The Getty Center: Song Yongping

From the J. Paul Getty exhibition,
Passage 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, My Parents Series, Song Yongping, 1998-2001,

After walking all around and studying various photos from this exhibition, I immediately knew which one was my least favorite. They were six different photos lined up, tucked away behind the left wall leaving this room. This series had some disturbing photos. They were graphic and harsh natured. The passage was explaining the loss of his parents. They portrayed a dark, but realistic outlook on life. They were so realistic, that it makes you appreciate your life and health. The one I didnt like was of his parents hooked up on medical equipment in their room, sickly looking, and his mother was not dressed. So it did give a funky take on it. This photo series was gloomy and depressing. It displayed a tragic series of events. The photos above were just two of the six there. His parents appear so unhappy and miserable, I felt depressed after I saw them.

The Getty Center: Jo Ann Callis

Strawberry Pie #2, Jo Ann Callis, 1993

This photo I enjoyed and it made me think of this class. This color pops out and this photography made these strawberries look like glimmering glass. It captures American life. The food looks fake and hence pertains to our plastic way of life. We strive to make everything look perfect all the time, and this pie does look perfect here. It looks glazed so much so, that I want to reach out and touch it. The pink background adds an extra presentation and softness to the photo.

The Getty Center: Josef Sudek

Late Roses, Josef Sudek, 1959

This photo is supposed to represent the changing of seasons. I feel like this photo leaves you with a calming effect. The black and white makes it classy. From the photo, it looks to be warm inside, but cold on the outside. The light and dark make what this photo is. It is also taken from a different side perspective so its not straight on and boring. The roses almost look set up in the middle, white black and white. I see a lot of groupings of three in this photo. Three roses, three main lines of the window, three trees, tree leaves. Im not sure if this repetition was set up or if that was the beauty this photo was taken in.

The Getty Center: Man Ray

Dead Leaf, Man Ray, 1942.
I loved this photo, it reminds me of the rose piece I did earlier this semester. I appreciate the simplicity of this photo, yet it is still intriguing. It was taken in 1942, so I know it has not gone through photoshop to be enhanced. I try so hard to catch these different textures, but here is has been accomplished so easily.

The Getty Center: Wang Qingsong

Wang Wingsong's Can I Cooperate With You?, 2000, was another one I loved. This was probably one of the largest photos in all of the Getty's photography exhibition. I think what first drew my attention to this was the sharpness and the color. The color was vibrant and clear. It was very pretty and fun to look at. You can tell that this has been photoshoped, or digitally manipulated. There are two small men standing right in the middle that are not the correct size. I cannot tell if the background is from a back drop, or if that too was from photoshop. I think this piece is comical because there is a big crowd of people that is mainstreaming two american companies, and there are a few little guys that do not want to go along with what the other majority is doing. Both groups of people look like they are wondering whats wrong with one another. All together, I think the composition is brilliant and that this photo was great to view.

The Getty Center: Family Tree

This was another enlarged photo that I feel does not do its justice until you see it in person. For one, it is quite large. It was printed on glossy paper, so when you look at the ink or paint on this mans face, it gives it quite a nice touch. There is a lot here that catches the eye and you dont really know to start at the beginning or the end. This photo like the other one, pays attention to a lot of detail. It is very sharp in the foreground, but the background is blurred out, which makes the story pop out at you more. The photos flow very nicely and is completely modern. Unlike the old brown box photos, this paper has no texture to to it at all. I can not tell if the mans face has been digitally enhanced or if it was just printed straight from the shot. This series of photos kind of urks me because of its harsh content, yet when I saw it in person, I really enjoyed it and it was worth my visit.

The Getty Center: Huang Yan

This is Chinese Landscape Tattoo by Huang Yan, 1999.

This one was also a favorite of mine. The photo was huge. The tattoo on the body looks like real snow. When you see these two photos in person, they are larger than life sized bodies. I think this was also one of my favorites because the color and textures really pop out and come alive. The tattoo looks like there is a crusty layer of paint on this guys body. The size is dominating and almost a bit overwhelming. When you walk up and look at it, you feel a sense of tranquility and calmness from the art of the landscape. The body art is amazing, I could look at for hours. The over powering size and sharpness of detail from this enlarged photo left me in aw.

The Getty Center: Felice Beato

My favorite piece from the Getty Center Museum was from Felice Beato, it was Panorama of Lucknow, 1858. This was the first one on the wall when you walk into the photography exhibition, on the left hand side. I couldn't find it on the internet, however I thought this panorama shot was stunning. First of all, it really makes you appreciate photoshop and modern day technology. The image had no color and was very rustic and old looking, as it is 152 years old. You are actually able to see where the paper is knitted together to create the panorama. It looks like the sheets were actually folded over each other to stay together and the preciseness of it, considering the limited to nothing of technology at the time, is stunning. The image is beautiful, you can see the lines of all the buildings in this one. Felice Beato, the British photographer, traveled many places throughout eastern Europe, Japan, and India, in which he was able to document monuments, people, and even several wars. I felt as if I was traveling through different eras and countries. His photography also widened my architectural appreciation because there were many photos and panoramas of different buildings. It looked like it took him a long period of time to take these, so you are able to see some parts of it where it is blurred out or the person may appear in several places, which also gives me the perception of time travel.

Student Art Gallery

There were many pieces in this art show I had to think about. The art show had everything from photography, paintings, ceramics, and wire sculpture. It was interesting to see the project that my peers were creating. All the pieces were very different from one another, yet I did seem to find some similarities between them. I feel like they were a reflection of the students inner feelings, maybe they shared the common trait of some sort of growth or reflection of themselves. Most of them had an animal or a person as the subject.

My favorite pieces happened to be the photos. The first one was a gory looking man with whited out eyes. He was bloody and his skinned looked burned. A disturbing as this sounds, it actually was that bad to look at. Maybe the whited out eyes lightened up the image and made it softer, giving it some sort of appeal. Half of his face was blurred out, which also made it easier to look at. His face was also covered in what appeared to be gauze. I think that this monster man was my favorite because the artist made the visual graphics look amazing. For being such a gory image, it looked like it could be in a movie or a villain in a new aged comic.

The other photo I enjoyed was window mounted in a nice black frame, which made it look more professionally finished than the others. The photo was of the back of a teddy bear and in the background was a young woman's legs with high heals and a tattoo. I really thought this photo was cute. The lighting shot and taken with this photo was what made it awesome. There was hard light and it casted a vivid shadow of two legs and the stuffed animal.

The next one I enjoyed was a painting of an elephant with wings with bright colors flying from the background. To me, the elephant represented wisdom and respect. The wings and bright colors represented freedom and the ability to be creative. I absolutely loved this painting.

There was one I feel that maybe there wasn't enough effort put into it. It was titled "self portrait." This one was a sculpture. It was of a smashed phone and the sculpture coming out of it reminded me of a pez dispenser. The was a tree trunk like stem with a head on top, attached to the head was a little monster head, maybe like this guy had a split personality or a little devil side to himself trying to eat away at him. It was the symbolic gesture that didn't win me over with this piece, I just felt like maybe the craftsmanship could have been done in a neater fashion.

Any who, this little lunch time art gallery was fun to see and I'm glad that I was able to walk through!!!!

Color correction/ with blue instead of bronze
Before color correction
Color correction phase 1 using input/output w/alpha channels & curves

Surreal WIP

Surreal WIP

Hhhmmm..... Not sure what yet is too become of this photo.. but it will end up as a surreal piece, I would like to in some way manipulate the statues.

Richard Roberts: Surrealism

I think I may also decide to do a surreal landscape. These can appear like real photos yet they portray a depth and paint like contour. It is almost science fiction, but if Im able to pull it off correctly I might be able to create a really fun masterpiece :)
Here are some more by the same artist:

David Delin: Surrealism

More surreal photos that catch my interest

Jerry Uelsmann: Surrealism

I really enjoy the work of this artist because of the sense of surreality it leaves me with. I like how he only uses black and white to provoke the viewer's emotion. When I look at other artists surreal photos, I do not get very excited, however this artist motivates me. These photos are realistic, but they are not completely pretend, they weave together well which is soft on the eye, and it makes them believable.

Panarama

Digital Darkroom

This photo I played with color. The background was blurred out. The color was saturated then lightened. I fixed a lot of the blemishes on the statue. I tried to get the light in the color statue to mix with the black and white tones in the background.

Digital Darkroom

This photo I decided to make more of a surreal effect on it. I wanted to bring out the color of the sign by making the rest of the photo dull. I played with the exposure of the leaves to give it an interesting look. Antique, maybe beach retro is what I was going for.

Digital Darkroom

This was originally shot in black and white. I corrected all of its flaws on the petals and then had fun with the rest. I tried to highlight the details of the petals instead of blurring or softening them to create a texture made by contrast.

Digital Darkroom

I decided to choose this rose because I wanted to intensify to pink color. I also wanted to make to contrast of the shadow darker. Ultimately I tried to add a texture to the rose and try to preserve its soft appeal.

This one

This is better

Album Cover Work in Progress

What do you all think??? I'm not sure if I should add anything or just keep it sweet and simple? I'm open for any critique-ing and/or constructive criticism... what ever will help this album cover!!! thanks!!! :)