- A line represents a path between two points.
- The lines can be straight, curved, vertical,horizontal or zig-zag.
- Lines imply motion and suggest direction or orientation.
- A line can be "filled in by the mind" when several points are positioned geometrically within a frame.
- Horizontal lines imply - tranquility, peace and harmony.
- Vertical lines imply - power and strength.
- Diagonal lines imply - movement, action and change.
- Curved lines or S shaped lines imply - quiet ,calm and sensual feelings.
- Lines that converge imply - depth,scale and distance. (e.g a fence or roadway converges into the distance providing the illusion that a flat two-dimensional image has a three-dimensional depth.)
Below are some visual examples of the theory described above.
The photographer I researched was Walker Evans who was an American photojournalist (1903-1975). His work was mainly based around American life between 1929 - 1939, inspired by the Great Depression. He photographed many different aspects of street and rural life including signs.
The above images were photographed by Walker Evans using black and white film. This shows high contrast and achieves a dark and gloomy atmosphere, portraying the saddening effects of the Great Depression. The signs illustrate to me the stresses of decision making that many Americans experienced at the time. The photograph of Pennsylvania Station shows the hustle and bustle of the 1930's, the clock being significant, showing lack of time. The last image of freight trains refers to the high levels of migration that took place during the Great Depression, with the urgency to find work or sometimes even food. All these photographs link together as I feel they share a common theme of direction and transportation.
I have been inspired by this to take my own photos based on the idea of distance, direction and transportation. I will then convert my photos into black and white to re-create the era's mood.
Image Bank
The following images were added as part of my visual research
The above collection of photographs (by other photographers) represent some of the photos that I feel I could capture within Bishops Stortford. They show a variety of lines and the images are closely cropped, giving them an abstract feeling. However, they still manage to be quite realistic, by illustrating things you are likely to see everyday.
AO1: You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursuedThe following images were added as part of my visual research
Contact Sheet
The image circled in red were out of focus and I will need to always check that my camera is set to autofocus, to ensure that my images are sharp during future shoots.
The image circled in blue, has a very low exposure and I need to ensure it is at its highest especially when taking photos in bad lighting.
My Best Images
Photographs to improve
In my photograph of the leaves,I did not realise that the camera was on manual focus, hence why it is blurred. Also due to the wind that was blowing at the time and it being at a long shutter speed, the movement made the image fuzzy. To improve this image I would set the camera to auto focus and ensure that I take the image at a short shutter speed.
The second image of the signs, are inspired by the photographs that Walker Evans took of signs in America. Unfortunately, the level of exposure was much too low and its very hard to interpret the writing on the sign. I will try to edit this in Photoshop to see if I can improve the lighting of the image, if not i shall re-take the image, trying out a variety of exposures. If I do this I will successfully be able to match the exposure to the mood I am trying to create.
AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.
My idea for recording line was to photograph the realistic objects, places and markings on the streets that we all come across on a daily basis, in modern society. I explored all different lines such as converging, diagonal, vertical, horizontal lines,and one S-shaped line. My specially selected images are all linked to my theme of distance,direction and transportation, these are inspired by the photos Walker Evans took during the Great Depression, that I believe relate to the high levels of migration during this period.
The images came out how I expected. However, I had to pay particular attention to the exposure as it altered mood of the image too much.
The photo of the Hyundai Car wheel was shot at downwards angle to make the wheel look more stretched out, also creating a shadow of the lines going off in different directions, giving it a 3-Dimensional feel. I will Photoshop this into black and white to illustrate a pessimistic mood, like black and white film did in the images by Walker Evans.
The picture taken of the spokes of the bike wheel, was inspired by Walker Evans as he took many photos of transportation, and as bicycles have been around for centuries I see this as a close link. I took the shot at a straight angle. I did this because due to all the different directions of the lines, it was unnecessary to try and change the angle of the shot. However, on photoshop I will change the curves to draw even more attention to the centre of the wheel.
The photo of the bus stop was shot at a canted angle, giving the impression that the lines were running diagonally, this was done to illustrate the feeling of change which Walker Evans managed to capture over his years of photographing. Although, I will need to increase the exposure of this image - before making it black and white - as the lighting was not good enough.
My photograph of the sign was very much my own interpretation of the first image that I chose by Walker Evans. I shot it from a low angle to make the sign seem much larger. This was done to emphasise the idea of choosing a direction - when you are unsure -, as big and overwhelming decision.
My final image of the train track was taken at ground level to create converging lines illustrating the feeling of depth and distance. This is also inspired by Walker Evans as he photographed many images of trains, which I feel links perfectly to the constant use of trains during the 1930's, due migration and food shortages.
AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.
I used a Canon DSLR EOS 400D for all my shots.
If i was too re-shoot this image I would have done a close shot, just to put my focus on the floor sign. I would also increase the exposure so my image does not lack brightness, as when the image is black and white it will be hard to read the writing.
To achieve my original intentions I imported my images to photoshop, to highlight certain areas and change my images to black and white. An example of this is shown below:
The artist research was very helpful as it gave me a theme that I could look out for when going out to take my photos. I could focus on the element of transportation, direction and distance, which I was able to show through several different theories of line. It was also very convenient that in Bishops Stortford there is diversity in the ways which people travel and that these ways are all situated closely in the town and can be captured easily. I got a lot of inspiration from researching camera angles, as it gave me ideas on how to make something basic look interesting. However, the research of other photographers that illustrate everyday things, inspired a few of images that I took but did not influence the story to my photographs.
I believe that the set of images that I have produced, inspired Walker Evan's and my research into the affects of camera angles and line theories, represent my choice of theme very well. The final images produced have been edited in black and white to re-create the moods I believe Walker Evans illustrated through his photographs, along with change of exposure and contrast. Highlight and shadows have also been altered for the image of the bike spokes to achieve my intentions.
To dig deeper into the idea of transportation I took three more photographs of more modern ways that the youth transport, as captured below.
I took these images taking into consideration the angle in which it was captured to show a variety of lines, even in the background. I chose these three ways of transport as I believe they are most commonly used by the youth as they are cheap and long lasting and the moped bike is available to ride from the age of 16.
I used photoshop to convert them into black and white. This time specifically focusing on contrast, to define the lines in the image.
I still converted them into black and white to match my previous intentions, again creating the same dull feelings that Walker Evans captured.
good progress here Maya for a first shoot, well done... areas in which you could improve are in developing the contrast more for the final two images and perhaps also extending the study by photographing transport more extensively... Please ensure you check the spelling.. (apature) to gain a B you will need to extend the shoot and edit more images to create a broader final selection.
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