Lens Based Media - Day 1

At the start of this week we were introduced to Lens Based Media. In preparation of the first day we were asked to bring in a selection of photographs taken from our 'environment' - these images can be of anything from my hates and likes, to friends and family and even places that remind me of a particular memory. I took several photos and brought all of them with me to the class. Later on we had to select one of our photographs and draw from them onto an A1 piece of paper. We were given an hour to do this task. The photograph that I decided to draw from was of my twin sister in our bedroom. When I photographed the image I didn't intend to use it for the LBM class but I found it explained my environment very well. The photograph shows my sister singing (there were 10 pictures however I picked this one.) It depicts my home environment well.

 

 

After we all finished our drawings from our photographs we discussed if we anyone had purposely decided not to include something from the original photograph and why it was done. Furthermore we discussed composition and the way we had placed our images on the page and the impact from this. Above is the drawing that I created from my images - I used a blue biro so that I could define certain areas and use mark making to simplify the image (without the colour.) Once we had finished discussing our work we were then asked to use white paper to cover the work and leave what we felt was most important from the image - and to create a separate narrative away from the subject original form.

 

Surrounding are several of the photographs of the drawing 'cropped' into different compositions. I found this exercise very interesting because it meant I could explore the many ways that I could present my drawing. I preferred the drawing much more when certain areas were covered - it made the overall image more intriguing than a simple copy from the original photograph. These images project different atmospheres and narratives. I have also explored different angles which can distort the drawing and tilt the lines so that it makes it harder to look at (and know what it actually is.) My favourite 'crop' was the last image since this layout creates a gradual explosion of the drawing and leads our eyes up to the face of my sister (who is a mayor part of my environment and shared memories.)