After our lecture, seminar and workshops on found object, we were ready to take on the task of going out and finding some objects for ourselves to take photos of. Whereas in the workshop the objects were provided for us. The task was to use objects that did not previously belong to us before the shoot, hence the title Found Image. We could collect these objects in various different ways such as, buying them from charity stores, borrowing them from a friend, or even finding them out and about on our travels.
Without Editing
This is a series of images that I took of various different glass ornaments and perfume bottles. I decided to experiment with the flash on the camera for these, to try and make them appear shinier and newer than they actually are. I found these objects at my Aunt’s house, she likes to collect very elegant ornaments, particularly things made out of glass. In the top 2 photos, I tried to experiment with the focus of the camera by trying to isolate the different subjects individually by having the others out of focus, which in this case are the bottle in the foreground, and then the bottle in the background in the other image.
In this set of photos I decided to instead of using light sources to light up a subject, I used the light sources as the subjects. I particularly like the top one, it is consists of an old whiskey decanter placed directly in front of a lamp. With the way the composition is set up, the base of the lamp is hidden, and the decanter almost replaces it whilst acting as an oversized light bulb. The photo gives me feelings of inspiration, as light bulbs represent ideas and thinking, and the fact that it is outside of the lamp shade could suggest to think outside of the box. Then the picture underneath it almost contradicts the previous image, as the lightbulb is now caged, suggestive of caged inspiration. Finally in the bottom image, I really wanted to capture the embodiment of a beacon of white light amidst a void of darkness. I really enjoy the contrast between the black and the white, and how the white light looks insignificant to the ocean of darkness that surrounds it. You could also say that it is representative of our planet, as we are in fact an insignificant spec in a mostly empty void. I set up the top and bottom image by turning off every light other than the light sources themselves. Also, to achieve the white light from the bulb in the bottom one, rather than photographing it and trying to edit the yellow to white in post, I just lowered the temperature of the white balance, until I was left with this ice white.
In this piece I really wanted to try and exploit the focus of the camera, by trying to get the orange and glass as close to the camera as possible without it going out of focus. This then allowed for me to make the background very unfocused, thus emphasising how crisp the subject is.
What I find interesting about this photo, is how the only light in the frame surrounds the Buddha, as he stares off into the darkness. I feel this photo could have deep significations due to it’s contrast of light and dark in the sense of how much light is in the frame, and in terms of morality. Again I experimented with the flash on the camera for this photo, by turning off most of the light in the house I was able to get this gradient background.
This is another photo that I think could portray some deeper significance, especially towards War Profiteering. By focusing on the bullets and having the backdrop of dollars out of focus, it is suggestive to the overlooked hidden agenda of war, which is war makes money for capitalist countries. The harsh shadows at the tip of the bullets in this photo make them seem a lot more dangerous and impeding. Again I achieved this using the flash.
Edited Photos
Below are some of my favourite photos out of the set that I decided to tweak in Photoshop
I decided to edit the Buddha image, because the stairs off to the right side of the frame in the original photo were quite distracting, so using content aware fill, I managed to simulate the space where the stairs were for the gradient background.
With this photo I thought that the colour of the orange was lost too much with the inclusion of the bright yellow lights from the background, but I really wanted the orange to stand out, so I decided to desaturate every other colour in the frame, creating this magnificent juxtaposition of the vibrantly oozing orange and the sapped of life background.
These 3 photos are the ones I am most proud of, by desaturating all of the colours other than the colours of the 2 bottles, I was able to create a body of work that fit a theme. the fact that the colours of the bottles stand out makes them easily identifiable in the bottom image. Furthermore I added a slight vignette to each photo just to help consolidate a theme.
Rejected Ideas
I rejected this photo because it was quite cheesy and didn’t really fit with any of my other found object work.
I rejected this one because it was quite over exposed.
Finally I rejected this photo as it wasn’t very crisp, and it is quite grainy.
Final Image
Overall this was my favourite image from my body of work on found object. This is for many reasons. First being it is a very sharp photo, none of that elegant detail on the bottle is lost through focus. Second being the composition, it is a very strong centralised image with a nice divide between the dark surface it is sat on and the light background it is up against. Another point is he harsh shadow that stands behind it, this creates depth between the wall and the subject. Finally I really like the combination of the gold lid and the crystal body, it is very representative of a luxury lifestyle, and the way the vignette frames it almost in a spot light fashion, it suggests that this object is important and that it has a high status.