Photography
Title: One Nation Under Capitalism
Size: 45 cm x 55 cm Medium: Photograph Date of Completion: 3/27/24 I’ve never really taken photos outside of the occasional photo of something I find interesting. This is my first time preparing for the perfect shot in order to create something of artistic value. Since my portfolio is focused on politics, I found my inspiration in the photos of Ai Weiwei. My photo displays a handheld American flag that I’ve had in my possession for years. Only I cut it up for the photo. I wanted it to appear of less value than the Walmart sign. I wanted to communicate how capitalism is the true face of America.
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Inspiration- Ai Weiwei
My inspiration for my photography piece came from the works of Ai Weiwei. Specifically, his two photos, Study of Perspective- Eiffel Tower and Study of Perspective- White House.
The reason I found inspiration in these two photos is because of how blunt they both are. Emotion and meaning is conveyed immediately upon first viewing. The intent of the photo is unmistakable and straightforward.
For my photograph, I wanted the meaning and intent behind it to immediately jump out to the audience like Weiwei’s photos. It's for this reason that I took my photo the way I did. The American flag covers the entire photo except for the walmart sign seen behind it. Since my audience can only view these two things, they will only think about them only. Therefore leading them to the political message I’m trying to convey. This political message is another reason I found inspiration in Weiwei’s photos.
The photo of the White House stuck out to me in particular because it is a photo of a building synonymous with the government I live under. What really stuck with me was just how directly blatant it was. A middle finger being stuck out facing the White House. It’s so simple, but to me it’s so powerful. Freedom of speech is something I value a lot. The U.S government preaches this value a lot, but does not always practice it when it is inconvenient. The freedom to take such an insulting photo reminds me of why my artwork is political in the first place. My country has given me a voice and I will continue to use it to call out the issues I see within it.
The offensive imagery in Weiwei’s photo is something I carried over to my own photo. Many Americans are extremely patriotic. So much so that disrespecting the American flag is of great offense to them. This is why I took my own handheld flag and cut it up. Not to say that I hate my country, but to convey the state in which my country is in.
The reason I found inspiration in these two photos is because of how blunt they both are. Emotion and meaning is conveyed immediately upon first viewing. The intent of the photo is unmistakable and straightforward.
For my photograph, I wanted the meaning and intent behind it to immediately jump out to the audience like Weiwei’s photos. It's for this reason that I took my photo the way I did. The American flag covers the entire photo except for the walmart sign seen behind it. Since my audience can only view these two things, they will only think about them only. Therefore leading them to the political message I’m trying to convey. This political message is another reason I found inspiration in Weiwei’s photos.
The photo of the White House stuck out to me in particular because it is a photo of a building synonymous with the government I live under. What really stuck with me was just how directly blatant it was. A middle finger being stuck out facing the White House. It’s so simple, but to me it’s so powerful. Freedom of speech is something I value a lot. The U.S government preaches this value a lot, but does not always practice it when it is inconvenient. The freedom to take such an insulting photo reminds me of why my artwork is political in the first place. My country has given me a voice and I will continue to use it to call out the issues I see within it.
The offensive imagery in Weiwei’s photo is something I carried over to my own photo. Many Americans are extremely patriotic. So much so that disrespecting the American flag is of great offense to them. This is why I took my own handheld flag and cut it up. Not to say that I hate my country, but to convey the state in which my country is in.
Planning-
Before I actually went to the site of my photo, I drew out possible locations in my community that I could take it. These drawings were also used to plan how I would pose the flag. However, they weren’t very useful for posing. I had to later go out and experiment with my flag to see which pose I would like more.
These were sites that I had considered to be in my photo. They were abandoned as site locations very quickly because I couldn’t think of a way to pose the flag in front of them.
The drawing on the left was the first sketch I made for what would become my final photo location. This site was my favorite because I had several ideas for how I could pose the flag. The second sketch was made to draw out the other idea that I had. Not too long after I had sketched these out, I actually went out to the sign to experiment with poses for the flag and to get a feel for the space.
These are some of the many photos that I had taken to experiment with the flag. I hadn’t cut up the flag at this point because I still wasn’t sure how I wanted it to look.
process-
Before I could take my photo I had to decide on how I wanted my flag to look. I knew that I wanted my flag to look tattered, but I didn’t want it to look unrecognizable nor did I want the damage to be miniscule. The damage had to be noticeable enough so that it would immediately stick out to the audience. To create the damage to the flag, I used a pair of scissors to cut up. I started out with small cuts to leave holes in the flag then moved on to creating the larger cuts that can be seen in my actual photo.
After I cut up the flag, I had to take my final photo. I just had to wait for the perfect conditions in order to take it. Luckily, a day had come with sunny conditions and wind. However, this particular day had very strong and random winds. This made it difficult to get the perfect shot I needed.
Though I needed the wind to get the shot I wanted, the inconsistency of the wind made it difficult to get what I wanted. While I waited for the wind to blow how I wanted it to, I decided to take photos from different perspectives just in case I discovered a better angle at the last minute. However, I didn’t find a new perspective that I liked so when the wind became perfect I went for the final shot that I wanted.
Even with the correct wind conditions, getting the shot was still difficult. The strong winds caused the flag to blow widely. To counteract this, I had to take many shots in order in hopes that I would capture the shot that I wanted. After a while of taking photos, I had gotten the shot that I wanted. The flag had aligned just as I wanted with the sign.
Even with the correct wind conditions, getting the shot was still difficult. The strong winds caused the flag to blow widely. To counteract this, I had to take many shots in order in hopes that I would capture the shot that I wanted. After a while of taking photos, I had gotten the shot that I wanted. The flag had aligned just as I wanted with the sign.
Experimentation-
Before I had gone to take my final photo, I had traveled to the site I had chosen with my flag in order to get a feel for it. Not only that, but I wanted to play around with the different perspectives I could get with my flag as well as poses. The planning drawings of the site I had made were not sufficient for planning out how I wanted to take the photo.
This experiment session was really my first experience in “professional” or artistic photography. I didn’t have any experience with posing an object for a photo. Specifically, for a photo that is itself meant to be art.
This experiment session was really my first experience in “professional” or artistic photography. I didn’t have any experience with posing an object for a photo. Specifically, for a photo that is itself meant to be art.
At this point I really didn’t know how I wanted my flag to be posed. During this time, I really wanted my flag to look much smaller than the sign. This was because I wanted the size of the flag to convey to the audience how much less value the flag had compared to the much more giant sign. However, this changed during my experimentation with the perspectives that I played around with at the site. During this session, I became much more interested in using perspective to make the flag appear much bigger than it actually was.
The reason for the change was because of what surrounded the flag. Surrounding the flag was a street, parking lot, smaller stores, rocks, dead plants and a giant walmart. Stuff like the parking lot and street would've made for a bland background that clashed with the colors of the sign and flag. I didn’t want gray to make up a lot of my photo so I decided I wouldn’t include the surroundings of the sign. Another thing was the Walmart. The Walmart stood as bland as any Walmart does. I didn’t want the audience to become distracted by it if it could be seen in the background.
The reason for the change was because of what surrounded the flag. Surrounding the flag was a street, parking lot, smaller stores, rocks, dead plants and a giant walmart. Stuff like the parking lot and street would've made for a bland background that clashed with the colors of the sign and flag. I didn’t want gray to make up a lot of my photo so I decided I wouldn’t include the surroundings of the sign. Another thing was the Walmart. The Walmart stood as bland as any Walmart does. I didn’t want the audience to become distracted by it if it could be seen in the background.
Critique-
Comparing
The biggest similarity between my photo and Weiwei’s is the use of proportion and emphasis.
In our photos, a small object is placed directly in front of the camera. This is done to influence the audience’s perspective of what they are looking at. Both of Weiwei’s photos place a hand in front of the camera which makes the hand look big. The same is done with my flag in my photo.
In our photos, the audience is meant to pay attention to something besides the small object. In Weiwei’s photos, this is the Eiffel Tower and the White House. They stand mostly centered in the photo. In my photo, emphasis is placed on the Walmart sign behind the flag.
In our photos, a small object is placed directly in front of the camera. This is done to influence the audience’s perspective of what they are looking at. Both of Weiwei’s photos place a hand in front of the camera which makes the hand look big. The same is done with my flag in my photo.
In our photos, the audience is meant to pay attention to something besides the small object. In Weiwei’s photos, this is the Eiffel Tower and the White House. They stand mostly centered in the photo. In my photo, emphasis is placed on the Walmart sign behind the flag.
Contrasting
My photo and Weiwei's share pretty stark differences. Among them is my use of color and space.
My photo leaves no unused space. It is all being used by the subjects of the photo. This use of space helps put the emphasis on what I want the audience to focus on. Weiwei’s photos leave a lot of space unused by the subjects of his photos.
Weiwei’s photos are monochromatic whereas mine is in color. I took advantage of the colors of the American flag and the Walmart sign. The blue area of the flag is used to transition into the blue of the Walmart sign. This helps the audience move their eyes toward the much more vibrant sign and focus on it.
My photo leaves no unused space. It is all being used by the subjects of the photo. This use of space helps put the emphasis on what I want the audience to focus on. Weiwei’s photos leave a lot of space unused by the subjects of his photos.
Weiwei’s photos are monochromatic whereas mine is in color. I took advantage of the colors of the American flag and the Walmart sign. The blue area of the flag is used to transition into the blue of the Walmart sign. This helps the audience move their eyes toward the much more vibrant sign and focus on it.
Reflection-
For my first venture into photography I feel like I did just fine. Though that’s all I really feel about this piece. When I look at it I still feel like I could’ve done more. Yet I’m still not sure. That is largely the biggest problem I had during my time with this piece. I always felt like there was something missing to the piece yet I could never figure what exactly it was. I do feel like I was able to get my message about capitalism across so I believe I was successful when it came to that, but I still feel like I failed somewhere. I feel as if I got the perfect shot, but at the same time it’s not. Overall, my main hope for this piece is that its meaning is communicated to the audience upon viewing it.
Check list
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- The use of imagery meant to offend is used in my work as well as Weiwei's.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- My source attempts to document information about artists.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Political artists come from a political background.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- The background of the artist.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- Weiwei's art is entirely motivated by politics.
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
- The use of imagery meant to offend is used in my work as well as Weiwei's.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- My source attempts to document information about artists.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- Political artists come from a political background.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
- The background of the artist.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
- Weiwei's art is entirely motivated by politics.
Bibliography
“Ai Weiwei | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/artists/34722.