“A woman is always accompanied, except when quite alone, and perhaps even then, by her own image of herself. While she is walking across a room or weeping at the death of her father, she cannot avoid envisioning herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she is taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does, because how she appears to others – and particularly how she appears to men – is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life.” (J.Berger,1972) John Burger shared ideology and sympathy for the burgeoning woman’s movement, he tested the elitism of arts programming, encouraged the audiences to unpick the meaning of paintings instead of just simply revere them. (E.Hope Allowed,2017) related to what Laura Mulvey’s topic of discussions was, the ways of people look at their subjects and how it effects the ‘gaze’ John Burger discusses how one look at women which resonates most strongly in current image obsessed societies. In this day and age the idea of male gaze my look well established. “The female nude in Western painting was there to feed an appetite of male sexual desire. She existed to be looked at, posed in such a way that her body was displayed to the eye of the viewer”(J.Berger,ND) The ideas that the author put forward were very simple, a female nude in a painting or photograph is there to be looked by males to feed a sexual appetite and desire. By photographers or painters crate a portrait that shows a woman naked for pleasure burgers states that: “You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting ‘Vanity,’ thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for you own pleasure.”(J.Berger,ND) Normally, the way female bodies were showed culturally as an object to be gazed at, had effect on woman on the way they became to look at themselves and a sight of vision. During different eras, people/artists had very different ideological ways of looking at art, who believed that the artist would influence how people will look at certain paintings/photographs and who states that a woman is there to be used and photographed just to please the man’s sexual pleasure. With his writings Burger Taught the audience that photographs always need language and require a narrative of some sort to make sense. He also took care to differentiate how people react to photographs of their loved ones. Berger’s work is infused with a sensitivity to how long views the narratives of history come alive only with the addition of “close-up” stories of human relationships, that retell the narrative but from a different angle. (Y.Gunaratnam,V.Bell,2017) References:
Allwood, Emma. "Why We Still Need John Berger’S Ways Of Seeing". Dazed. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 May. 2017. Berger, John. Ways Of Seeing. 1st ed. 1972. Print. "How John Berger Changed Our Way Of Seeing Art". The Conversation. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 May. 2017. "John Berger, Art Critic And Author Of Ways Of Seeing, Dies - BBC News". BBC News. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 May. 2017. Livingstone, Josephine. "Beyond John Berger’S Ways Of Seeing". New Republic. Web. 6 May. 2017.
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John Berger is a British novelist and screenwriter, mostly known for the book ‘Ways of seeing’. This book had declared war on traditional ways of how people think about art and had influenced a generation of artists and teachers. Berger was also a public intellectual who became a countercultural celebrity in 1970’s. John Berger’s intention was to upend what he saw as centuries of elitist critical tradition that evaluated artworks mostly formally, ignoring their social and political context, and the series came to be seen as an assault on the historian Kenneth Clark’s lofty “Civilisation,” the landmark 1969 BBC series about the glories of Western art.(R.Kennedy,2017) Throughout various subjects, Burger tunneled into the sexism groundworks and the tradition of the nude; the place of high art in an image-saturated modern world. The relationship between art and advertising and/or particular importance to him as a voice. Through his book, Berger had examined images to make larger cultural observations, like how the depiction of woman in art revealed that period’s attitude towards gender. (The week,2017) When an image is presented as a work of art, the way people look at it is affected by a whole series of assumptions about art. Assumptions concerning beauty, truth, genius, civilisation, form, status, task and more. Various of these assumptions no longer accord with the world as it is. ‘The world as it is’ is more than pure objective fact, it includes consciousness. They mystify rather than clarify. (J.Berger,1972) References:
Allwood, Emma. "Why We Still Need John Berger’S Ways Of Seeing". Dazed. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017. Berger, John. Ways Of Seeing. 1st ed. 1972. Print. "How John Berger Changed Our Way Of Seeing Art". The Conversation. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017 . "John Berger, Art Critic And Author Of Ways Of Seeing, Dies - BBC News". BBC News. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017. Livingstone, Josephine. "Beyond John Berger’S Ways Of Seeing". New Republic. Web. 29 Apr. 2017. When looking for information over the internet is it not just all about looking for something and the first source you will find is good. Are you sure that the information is good? There are sources which are trusted and those not. Internet and books are different, books not everybody is able to just write something and publish it, that written information will be verified by the publisher. However, the internet is a whole different story, there are sources that everybody can upload information, information that might be wrong, and this is where students should be careful when looking for information.
There are several aspects how to identify a good or bad source, firstly, grammar, look for spelling mistakes. If researchers notice a lot of grammar mistakes in a text it can only say that the text is not coming from a reliable person. If a source needs to be trusted, the information should be written at least in a well written language. Usually trusted websites are to be written in academic writing coming from scholarly sources. Scholarly sources are written and peer-reviewed by experts in that field. What one should look for in a text, the author, who wrote the information, publisher, the main purpose of the site, for which audience the site is intended? and What type of quality of information the website is delivering? If all this information is provided in a website these will be first indications of a trusted source. Sources that are fully trusted are those that cite their text, stating from where the written information was provided and from where the study was done. ReferencesAnon, (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.edb.utexas.edu/petrosino/Legacy_Cycle/mf_jm/Challenge%201/website%20reliable.pdf [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. Library.illinois.edu. (2017). Determine If a Source Is Scholarly. [online] Available at: http://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/scholarly.html [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. Uknowit.uwgb.edu. (2017). How can I tell if a website is credible?. [online] Available at: https://uknowit.uwgb.edu/page.php?id=30276 [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. In reference to the eras when men were dominating the film and photography industry, photographer Marianna Rothen tried to create an identity that bridges the images from the past and brings them into today’s context. ‘ I’ve been photographing women ever since I can remember; it has always been part of my work. I was surrounded by a lot of female energy as a model, and of course these characters that I create are different projections of myself. I look to female complexities, showing struggles, hopes and dreams.’ (M.Rothen, 2016). Another photographer, Zoe Buckman created a project that shows how societies are oversaturated with representations of women as an object and how they serve as a desire stimulus to the male eyes. ‘I believe this to be a massive problem contributing to rape culture, sexism and inequality. The art world abundantly perpetuates the male gaze and its consequent effect on shaping our view of women. The male gaze affects my work significantly as I find myself constantly countering it, [focusing on] what grows inside our bodies (placentas), to what goes on our bodies (lingerie), to what goes inside our bodies (gynecological instruments). Women are present everywhere in my studio, yet the body and face itself is distinctly absent. It’s my way of avoiding fetishizing or objectifying women. I don’t want to see women hanging on walls or on pedestals anymore.’ (Z.Buckman, 2016). The cinematic gaze is always produced as masculine both by means of the identification produced with the male hero and through the use of the camera. Mulvey identifies two manners in which Hollywood cinema produces pleasure, manners which arise from different mental mechanisms. Both mechanisms represent the mental desires of the male subject.
References : Banks, Grace. "6 Female Artists On What The Male Gaze Means To Them - Man Repeller". Man Repeller. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. christimothy12. "Laura Mulvey, The Male Gaze". Slideshare.net. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. Mulvey, Laura, Rachel Rose, and Mark Lewis. 'Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema' 1975. 1st ed. Print. Sampson, Rachael. "Film Theory 101 – Laura Mulvey: The Male Gaze Theory". Film Inquiry. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. ""Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema" - Laura Mulvey - Summary And Review (Part 1)". Culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com.mt. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist. Laura Mulvey is best known for her essay & thoughts, 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal screen. Her article, which was influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, is one of the first major essays that helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic framework. Prior to Mulvey, film theorists such as Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz used psychoanalytic ideas in their theoretical accounts of the cinema. Mulvey's contribution, however, inaugurated the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis and feminism. (R.Sampson,2015) Laura Mulvey also states that she intended to use Freud and Lacan’s Concepts as a political weapon. (Mulvey,1975 Vol.16) Throughout her work she employed some of their concepts to argue that the cinematic apparatus of classic Hollywood cinema inevitably put the spectator in a masculine subject position, with the figure of the woman on the screen as the object of desire and the ‘Male gaze’. The first form of pleasure relates to what Freud termed as scopophilia or the pleasure derived from subjecting someone to one's gaze. The second form of pleasure other which operates alongside the scopophilia is the identification with the represented character which is brought about by needs stemming from the Freudian Ego. In theory the male gaze suggests that it denies woman human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance. The theory also suggests that woman can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a man’s perspective. Laura Mulvey also states that the male gaze leads to Hegemonic ideologies within societies. Mulvey argues, for woman the result of media being presented from the perspective of man and through the male gaze, woman find themselves, at times taking of the male gaze. She also states that feminists recognise modernist avant-garde "as relevant to their own struggle to develop a radical approach to art.” (M. Jacobus, 1978). Woman then gaze at other woman in the same way as a man would, and thus end up objectifying other woman. Laura Mulvey states that the role of a female character in a narrative has two functions, the first being as an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to be viewed and the second to be as an erotic object for the spectators within the camera view. (Mulvey, 1975, vol. 16) References :
Banks, Grace. "6 Female Artists On What The Male Gaze Means To Them - Man Repeller". Man Repeller. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Apr. 2017. christimothy12. "Laura Mulvey, The Male Gaze". Slideshare.net. Web. 8 Apr. 2017. Mulvey, Laura, Rachel Rose, and Mark Lewis. 'Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema' 1975. 1st ed. Print. Sampson, Rachael. "Film Theory 101 – Laura Mulvey: The Male Gaze Theory". Film Inquiry. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2017. ""Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema" - Laura Mulvey - Summary And Review (Part 1)". Culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com.mt. Web. 8 Apr. 2017. Still life which goes back to the 16th century is about arraigning props together and give them a whole different look, it is all about depicting intimate objects which can be found for example in our homes. In still life paintings three very important aspects which one should be careful about are the colours, texture and composition. Subjects that are very popular to be used in such paintings are natural objects such as food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks and shells, also subjects that are man-made such as drinking glasses, books, vases, jewellery and coins. The mentioned objects often are chosen for a reason for example it might have a special meaning to the painter, being either personal, cultural, religious or philosophical. Andy Warhol's Campbell soup cans. No doubt you have seen this famous Pop Art image at some point during your lifetime. Take an ordinary soup can - it's just an everyday object that you wouldn't think twice about as you drop it into your shopping cart. But Warhol's treatment of the subject matter made the soup can colossal, larger than life, an image to be reckoned with! (T. McArdle, 2008). Analysing a painting In this image one can see four different objects, a toy duck, candy wrapped in a clear plastic, tootsle pop and a shine marble, the very common aspect about this painting is the predominating colours yellow and orange which gives the image a similar colour scheme. Function, what is the everyday use of these objects, well one thing which instantly come to mind is that all are childlike fun (candles give great pleasure and toys bring great joy).
References: Art is Fun. (2017). Still Life Paintings and Drawings Explained. [online] Available at: https://www.art-is-fun.com/still-life-paintings/ [Accessed 1 Apr 2017]. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2017). still-life painting. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/still-life-painting [Accessed 1 Apr 2017]. Us While working in the darkroom and working with chemicals: This year we were introduced to the dark room, a room which is used to develop images taken with a film camera. During these lessons we got a small idea of for example how to take an image with a pinhole camera, at the very end of the semester we were also able to use a film camera and then develop it. From this session we noticed how accurate one has to be when photographing in analogue system. One single mistake and the whole film roll is ruined. Disadvantages of film: Film can’t be backed up, is something happens to the roll of film while shooting that’s it your film il ruined which makes one unhappy photographer but mostly an unhappy client. Lab issues: When looking at very nice colors from a film photographer is the very good job done in the lab during the developing process (this is done by applying specific color profiles). If one cannot afford such lab you might not end up with a very good result, even if using the same camera and lens a professional photographer uses. ReferencesDigital Photography School. (2017). Film vs. Digital. [online] Available at: https://digital-photography-school.com/film-vs-digital/ [Accessed 25 Mar 2017].
In film grain is resulted with chemical particles that do not have a good amount of light. In digital noise is resulted from any unwanted signals that are created by the camera’s digital circuitry. Tested by magnetic recording Technology Expert. Digital Photography has evolved to the point at which it has by far less noise than the equivalent available film speed Link to study done about understanding image sharpness: http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF7A.html#Shannon Reference: Normankoren.com. (2017). Digital cameras vs. film, part 2. [online] Available at: http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF7A.html#Shannon [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017]. Film Speed (ISO): Available ISO speed in analogue film usually found are between 100 – 3200 (6400 still exists). The digital system can match the noise produced in these film speed ranges. Also digital sensitivity can be pushed many more stops higher, for example the Fujifilm’s X100T can go up to ISO 51200 and professional Nikon Cameras such as the D4 can go as high as 409,600. The difference in Dynamic Range: Most film has a dynamic range of 13 stops – Digital cameras the average is 14 stops, but for example one professional camera the Nikon D810 has a dynamic range of 15 stops. (regarding the sensor used, file compression digital is ultimately winning over the analogue film) Dynamic range is the difference between the lightest light and the darkest dark which can be seen in a photo. Once the camera exceeds its dynamic range the highlights will be burnt white (overexposed image) and the black will be black blobs. Study done by Roger N. Clark http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/digital.sensor.performance.summary/ Clarkvision.com. (2017). Clarkvision: Digital Camera Review and Sensor Performance Summary. [online] Available at: http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/digital.sensor.performance.summary/ [Accessed 18 Mar 2017]. The difference in printing cost: In film you will have to print all the images weather they are good or not, whilst in digital you can choose only those you need to develop. The advantages of Instant Preview: With digital photography, you can instantly look at the image and see if the image is good or not, if not you can retake the image. In film photography, you will have to wait until developing to check if the images are good. Easy to share / Save: With digital photography one can easily share the images such as websites, social media, by doing so the images are easily saved, by saving the images one can also store the images on cd, or external Hard disks. Link to the cost of buying an SD Card and film roll: https://www.amazon.de/SanDisk-Extreme-90-MB-Class-Speicherkarte/dp/B01469QEK0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492850874&sr=8-3&keywords=sandisk+extreme+pro+16gb https://www.amazon.de/Ilford-Schwarz-Negativ-Filme-36-Aufnahmen-5-St%C3%BCck/dp/B00486EFSK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1492851158&sr=8-5&keywords=film+35mm Resolution: Regarding to Roger N. Clark’s analysis 35mm film resolution fall between 4 and 16 million pixels. For example, Clark’s study noted that Fujifilm’s Provia 100 film produced a resolution around 7MP while Fujifilm’s Velvia 50 produced a resolution around 16MP. Considering that entry cameras such as Nikon’s D3330 produce around 24MP, 35mm film doesn’t have much of an advantage in this scenario (M. Archambault, 2015). According to research done by four industry experts found that medium format film is able to capture up too 400MP, however after a digital scan, resolution drops down between 50 to 80MP. In short, that 35mm film camera that you picked up from the flea market may not be able to outperform the latest digital cameras, but a medium format or large format unit can deliver and exceed the same resolution of Phase One’s latest $40,000 camera system. (M. Archambault, 2015). Comment I came across: ScottDonald Banan Tarr • 2 years ago But I think that also misses the objective fact that photography is shared and sold almost entirely digitally today. When is the last time you took a film photo, had it developed and then scanned it and then uploaded to a sharing site or sent to your friends or family? When is the last time a professional did a photo shoot or assignment, shot on film, then had them developed, then scanned, then processed with post production and then sent to the client? Now, you could say that amateurs shot on film and have developed for their own enjoyment, sure that happens, but it is probably less than 1% of how photography is enjoyed worldwide. There are three types of photographers, first, those that only shoot film and say that with a digital camera one can never produce the look, feel and colors of a film camera. Second, those that only shoot in digital, these people say that it’s not worth the hassle and expense, third, those who shoot in both mediums film and digital, in which for them both mediums have their strengths and weaknesses.
Using no film: When using a digital camera, you do not have to worry about buying many films, and being worried that you will run out films in a crucial moment. Memory cards are being used, which unlike film they are reusable, meaning that once a card is full all you have to do is transferring your images on your computer, format your card and you can use it again, a film once it’s full it’s not reusable. Although memory cards are reusable it’s still not a 100% safe so it’s always good to have extra just in case one will be faulty. Cost: Buying memory cards is cheaper then film, at first it might not show, but in the long run it will. An SD card of 16GB costs around 13Euro which will store around 240 RAW images which can be used repeatedly. Buying film of 35mm 5 rolls of 36 exposures (36 x 5 = 180 images) costs 35Euro which is already more expensive, imagine how many films you have to buy. |
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