Hicham Benohoud
In this task we were experimenting with our ability to visually describe a photo, which before this task I thought would have been easy however it proved to be a good little challenge and learning exercise. We started my taking notes on a photographer called Hicham Benohoud,who's photography style was different to anything most of us had ever seen before.
What words come to mind she you look at this image?
-Creepy -Eerie -Silent -Black and white -Unsettling Describe this image A boy stands in the centre of a class room, on a stool, directly below a light with some sort of mask/ hood covering his head made out of what looks like a big sheet of scrunched up paper. The other students in the class continue with their work and seem to take no notice of the boy on the stool, they seem very concentrated and disciplined. The walls are empty and stay plain white. |
Simply describe what you see in the image, writing as many things as possible.
Three desks, positioned next to each other, facing the camera which has been set in to a landscape position for this photograph. The middle desk is completely in frame, however only less than half of the two desks to either side of this one are in frame because the rest has been cut out of the image on the right and left hand side of the images frame because of a more close up composition. The middle desk has two paint cans under both its right legs causing the table to be very slanted and not flat to work on, however, despite this, the girl sitting at this desks left hand side (the lower side) appears to be doing her work as if she does not notice. The two desks to her right and left also have students working on them who (like the girl in the centre) don't seem to notice the girl doing her work on the uneven desk. They are right up against a plain white wall so there is nothing really to note on the background.
What do you find unusual about this photograph?
I find this image unusual firstly because of the way it has been photographed in black and white which to me adds a eerie atmosphere because it makes the image feel old. The feeling of old mixed with the creepy feeling coming from the fact that no one seems to notice the the girls desk (even the girl) for me makes this image seem very unusual because of how strange its concept is. The extreme plainness of this image also stands out to me.
What do you find interesting about this photograph?
I find it interesting for many of the same reasons that I find it unusual, I think that its unusualness gives it a quality that it would otherwise not have, because for me there are not many visual aspects that really jump out at me from this image other than its obvious, rather straight forward com-positioning that is not extremely unique. However I do really like all the questions that this photograph will make an audience ask while looking at it.
How would you describe the background?
The background in this image is extremely simple, The image is composed up against a blank, white wall, with only little shadow on it from the desks in front of it. I think that the background despite being very plain actually works with this image as I feel it plays in to the feeling of these pupils being very disciplined, and exaggerating the boring, work filled feel that schools are usually associated with.
How does the photographer use space within the image?
The space in this image (especially the negative space) is predominantly white, for me this makes the subject of the image stand out against it, especially since the image is taken in black and white, the contrast is larger. Also the space in the image is kept very simple, further outlining the dull, school- like tone.
portraiture
In this lesson the teacher paired us up with a partner and told us to go out and "create a portrait that no one has ever seen before". This excited me because I usually concern myself with the idea of creating something that has already been created before and wanting to be able to create something completely new. We were given a sheet full of things we should try and do to help create something new, which is on the left.
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These are the contact sheets from the portraiture task. I have to admit that I did find this exercise challenging because of all of the limitations that were given about the images style and the limited objects given. I have never properly experimented with setting up a portraiture photograph in a way that it is like in a photo-shoot so I was not sure what to expect, however I have definitely learnt a lot about how thins are done when taking photographs in this way.
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