Peter Despres' Photography: 2017

Monday, December 11, 2017

Monday, December 4, 2017

Peter Despres

Book Format: Given the subject of Autism, I have decided that my book will be less of a book and more of a presentation. Since Autism leads to a person often being isolated and incapable of human interaction and contact, I figured that I could circumvent this by taping each photo directly onto my body. This would mean that people would actually have to interact with me, get close to me, observe me, converse with me, etc. It would be unusual and awkward, but this, too, is reflective of an Autistic person attempting to interact and read another human being. It is also indicative of the realistic and revealing nature of this personal work. Photos will be printed in typical print form, possibly framed and attached to my body or clothes. Clothing will likely be minimal (not nude) so as not to distract from the art. I will position myself in the middle of the classroom (or preferably the studio with dramatic lighting) and remain still for the duration of the exhibit.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Class 11 Prints and 2 Final Ideas

Peter Despres

Idea 1: Photos arranged in such a way that they appear as if falling like rain, perhaps rolled up into wads to appears closer to tears. Could be strung up from the ceiling and walked through (ideal) or hung on a wall in a diagonal falling motion from right to left (tension) Subject will be pain, any kind (emotional, physical, mental, etc.)
EX:

Idea 2: Photos trapped inside garbage bags and must be torn open and removed from bags. These bags will be piled on top of one another, perhaps filled with bottles and cans and cardboard as well as photos, the viewer must willingly search through the rubbish to find the art, just as I as a photographer must do. Subject will be garbage, back by popular demand.
EX:

20 Prints:
Camera: Nikon DSLR

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 3.6; Shutter Speed: 1/5 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.8; Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 3.8; Shutter Speed: 1/15 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.5; Shutter Speed: 1/6 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 3.3; Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.5; Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 5; Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 5; Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 7.1; Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4; Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.5; Shutter Speed: 1/5 sec; ISO: 200

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 5; Shutter Speed: 1/8 sec; ISO: 200

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 5; Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec; ISO: 200

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 3.3; Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 7.6; Shutter Speed: 1/13 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.2; Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec; ISO: 200

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.5; Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.5; Shutter Speed: 1/3 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.8; Shutter Speed: 1/5 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 4.5; Shutter Speed: 1/4 sec; ISO: 100

Exposure bias: 0

F-Stop: 5; Shutter Speed: 1/4 sec; ISO: 100

Monday, November 6, 2017

Potrait, Two Ways Assignment

Peter Despres
6 November 2017
Camera: Nikon DSLR

Keely Fickau

Okay, I asked Keely to gather clothes and props and use the space however she felt would best convey who she was as a person, and this is what I got. I can't really explain it, but I'll give it a try. Keely really likes to drink (safely), hence the bottle of rose she's cradling like baby. She is very open and confident in herself and her appearance, hence the setting and robe/underwear combo, but she doesn't let just anyone into her life, hence the half open curtain and snarky expression she's making. The lighting is natural, ceiling light (above, slightly to the side) and light from the following room (Front) to convey Keely in her natural habitat.

Exposure Bias: 0

F-Stop: f/4.2; Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec.; ISO: 3200

Psycho-Ficho

So Keely really loves to smile like a crazy person, so for the contrast of her natural persona, we decided to go all out with it. We moved from the bathroom to the bedroom, placed her standing atop a chair, killed the lights, and when she finished messing up her hair and changing, we were good to go. Her nickname for this side of her is Psycho-Ficho. For lighting, we used a hard lamp below her head for the spoooooky effect, and lit her softly from the front with a small flashlight to create the ominous shadow behind her.

Exposure Bias: 0

F-Stop: f/4.8; Shutter Speed: 1/25 sec.; ISO: 3200

Monday, October 30, 2017

Reading Assessment 3

Peter Despres
30 October 2017

Barrett Chapter 5

This chapter starts off quite interesting. We've moved on from simply categorizing photographs to deciphering the meaning of photographs in different contexts. I'm certainly a fan of deciphering meaning in art, and context is always a helpful tool in doing so. What was interesting, though, was the contexts themselves. Barret describes several photographs and their meaning under three different contexts: internal, original, and external.

Internal context is defined as what is in the photograph and what meaning can be deciphered from it. Barrett discusses a photo of a wagon and a body covered in clothe laying in the street. It is clear a child was killed in an accident. Original context is the context of the photographer's life and what situation the photograph was taken in. I was really struck by Barrett's description of a photograph of napalm attack on children. It was horrifying without even seeing it. Finally, there's external conflict, which is the context the photograph is presented in, i.e. a gallery, a newspaper, a billboard, etc.

All of these contexts are then applied to Barbara Kruger's "Untitled (Surveillance)". The photo and its meanings are discussed through extensive description of the photograph itself as well as the photographer who created it and the situations its been presented in. All of this gives the photograph a much deeper appeal and fleshes out the multiple interpretations one could have for the photograph. This was probably my favorite part of the reading.