Michael Keating Photography

For my dichotomy, I decided to focus on a “fear of loneliness”. On the right hand side, I have a darker much more dramatic setting to show the gloominess of being alone and longing for contact, relations and friendship. On the left hand side, are myself and Tyler talking in a happy manner with hand motions and laughter. I used a gradient to show a “dark to light” of loneliness to friendship and show how being lonely can bring out a one’s dark side and friendship can create happiness and a brighter side of yourself. I adjusted the lighting in both scenarios to create one very shaded area and another very bright image that lacked the despondency of the other half of the photo. Nowadays, people rely on other people to thrive whether that be on social or business scale. Other people give us feedback, they accept us or deny us. We’re constantly judged on how we relate to others and our ability to be social. Not having people around to do these things can cause loneliness and darkness in one’s mind. This is what my photo is trying to portray.

My third and final alternative process was an acrylic gel medium. For this process I took an image I previously printed out and slowly applied layers of acrylic gel to create this stretchy, malleable version of the photo I took. Since the print was be translucent I decided to use a photo of something that could emit light so that different kinds of lights and colours could shine in the place of the sun. I took the picture I took of the sun and finished the process. The outcome was a very “fruit roll up-y” photo that was light could shine through. It was very satisfying to peel off the paper as well. Overall, it was a fairly successful print.

As I continued my journey into alternative processes I took a look at multiple exposures. I went into the shoot with the idea of “breaking the fourth wall”. As in I wanted to convey the notion that both subjects were trying to get to something or achieve something outside their own respective photo. Finally, I came up the idea that I wanted two subjects trying to reach each other and thus created the above print.

As I ventured into a completely new area of printing photos I took a look into silk screening as one of my alternative processes. I had a photo of the sun early in the morning as it kissed the side of the building and gleamed brightly into the aperture of lens. It created a very “light vs dark” feel to it so I thought I would turn it into more of a saying as opposed to just a photo. So I printed the photos one normal and one flipped and came up with the two sides of my contrast silk screen. I played with more than one colour in one print and came out with the second photo. Silk screening was a success!

Rembrandt van Rijn was the famous mind behind The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Nicolaes Tulp(1632) during the Baroque portion of the Renaissance. In the Dutch Republic at the time (currently known as the Netherlands) Rembrandt was widely considered one of the most famous printmakers and painters in European Art and in Dutch history. During the Renaissance Era there was a certain ideology common amongst the population of Europe that the Arts had humanistic values and was important because of that.

The term “Renaissance” is a direct translation to “rebirth” in French. After the barbaric Medieval times the people of Europe wanted things to be as they were before that era. As the Renaissance became more popular amongst Western European countries a new age of art, drama and literature arose.  Famous paintings such as Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and The Night Watch  were all famous works from this time. As of the 1600’s the Baroque period began which was a point in time where Roman Catholic churches began to tell artists that art should speak to everyone and that it should be able to be interpreted by the illiterate as well as the well-informed.

Following this art began to take on many different “personalities”. Prior to the Baroque period art was very witty and intellectual. Art was to be interpreted by those who had more knowledge than others. During the Baroque period art was made more to appeal to the senses of a person; intelligent or not. The paintings had “exaggerated emotions” and “dramatic lighting” to make the art not boring but simple enough to understand.

However, art was not the same throughout the continent. In the Dutch Republic art was much more “real” in the sense it did not rely on religion or history but was mostly about what was there at the current time. Landscapes, still life, everyday settings, etc. were quite popular, but it was not the same for everyone. For example, Rembrandt’s works were very clear and simple where if you were to compare and contrast the works of Johannes Vermeer, his art had many different ways to interpret his art.

Overall, the Renaissance was a time of rebirth of a continent. A time where the arts thrived and a new age started. Things began to become more simple and it showed in the arts during the time. It paved the path for new artists to come and extended its values to other places. It was a period that really showed how the arts can influence an entire culture.

This week I investigated the art of painting with light.  I went into the shoot with the idea of “shoot for the stars”. I set up my subject Steven to literally “shoot for the stars”. I put a a sort of spotlight on the area of the star to kind of show the idea of reaching your goals and that theres always a light at the end of the tunnel. A photo reminding the viewer that you can’t dream to big and that you can always achieve your goal.

This week I put my focus on mixed lighting. The day was very sad, grey, cloudy and bland. So I decided to take the studio lights outside and use them to brighten up the mood of the photo. After taking the photos I realized it didn’t change the actual mood of the photo but it did add a nice warmth to the very cold photo. I played with the angles and got to an angle the made for a very intense photo. The contrast between the cold and warm created the look in the two top photos. The mixed lighting added a really cool dynamic to the photo I really enjoyed.

Over the past week I dove into the world of studio lighting. I played with different light, the positioning of the lights and the positioning of the subject. I tried to focus on making the lights do the gist of the work. The lights dictated what the emotion of the photo would be and it worked a lot better than I intended. The first photo adds a very serious, intense mood to the photo and makes the subject look angry, determined and focused. The second photo I really focused on shooting with a much happier lighting. I attempted to get rid of the shadows on his face and give a brighter, happier look. The third photo I made changed setting and switched lights.  I added a lot of shadows and made sure the background had a very empty feel to it. The photo ended up making the subject look genuinely sad and empty inside. Overall, the photo’s turned out great and I was very happy with my photos.

The day I took these photos were ideal for a day of athletics.The weather was perfect, the lighting was ideal and everything was set. I told Steven (my subject) to “be the best athlete you can be” while doing the long jump. I tried to capture the dynamics of an athlete and how they approach their event. The photo shows the different stages of the long jump to really break down what’s going on and gives the viewer a better understanding of the long jumper. Even though he’s wearing jeans, boots and a t-shirt the idea is still there…

    

Kyle McDougall is a personal favourite of mine. His works intrigue me a lot for their simplistic setting. However, he manages to makes them quite beautiful by highlighting different areas, but merging them all together. His landscapes are really captivating the long and short depth of fields really give me an idea of the space in the photo. The colour in his photos are really cool and probably my favourite part of his photos.

His photos really inspire me to look for small details that make a huge difference in photos. His photos also show me the importance of variety of colour to really make my photos pop. I also enjoy landscapes a lot so his photos give me a good idea of how landscapes should look so I have a guideline going into shooting.  His photos also just have a certain look that I would like to achieve. The colour, and the beauty of simplicity inspire me to take photos similar to his.