The definitions of modernism are:
1. Modern character or quality of thought, expression, or technique
2. A style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and traditional forms
3. A movement towards modifying traditional beliefs in accordance with modern ideas, esp. in the Roman Catholic Church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Modernism is the name for a wide range of movements. These movements include Cubism, Expressionism, Futurism, Dadaism, Serialism, and Surrealism. Most of which appeared shortly before or after the First World War. It affected all the arts, in various fielfs such as poets, painters, composers, writers, architects, choreographers, directors and film-makers. Modernism has philosophical antecedents that can be traced to the eighteenth-century. It is rooted in the changes in Western society at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
Modernism is the works of artists who rebelled against nineteenth-century academic and historicist traditions, believing that earlier aesthetic conventions were becoming outdated. Modernist movements, such as Cubism in the arts, Atonality in music, and Symbolism in poetry, directly and indirectly explored the new economic, social, and political aspects of an emerging fully industrialized world.
In relation to photography its invenstion was part of the process of modernization of the means of production that took place during the Industrial Revolution. In the 19th century, more and more goods once made by hand, including images, became machine made. Photography is a modern form of image making, contributing to the development of modernism, for example in painting, by taking on its representational tasks.
By the beginning of the 20th century, with the diffusion of illustrated magazines and newspapers, photography was a mass- communication medium. Photojournalism acquired authority and glamour, and document-like photographs were used in advertising as symbols of modernity. Artists and photographers began looking at the photographs used in mass culture, to develop an aesthetic true to the intrinsic qualities of photographic materials: the accurate rendition of visible reality; framing that crops into a larger spatial and temporal context; viewpoints and perspectives generated by modern lenses and typically modern spatial organizations (for example, tall buildings); and sharp, black-and-white images. This objective, mechanized vision became art by foregrounding not its subject matter, but its formal structure as an image.
Bibliography:
https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=modernism&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=KSZqT-uoC6GP0AXz2v3rCA&ved=0CCwQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=4e222131bbc5c2ac&biw=1220&bih=933
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/modernism
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/modernism
http://www.answers.com/topic/modernism-and-photography
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Identity
Definition of Identify:
Identity is the sense of who we are. How the individual sees themselves- influences, too, by how others see the person. Identity creates different characteristic features that make you different from other people. Our identity is shaped by things that make us different from everyone else for example, facial features and beliefs.
Family:
The family, specifically parents, are central to primary socializations; this is because they are the first stage in a lifelong process. Children learn language and basic norms and values, these can be taught formally, but they are more likely to be picked up informally by children imitation their parents. Parents may use sanctions to reinforce approved behaviour and punish behaviour defined as unacceptable. Such processes develop children's roles within the family and society so that children learn how they are expected to behave in a range and variety of social situations.
Class:
Upper class: The children of upper class families are usually educated in top public schools and many go on to the most prestigious universities.
Middle class: These are professionals, their jobs usually include doctors and lawyers, They tend to adopt and intellectual identity gained from a long and successful education. They value cultural assets such as knowledge, qualifications, lifestyle and values, and feel it is important to pass these onto their children. They would eat together and they would use the opportunity to find out about what has been happening and reinforce values.
Traditional working-class identity: An important factor influencing people's identity is the work place. 'Work' and 'going to work' play a crucial part in defining a person's identity and giving them status. In recent years there has been a decline in manual work which was mainly laboured by the traditional working class individuals. Such jobs included working in heavy duty industries, such as mining and shipbuilding.
The 'New' working class: They are the continuation of the traditional working class individuals; because of the decline of work they live a more private home- centred life. People base their life around the home and family activities. Segregation of gender roles are less pronounced. Britain’s working class have benefited from a general rise in living standards, they are now more likely to own their own cars, homes, spend more on consumer goods and on foreign holidays. The working class would usually eat in front of the television and at different times.
Media:
The media represents different social classes which influence social class identity. Television programs focus on working class culture and they show them as aggressive, assertive a program which shows such examples is 'Shameless' and the media represents them as being able to successfully play the social security system. Whereas middle class families would prefer to watch ' Royal Family.'
Gender:
Males are more macho and women are more emotional. From a young age boys are given toy cars to play with and action toys. Young girls are given kitchen sets and dolls in order for them to play families.
The gender stereotypes of females are that they should be seen as good housewives, submissive, subservient and affectionate. On the other hand males are to be seen as macho, working class, breadwinner, rulers and aggressive.
Culture and society:
Culture plays an important role in the construction of our identity. Identity is made up of two components- how we see ourselves and how others see us. It involves some choice on our part- often actively identity with aspects of our culture with regard to particular groups or activities e.g. a football team, a friendship network a fashion or trend. However, our identity is partly imposed on us by our culture. We are born into particular cultural positions or statuses- we do not choose our social class, gender, ethnic group, age, religion and nationality. Social forces like these shape our identity.
The concept of 'culture' is often used interchangeably with the concept of 'society.' Culture forms the connection between the individual and society. It tells the individual how to operate effectively within social institutions such as family, marriage, education etc.
Zygmunt Bauman (1990) notes that socialization into culture is about introducing and maintaining social order in society. Individual behaviour that lies outside the cultural norm is perceived as dangerous and worth opposing because it threatens to destabilize society. Consequently, society develops cultural mechanisms to control and repress such behaviour.
Social Control:
The law is biased against the working class. This is because the police see certain groups as more deviant and more likely to commit a deviant act. This refers to the labelling theory. The police keep an eye on these groups. These groups tend to be young, male, working class individuals. More focus on ethnic minorities such as Afro- Caribbean. Part of the labelling theory results in an individual in not being able to fit back into society such as get a job like another person would be able to. This results in them turning to crime, which is known as 'self-fulfilling prophecy' which means that they are living up to the label.
In context of photography this is shown though various images. Two images which I recently studied that show similar images but differences between males and females are called 'is Zo'e Group, State of Para, Brazil [Zo'e Women] or [Zo'e Males] ' and where photographed by Sebastião Salgado.
In both these images show a similar setting however the women are shown as
being comfortable in their surrounding and are not altering there possitions even though a photographer is present. Also, none of the women are looking into the camera. All the women are sitting in a strange manners, I can see that two of the women are lying on hammocks; two of the women are standing up and resting against the leaves, one of the women is lying on the floor and the remaining individials are sitting down.
On the other hand the photograph of the men look serious with each of them looking
at the camera apart from one of them which was looking away. In my opinion this
shows power and they wanted to present themselves as dominant figures. There
posture seems to be rather relaxed especially the four guys sitting down their
slightly slouching. The other five men are standing up and each of them is
holding on a stick which seems to look like part of the surroundings. Even though both photographs have been captured at a similar setting and by
the same photographer they show the identity of males and females differently.
Bibliography:
Image:
Sociology AS for AQA, Stephen Moore, Dave Aiken, Steve Chapman, Harper Collins Publishers Limited, 2008
Websites:
http://wwww.cliffnotes.com/study_guide/Gender-Identity.topicArticleld-26957,articleld-26894.html
Identity is the sense of who we are. How the individual sees themselves- influences, too, by how others see the person. Identity creates different characteristic features that make you different from other people. Our identity is shaped by things that make us different from everyone else for example, facial features and beliefs.
Family:
The family, specifically parents, are central to primary socializations; this is because they are the first stage in a lifelong process. Children learn language and basic norms and values, these can be taught formally, but they are more likely to be picked up informally by children imitation their parents. Parents may use sanctions to reinforce approved behaviour and punish behaviour defined as unacceptable. Such processes develop children's roles within the family and society so that children learn how they are expected to behave in a range and variety of social situations.
Class:
Upper class: The children of upper class families are usually educated in top public schools and many go on to the most prestigious universities.
Middle class: These are professionals, their jobs usually include doctors and lawyers, They tend to adopt and intellectual identity gained from a long and successful education. They value cultural assets such as knowledge, qualifications, lifestyle and values, and feel it is important to pass these onto their children. They would eat together and they would use the opportunity to find out about what has been happening and reinforce values.
Traditional working-class identity: An important factor influencing people's identity is the work place. 'Work' and 'going to work' play a crucial part in defining a person's identity and giving them status. In recent years there has been a decline in manual work which was mainly laboured by the traditional working class individuals. Such jobs included working in heavy duty industries, such as mining and shipbuilding.
The 'New' working class: They are the continuation of the traditional working class individuals; because of the decline of work they live a more private home- centred life. People base their life around the home and family activities. Segregation of gender roles are less pronounced. Britain’s working class have benefited from a general rise in living standards, they are now more likely to own their own cars, homes, spend more on consumer goods and on foreign holidays. The working class would usually eat in front of the television and at different times.
Media:
The media represents different social classes which influence social class identity. Television programs focus on working class culture and they show them as aggressive, assertive a program which shows such examples is 'Shameless' and the media represents them as being able to successfully play the social security system. Whereas middle class families would prefer to watch ' Royal Family.'
Gender:
Males are more macho and women are more emotional. From a young age boys are given toy cars to play with and action toys. Young girls are given kitchen sets and dolls in order for them to play families.
The gender stereotypes of females are that they should be seen as good housewives, submissive, subservient and affectionate. On the other hand males are to be seen as macho, working class, breadwinner, rulers and aggressive.
Culture and society:
Culture plays an important role in the construction of our identity. Identity is made up of two components- how we see ourselves and how others see us. It involves some choice on our part- often actively identity with aspects of our culture with regard to particular groups or activities e.g. a football team, a friendship network a fashion or trend. However, our identity is partly imposed on us by our culture. We are born into particular cultural positions or statuses- we do not choose our social class, gender, ethnic group, age, religion and nationality. Social forces like these shape our identity.
The concept of 'culture' is often used interchangeably with the concept of 'society.' Culture forms the connection between the individual and society. It tells the individual how to operate effectively within social institutions such as family, marriage, education etc.
Zygmunt Bauman (1990) notes that socialization into culture is about introducing and maintaining social order in society. Individual behaviour that lies outside the cultural norm is perceived as dangerous and worth opposing because it threatens to destabilize society. Consequently, society develops cultural mechanisms to control and repress such behaviour.
Social Control:
The law is biased against the working class. This is because the police see certain groups as more deviant and more likely to commit a deviant act. This refers to the labelling theory. The police keep an eye on these groups. These groups tend to be young, male, working class individuals. More focus on ethnic minorities such as Afro- Caribbean. Part of the labelling theory results in an individual in not being able to fit back into society such as get a job like another person would be able to. This results in them turning to crime, which is known as 'self-fulfilling prophecy' which means that they are living up to the label.
In context of photography this is shown though various images. Two images which I recently studied that show similar images but differences between males and females are called 'is Zo'e Group, State of Para, Brazil [Zo'e Women] or [Zo'e Males] ' and where photographed by Sebastião Salgado.
In both these images show a similar setting however the women are shown as
being comfortable in their surrounding and are not altering there possitions even though a photographer is present. Also, none of the women are looking into the camera. All the women are sitting in a strange manners, I can see that two of the women are lying on hammocks; two of the women are standing up and resting against the leaves, one of the women is lying on the floor and the remaining individials are sitting down. 
On the other hand the photograph of the men look serious with each of them looking
at the camera apart from one of them which was looking away. In my opinion this
shows power and they wanted to present themselves as dominant figures. There
posture seems to be rather relaxed especially the four guys sitting down their
slightly slouching. The other five men are standing up and each of them is
holding on a stick which seems to look like part of the surroundings. Even though both photographs have been captured at a similar setting and by the same photographer they show the identity of males and females differently.
Bibliography:
Image:
Salgado, S. (2009) Zo'e Indian
Group, (Zo'e Women) [Online].
Salgado, S. (2009) Zo'e Indian
Group, (Zo'e Men)
London: Somerset House
Books:
B
Monday, 5 March 2012
Semiotics
The definition of 'semiotics' is:
1. The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication as language, gestures, or clothing.
2. A general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
There are three key elements of Semiotics. These are signs, signifier (the form in which the sign takes) and signified (the concept it represents).
Signs:
As individuals we are driven by a desire to create meanings. We make meanings through out creation and through the interpretation of 'signs.' Sine wiykd argue that the reason for this is that we are Homo Significans (meaning- makers). According to Peirce, 'we think only in sighns' (Peirce 1931- 58, 2. 302). Signs take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no actually meaning and they become signs only when we create them with meanings. 'Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign.' (Peirce 1931-58, 2. 172).
Types of signs:
Icon- Resembles
Index- Is caused by
Smbol- Arbtrary (learnt) relationships
Order of signs:
Sender
Intentism
Message
Transmission
Noise- Miscommunication or interference with message
Reciever
Destination
Signifiers:
Many of the signs we used to communicate arbitrary.
They have to be learned with the conventions of the language which they are embedded.
Once learnt, teh meanings conveyed by signs may appear wholly natural.
Transmissions:
Messages are always through a medium:-
Presentational (voice, face, hands)
Representational (painting, books, photographs, drawings)
An example of semiotics withing photography is an image by Jenny Holzer.
This ia an image by Jenny Holzer. It is called 'City Poem 14'- London 2006. She had light projected a poem onto London City Hall. In my opinion she captures images of society and their issues wich are internal and she makes them public. This image captures the audience attension because of the lighting. My response to this photograph is that the meaning for why she has chosen London City Hall is because the building itself has a political background. Through the words of the poem I can see that it has something to do with war because of the words and phreases such as 'bullets'; and 'stopped in mid- flight.' This image uses the combination of light art, cityscape and poetry.
Bibliography:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
http://dictionary.refernece.com/brouse/semiotics
1. The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication as language, gestures, or clothing.
2. A general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
There are three key elements of Semiotics. These are signs, signifier (the form in which the sign takes) and signified (the concept it represents).
Signs:
As individuals we are driven by a desire to create meanings. We make meanings through out creation and through the interpretation of 'signs.' Sine wiykd argue that the reason for this is that we are Homo Significans (meaning- makers). According to Peirce, 'we think only in sighns' (Peirce 1931- 58, 2. 302). Signs take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no actually meaning and they become signs only when we create them with meanings. 'Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign.' (Peirce 1931-58, 2. 172).
Types of signs:
Icon- Resembles
Index- Is caused by
Smbol- Arbtrary (learnt) relationships
Order of signs:
Sender
Intentism
Message
Transmission
Noise- Miscommunication or interference with message
Reciever
Destination
Signifiers:
Many of the signs we used to communicate arbitrary.
They have to be learned with the conventions of the language which they are embedded.
Once learnt, teh meanings conveyed by signs may appear wholly natural.
Transmissions:
Messages are always through a medium:-
Presentational (voice, face, hands)
Representational (painting, books, photographs, drawings)
An example of semiotics withing photography is an image by Jenny Holzer.
This ia an image by Jenny Holzer. It is called 'City Poem 14'- London 2006. She had light projected a poem onto London City Hall. In my opinion she captures images of society and their issues wich are internal and she makes them public. This image captures the audience attension because of the lighting. My response to this photograph is that the meaning for why she has chosen London City Hall is because the building itself has a political background. Through the words of the poem I can see that it has something to do with war because of the words and phreases such as 'bullets'; and 'stopped in mid- flight.' This image uses the combination of light art, cityscape and poetry.
Bibliography:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html
http://dictionary.refernece.com/brouse/semiotics
Monday, 27 February 2012
Andreas Gursky
Andreas Gursky was born in 1955. He is a German photographer and he is known for his enormous architecture and landscape colour photographs. I like the way his work clashes colours and angles. His photography uses clashing colours and his images are captured using distant shots and overhead shots. Some of his images show shop windows and capture images inside a supermarket. His work shows elements of commercialism because they are captured in the style of a billboard. His images shows masses such as masses of people, products an example of this is an image taken from inside the 99 cent shop.
The above image is called '99 Cent' it was photographed in 1999. The 99 cent shop is the equivalent of the UK pound shop. His work shows elements of commercialism. This is because they show cheap mass produced goods and they are depersonalized because there are clashing brands in the shop. This shows discord because the brands are at competition especially in today's society. The actual products are not unique because there are so many similar products but with different brand names.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/andreas-gursky-rhine-ii-photograph
William Eggleston
William Eggleston:
William
Eggleston was born on the 27th of July 1939. He was born in Memphis,
Tennessee. He is an American photographer. He is widely credited for his work
with colour photography. Eggleston’s work plays around with scale. William
Eggleston’s work represents the moment when colour began to be accepted as part
of art photography. He has been called the ‘father’ of colour photography. His
work shows discord because he uses the angles and plays with the scale of an
object to make it seem larger, this make the audience seem smaller.
This is an image by William Eggleston it is called ‘Troubled
Waters’, 1980. I can see that this image uses neutral colours and has used
elements of discord. Discord has been shown because the image has been
photographed from below looking up towards the everyday objects. This makes the
audience feel less superior because they are smaller than the objects. The
image is simple and used natural lighting. The setting of the image may have
been to show a certain period of time, this is shown through the design of the
furniture and the patterned sofa covers.Friday, 24 February 2012
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum:On visiting the Imperial War Museum I was thoroughly disappointed. After queuing for over an hour to visit the blitz exhibition I was able to be part of a 10minute tour showing how it would have been like living during the Second World War. I was disappointed because on visiting the exhibition as a young child I remember the experience better. Instead the benches didn't shake as much and the tour was very quick on a positive note the way that they recreated life during the Second World War was good because they recreated smells and events which would have occurred at that time.
Within this gallery I cam across this image where you see several people in the background and a guy which has been injured is being escorted. I felt this was a powerful image especially with the text which was next to it 'Only the dead have seen the end of war.'
Another image from the same gallery which I found interesting was the one with a child sitting on her bed. This was a moving image because when I think of war I think of those whom were either fighting on the front lines, the injured or those in the factories and you forget about the young children who are innocent and don't understand what is happening. Again with this image the caption 'War is part of God's creation' fitted well with the image because children are also part of 'God's Creation.'On walking around the museum it was nice to spend time with other students and look at public transport of that time, tanks, bombs etc which would have been used during the war, and because we are not used to seeing them was nice to see the way they have been preserved for people to see them.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Stephen Shore
Stephen Shore is an American photographer, born in 1947. Shore began his photography career using a 35mm camera and then moved on to a 4 x 5 and then to an 8 x 10 format. He produced a book in 1982 entitled 'Uncommon Places' which was considered a bible for photographers looking to shoot in colour. "What I wanted to do was to keep a visual diary of the trip and started photographing every person I met, the beds I slept in, the toilets I used, art on walls, every meal I ate, store windows, residential buildings, commercial buildings, main streets and then anything else that came my way and that became the framework for that series."Up until this point in history only black and white images were taken seriously. Many well respected photographers have credited Shore with introducing them to the beauty of colour photography.
In 1971, at the age of 23, he became the first living
photographer to have a one- man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is
interested in the clear and focused attention because photography gives a sense
of time being compressed because it would take several minutes for a person to
see a certain scene.
I chose to include the image ‘U.S. 97, South of Klamath
Falls, Oregon, July 21, 1973’ as an example of his work because I like the
framing of the image and the way that it shows a landscape within a landscape.
Bibliography:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)