Vee Speers Interpretations in class

In class I have been recreating a few pictures of Vee Speer's album The Birthday Party.

I used a simple white wall to create the background and made my model where contrasting colours so she stood out in the photo, like Vee Speers did.

I have edited one just to see how it looked:

Assignment 4: Vee Speers

Get To Know Vee Speers
Vee Speers is an Australian photographer based in Paris. After studying at Queensland college of art, Speers worked as a still photographer for the ABC television. Since moving to France in the early 90's, Speers has worked in fashion, photojournalism and today is an established fine art photographer. Her work has appeared in many prestigious publications and has been exhibited in London, Paris, Japan, Italy, Tunisia and South America, as well as her native country. All of her photo's are a little strange and creative but this is because she doesn't like to follow the crowd. She likes to seduce, with images that are once disturbing and beautiful, but leave a space so viewers can enter her world. Her portraits combine elements which evoke conflicting emotions that can surprise the viewer, telling a story that is somewhere between fantasy and reality, the obvious and unexpected.

This is her official home page:
Vee Speers Home Page
On her portfolio she has 5 different photo albums:
Thirteen
Immortal
The Birthday Party
Parisians
Bordello

In her first 3 albums, Thirteen, Immortal and The birthday Party, all of the images share the same elements.
They mostly all have the focal image in the center of the photo with all techniques used to enhance the person.
The background of the pictures are usually a simple, to detract from the background so you focus on the person.
In the Immortal album the backgrounds are all quite complicated but the image of the background is far away so you still pay attention to the person first.
In the albums, Thirteen and The Birthday Party she uses a simple white background so that the background is dull and boring, so you pay no attention to the background and full attention to the person.
She uses pastel type colours in her work to make the photos look soft. 
The last 2 albums, Parisians and Bordello are in black and white.
She uses the light and lighter colours on her focal points so that you are attracted to them.
She uses this technique a lot and personally I think this is what she is known for. I do like all of her photos because they are strange, yet imaginative. They all show different perspectives of people, reality and fantasy. Personally I like Thirteen the most because the story behind the album is very intriguing. Vee got the idea of the album on the year that her daughter was thirteen, the album is about her daughter growing up and growing through different stages of childhood. in the first picture, her daughter starts off with her back to the camera showing small feathered wings to show she is small and fragile. Then the last picture is her daughter is facing the camera, holding a nest. To me this portrayals that now she is older, she has the confidence to face things in life and the nest portrayals that she is settling down to become a young women.

Thirteen

Immortal

The Birthday Party

Parisians

Bordello

I have found a good slide show on slideshare.com that gives you more information on Vee Speers and her work:
Vee Speers Slideshow

My slideshow
This is my slideshow. I have created my own photo's that are inspired by Vee Speers.My Slideshow.
You might have to wait a few seconds for the slideshow to load properly.

Assignment 3: learning how to research effectively

Composition

Composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art. The term composition means 'putting together'.
This photo has good evidence of composition because the arrangement of the photo has been carefully thought about:
The focal point has filled the whole photo which draws attention to his face.
The colours are all the same colour but different shades, where the lighter shades are is where the photographer wants you to look at first, this has emphasised a dark and gloomy image.
The photo is cut into thirds which is a big element of composition. The first third and the last third are basically the same, they are the mirror image of each other. This web address tells you how to use composition to improve you photos. How to use composition to improve your images I think that this web address is good because it gives a lot of information on how to improve/use composition.



Focal Point

Focal point is the exact point at which the camera is focused at maximum sharpness.
In the art of photography you can make focal points not just by the sharpness. They also use:
Colour contrast
Composition
Different lines and angles 

The focal point of this photo is the girl. This image has good focal point because:
The girl has been made sharper and clearer.
The girl has a dark outline that draws you in to look at her, this makes her stand out more and it also gives a bit of depth to the photo.
Her dress is a lighter shade of white than the background, this makes the photo look less 2D and more 3D.
The girl is in the centre of the photo and nearly fills the whole photo which makes you focus on the girl more. Also because she is filling the photo, she is enlarged which means you can see all of the girls features.
The colour of her hair also draws you into looking at her face
This web address gives you help and different techniques to help you enhance your focal point in your photos. I think that this we address is good because it gives you loads of information on focal point and how to use it. Using Focal Points In Photography


Lighting

Lighting is the complex art and craft of arranging and positioning light sources so that they illuminate a scene in a desirable fashion.

The photographer has used the light shinning through the window to highlight the features of his face.
The dramatic light on the right has exaggerated the texture of his skin.
The background has become dark and contrasting because the light has hit the man first, which has made a dark shadow into the background.
To me the picture portrayals a man stuck in a dark room starring out into the light longing to be outside.
This web address tells you different use of light to take better quality photos.
This web address is good because it tells you how to position your camera to get the best out of light, it also tells you what light source you need to take the photo you want. Use Of Light In Photography




Depth Of Field

Depth of field is the amount of distance between he nearest and farthest that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. 

The blurred out grass draws you to the image of Leonardo Decaprio.
Also blurring out the grass lets you focus more on the real image of the photo.
It also brings a soft touch to the photo, this also makes it look like there is a calm gentle breeze blowing the grass side to side.
The grass is also a lighter shade of grey so that there is a distinct line where is hair is.
It has quite a long depth of field because it is shot in a field but because the focal point is close, the image doesn't show you much of the field. 
This web address shows you allsorts about depth of field e.g more information on what it means and tips to shoot a photo with depth of field. This web address is good because it has a lot of information that will help you understand depth of field more and will help to get the best out of depth of in your photos.  Depth Of Field

Assignment 2: First Analysis

First Analysis

Vee Speers Home Page

FACTUAL- The photographer of this photo is Vee Speers. She is an Australian photographer but is based in Paris.

CONTEXT- This photo is from her first album Thirteen. This image fits in with the rest of the thirteen portfolio because it shares the same elements as the rest (light coloured backgrounds and the focal point of a girl). She explains that the thirteen portfolio is about her daughters thirteenth year, she also describes that this portfolio is one that explores the transformation from child to young woman, and new found freedom.

TECHNICAL- To make her daughter the main focus she has used the colours white as the back ground and her clothes so that you immediately look at her hair which is dark brown so it brings contrast to the photo.

AESTHETIC- I think that this photo portrayals the end to her daughters child hood and the beginning to her daughters new young women life. I think this because I believe that she is using the flowers to portrayal that she is blossoming into new life as a young women. I like the originality and simplicity of this photo, although there isn't really much going on in this photo, it is still very interesting and imaginative.

Photography