The End.

As much as this is not a requirement, I felt compelled to pull away from studying and write this. It’s simply a post for closure and to let everything come full circle.

This module has been a whirlwind of adventure and I am really thankful to have my friends with me in the module – Sin yee, Ying Qi, Yong Shen and Yeening. then again if they didn’t take it i probably wouldn’t have either. haha.

While i cant say i learnt alot, (photography IS something that takes a lifetime to learn), Im glad to at least know the basics of how to handle a DSLR now. I remember the time in Taiwan, not too long ago, when YQ gave me her camera to shoot of a place that she didn’t wanna go to and I was absolutely clueless what to do!

And moreover, since now there is a DSLR in the house, this adventure will definitely continue.

It’s true, i realised, what i said in my first part of Assignment One. Essentially Sin Yee’s DSLR belongs to her, and there wasn’t much of an attachment. After my dad got his 60D (though its his, it probably also means its mine ;P), I felt quite a fire stirring inside me to bring it out to shoot. And especially since I’ve a little knowledge or two on how to handle a DSLR now, the fire is even stronger.

I was lucky to have it to shoot my final project. Not because its better or what, just that it had a chance to go through nm3223 with me. I remember in my very first post, even before the first assignment, that my dad was talking about getting a DSLR already. Finally, it’s here before the module ends and i had a chance at it.

One of the most fun parts of making my final portfolio was actually learning how to make a wooden photo frame from scratch! yeps the frame in my portfolio is not an image, but made from scratch in PS. See tutorial here. here’s a sample of how it turned out in my portfolio:)

felt quite a sense of achievement when i got the final product. While the frame is not perfect, it is a starting point for me to learn. And making the frame is only half the tutorial. im gonna try the whole tutorial with a nice picture next time.

The second most fun part was waiting for the photos to be printed out. Scary things I’ve heard include screen not being calibrated and thus colours may differ a lot to photos not being sharp! When Sy, YQ and I submitted it for print we thought it was gonna take us 2 hours. But the uncle told us 20 mins and  i was stunned! my heart was pounding when the 20th minute mark arrived and we collected our photos. Some didn’t turn out as bad as i thought it would. THANK GOD.

The third most fun part was probably pasting the photos down onto the A3 backing, before the whole thing is put into the folder. To see all the components come together into one coherent and cohesive portfolio surely gives one a sense of achievement!

Lastly, the best part would probably be meeting my friends to go out to print our stuff together this reading week. We went out three times in three days to do printing. And in the midst we ate good food and chatted and laughed. Pretty stressful but also a pretty brilliant reading week. Hahaha. This module would truly have been different if not for everyone who played a part is helping me survive. You babes know who you are.

And now, it’s back to the books, which have been craving my attention for the entire reading week.

Sigh?

- Adious -

Appropriation Part 2

The following is my group’s responses to the class activity regarding Appropriation and its legal issues. My group mates are Ashton (Liang Shan), Melissa and Chee Hong.

Is there a difference between Appropriation and Plagiarism? If Yes, what is the difference?
Appropriation requires using part or the whole of the image/idea as the work, but it is enhanced with a person’s own interpretation or additional improvisation. However Plagiarism is just the usage of the authors without adding meaningful change to it.
In a sense, plagiarism is more of copying, while appropriation both copies and modifies the original work. Both of which is a violation of copyright rules. We also think that there is a very fine line between plagiarism and appropriation.

For example: Plagiarism is like using a photo in your webpage/essay etc and claiming that it is yours because you did not credit its source. In the meanwhile, appropriation requires that you visually enhance the photo into something different and turning someone else’s work into your own work.

Does the strategy of appropriation encourage or hinder your ‘creativity’?
We feel that original works can spark off inspiration of new ideas in which may not have been realized, if not for the original work. Sometimes, appropriation enhances the visuals and gives another perspective to an original work. For example adding a moustache to Mona Lisa or adding make up to her face.
In the midst of trying to express our ideas for appropriation, sometimes we are unable to find relevant images that we want, or they might be of lower resolution.
With that said however, if we were being forced into thinking of new ways to expressing our ideas that might have resulted in something more exciting than what is already available to the public.

Will you consider using the strategy of appropriation (if applicable) in your future work (beyond NUS)?
The strategy of appropriating different ideas will be feasible to get inspiration or spot current trends in the field of work. For example, if we were asked to design a webpage, we may want to explore different well-designed websites to look at the different features they have. However appropriation of an original work will not be recommended as we would be representing professional companies in future and constantly scrutinized for copyright due to the commercial nature of our work.
E.g. We could be sued for copyright violation if we were working for an advertising company and our print ads made use of work from another source.
Due to the massive publicity of our work, the dangers of getting sued increases.
The strategy of appropriation encourages us to learn from others but we should be careful not to violate copyright issues.

SIPF excursion

Week 10′s lesson was pretty awesome cause we had an excursion out to 2902 gallery to view some exhibits submitted for the Singapore International Photography Festival. It’s been such a long time since we’ve gone on excursions! Everyone was kinda excited; no more getting stuck in a classroom for 3 hours!

I must say, while some of the exhibits in the gallery were too ‘deep’ for me to understand, others were really MEH. The photography skills seem to be that of an amateur’s and the concept didn’t come across as well.  I didn’t understand why they were chosen for festival.

Nonethless, there were a few works which got me thinking. These works include the following:

“Captive Landscapes” by Daniel Kukla

This piece got me thinking because we go to the zoo, wanting to see creatures existing in their habitats, but on hindsight, are we really seeing so? The habitat around the animals are artificially created to give a fake sense of the real environment, and it doesn’t come close to the real thing. Yet, as tourists, we accept that, often unknowingly. We even go to the extent of praising how realistic looking the environment is. The last picture above got me wondering if the owl knows of its surroundings. What if the owl wants to fly further into the ‘woods’ and ends up injuring itself when it hits the wall?!

The photographer simply photographs the environments, but his message comes across clearly and strongly. His title, Captive Landscapes, is somewhat of an oxymoron but yet fully describes his photographs and message.

Sometimes, using big words doesn’t necessarily mean the work is the best. There were many works whose description left me scratching my head. In the end, I became even more impaired in trying to understand the works.

“Sidewalk Easement” by Ang Song Nian

I chose this local work because it puts in perspective something that we take for granted, something we see as being normal. The claiming of a public space as one’s personal space is seen occurring everywhere in Sinagapore, and the terms “voyeuristic presentation of the individual” in the photographer’s description got my attention.

Indeed, we place several items in the public space (which is now ‘our’ private space?) and this invites strangers to judge the household based the items ‘displayed’. The last picture above shows a household placing statues of gods and deities outside, and one can guess the household is probably taoist and chinese.

“Fade Away” by Kris Vernaeke

This is another series of work that got my attention.

From the first picture to the last, the picture fades more and more, until the last where one can barely see a face anymore.

This was one of the works where I felt the the photographer effectively presented his works.

Unlike the first two works mentioned, these pictures did not have a white border, further enhancing the visual that it is a part of a tombstone.

The concept behind the work was also easily understood. I felt that the way the photographer conveyed the concept of the transient nature of life was interesting and different.

“In Case it rains in Heaven” by Kurt Tong

“reflection of the value of the living and the society”

A look at the pictures and one would see iPods, laptops, and McDonalds!

This was a rather amusing work to look at. I only took a glance at the works before reading the description, and when I found these were paper offerings my head whipped back to re-analyse the picture.

I must say, making paper offerings is really an art. If one doesn’t pay attention, the items would almost look real.

almost.

Which is why sometimes I wonder what gave people the idea that burning paper offerings will translate it to the real thing in afterlife.

Anyhow, I liked the presentation of this work because it is set against a black background.  Many chinese always say that these items are burnt so that the people “down there” will receive it. I’m guessing “down there” means hell. The darkness behind seems to convey that the item was being received in “down there”.

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Afterthoughts:

One thing struck me during this trip out.

1. The transformation of a space was apparent, especially when I compared the NAFA galleries to the 2902 gallery and The Gallery (both at OldSchool)

The Gallery

Both galleries at OldSchool were simply empty spaces with white washed walls. The floors were cracking, and if the artworks were not there, it would just be an empty space devoid of anything. But the artworks were there (still are), and their presence transformed the space, giving the space sort of a meaning.

In contrast, the NAFA galleries had parquet flooring, dim yellow lighting, and a security guard. There was an ambience. Without the artworks, the space would still carry an air; the ambience would still be there.

It is quite amazing how art can change the meaning of a space.

2. And photography of the artworks were not allowed at NAFA, while it was at OldSchool. Do photographers get to choose the venue for their works to be displayed? If there wasn’t a choice, would the works at OldSchool stand to ‘lose out’ because they would be photographed?

3. Although NAFA had a nicer ambience, I felt that the exhibition of the works were not as ideal. The descriptions of works were placed far away from the exhibits, in a way disjointing the work from its description. For example, the description of “Love Hotel” by Grace Kim was found several metres away from the work.  There does seem to be room for the description to be placed next to the work, but it wasn’t. So was it done on purpose?

Lighting

For this in-class assignment we had to explore various techniques of lighting an object. They include:

position of the lighting (Side lighting, bottom-up lighting, top lighting) and  colour cast.

Side lighting on the cup:

Blue cast from the computer:

Green cast:

Top lighting:

Back lighting:

Bottom up lighting:

We also played around with a reflector. We got a silver one.

For the above the light reflected onto Nannan’s face was too harsh.

For this case it is much better. It can be seen that the reflector really effectively removes the shadow on nannan’s face. But from the first photo of nannan, the reflector needs to be positioned correctly in order for the light to not be so harsh.

Appropriation (art)

So today’s lesson was on Appropriation Art. It’s interesting how there are two sides to how society views appropriation. Since the start of education we’ve always been taught not to plagarise or overstep copyrights but here I’m hearing about appropriation artworks that can fetch up to millions. Very intriguing.

Anyway for in-class assignments we had to interpret an everyday item and present our concept through appropriation. My group consisting of Sin Yee, Yong Shen, Nan Nan and myself got the item Bookshelf.

This is our art:

A Child Bookshelf

Essentially our understanding of bookshelf is that it provides a wealth of knowledge. However, with the negative influences available around us everyday, a child easily gets corrupted. We see here an innocent child’s head being pried open and we see his ‘bookshelf’, i.e. knowledge, which is that of popular culture, violence and sex. There is hand which shoves this knowledge into the child. The hand represents the everyday external influences.

Week 4 Critique Session

For this week’s critique session we had to review through the photos we took with regards to

1. Perspective
2. Close Up
3. Zoom Shot
4. Metaphor of a smile

We then had to choose the best photo of the categories within the group. The following are the chosen photos and why we think (collectively) that the photo is the best.

Yong Shen’s perspective shot.
Why we like it:
Symmetrical
Lighting gives it a mysterious feeling
A lot of leading lines to draw you in

Luo Lan’s Close up shot
Why we like it:
Focus is good. Picture is sharp
There is catch light (that sparkle in the eyes).
The shadow give a mysterious feeling to the photo.

My Zoom shot
Why they like it:
A lot of colours/layering
3D effect
Clear point of focus being the centre
Straight lines

Sin Yee’s Metaphor of a Smile shot
Why we like it:
Bright colours
Good composition of half a flower only
Light comes through the petals which makes it nice

Steps into uncertainty.

After two semesters of module blogging, Im back to doing it again. And this time, I have two blogs to keep. One for this module, and one for SC2215. I guess as a NM student, I can never escape this aspect. Hahaha.

I did have my doubts about doing this module. What with the sky high bid points needed to secure this mod and the fact that so many good photographers are taking it. This noob here is so gonna lose out lo. But oh well, since I so fated got it (my bid was the minimum bid), I decided to go on with it, and hopefully learn something out of it.

The first assignment is up, and we are required to take 5 photos following the themes of Form, Colour, Lines, Texture and Shape. And of no surprise, we gotta do it in the outdoor compounds of, you guessed it, NUS. Haix. Sure reminds me of 3208 all over again. LOL.

Much thanks to Sin Yee for lending me her 400D for this module. Girlfriend you rock! \m/

Yesterday when I went home after the first lesson, my dad said he wanted a Canon EOS 50D as his birthday present. Imagine my elation. Lol. I buy my dad a camera which I will use first for my module. Hahahahaha. But many of my photographer friends are telling us not to get the 50D, and to consider other options. I guess the final decision will lie with me dad, but whatever it is, my family will have a DSLR that I can lend to use. heehee.