sky and clouds breaking. Other images on the blog were of things that were literally broken such as Cd’s or windows which worked equally as well.

Although it took almost a week for the Edinburgh student to reply but she eventually did. It was in video format which was interesting. It contained over a minute of footage. It captured the lower part of her face eating what looks to be fruit. The responder didn't show her complete face which was interesting, almost as if she didn't want her identity to influence the images I posted. This was an interesting way to respond as it wasn’t a photograph but a moving image. It was interesting to watch as I could get an idea of her thought process. I was pleased she thought out of the box and didn’t reply with something original. The video posted was corrupted, it has green and red lines running through it, and whether this was done intentionally I am unsure of. Nevertheless I thought it was a great response.

Response

To start the response I was paired up with an Edinburgh student.  I created an email address that would be connected to the Tumblr account. I named it leedsedinburgh12 and passed the details on to the Edinburgh student so we both could access the blog.  

The first image was always the easiest to do. I wanted to post something quite simple but that was unusual at the same time. My first thoughts were giving something away about my identity or the type of place I lived in. I photographed things in and around my house. I photographed a stack of wood outside which I thought was a good idea but I wasn’t very pleased with the end photograph.

I then went to the “outhouse” which contained items such as wellington boots which would connote something about where I lived. I also photographed other things like my CD collection which would again give something away about my identity.

I decided the photograph a fruit machine in my house as it is an unusual object that is quite rare. I photographed the outer face first of all and then proceeded to photograph the insides to make it more interesting. I photographed the fruit strips which created an interesting image. I thought this image was successful as it had contrasting colours between the black background and the colourful strips. It also portrayed what sort of house i live in.

Foam

What’s Next? Is Foam’s search in to the future of photography? It is a website full of questions and hopefully the answers. The website talks and discusses about the future of photography and answering the question of what’s next? Throughout 2011 they creators of What’s Next have gathered together leading figures from different fields such as artistic, technological and sociological to ask them to think and formulate and idea, dream or vision about what they believe the future holds. After the statement has been put forward various experts are asked to give their views and make a short but inspiring statement about the question posed.

The website was created to ask the simple question of what’s next as photography has changed throughout the last twenty years. Ever changing processes and new ideas make photography continuously evolve.  The digitalisation of photography plays a key part within the website therefore poses questions such as “Will chemical photography survive?” or “In the digital age is truth no longer important?” All these questions are put to the website openly for people to put forward their views on the debate.

The website follows certain themes:

-          The photograph

-          The Photographer

-          Visual Culture

-          The institution

-          Technology

Put together these themes create the basis for lengthy discussions and a lot of contributions from people wanting to have their say.

Again this website follows the same concept as Learn to Love You more; it is a combination of a website that exists only by the input of the public. These websites wouldn’t function without people contributing. There are no rules on who can or can’t contribute which gives it a variety of opinions making it controversial at times.

After much research on Learn to Love you More  the next task was to do some instruction work ourselves. To begin with groups were formed of three or four people. Each group wrote down and instruction. This included

-          Take a photograph of the third person you walk past on your left

-          Take a picture inside your bag using a flash

-          Take a picture spinning around

-          Take your clothes off

-          Jump and take a photo while in the air

-          Take a picture of a feature you most admire about someone

-          Find something people don’t usually see

-          Photograph someone lying down in a public place

These instructions were given back out at random ready for the group to adhere to the instruction. The instruction I received was to find something people don’t usually see. I thought about this instruction and had to make a decision on If it was aimed at something I wouldn’t see or the general public. I found this quite difficult as we were restricted to the college. The ideas that I first thought off were

-          In the college canteens

-          In the basement of the college

-          In important personnel’s draws or bags

-          On peoples email inbox

Many of these were quite extreme in relation to the amount of time we had to do it in. I thought of basic things that could be photographed. I thought about things that I wouldn’t usually look in or see by just passing. I thought of the idea of photographing inside a bin as it was something that people wouldn’t want to see.  I thought this fit the instruction well given the time we had.

Assignment #63 Make an encouraging banner.

Think of something encouraging you often tell yourself. For example: Everything will be ok. Or: Don't listen to them. Or: It'll blow over. Now make a banner, making sure to follow these instructions:

1. Draw each letter of the sentence on a large piece of colored construction paper or big squares of fabric. One letter per piece. Draw them blocky so you can cut them out.
2. Cut them out.
3. Glue each one onto a piece of construction paper or fabric that is a contrasting color.
4. Then glue the edges of all the pieces of paper or fabric together to make a banner.
5. Hang the banner in a place where you or someone else might need some encouragement, for example, across your bathroom. Or between two trees so that you and your neighbors can receive encouragement from it. Or in a gas station.

D O C U M E N T A T I O N >

Take a picture of your hung banner and send it to us. After it has been up for awhile, take it down and roll it up and put it under your bed or another safe place. We might very likely contact you wanting to exhibit your banner in a show someday.

This instruction created some interesting responses. There were many responses to this one that had been accepted. These image often consisted of encouraging words in public places. I like the idea that people have gone to the effort jut to be involved in an internet game. Again many people will have sat creating these banners for hours or even days. The dedication the participants have has created some amazing responses.
Also the idea that all banners are made in the same way creates a sort of club or group where by everybody is creating thier own version but with thier own words.

Holly Robinson
Portland, Oregon USA
This image is one of my favourite, from looking at the iamge it made me smile which will have done the same to many others. The lighting is also very interesting in this image. This image is deeper than at first glance. The instructions specifically say "Think of something encouraging you often tell yourself" This indicates that this person has thought this in her mind which is quite saddening.

Assignment #69
Climb to the top of a tree and take a picture of the view.

D O C U M E N T A T I O N >

Send in your photo and tell us where the tree is located. Please be specific as specific as possible, for example: "This tree is located in middle of the lot between houses 12 and 14 on Old Bridge Road in Woodbridge Virginia." If you send us more than one tree photo please make sure it's clear which location goes with which photo.

The first one is self-explanatory, all the participants will be going through the same thought process and action to achieve the image they want. The outcome of the images will be completely different. Many different parts of the world were involved including Italy, USA, Australia and Ireland. I find it fascinating that all of these people have taken time to do something a website has instructed them to do. There isn’t any reward for doing it, it is just a passion and a game they want to be involved in. People add a description of the photograph and where it was taken.
The photographs differed, somewhere taken looking up the tree, some downwards, some were taken from the top of a Christmas tree in a house. Whilst browsing through the images I came to realise that this wasn’t just a project that people were embarking on it was also reliving memories. A few images explained about this was where he or she used to play when they were younger and they hadn’t climbed that tree for over ten years.

This image was taken in Germany, its description was "This tree is located about 2,000 meters from my house" Although the instructions say to climb a tree and take a picture from the top this is a variation as it once was a tree. I like this image as it is different to the rest of the standard images.

This image was taken in London, England, the person described it as "This tree is located on the campus of Royal Holloway College, University of London." This image is again different from the rest. The other images are usually in a forest like location but this image is in the city.

Learn to love you more

Learn to Love You More is a website where assignments or instructions were given by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. It started over seven years ago and ended in 2009 where it now excists as an archive. It contains many different instructions which the public reply to if they decide to accept. The public will then photograph their perception of the instruction and submit it online. It only got accepted depending on if their image fit the specification.
The responses differ edmassively depending on that person’s life experience and outlook on life. The instructions were regularly updated and often new ones were added. The idea that many people around the world were all photographing the same theme or subject is astonishing.
When an assignment is selected it gave specifications on how you must format your image or text and how to upload it. It gave an example and some ideas on what could be involved. Currently there is a list of 70 instructions on the website. Here are some I found interesting:

"Epic exquisite corpse is a project by Xavier Barrade developed with wake up web solutions and supported by Iconne Paris. It features 38797 drawings on 1000000 spaces available."

Epic exquisite corpse is a website I found whilst researching exquisite corpses. It is a website that has over one million drawing spaces.  It has many drawings from people around the world which unites them by creating one piece of art work.  On the website there is an option to put your own input on the website which gives you guidelines where your drawing has to line up to. So it all becomes one piece. I began to draw my piece and carefully matched it up to what was already there.

 

The next project that we began working on was a response project. It helped me to manage my time skills and think of a response fairly quickly The first image posted was of half a window with the instruction of “put your window here” on the other half of the image. The idea was to respond to half a window that was posted on the Tumblr site. Many images were put up that showed a lot about that persons identiy that was again matched by the other persons personality. There were other images that had a contrast between photographic work and photoshop work.  Images were posted that had different lighting which made an interesting image. The conflict between light and dark worked really well together.

I posed an image of a window in my house. It was luckily a sunny day which helped. I chose to focus on what was out of the window rather than the actual window. It was a clear and crisp image that didn’t give much away about my persona or identity. The reply I got worked well with my image. Although it wasn’t the same type of window it matched up extremely well. The sense of freedom and happiness portrayed through my image was completely contrasted by the view of a brick wall from the responders image. There is also a contrast in colour which works well together, The image I posted reveals a bright colourful sky whereas on the response image it is dull, dark and the complete opposite with regards to colour. As much as there was a contrast to the images the window matched up perfectly, the responder had carefully ensured it matched up to give it some sort of connection.

The first blog I was ever introduced to was on Tumblr. It was shared between Leeds City College and a collection of artists in Edinburgh. It began with a collection of images produced in groups. Firstly someone would go out and take a picture, they would come back and the next person would go out and respond to that image. It quickly became a series of interesting images. The images we produced looked like this: The images started off grid like with black and white colours. This then led on to a grill which has similar lines on it. After that it became more to do with the steel/metalalic based images. Sinks and lifts were then photographed.  Assumingly this image was taken simply because of the texture and material. The next image almost breaks out of the metal images and is a photograph looking down some stairs. This image has horizontal and vertical lines which refer back to the first image.

The next activity was similiar to the drawing task, but instead it was in a photgoraphy format. Again we were split in to groups of three. The idea was to create a human body out of things found around us. The first person went away and photograph what was going to be the head. The image was printed off and folded over so that only a small part of the image was shown. This allowed the next person to go take another phtoograph that would match up with the bottom of the first image. This continued one last time, which then eventually created a modernised exquisite corpse.
Here are the results:

This is the completed image. The three parts are made up from three different photographers that tried thier best to match the images up as best as possible. The first image is of a door handle, I like this image, it seems quite retro and stands out really well. The second image is the "body" which is a cleaning sign. I think it works really well with the first image as it is smaller at the top giving it a neck almost. The third image is an easy option but nevertheless it works perfectly. The legs match up really well with the bottom of the sign.

Overall I think the digital exquisite Corpse works well together, the colours are bright and eye catching. It almost gives it character. This image is a good example of a modern day version.

Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite corpse was created by surrealists at around 1918.
An exquisite corpse is a sequence of images created by two or more people each in turn adding a part of a the picture. The first person would start by drawing the beginning they would then fold the paper over hiding what has just been drawn leaving just enough for the next person to follow on. The next person would draw the middle part, again folding it over leaving enough for the next person to continue. Once the last person has finished the drawing off the final image can be revealed, often leaving a surreal and mis-match drawing.
This game has evolved of the years and it is now commonly used where particpants would draw a human body or an animal.

I tried my own version of this, we split in to groups of three and I began to draw.
This was the end result: