photo class
 

I am working on some photography stuff. I had a series, based on myths, that I had to turn in for a final project. I got a great grade but the professor really phoned the year in. I got almost no feedback the entire semester except high grades and "Nice work!" It was weird since I am totally new to shooting and I am sure my techniques are rookie messes. I worked really hard on the final twenty series. I just felt like posting a section of the series. I assume that is what you do here if they form a group. If not someone set me straight.

I am not sensitive or emotionally bound anymore to any reception. I wanna continue taking photos along these lines and would be happy to hear how they fail or are weak. Really.

Brilliant!
 

Andrew,

These photos are wonderful. I want the whole book!

Sue

Andrew, thanks for posting these. Yes, this is what this forum is for, posting our own work and getting critique. The "Art Museum" forum is for other things, not for critique, not our own. This could be exhibits you have been to or artists you like and want to share.

Normally we do one at a time but, as this is a series, it can be one thing.

I would like to know more about this series. It's based on myths as you said, but I also see a theme of autumn running through it. Is that right?

I think you have a really good eye. Even being new at photography, that good eye jumps out. Echo is stunning.

Now for the nitty critty - Changeling could be a bit clearer in what that is lying beside the person. I can't recognize if it's wood or a corpse or what. Charon is not in focus. Out of focus areas can be used to good effect in photography but usually with a focal point that's clear, or maybe with varying degrees of blur - this looks accidental.

I would love if you would post the other images for us and tell us more.

Andrew,

Where is the photo called "Charon" located? Are the animals painted on the stone? (or is that a special effect?)

Sue

Hey Susan. Glad you like something here, The arch in Charon is just a small overpass here by my house in Millcreek. (South Portland, Maine) No real heavy effects, just weird blotches caught at a strange light moment.

Thanks for checking these out Sharon. Yeah... there were things I liked about that Charon so much that I let the focus slide a bit. I do struggle with that in general as I have a fierce astigmatism that has gotten worse of late so I can't always tell what is a bit off and what is just my eyes. Working on figuring it out.

There are a total of 17 images in the series but I imagine I will eventually redo many of them. I wouldn't wanna clog up the board with that many images but I can give anyone who cares a link to my flickr page.

Seriously? I definitely see some animal images there. Maybe some artists took a brush ....

Andrew - please keep posting. :D

Andrew —

I agree with Sharon. Do post some more.

Charon - I tried tweaking the image with Irfanview (a freeware image viewer). Namely, I sharpened the image a couple of times to simulate a better focus. It did seem to improve the effect of the picture. A greater sense of depth to the underpass/tunnel.

Like Susan, I thought it looked like animals in Charon, something like the Lescaux cave paintings But maybe not. I think the ambiguity increases the interest of the painting & subliminally suggests deep time.

Changeling - Clearly doctored. & interesting because of that. In looking at the figure on the right I'm reminded of the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Especially the scene where he has been torn apart & Dorothy & the others have to reassemble him.

Echo - effective without the title. More so with. She reminds me of The Green Man here. If you haven't done anything with that legend you might try something in a lush summer.

Good that the titles help to explain the relationship to myth & folklore. And necessary, I think.

On display (e.g. an exhibit) I think the photos need to be as big as possible without losing sharpness. Hamadryas needs all the space around the figure, but people have to be able to see some detail of the woman/tree.

Disclaimer: I'm a layman. Not an artist or photographer. Not a knowledgeable critic.

— Woody

Here is three more from this series trying to capture the sense of myth in familiar people and places around home. The kid really does use that scythe with his pop to cut grass.. It is not a prop.

Andrew —

The legends are more unfamiliar than the first set. So even with titles it's hard to appreciate theme.

Kore — somewhat out of focus. I would like it better, I think, without the twig across the boy's chest. Maybe have him framed in the V of the twigs (but off center to the right) or have him entirely to the right of the twigs but still roughly central to the picture?

Kalligeneia (that's the spelling I found on the web) - I like this one the best of the 3. Like Kore, I would like it better without the tendril through the figure's head. That is mildly but unpleasantly unsettling. Many viewers will have associations with Christ the Redeemer here and other similar Christian imagery

Anodos - My second choice of the three. I suspect it is deliberately out of focus. But I think it better in focus, especially the figure. But the silhouetted trees would benefit too, I think.

— Woody

Very competent Andrew, many post photos on facebook, which I think is great ( although if I see another photo of Rick Mullin's beard I may have to do something (ha ha).

Photo sites
 

Andrew,

I’ve been a member of a photography sharing community for a few years. It’s independent of Facebook, Instagram, Flickr. It’s run by its members. It’s big advantage is that is has really clear clean formatting. It’s not intimidating at all. Feedback is not wonderful, as on many photography sites, more stars and likes, you know the kind of thing. It might be worth you having a look at. Just google Ipernity and you’ll find it. I’m there under my own name, so easy to find.

Steve.

Really good, Andrew. I especially like the black and white images. I generally like landscapes with figures. The mood and image design are excellent.

I enjoyed the aesthetic of the first five images very much & I think as stand-alone images they work well, in different ways. However, looked at as a body of work there’s perhaps more space for formative critique.

In my reading of these, there’s a mixture of everyday/found and more ‘managed’ images. That might be something to consider if you’re trying to reference the everyday/found/off-the-cuff myth in our everyday.

So, for example, the image I think works the most effectively with form/concept/mode coming together would be ‘Charon’, which reads to me as both evocative of the everyday and referencing the ‘other/myth’ in this through aesthetic, colour & title. It’s a beautiful picture. In contrast, ‘changeling’ looks more posed.

I think maybe there’s more coherence you could bring to this a series, too. For example, the first image sets me up to expect some kind of narrative progression as it’s titled as a ‘prologue’. So I’m expecting a kind of cohesive dramatic unfolding that’s centred on Greek Myth, but this isn’t entirely delivered, as the concept moves to a more general western fairytale (in my reading) in ‘Changeling’. You might be trying to bring out the juxtaposition of contemporary/ancient but I don't wholly read this throughout. For example, in 'Hamadryas' the model isn’t wearing particularly contemporary clothes - she wears clothes that for me evoke more of a sense of 'generic fairytale' - so I don’t read emphasis being put on the mixture of classical/contemporary.

But, as stand-alones, for me, they all work well in their different ways. I hope that this is useful!