AQA Photography Exam example
Please find below an example of how to present an exam question to a high standard.
The Question selected is Number 4 'Edges'.
The Question selected is Number 4 'Edges'.
My starting point: 'Edges
'I have selected the theme of 'Edges' as may starting point for the Externally Set Task. I have seen some of Laura Letinsky's photographs at The Photographers' Gallery and really enjoyed the way she composes her still-life images. I really like Jan Groover's studies of kitchen utensils and food items focusing on the way shapes interact with each other. I don't know the work of Joe Devine so I will enjoy finding out about his practice.I have been a fan of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy for quite a while. He is a very inventive photographer who pays close attention to forms and patterns and the play of light on various surfaces. I am keen on abstraction in photography and the recent work I have done for Unit 1 should help me continue to develop my skills and ideas for the 'Edges' theme. I have discussed some ideas with my teacher and feel confident about starting to research in detail. |
INITIAL PLAN:
1, Create a Pinterest board for my chosen theme with links to useful resources online 2, Create a mind map with some initial ideas 3, Check the school library to see what books are available to help me 4, Take some images inspired by one of these photographers |
Planning
Click the image below to view:
Click the image below to view:
Images (Set #1)
Evaluation
:I began by collecting together a selection of images I have taken recently that seemed to relate to the theme of 'Edges'. These were all taken on my iPhone which I carry around everywhere, enabling me to make these visual notes of interesting things I see. One of the reasons I was drawn to this particular theme is perhaps because I am already interested in cropping the subjects in my photographs and noticing shapes and patterns, especially the space where one object or surface meets another.
Having taken a good look at these images, I have spotted a few sub themes that I intend to pursue in subsequent sets of new images:
:I began by collecting together a selection of images I have taken recently that seemed to relate to the theme of 'Edges'. These were all taken on my iPhone which I carry around everywhere, enabling me to make these visual notes of interesting things I see. One of the reasons I was drawn to this particular theme is perhaps because I am already interested in cropping the subjects in my photographs and noticing shapes and patterns, especially the space where one object or surface meets another.
Having taken a good look at these images, I have spotted a few sub themes that I intend to pursue in subsequent sets of new images:
- Looking up, looking down
- Shadows
- Lines and angles
- Looking through fences
- Building surfaces
- Objects in the home
- Silhouettes of natural forms
- The edge of the street
Image Analysis: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Moholy-Nagy worked at a famous art school in Germany called The Bauhaus. This is a photograph of the student accommodation. The photographer has decided to stand on the ground close to the building, looking up at the windows and balconies that jut out into space. This unusual angle produces a very dramatic sense of perspective. On the top most balcony we can see the outline of a figure looking down at us. This provides a sense of the scale of the building and makes a connection with us, the viewer. We are placed in the position of the photographer and can imagine what it must have been like to admire this exciting piece of modern architecture. We can also perhaps imagine what it might have been like to look down from the top balcony at the life below.
Moholy-Nagy is obviously interested in the pattern of lines created by the architecture, the window frames and balcony rails. The building has been heavily cropped so that we only really see a small section of it. The photographer isn't really describing the building itself. He is more interested in it as an abstract form, almost like a sculpture. Most of the lines in the image are straight with the exception of the balcony rails and the figure which provide some curves. Moholy-Nagy was interested in sculpture and created several during his time at the Bauhaus. He was a very inventive person, always experimenting with new ways of doing things. This spirit of invention is contained in the photograph. It is an unusual and dramatic view.
Moholy-Nagy is obviously interested in the pattern of lines created by the architecture, the window frames and balcony rails. The building has been heavily cropped so that we only really see a small section of it. The photographer isn't really describing the building itself. He is more interested in it as an abstract form, almost like a sculpture. Most of the lines in the image are straight with the exception of the balcony rails and the figure which provide some curves. Moholy-Nagy was interested in sculpture and created several during his time at the Bauhaus. He was a very inventive person, always experimenting with new ways of doing things. This spirit of invention is contained in the photograph. It is an unusual and dramatic view.
Response:
Barbican Skyline
This photograph is my response to the Moholy-Nagy image above. I decided to visit a dramatic part of the city - The Barbican - which has several high rise buildings with balconies. I liked the pattern the buildings made against the sky. Because they are so tall, much taller than the Bauhaus, I preferred the view from further away. I also decided to include a spiky plant in the foreground. I liked the way that it resembled the spiky edges of the buildings but also provided a contrast between the organic and industrial. I cropped the buildings so that it's difficult to get a sense of their scale. The image was taken with an iPhone using the Hueless black and white camera app. I deliberately chose a contrasty look for the image so that the solid objects are almost silhouettes and the pattern of the clouds is much clearer.
Barbican Skyline
This photograph is my response to the Moholy-Nagy image above. I decided to visit a dramatic part of the city - The Barbican - which has several high rise buildings with balconies. I liked the pattern the buildings made against the sky. Because they are so tall, much taller than the Bauhaus, I preferred the view from further away. I also decided to include a spiky plant in the foreground. I liked the way that it resembled the spiky edges of the buildings but also provided a contrast between the organic and industrial. I cropped the buildings so that it's difficult to get a sense of their scale. The image was taken with an iPhone using the Hueless black and white camera app. I deliberately chose a contrasty look for the image so that the solid objects are almost silhouettes and the pattern of the clouds is much clearer.
Response: Southbank
I decided to stand much closer to these two structures, similar to Moholy-Nagy's position in relation to the Bauhaus balconies. In both pictures it's quite difficult to tell what is solid and what isn't. In the first image, I have cropped the building so that most of what can be seen is glass reflecting the sky. The building is almost transparent. In the second image we are looking almost directly up at a bridge silhouetted against the sky. There is very little solid material so the straight lines stretching up to a point create triangular sections of sky. The high contrast of bright highlights and deep shadows makes both images very dramatic.
Response: Tate Britain
Research: Harry Callahan at Tate Modern
I enjoyed visiting the new Harry Callahan exhibition at Tate Modern. There are four rooms of photographs, some in black and white, some in colour, featuring subjects ranging from cityscapes to nudes to landscapes and portraits. The pictures that interested me most were the views of urban life - city streets, shop fronts and buildings. I liked the way that the photographer chose unusual viewpoints - looking up at a sharp angle, for example - and sometimes double exposed images. Some pictures are very carefully composed whereas others seem to be the result of darkroom experiments. The colour photographs are really vivid, with greens and reds dominating. I was inspired by the exhibition to take a series of city pictures looking for different kinds of edges.
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Response: Walls Diptych
These images were taken about 3 weeks apart. They both depict sections of walls seen close-up. I like the way the strong shadows abstract the surface of the wall. There are other interruptions too - a strip of torn-off poster and a scaffold pole. The colours are complimentary: orange against blue; green and red. This makes them seem more vibrant. In both images there are strong verticals and horizontals contrasting with the more organic shapes of the shadows. I like the diptych format for displaying images since it encourages the viewer to make direct comparisons
Response: Wing mirrors
As a passenger in a car I noticed the strange contrast between the image in the wing mirror and the view beyond, often at least 90 degrees different. I got as close as I could to the car window and angled my iPhone in order to get a section of the image in the wing mirror and the view beyond. I like the fact that there are two frames and a picture within a picture in these images
Response: Borders
These pictures were all made within 5 minutes of my house. It was a sunny day and I noticed the shadows cast by different objects both man-made and natural. I framed the images in order to draw attention to the edges of the shapes and their shadows. I was also interested in the space between objects in the foreground and background.
Research: Laura Letinsky
I have been looking at the photographic still life images of Laura Letinsky. She photographs objects - food, cutlery, plates - usually on white surfaces, focusing on the edges between the objects and the edge of the surface on which they are displayed. She has recently made a series of collages of similar objects, playing with the placement of the images again on a white surface.
"I photograph the remains of meals and its refuse so as to investigate the relationships between ripeness and decay, delicacy and awkwardness, control and haphazardness, waste and plenitude, pleasure and sustenance." I have decided to make my own still life images influenced by Letinsky's work |
Response: Food Circles
Rather than Letinsky's straight edges I was interested in the round frame of the dish or bowl as a method for containing food items. These are my first attempts combining fresh fruit and the remnants of meals - apple cores and a chicken carcass. I am going to experiment with documenting the meals I eat by photographing the plate before and after the food has been eaten. I'm also going to continue to document the contents of the fruit bowl over a period of time.
Research: Jed Devine
Jed Devine's black and white photographs seem to be concerned with the shapes of things. He organises the compositions very carefully, stripping them back to the bare essentials to reveal the essence of the object . Objects are revealed through the subtle play of light across their surfaces and in the contrast between straight and curved. Textures are also important - the meeting of smooth and rough; the solid and the pierced.
His more recent work is more highly patterned and colour is used to create drama. He enjoys photographing objects against other photographs or illustrations, often drawn from the world of art. Some of these recent photographs seem almost overfull of information and yet the careful arrangement of forms makes them pleasing to the eye.
His more recent work is more highly patterned and colour is used to create drama. He enjoys photographing objects against other photographs or illustrations, often drawn from the world of art. Some of these recent photographs seem almost overfull of information and yet the careful arrangement of forms makes them pleasing to the eye.