HolzhauerK+-+Free+Choice

The artists that my free choice assignment will be influenced by are Jerry Uelsmann and Paul Caponigro. When I was first thinking of ideas for this assignment surreal photography never came to mind, but as soon as I researched Uelsmann's work I knew that that's what I wanted to do for this assignment. The mysteriousness and creativity of his work influenced me because it makes his photos seem more like a piece of art rather than jut a plain photograph of an ordinary object. I also really liked the nature aspect of Caponigro's work.

I will use Photoshop a lot for this assignment, especially when merging multiple photos into one. To do this I will need to use the eraser tool, magic wand, clone stamp, etc. I will also use the curves/levels tool to make my photos bright and clear. Lastly, I will make the final photo black and white to create a mysterious mood.

To create a complex composition I will definitely include a lot of leading lines. Since I want the photo to feel slightly awkward like something isn't quite right I may have a horizon that isn't level and my photos will be taken from interesting points of view.

The one principle of design that I want to focus on for this assignment is unity. Unity is the state of being unified or joined as a whole. When combining multiple photos together unity is essential to making the final image seem convincing. I will achieve this by shooting my photos in the same lighting and putting all of the photos into a similar black and white color scheme.

Like I mentioned before, the concept of my idea is to create an image that looks real but defies natural law and is mysterious to the viewer by combining multiple photos into one. Some ways that I can do this are by making an object look like something else, adding different textures to objects, rotating or flipping photos so that the viewer doesn't know whether the photo is upside down or sideways, making objects/people float, etc.

Sources: http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Surrealism-Art-History-101-Basics.htm http://enpundit.com/surreal-photography-by-philippe-ramette/ http://www.uelsmann.net http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/photographs/paul-caponigro-woods-series-redding-connecticut-1968-5544432-details.aspx