Assignment: Surrealism (images galore)

[CrackedButter]

I had been given an assignment from a UK university before I was given an interview. Now that I have completed it and the interview. I want to show anybody interested in my imagery.

The assignment was to depict my home town in a personal way with 10 images. They couldn't be digital or in colour. My take on Blackpool would be a surrealist view rather than the traditional approach to the town.

They were shot with a Pentax camera (K1000) and with 400 iso film.
They are all 8 by 10 prints.

http://homepage.mac.com/crackedbutter/PhotoAlbum47.html

 

[JDar]

Surreal and personal--I think you've done it up well! Those are very intriguing images. Let us hear how it all turns out.

 

[PlaceofDis]

World's Biggest is my favorate

nice pictures, good job

 

[Macaddicttt]

Maybe I just misunderstand surrealism, but I fail to see how any of these pictures are surrealistic...

Except maybe Blackpool Illuminations...

 

[CrackedButter]

Ok, they might need explaining. But you have to realise Surrealism is much more than just what Salidor Dali painted... these images are "Super Real" enough to be Surreal.

The land lady set: She is a person who paints her hotel with huge murals inside the rooms which guests live live in while on holiday. She paints sea views and wildlife scenes to brighten up the place. But she also paints the walls and bins outside her hotel. The whole surrounding enviroment looks like it is inside a forrest. That is the surreal part because this hotel is in the centre of town. Her Poodle as I mentioned is pink! She dyed the dog! The dog also wears 24 carat jewellery and is sprayed with Chanel no 5!

The house with the big figures is a get away for disadvantaged children who can come to the seaside resort for free. The owner has used illuminations to create a welcoming scene for the kids. Just having trolls and smiling flowers around is surreal enough but it is how he has used them as well.

The cafe is called "Bite Me". Do cafe do that, ask to be eaten? Blackpool has loads of weirdly titled cafes.

The disco ball is surreal enough, why is it there on the seafront constantly spinning.

The wildlife hotel, i mean come on. Its full of propaganda against animal cruelty and the owner looks like a farmer! Not a hotelier.

The difficulty for some of you is that you might not knom the town very well and the surrealist vision doesn't carry over due to not having all the facts about my town.

The horse and cow in halves is from a warehouse where they store the lights. The lights when in season cover a 10Kilometer strech of coastline for 2 to 3 months. Its often called the greatest free show on earth.

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Btw, I got the interview but didn't get a place for that uni. It is one of the best in the country. No matter I have recently got a place for another one, I think this one will suit me better anyway.

 

[Macaddicttt]

Ok, they might need explaining. But you have to realise Surrealism is much more than just what Salidor Dali painted... these images are "Super Real" enough to be Surreal.

Okay, I can see these pictures as surreal, but not surrealism. According to the most basic definition of surrealism I can find on the internet, it is "a 20th century movement of artists and writers (developing out of Dadaism) who used fantastic images and incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams."

Well, I'm probably wrong, but that was my understanding of surrealism vs. surreal. I would be interested to hear what you think of this definition. Do you think it's accurate? Or do you think surrealism is broader than that?

And sorry if I'm being a bother. I'm not trying to insult your artistic ability in any way, just trying to get some artistic discussion going.

 

[crap freakboy]

what course have you applied for?

 

[JDar]

"...incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams."

you didn't ask me, but this part of the definition is what surreal means, for the most part, to me. Practicing this approach may be harder for photographers than for painters, do you think?

 

[Macaddicttt]

"...incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams."

you didn't ask me, but this part of the definition is what surreal means, for the most part, to me. Practicing this approach may be harder for photographers than for painters, do you think?

Yeah, I didn't take into account how tough surrealism must be for photographers...

 

[virividox]

hey i like the bite me cafe, any chance of getting a high quality scan of that

 

[jtgotsjets]

Yeah, I didn't take into account how tough surrealism must be for photographers...

it's not nearly as hard as it seems, if the photographer in question has got much skill in the darkroom. i was doing surrealist prints in my first semester of photography using a bit of masking and darkroom trickery.

as far as the photos go, i don't know that i would go so far as to call them surreal, but a number of them are pretty good. a couple have composition issues (in my opinion), but you've got subject matter down pat. you've got a style that reminds me simultaneously of diane arbus and robert doisneau (two of my favorite photographers), so that's definitely a plus. nice set.

 

[CrackedButter]

Ok my bad, the word i should of used is Surreal even if you think the images are not. thats the intention.

The uni which gave this assignment (Falmouth) was for photography which included underwater photography as well.

The uni I have got in (Swansea btw) is a Photography in the arts, fine art photography.

 

[CrackedButter]

hey i like the bite me cafe, any chance of getting a high quality scan of that

Maybe, I'll see, I have to speak to my lawyer, you know copyrights and stuff. Only joking. I'll do something about that for you.

it's not nearly as hard as it seems, if the photographer in question has got much skill in the darkroom. i was doing surrealist prints in my first semester of photography using a bit of masking and darkroom trickery.

as far as the photos go, i don't know that i would go so far as to call them surreal, but a number of them are pretty good. a couple have composition issues (in my opinion), but you've got subject matter down pat. you've got a style that reminds me simultaneously of diane arbus and robert doisneau (two of my favorite photographers), so that's definitely a plus. nice set.

I am actually a graphic designer with very little photographic experience (modesty talking here), but I am changing the profession I am studying. Thanks for your comments, I will post again later after work and about these artists I remind you of.

 

[JDar]

"...but I am changing the profession I am studying..."

and congratulations for doing that. IMO that should be the result of attaining an advanced degree, rather than repeating the efforts of those who came before you. I have a son-in-law on the cutting edge of music composition both in how music is generated and how it is performed.

A nice effect of your skills already has been to raise the discussion content level of the Picture Gallery.

 

[wdlove]

Nice job. IMHO a black and white picture brings out greater quality.

 

[Lacero]

These images look more vintage photojournalistic than surrealistic. It's great to find beauty in everyday landscapes and objects and much harder to find the obscurity in the ordinary. Great exposure and composition.

 

[tech4all]

I especially like the the "World's Biggest" title on the mirror ball. In a odd way it makes both the photograph and the title a single piece of art, because you need to have both present for it to make sense. Without the title we wouldn't see it as the biggest, or without the photo we would be like, the world's biggest what?

 

[CrackedButter]

I especially like the the "World's Biggest" title on the mirror ball. In a odd way it makes both the photograph and the title a single piece of art, because you need to have both present for it to make sense. Without the title we wouldn't see it as the biggest, or without the photo we would be like, the world's biggest what?

Normally I would of written "World's Biggest Disco Ball", but it was obvious what it was so I intentionally shortened it.