Discussion of the exam paper

Juxtaposition - artist research 

I have looked at the photographers that were given to me in the exam paper in more depth. 

Uta Barth 

Uta Barth is a contemporary photographer who lives and works in Los Angeles. She also used to be a professor in the Art Department of the University of California.  

Uta Barth's images are taken within her home and she uses the lights and patterns that the sun creates. She uses juxtaposition within her images by using the diptych technique and placing two images next to each other with subtle differences. I feel as though her images represent the amount of time that she spends in her home because the same images are beside each other but with different shadows and shapes created at different times of the day. Her photos almost show the juxtaposition within time. I like the way that she has experimented with different exposures because it makes each photo seem unique. She has used the sun to create shadows which, during her series, she has experimented in looking at harsher and gentler shadows.  

Frank Gohlke

Frank Gohlke looks at landscape images before and after destruction. The images use juxtaposition by contrasting what a place looked like before and after a natural disaster happened like an earthquake. I like the way that he photographs the exact same location in both images because this highlights the difference between the two. I feel as though Frank Gohlke's work could be telling a story of natural disasters that have happened. I believe he is trying to highlight the devastation that has been created. Each diptych photographs a different location within the town which I feel could be implying the vast amount of devastation that there is. He wants to show that the entire town has been ruined. 

Henri Cartier Bresson

In comparison to Uta Barth and Frank Gohlke, I feel as though Henri Cartier Bresson uses juxtaposition in a more subtle way. In the other photographers I have looked at they present their images in pairs to show the difference between the two but Bresson juxtaposes the compositional features of the image. For example the middle image above juxtaposes the bathed swimmers and the dressed walker which makes the image look as if it is two completely different photos. Henri Cartier Bresson uses the decisive moment to capture this compositional juxtaposition. The decisive moment is when 'visual and psychological elements of people in a real life scene spontaneously and briefly come together in perfect resonance to express the essence of that situation.' I like the idea idea that juxtaposition does not just have to be two images directly contrasting each other. I would lie to incorporate some of this subtle juxtaposition within my own work. 

Definitions in exam paper 

I have defined some key words within the topic that I have chosen to understand what the exam paper is asking me and to ensure that I fully understand the description of the juxtaposition section in the exam brief. 

Juxtaposition - the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

Contrast -  the state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association.

Visual elements - we recognise objects in our environment because our eye/brain system is able to see/analyse the edges, contrasts, light/shadow/dark, colours and perspectives we see on and between them.