This photography project is about having fun

with ideas

and photography

There are lots of things you can do….

Making pictures is more fun when you work with ideas

Here are a few ideas and some work by other people that might inspire you.

You could take pictures of yourself

And there are lots of different ways to do that

Self-portraits by Lee Friedlander

There are all sorts of places to look for reflections.

If you like the look of any of the pictures by the various artists why not look them up on the internet and find out some more about them.

Doing this can also help you with your own ideas

These are Self-portraits by Lee FriedlanderHis reflections in shop windows.

Have you got some favorite shops?

Or shops you visit a lot?

Might you like to put yourself in a set of shop windows just by photographing your reflection?

You can try just taking pictures of yourself

Perhaps look for different backgrounds, I just turned around on my chair and showed bits of the room I was working in.

You could choose any kind of different backgrounds, out and about for instance, to make a narrative about any aspect of your self.

The light could have been nicer though – like good daylight!

Or get someone to take pictures of you

Which you may want to put together

You could add some writing if you want to

Either before you take the photos Or after

Jo Spence, Love on a Plate

Jo Spence: Beyond

the Perfect Image

SPENCE, Jo & MARTIN, Rosy, How Do I Begin to Take Responsibility for My Body ?

From Wendy EwaldWendy Ewald, conceptual artist, describes how photography helps refugee children take possession

of their temporary homes and dream about the future.

You can write things to go with your pictures, or take pictures to go with your writing!

Signs that say what you want them to say and not signs that say what someone else wants you to say 1992-3. Gillian Wearing

It can be good to

look at details

Or cut pictures up and then put them together

You may want to photograph what is around you

But try to think of something interesting to tie the photographs together

The above picture could be made up of what is in your pockets or your bag, or your favorite sweet wrappers

• A Walk down one side of Manor Rd, Bristol, in Early March, 2010

you can photograph groups of things this is the greenery in 12 peoples gardens on one side of one short street!

From my back door to the street

Under my feet

You could make up titles

Deborah Weinreb

You could take a picture and make up a short story about it

Carol Laidler

Try photographing things through a magnifying class, or a pair of glasses

You can make your own still life pictures

Do you like washing up? The light is nice in this picture, remember to look out for nice light!

Have you got a dressing table? Look this picture has writing added.You ARE important, it’s true

This artist likes to create everything for his pictures

You could photograph things and write about what they mean to you

Photo album about my hobbies, gardening and making dolls houseswith little stories and information written to go with the pictures

Lloyd photographed his favorite things and then made a photo album with bits of writing to tell stories about the pictures

Connie had some fun thinking of sayings to go with her

pictures

You may need to Plan out the pictures you need

For instance if you wanted to make an image up of pictures of your own eyes, nose and mouth, you would need to have this idea in mind when you took the first pictures, of your eyes etc . When you take pictures like this you should try lots of different things, changing the angle of the camera, different light, different backgrounds etc, this will give you lots of images to play with; also see the tips below

take pictures close up ( use the tulip setting on the camera)use the camera both ways round, portrait and landscapeNotice the light, and perhaps change it by moving your objects elsewhere, like next to a window

This one was made by taking photographs and then tearing them up and arranging them, then re photographing it. They are just put on the floor with some natural light! The words were added later.

David Hockney

If you wanted to make something like these; look closely at these examples and try to work out how David Hockney took the pictures, what are the single images you would need to take? Where has he stood with the camera and which different angles did he take the shots from?

David Hockney – his mother

Mari Mahr works with ideas related to her history and her dreams.If you like her work you could find out more about her on the internet.

Matthew Partridge’s uses scraps from vintage newspapers, magazines and other publications to create clever and colorful collages.

You can use series of pictures and put them together to show stories or time passing.

This is Duane Michaels he is famous for doing images in series, they are often very witty, like this one.

© from Duane Michals

Suzy Lake made this series of pictures, she is painting her face white but all together the pictures make a pattern too.

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This series of images was very quick and simple to make, could you use this idea and change it to make it your own?

Duane Michals, Alices Mirror, 1974

These are some interesting pictures that would not be too hard to make; just remember to find some nice light ( these are just with light from the window) and also notice, and think about, what is visible in the background.

You could make patterns out of things around you

Remember when you photograph it to try taking pictures from different angels; bend your knees, stand on your toes, go in close, step out to take pictures from further away, walk around to get another completely different view

Andy Goldsworthy is famous for making all sorts of work like this

Foxgloves threaded onto stalks laid on bracken, Scaur Glen, Dumfriesshire, 1997

Lying down on dry earth while rain begins

A Line Made By Walking Richard Long

Richard Long also makes work that relates to the land and to his own interaction with it. Here he has just made a mark in the grass by walking up and down. He has also made work by taking pictures on a long walk. You could tell a story about a walk by taking pictures to show that walk. Richard Long also makes pictures with things like mud, see the next slide

Richard Long also makes pictures with things like mud! But often the only thing that remains is the photograph of the picture.

These are by Jeff Pigott, they were all made on the beach. You can see that the bottom two must have taken longer to achieve than the one that is photographing the different surfaces.

What might you want to do? Would you like to make something in a landscape like some of the artists we have just looked?

You could photograph aspects of your daily life

Photograph something that interests you every day

Work out ways to make photographs that represent your dreams and fantasies

Here are a few things you could use for Ideas

What is your favorite….?Foods, walks, people, subjects

You could make a single picture to put on the walla straight forward single photograph that says something about you, or your life. You can add text if you like.

You could make a montage.

You could make a book of pictures, maybe a photo album?

Or you can come up with another idea altogether

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