Form

Form

Definition & Theory

• Form is a three dimensional shape, such as a cube, sphere or cone.

• Sculpture and 3D design are about creating forms.

• In 2D artworks, tone and perspective can be used to create an illusion of form.

Edward Weston, Pepper, 1930

Edward Weston's image of the pepper represents three dimensional photography. The tone and shape of the image looks sculptural, and has connotations of a human like muscle figure. If the image was taken in colour, it may have been easy for someone to denote what this image is. Because it was taken with black and white film, it makes it harder for people to know what the object is.

Jonathan Knowles

This image taken by Jonathan Knowles widely contrasts the image taken by Edward Weston. He has chosen to photograph a more conventional shape, rather than an abstract object like Weston did. The tone of the image, with one side of the pyramid being darker than the other, depicts the three dimensional form of the image. The flowers look artificial, which could connote this in the image.

Research (of artists and techniques) 

Tina Modotti

Tina Modotti (August 16th / 17th 1896 – January 5, 1942) was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist for the Comintern. Modotti was introduced to photography as a young girl in Italy, where her uncle, Pietro Modotti, maintained a photography studio. Later in the U.S., her father briefly ran a similar studio in San Francisco. While in Los Angeles, she met the photographer Edward Weston and his creative partner Margrethe Mather. It was through her relationship with Edward Weston that Modotti developed as an important fine art photographer and documentarian.

All of the above images were photographed using black and white film. They are all similar and it is clear that she has his own photographic style when it comes to creating images and putting together his compositions. A lot of her images are of hands, or of the physical form. This shows her specific photography style, but also could suggest that she aims to tell a story through her compositions of people. I gained inspiration from this by producing my own images based on hands or the physical form, and then further editing them into black and white using Photoshop.

Image Bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research.

The above pictures are a collection of photographs that represent the visual element of form. These are also images that I felt that I could recreate well myself for 'form'.

(AO1:  You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued.)

Selected Images

Contact sheet(s)

My Best Images (target 4 - 6)

Images that require improvement. 

(AT LEAST 2 IMAGES)

There were two images that I selected that needed improvement for a variety of reasons. The first image that I selected I decided needed improvement because I felt as though I needed to get closer to the mannequin in order to really show the detail of its form. Additionally to this, due to this photo being taken from outside looking in, shadows were in the way and there was a lot of reflection from the outside, meaning that I wasn't able to get the image as detailed as I would have liked. If I was to improve this image, I try and minimise the amount of reflection and possibly get closer to the mannequin to enhance the form of the composition.

The second image I selected that needed improvement because I had the flash on when taking the image, and it would have been better if I had turned the flash off to prevent the flash shining back into the image. You can also see that the reflection from the image is showing and it is not in focus. If I was to improve on this image, I would 

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

The main idea that I had and the main reason for creating images of form was that I felt that throughout Harlow and within my own home and environment, there are various different places and various different objects that convey form in a strong way. Some are more traditional and others are presented in a much more abstract way, and I felt I was going to be able to capture this well using both natural and studio lighting. I tried to relate some of my images to my artist research however I think I could develop on this further as looking back, I could have used coloured backgrounds and other objects to present the formal element of form.

The images that I retrieved from my time exploring Harlow and exploring my own enviroment turned out well and I felt that overall, I captured the visual element of 'form' well. However, due to still learning about my camera in manual mode, there were certain aspects of my work that I felt could have been improved due to not knowing a lot of the camera settings.

With reference to the Best selected images... 

The image that I took of the globe was taken in the studio using a focused light on the globe itself to create the form of the shadow, and also to create a dark to light effect on the object. My camera settings were altered so that the form would be the main focus of the image and that the image will not be flooded with too much light and take away from the form of the image, which could potentially ruin the image.

The image of the top of the water bottle was taken at my house with an everyday object, with the light shooting directly towards the centre of the bottle. This accentuates the shadows within the image and allows the form of the bottle top to come through. It shows a mixture of form, including the bottle cap and the water within the bottle.

The image of the banana and apple together I decided to take as it related to one of my pictures within my image bank. A lot of the research I had done on form showed that a lot of photographers tended to take pictures of fruit when trying to capture form within an image. When taking this image, I tried to focus on making the fruit central within the composition, as this is the style that most reflects the style of the image within my image bank.

The two images that I chose as my images that needed improvement were images that I felt that I could take again and work on the composition of the image. I would change the angle of the light in order to accentuate the form present with the image.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

For all of the above images, I used a CANON EOS 1300D. I have not used my camera a lot before in manual mode, so I feel as though I could still learn a lot about the different settings and that this would improve on my image compositions in a hugely positive way. For most of these images, the flash was on using soft boxes and radio flashes due to the fact I was shooting in the studio.

In order to improve on the images that I took, I decided to import them into Photoshop in order to enhance them and improve on their composition and the way that they have been shot. In order to do this, I decided to put them into black and white in order to accentuate the contrast and tone within the image.

The screen grabs that I have selected show how I used Photoshop to create a high contrast black and white image. To do use this, I used the Curves tool and the Black and White tool, gradually adjusting the colour sliders to get the clear contrast effect. With one of the images, I chose to try out editing in colour, adjusting the contrast and brightness of the image.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. 

The artist research that I did was extremely helpful in the fact that I was able to gain an understanding of the different artists and their different styles. Knowing about when they were born and where they were born helps me to interpret their work and understand what they were thinking when they took a certain image. Researching images that they have created helps me to try and recreate these images and then shooting my own images in their style. For example, my research on Tina Modotti and researching the images of Edward Weston helped me to choose to take photos in black and white and also to increase the contrast within an image. Additionally to this, I was able to get a better understanding of the visual element 'form' and how different lines convey different emotions and feelings. However, I feel as though I did not relate enough to my research and did not take enough pictures in this style. If I was to improve on this, I would revisit the images from the research and try to recreate them as closely as possible.

AO4:Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. 

Overall, I think that I have produced a good series of images inspired by my research and image bank of form and composition...  The final images produced were changed by developing the contrast and converting them into black and white images. I think if I was to improve on this, I would try and take photographs that relate more to the artist, as looking back I feel as though I have not fully captured the style of both photographers and I only have one image that fully reflects his style in some way.