Research Log

Ansel Adams

http://www.anseladams.com

Ansel Adams is an American photographer who mainly took images of natural and scenic landscapes. Most of his photographs show depth or form. They are also all in black and white, this makes it easier to see the shadows. I like Ansel Adams' photographs as they show the simpleness of a scene. He does show formal elements in his work which is why i think his work would be good for my project. 

Robert Mapplethorpe

http://www.mapplethorpe.org

Robert Mapplethorpe is another American photographer, and his images are mostly in black and white swell. Mapplethorpe's photographs are mainly self portraits, male nudes, female nudes, portraits, or of flowers or statues. I like Mapplethorpe's work as it is controversial but this just makes it more interesting to look at. As his work is based mainly on people and objects the only formal element in his work is form. I think some of his images could be used for my project as they show form. 

Berenice Abbott

http://lumieregallery.net/wp/167/berenice-abbott/

Berenice Abbott is an American photographer who focused her images on New York and its architecture and urban design. Her images are also in black and white, and the formal element which is mainly found in her photographs are line and shape. This is because these two formal elements are in the majority of buildings. I like Abbott's work because i have always loved New York and everything about it. Although i like her images i do not think they would be suitable for my project as they do not clearly show any formal elements. 

Russell Bevan

http://images.russellbevanphotography.com/#!/index

Russel Bevan is a British photographer who travels the world and takes images of the cultures, countries  and experiences he has had. Most of his images are either of people or landscapes. The formal elements that can be found in his photographs are tone, reflection, colour, line, depth and form. I like his photographs as he captures how alive the different countries and cultures are. I feel that his work would be good to use in my project as his work shows several different elements.

Nicholas Samaras

http://www.underwater-photography.gr/#/photo-sets/

Nicholas Samaras is a Greek photographer who specialises in underwater photography, i like this because it makes his work different to other photographers who show the formal elements in normal ways. His work shows several formal elements such as line, colour, tone, reflection and shape. I think his work would be good to use in my project as he shows the formal elements in an exciting way. 

Mario Testino

http://www.mariotestino.com/

Mario Testino is a Peruvian fashion photographer who has worked with many celebrities, his work has appeared in Vogue and Vanity Fair. His photographs show the formal elements of tone, colour, shape and line. I like his work as he captures his models in a creative way. His work would be good for my project as he shows the formal elements not in objects but in people. 

Adam Pretty

http://www.adampretty.com/

Adam Pretty is an Australian sports photographer, he captures the formal elements such as from, blurring, shape and line. Theses are found through sport as there is constant movement in the scene. I like his images as there are different to other photographers as he uses sport to show the elements. I feel his work would be good to use in my project as it does show several elements.

Jerry Ghionis

http://www.jerryghionis.com/

Jerry Ghionis is another Australian photographer who specialises in wedding photography. He uses the elements of tone and occasional reflection and form. I like Ghionis' photographs as I just like wedding images as there is something beautiful about capturing someone's special day. I do not think that the work of Jerry Ghionis would be useful to my project as although it holds beauty there are not many examples of formal elements. 

Alex Noriega

http://www.alexnoriegaphotography.com/

Alex Noriega is an American landscape photographer. His work shows the formal elements of reflection, colour, shape, form, depth and line. I like his work as he captures several beautiful landscapes of various different locations. I think his photographs would be excellent to use in my project as his images show a wide variety of the formal elements. 

Rafael Rojas

http://rafaelrojasphoto.com/gallery.php

Rafael Rojas is a Costa Rican photographer who specialises in landscapes and animals. His photographs show line, shape, reflection, colour, form and depth. I like his images as he captures these scenes in a good way as they represent the different formal elements. I think his work could be used for my project as he uses a variety of focuses but still shows all of the formal elements.  

Adam Burton

http://www.adamburtonphotography.com/

Adam Burton is a Canadian photographer who takes pictures of landscapes and objects. He travels all over the world collecting his work as on his website you select the country of the images you want to see. The most used formal elements used in his work are reflection and pattern. I like his images as they are simplistic yet they show how beautiful nature is. I think his work could be used for my project as his work does show formal elements in a simple yet deep way.

Pete Turner

http://www.peteturner.com/

Pete Turner is a colour photographer who originates from America, his work captures colour in different and exciting ways. The formal element in his work is colour as all his photographs are in colour and some show the formal elements of line. I like his photographs as it captures the variety of colours which we are surrounded by in everyday life. I think his work is good but it wouldn't be very useful for my project as it only shows the formal element of colour when he could be capturing so many more.

Joel Meyerowitz

www.joelmeyerowitz.com

Joel Meyerowitz is a street photographer who has captured scenes of one of the most devastating moments in history, 9/11. His work captures the formal elements of line, tone and movement. I like his work as he has captured street scenes from the present day and days in the past. I think his work wouldn't  be that useful in my projects although he does capture some of the formal elements there is not enough of them 

present in his work. 

Jay Maisel

http://www.jaymaisel.com

Jay Maisel is an American photographer, his work captures the elements of tone, colour and reflection. I like the image of the wine glass as it has the view of a city going down from the waterline. I think his work is good but i don't think i would use it for my projects as when you first look at them it is not very clear as to what formal elements are present. 

Jerry Uelsmann

http://www.uelsmann.net

Jerry Uelsmann is an American Photographer who uses dark room photography in all of his images. He edits his pictures a lot but that helps create the reflection and tone of the images. I like his work as the pictures are very abstract however i do not feel that his work would be good for my project as the  formal elements are not clearly shown in his images as they are highly edited. 

Brian Duffy

http://www.duffyphotographer.com

Brian Duffy is a British photographer who takes fashion photography, there was a period in his life when he stopped shooting but he then started again a year before he did. His work shows the formal elements of colour, form, pattern and shape. I like his work as it is mainly portraits but he still shows the formal elements. 

Ross Hoddinott

http://www.rosshoddinott.co.uk/

Ross Hoddinott is a photographer who mainly focuses on nature and animals. He uses the formal elements of color, depth and shape. I like his work because it shows a range of formal elements yet still shows his unique style of shooting photographs of the nature around us. I think his work could be useful for my project as it is different as he includes animals in showing the formal elements.

Gisel Florez

http://giselflorez.com/

Gisel Florez is an American still life photographer and the majority of her work involves capturing objects the moment the explode. I find her style very intriguing as it is unique and captures action which we normally wouldn't see. Her work captures the formal element of movement perfectly along with the formal elements of color, line and shape.

Annie Leibovitz

annieleibovitz.tumblr.com

Annie Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer who's work has appeared in magazines such as vogue and vanity fair. She has taken many pictures of celebrities and as her work is portraits, the formal images found in her work are form and color. Although i like her work do not think it would be useful for my project.

The Wade Brothers

http://thewadebrothers.com/

The Wade Brothers are two photographers who are David Lindsey Wade and Lydon Wade, this team of two photographers capture the formal elements of colour, form, tone and form in exciting ways. Although there is something different about their photographs i do not think i will use their work in my project. 

Mindmap of Formal Elements

Discussion

Formal elements are important because it gives us something to look for and focus on finding when taking or analysing or evaluating a photograph. The seven elements line, colour, pattern, depth, texture, blurring and shape are all important to photographers because no matter how basic the photograph is, we will always find at least one or more elements include in the photograph. 

Line is formal element which is a geometric figure formed by a point moving along a fixed direction and the reverse direction which is surrounded by us in everyday life, everything we see is a combination of different lines together to create the objects we see, whether the are straight, curved, zigzag, wavy or just completely random, wherever we look we are sure to find some sort of line. Examples of objects that show lines are fences, buildings, stairs, leaves and plants, these are a mixture of man made and natural objects. 

The next element colour is the way the eye interprets the light reflected off an object, colour is also all around us in everyday life as without colour in our lives we would be living in  very boring and dull environment. Every single object is coloured whether it's black, white, bright orange or dark red. Examples of things that are coloured is animals, nail varnishes, clothing, pencils and toys.

The third element is pattern which is a repeated decorative design. Patterns are unique and everyone interprets them in a different way which makes the way we view everyday objects as interesting. Patterns are all around us and they are all so different, if we took the time to look closely or even just look around us we would see patterns as they tend to be quite eye catching as they aren't plain and boring. Examples of patterns are bricks, buildings, clothing, leaves and nature. Patterns can be man made or natural. 

The forth element is depth which is the distance to the front and back of something. Depth is a very simple element and is fairly easy to capture with the right scene. Depth is when a 3 dimensional scene is presented in a 2 dimensional form, so this means that it needs the right shadowing to give the image the depth it needs to create the complex effect of depth. Depth is found where there is a distance behind the object in the front for example walls, fences, railway tracks.

Texture is the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance. Texture is in our everyday life as every single thing we touch has its own texture specific to that object. It can be rough, smooth, harsh , soft even rubbery. Examples of texture are clothing, walls, grass, electronics and food. 

Blurring is where something is made or becomes unclear or less distinct. Blurring is an important element as it captures the movement of the world around us for example a roundabout being spun extremely quickly or the motion of a fan going round would all show blurring if they were to be photographed. Blurring cannot be seen by the human eye as it happens to quickly but it can be captured with a camera. 

The last formal element is shape. Shape is the external form, contours or outline of something or someone. Shape is in our everyday lives as everything is made up of shapes and we are taught in our childhood how to differentiate the different basic shapes. Shapes can be basic or complex, lines make up shapes and shapes make up patterns which link the formal elements. Examples of shapes are buildings, flowers, road signs, electronics and fridge magnets.

Overall all of these seven formal elements are important in everyday life and in photography, as one or more of each element can be found in every single photograph taken. 

Print Techniques

Duotone - 

Repetition -

Curves - 

Black and White - 

Selective Colour - 






Soft Focus -