Ellie House GCSE photography
Miniature Worlds
Mood Board
Slinkachu
Slinkachu started the 'Little People Project' in 2006. he did this by remodelling railway train set characters from the internet, which he leaves on the street after taking the photographs. It is both street art installation and a photography project. He wanted the viewers that saw these characters (miniature world pieces) on the street to be both surprised and to become more aware of their surroundings. The scenes he sets up, the photography and the name titles are used to show the loneliness and isolation f a big city that people live in however in his work he always makes sure to add some humour to it. His aim was also to show the personalities in the tiny people he made as he wanted people to empathise with his characters.
I like his work and like the way he creates the pieces of work. One thing I like a lot about his work is the way he blurs the background so that the main focus is on the actual characters, I also like how he uses weird or unusual objects for his pieces, for example food e.g. : orange peels and also lollipops. I also love the simplicity of his pieces and how there is little actually in the photographs.
photograph was taken by Slinkachu. To take these sorts of photographs he needs to go through steps to make sure the photograph tells the right story. He first needs to customise the characters he wants in the photograph, this is done so that he knows the story he wants to portray. He gets these models from sites like eBay and railway sites. Once the figures have arrived he often moves them around and changes arms and legs, he also paints them and adds clothes like jumpers and trousers to them. Slinkachu often takes around 300 photographs to get the right photograph. When he gets his perfect shot he leaves the miniature world alone so that other people in the street can see. This helps people see what the story is trying to portray and show the cruel world and what it can be like. Slinkachu perfectly manages to capture the basic human issue of loneliness and disconnectedness in his photographs of mini and fragile characters. In this photograph above it shows a business man being stuck in a quiet "city" after an accident. It shows a lollipop that has landed on his car, this is a normal sized lollipop which shows the difference. Its representation is to show the strength of a normal sized object (even though in the real world small) and how it can effect something smaller. In this photograph the main focus is the lollipop as it is the biggest in the photograph, it is also a big focus due to the colour. Compared to the other objects in the photograph the lollipop is very vibrant. For example the car and the businessman are very dark in colour which makes the lollipop look even brighter. In this photograph Slinkachu makes the lollipop look bigger than everything else in several ways. One way he does this is by the colour as I said. Another way is because the lollipop takes up the whole photograph longitudinal. This makes the photograph look much bigger than it is as it takes up the whole photograph. In this this photograph there are different shapes that make it up. The are spheres and irregular shapes as well. The main focus of the photograph is to the right.
I like his work and like the way he creates the pieces of work. One thing I like a lot about his work is the way he blurs the background so that the main focus is on the actual characters, I also like how he uses weird or unusual objects for his pieces, for example food e.g. : orange peels and also lollipops. I also love the simplicity of his pieces and how there is little actually in the photographs.
photograph was taken by Slinkachu. To take these sorts of photographs he needs to go through steps to make sure the photograph tells the right story. He first needs to customise the characters he wants in the photograph, this is done so that he knows the story he wants to portray. He gets these models from sites like eBay and railway sites. Once the figures have arrived he often moves them around and changes arms and legs, he also paints them and adds clothes like jumpers and trousers to them. Slinkachu often takes around 300 photographs to get the right photograph. When he gets his perfect shot he leaves the miniature world alone so that other people in the street can see. This helps people see what the story is trying to portray and show the cruel world and what it can be like. Slinkachu perfectly manages to capture the basic human issue of loneliness and disconnectedness in his photographs of mini and fragile characters. In this photograph above it shows a business man being stuck in a quiet "city" after an accident. It shows a lollipop that has landed on his car, this is a normal sized lollipop which shows the difference. Its representation is to show the strength of a normal sized object (even though in the real world small) and how it can effect something smaller. In this photograph the main focus is the lollipop as it is the biggest in the photograph, it is also a big focus due to the colour. Compared to the other objects in the photograph the lollipop is very vibrant. For example the car and the businessman are very dark in colour which makes the lollipop look even brighter. In this photograph Slinkachu makes the lollipop look bigger than everything else in several ways. One way he does this is by the colour as I said. Another way is because the lollipop takes up the whole photograph longitudinal. This makes the photograph look much bigger than it is as it takes up the whole photograph. In this this photograph there are different shapes that make it up. The are spheres and irregular shapes as well. The main focus of the photograph is to the right.
Miniature world : Practice shoots
critique : In these photographs, it is clear to see how they relate to the project title because you are clearly able to see the comparison between the normal everyday objects and the little figures. I need to focus on where/what angle I take the photographs to create the most lifelike effect without creating an imbalance of lifelike and not real. The viewer needs to be able to identify that the photographs are inspired by Miniature World, but shouldn't feel as though the Photograph is too unrealistic. Even though these photographs are experimental and practice shoots, I still feel like the photographs could be more creative. These photographs were also taken in school, so when I take my shoots out of school I will have more equipment to make more creative shoots inspired by Slinkachu. For my next shoot I also need to make sure my photographs are not blurred in the wrong place. In the first photograph, It is blurred at the front and it blurs the soldier which I didn't want to blur.
My next steps...make more creative shoots, try and inspire it by a certain photographer. Decide the best angle to take my photographs to give the best effect to the viewer. Focus on not blurring the wrong part of the photograph.
My next steps...make more creative shoots, try and inspire it by a certain photographer. Decide the best angle to take my photographs to give the best effect to the viewer. Focus on not blurring the wrong part of the photograph.
Experimental shoot : 2
critique : I was able to blur the background out and only focus on the soldiers and what they are doing, I think this has improved since my last shoot because I have focused more on the soldiers than the background which could potentially not be relevant to the project and photograph we took. big objects (real life objects) e.g - a foot, was used to show the contrast between the two objects, this makes the photograph more relevant. I think these photographs are more creative then the previous shoot, especially the 2 to the left, because they can tell a story. We need to take the photograph closer to the object because in some of the photos you cant fully see what the photograph is about. I think my weakest photograph out of the three is the one on the left, this is because there is no depth and it it is quite difficult to understand what is going on.
next steps...create a mood board and critical analysis on a photographer so that I am able to do my first proper shoot which can be developed by my initial ideas.
peer critique : Some reasonably confident photographs, but very limiting ideas, development or research. Record your initial ideas with mindmaps and investigate appropriate photographs.
next steps...create a mood board and critical analysis on a photographer so that I am able to do my first proper shoot which can be developed by my initial ideas.
peer critique : Some reasonably confident photographs, but very limiting ideas, development or research. Record your initial ideas with mindmaps and investigate appropriate photographs.
shoot 1 : plan and critique
I chose these six photographs because they are the type of photographs that I would like to do my photos inspired by. These photographs were taken my slinkachu. Slinkachu is an artist based in London, He creates small scaled sized objects and then photographs them. "The little people project" started in 2006. The reason I like these photographs is because they are all things that people do most days. They aren't out of the ordinary except the fact they are smaller than normal people. I would also like to recreate my photographs in this way taking photographs of nothing out of the ordinary.
Shoot 1
My plan for this shoot is to use real and unreal things to represent the differentiation is size. I would like to involved my dogs in these photographs because it would be interesting to see how I could involve them and what the context of the photograph would be. I would like the context of the photograph to be my dogs and the lego figure throwing a stick for them however this may be difficult. The difficulties I may face when taking this is that there is an uncertainty on whether the dogs will stay still for the photograph or they become interested in the lego figure and try to eat it or play with it. This may make it difficult to take the photograph. Focus on the camera will be important in this. For example I am unsure whether I want the focus to be on the dog or on the lego figure. When taking this photograph I will focus on the lighting and make sure the lighting isn't blocking the view or obscuring the view of lego figure seeing as they are very small. I have decided to take this photograph outside. This is because I want to make it as realistic as possible and doing it outside seems most realistic.
This is my first shoot inspired by Slinkachu. The context in this photograph, is a small Lego inanimate person, and a real dog. the small person is throwing a stick for the dog. In this photograph. I like how I involved both real and not real things, I think it made it more interesting to have two different types of objects. I also like how I made the camera focus on the Lego figure and not the dogs, making you see the Lego figure before you see the dog in the background. the simplistic background also helps because it makes you focus on one thing, The Lego figures are not in the middle for a reason. I tired to keep the Lego figure to the side, as it makes you think about the photograph and look at it more. next time I need to try and think about what the dogs should be doing while I take the photograph because the first photograph the dog isn't focusing on the Lego figure making the viewer feel as though the dog isn't part of the photograph. For my next shoot I would like to keep the same focus of an outside background. My interest has turned to water and how I can incorporate this into my photograph.
Shoot 2
As my main photographer is Slinkachu, I researched the different types of photographs that he takes and came across many photographs related to water. Above are some of my favourite photographs that Slinkachu created. I want to create a photograph that looks like slinkachu's. Many of his photographs above are simple however tell a very big story and you often know instantly what is happening. For example the 2 photographs are very simple. You can see a boat, one is travelling along a river and the other is seen sinking. The background in these two photographs are very simple which means the only focus is the boat which draws you in. I like the simplicity of these photographs as it makes them very clear. My plan for my second shoot photographs is to keep it simplistic like Slinkachu. I am interested in doing something with water however also making it natural and something that seems realistic (something most people do often) e.g. : swimming. When doing this I feel that the lighting is important. If i take it outside it needs to be sunny, this makes the photograph look happy as people are unlikely to go swimming outside on a cold or miserable day.
This is my second shoot. I am proud of this piece/shoot but I still feel like I could create something more interesting. I put a lot of effort into making the water look good. in the closest photograph I tried to shut out any background as it made it look more professional. I decided to take a picture three times form different distances so that you are able to see the scale of the photograph. For the water, I got a glass of water and poured it evenly on the ground to make it look like a realistic puddle like scene. I decided it would look interesting if the lego figure was not in a pool but in a puddle, I did this to show the scale of the lego compared to everything else. I tried to make the background simplistic just like the photograph made by Slinkachu. to improve next time I would like to be inspired by one of Slinkachu's specific pieces of work. To do this I will be using one of the boat photographs.
shoot 3 : Slinkachu inspiration
This photograph was taken by Slinkachu. In this photograph I can see a boat which looks like it is made of paper with a figure (person) in it. It is moving on the surface of a river. The background is blurred so that the main focus is on the boat. The river seems to be very still which suggests there isn't much wind at all. For my next shoot I will be doing a photograph inspired by this. In this photograph it is very simplistic. I like how you can see that the boat is moving even though it is a photograph. I will be using this idea for mine. The boat (the main focus of the photograph) is not central. This interests me as a viewer of the photograph because it makes it look much more natural.
For my photograph shoot I will be using a boat just like the photograph above. I would like change mine up a little bit by using rocks in mine. For this I will be using big rocks in my garden and incorporating it into my background so that you can't see much background other than the rocks. I want the story to look as though the lego figure has just discovered a new land and is going on an adventure. It may be difficult to make it look like it was inspired by Slinkachu but hopefully the boat and the lego figure will look like the Slinkachu photograph. The photograph I will be taking will be outside, I am doing this to also stick with the theme of outside.
For my photograph shoot I will be using a boat just like the photograph above. I would like change mine up a little bit by using rocks in mine. For this I will be using big rocks in my garden and incorporating it into my background so that you can't see much background other than the rocks. I want the story to look as though the lego figure has just discovered a new land and is going on an adventure. It may be difficult to make it look like it was inspired by Slinkachu but hopefully the boat and the lego figure will look like the Slinkachu photograph. The photograph I will be taking will be outside, I am doing this to also stick with the theme of outside.
This is my shoot 3 photograph. I think this photograph turned out quite good and relates to the photograph created by Slinkachu. What went well about this photograph is the rocks. I like how the rocks turned out as the background making it look more mysterious than it would be without the rocks. I think the scene portrays a sense of adventure and interest for a new land In the lego figure. I tried to use the same sort of boat and figure as Slinkachu did in his photograph so that it looked more like his work. i think this is a little bit busier than the work of Slinkachu. In my future pieces of work I will try and make it less busy.
Shoot 4 and 5 : workmen
For my next shoots I would like to look at workers. In these photographs I chose they are all workers with specific jobs. I think Slinkachu created these photographs to represent the hard work everyone does and why they do it. Each and every one of the characters in the photographs are working really hard but they all have a different job to do. I think this suggests that everyone has a different but as important role in society and that if one thing wasn't done, then things wouldn't work as they should. I like the brightly coloured people and the objects involved. Also in these, just like other photographs of his are very simplistic which I need to recreate in my work. One photograph I am particularly interested in with this theme is the middle with the Wotsit. In this photograph you can see two workmen picking up a wotsit and obviously finding it difficult by the strain shown. I see this photograph as a relation to litter that is found in the street. I feel as though these workers represent actual workers whose job is to pick rubbish off the floor and how it shouldn't happen. In this photograph the wotsit is the main focus due to the colour intensity compared to the rest of the photograph, the background is also very simplistic and blurred just like all the others. Even though it is very simplistic it tells a story. For my next shoot I would like my photographs to be inspired by this photograph in particular.
This is my shoot 4 inspired by Slinkachu. I really like this shoot and can see clearly how it relates to the wotsit photograph I analysed before doing this shoot.
my photograph is a story about a man who is working as an egg stacker. You can easily see the effort he is having to put into moving the egg by the position of his body and also the size of the egg in comparison to him. In my photograph I decided to use bright coloured clothing for the lego figure just like the bright colour in Slinkachu. I did this so that the main focus became the worker and the egg in my photograph. This was also done in the photograph created by Slinkachu. This was done by him so that the main focus was the wotsit and the builders. In the photograph taken by Slinkachu he used to builders as it was obvious the wotsit was heavy, he used two builders to show that they wouldn't have been able to carry it on their own. i did this also, using only one lego figure but showing that the character had to roll the egg and was incapable of carrying it due to the weight. In both photographs we both used food. I used food so that it could be seen inspired by Slinkachu's work. The background in both of our pieces of work is also simplistic however mine is not blurred. I didn't make mine blurred so that the storyline was a lot clearer to work out.
Shoot 6
The story of these photographs was a burglar who had gone into someones house with the intention of stealing money. In this photograph there is no other background or objects that would catch the person looking eye. So the main focus is easily the money and the lego figure. I wanted the photograph to represent the lengths that some people will go to get money. This can be seen with a little figure who is aiming high to get a bit of money which is too heavy for him however he will still try. I like this photograph as I think it is good as many people will understand the main focus. One thing I would improve next time about this photograph is the lack of colour. There is no vibrant colours to capture an interest for the viewer which may cause them to lose interest quickly.
Shoot 7
These photographs were taken on the same day as some of the other photographs above. In this shoot I wanted to represent people in a cafe. In the top row it shows two lego figures (people) who are having a coffee date together at a cafe. The miniature effect in these photographs is the difference in size of the mug compared to the the lego figures. I like these photographs however feel they are a bit blurry as I struggled to focus on certain things.
This is my final piece for my Miniature Worlds project.