Recreating a Famous Painting

Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earing

I'm always looking for new ideas for a photograph. Last year when searching the web for ideas, I came upon Two Bored Coworkers Recreate Famous Paintings Using Their Office Supplies. Wow, I'll have to try this in my Photography class! Like usual, I test the project first. I solicited the help of my favorite model to try my hand at recreating Vermeer's famous image.

Like the Bored Coworkers, I limited myself to my Iphone 5C and stuff that was around the house. T is wearing my revolutionary war farmer's smock. The blue scarf is a pillow case and the scarf came from her closet. The earring was a donation for her "Earrings for Encouragement" project. She hopes to give earrings to the many woman who finish their breast cancer treatments at Vassar Hospital.

I used a large china cabinet for for the background. The original was a green color, but has mellowed to look like a dark black. Lighting was a table lamp and a flexible desk lamp.

Some Art History

The Girl with the Pearl Earring is often classified as a Tronie. (Tronie is dutch for face.) A "Tronie" is a common portrait that shows an unusual facial expression. Typically, the head or bust if featured and the subject is wearing unusual or exotic clothing.

Process

• For this project we will work in teams of 2. You pick your partner.
• Your team will pick a painting out of a hat. If you want, you may trade images with another team.
• Using common everyday objects and clothing, try and recreate the famous painting.
• Think about the background...you could draw it.
• Lighting - notice the shadows in my image. I tried to closely match the original.
• Use the Focus and Exposure Lock on your camera.
• Take a lot of photos!

• Choose the best one and post it next to the original on your blog. There are a ton of Apps that will create a collage of images. I used Pic Stich to put my images together, but you can just post them to your blog.
• Your post should include information about the artist and painting. (not just names and dates) Include information about your models, location and props.

Good Luck,

Mr. B

First Roll of Film

Preparing Chemicals - The Chemistry should be at about 68 degrees.

I pour the chemistry into pitchers and place them in front of each labeled bottle. This ensures you don't accidentally use the wrong solution.

Film Developer - Mix  ILFOSOL 3concentrate at 1 to 9.  You will need at least 30 oz. of developer, or 3 oz. of concentrate to 27oz. of water.  Mix with paddle.  This is a one shot developer and is disposed of after use.

Stop Bath – Premixed by teacher.  Check the color.  Yellow is Ok.  A violet color means the stop bath is exhausted.

Film Fixer – Premixed by teacher.  Place one drop of Fix-a-sure into the fixer.  If a white cloud develops and remains the fixer is exhausted.

Photo-flo – Mix 40 oz. of water with one cap full of Photo-flo.


Go over the Processing Steps before beginning!

1. Developer
2. Stop Bath/Wash
3. Fixer
4. Wash
5. Photo-flo
6. Drying

Developing

Fill the tank with developer, then start the timer. Bang the tank against the edge of the sink a few times to dislodge any air bubbles (this is especially important if you're using a large tank). Agitate the tank for 10 seconds every minute by rocking the tank back and forth, or if you're using a plastic tank, by spinning the "stir stick".

Develop for 8:00 minutes.

When the development time is finished, pour the developer into the large tank for separate disposal.

After learning to use your camera, shoot a practice roll of film. The subject matter is unimportant. This roll of film is about learning the developing process. Take your photographs outdoors! Without a flash, you will not have enough light to get good exposures.

Remember the SAFE method!

1. Shutter Speed
2. Aperture
3. Focus 
4. Exposure

Developing Process

Stop Bath

Pour stop bath into the tank. Agitate constantly for about 10 seconds.Let sit for 25 more seconds.  Return the stop bath to the bottle.

Fixer

Pour Fixer into the tank, and set the timer for 5 minutes. Agitate the tank 10 seconds every minute. Whe the fix time is finished, return the fixer to the bottle.

Wash

Remove the lid of the tank, and place the reel into the film washer. Wash for 5 minutes. Make sure the water is reaching the top and then empting. (Sometimes it sticks and you must knock the side of the washer.

Photo-flo

Place reel in the photo-flo. Agitate for 20 seconds.

Drying Film

Hang the film to dry.  Clips are under the sink.  Use a weighted clip at the bottom of the roll.  Normally, a roll of film will take about three hours to air dry completely. 

Important: always handle wet film by its edges only! Fingerprints and dust on the film during drying are very difficult if not impossible to remove later.

Remember, Dust is the Enemy!

Decorating Your Camera

Assignment: 
Transform your camera into something completely different.

 We have all kinds of materials available for our transformation.

• Plastercraft
• Felt
• Balsa Wood
• Raffia
• Wire
• Acrylic Paints
• String
• Yarn
• Foam Core
• and much more.

Some Considerations

• Think of objects that are already cylinders. (Batteries, Light House)
• Don't bite off more than you can chew. With enough time you can create almost anything, we don't have forever!
• A simple armature can be made out of bundled paper towels and masking tape. Cover it with plaster craft to create heads.
• Use acrylic paint, not tempera.
• The hot glue gun is your friend!
• Every day junk can often be turned into something else.

Here are a couple of examples of previous student work.

New Digital Assignment

Your next assignment is Money! 

Yes it's an open ended subject, but thats the whole idea. I want you to think about a creative visual solution to this topic. Closeups, money being passed, banks, some serious "bling". You get the idea. Here is my shot. I desaturated it in Photoshop and increased the contrast to give it more impact.

Write a short paragraph about your concept.

"My photograph explores the concept of being "blinded" by wealth and prestige. Some value money above all things....but you can't take it with you. The ancient Greeks buried their dead with coins on their eyes, a toll payed to be carried over the river Styx. Are we paying too high a toll in this world. Do we amass wealth at the expense of things of higher value. There is so much value in the simple act of living.

Your digital camera or smartphone should have a closeup feature. Explore how close you can get and still get a focused image. Read your camera manual for more information on this feature. Each camera is different.

This is a typical Macro icon seen on many cameras.

You only need to submit one image, but make sure it's your best effort. It's always best to take plenty of shots. Even today's smartphone cameras will take a burst of 5 shots and let you pick the best one. 

Sepia Toning

Sepia toning is a process that gives a photograph a warm brown tone and increases it's archival properties. (How long it will last) The image is first bleached to turn the metallic silver into a silver halide. The print is washed to remove the bleach then it is immersed in toner which converts the silver halide into silver sulfide.

You must Sepia Tone your "Close-up" or "Selfie" pinhole image and Mount it!!

Process:

1. Immerse the print in the Bleach Bath and agitate it for a out 6-8 minutes until most of the image has disappeared or turned yellow. I like to leave some areas black for contrast. (Wear Goggles and take care while using bleach! It can damage your eyes!!)
2. Rinse to remove bleach. (2 minutes)
3. Place the print in the Toner Bath and agitate until the image completely fills in with warm browns.(60 seconds)
4. Rinse thouroughly for 2 minutes.
5. Fix for two minutes.
6. Wash for 4 minutes.

Pinhole Close-up

The Debris of Life

I took this photo of a pile of broken dolls as an example of what can be done with a pinhole camera. One of the greatest attributes of a pinhole camera is its almost indefinite "Depth of Field". Everything from close up to far in the distance appears to be somewhat in focus.

Assignment - Find some small objects that are meaningful to you in some way. Pose the objects in an interesting still life and photograph them with your pinhole camera.

Make a positive print and dry mount it. 

Debris of Life (Paper Negative), Manny Boccini

Debris of Life (Positive Print), Manny Boccini

Pinhole "Selfies"

Apparently "Selfie" was awarded the "2013 Word of the Year"  by Oxford Dictionaries".

We've all done it with our cell phone or a digital camera. There seems to be some kind of human urge to take one's own photograph. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Photographers are often left out of the image. I know that I'm missing from many family photographs, because I was the person behind the camera.

Your assignment is to use your camera to take a self portrait. Here are a couple points to consider:

• This will be an exercise in self control. You must remain as still as possible, or your image will be blurry.
• You may ask a friend to open and close the shutter.
• Get close to the camera. Your Pinhole Camera is a super wide angle image maker. In my self portrait below, my hand is practically touching the camera.
• Stay in the sun, short exposures will give your clearer results.
• Scan your negative.
• Duplicate it in Photoshop. Invert the duplicate to make a positive. Adjust the image using Image/Adgustments/Brightness Contrast.
• Save both images as JPEGs and post on your blog.

Halloween Pinhole 2015

Negative

Mr. B 2013

Negative