The Surrealists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and powerfully influenced by psychoanalysis, the Surrealists believed the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighing it down with taboos. Influenced also by Karl Marx, they hoped that the psyche had the power to reveal the contradictions in the everyday world and spur on revolution. Their emphasis on the power of personal imagination puts them in the tradition of Romanticism, but unlike their forebears, they believed that revelations could be found on the street and in everyday life. The Surrealist impulse to tap the unconscious mind, and their interests in myth and primitivism, went on to shape many later movements, and the style remains influential to this today.
Each artist relied on their own recurring motifs arisen through their dreams or/and unconscious mind. At its basic, the imagery is outlandish, perplexing, and even uncanny, as it is meant to jolt the viewer out of their comforting assumptions. Nature, however, is the most frequent imagery:
Whereas photography had been widely used as a tool to document reality, artists began to work with the camera and progressive techniques to create images jarringly detached from photography's original uses. These visuals oftentimes challenged the viewer's perceptions with a strong basis in conceptualism, conjuring the uncanny, ethereal, or unordinary. Other times, they emphasized the artist's intent, by presenting familiar images unlatched from their usual context, inviting new perspectives of the ordinary. This practice would spread to America and become a forebear to the decades-long exploration of the possibilities of the photographic image that remains common in today's art world.
TED Talk about his planning:
http://www.ted.com/talks/erik_johansson_impossible_photography?language=en
An artistic movement of the 1900s that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter.
Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp.An example of random is when you close your eyes and choose one of two options...
yourdictionary.comIt always starts with an idea, then a plan: sketch it out! The process was in the planning, not the taking of the photo. Then, once the photo is taken, the work begins.
Meaning: different pieces of reality placed together to create a new, alternate reality.
photos combined should have the...
Meaning: same height, lens, and angle.
photos combined should have the...
Meaning: same location, time of day, studio lighting.
photos combined should have the...
Meaning: smooth editing, color, contrast, brightness, depth of field, and edges.
SKETCH your idea!
Example: walking my dog
Start with an action:
Example: walking my dog
List different locations:
Example: beach, space, hospital, basketball court
List similar shapes with unsimilar objects:
Example: instead of a round head, a basketball or apple.
List of images (shot list):
Example: taking a photo of someone walking their dog, collecting images of space/planets on Google, taking a picture of an apple....
Magritte
Sebastien V.
Alex B.
Ella M.
Colin S.
11in x 14in 300 ppi PS doc
High Quality, not pixelated images (high quality)
Element of surprise
Thoughtful use of proportion
Sides, edges line up to create a cohesive and fluid new meaning
clean masking and selection techniques
thoughtful use of lighting