Line

 Line

Definition & Theory

A line represents a path between to points, it also suggests motion. Lines can be implied by using a series of points. Directions and orientation of lines can imply different things. Horizontal lines imply tranquility, peace and harmony. Vertical lines show strength and power. Diagonal lines present movement, action or change. Curved lines present quiet and calm. Lines the converge show depth and distance.

Image bank

Research (of artists and techniques)

The Photographer I researched was Walker Evans. Walker Evans was an American photojournalist who focused on the day to day life of Americans but also did a lot of street photography.

These photos being taken on black and white film makes the hard contrast between the signs and the road, making the signs stand out. The "shine" sign has connotations to how in America at the time there was rich and poor living side by side. 

From Walker Evans photography I have been inspired to take photos in his style that I will later edit to have a harder contrast and be in black and white.

Contact Sheet

Selected Images

Improvement Needed

These images require more work as I believe the first image could be framed better and is over saturated. If I were to shoot the image again I would reframe the picture to have the gap in the centre of the photo. 

The second image was not focused correctly and a incorrect aperture was used meaning that I could not focus the entire image. Also I would prefer to have a higher contrast from yellow lines and the road. 

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My plan for taking photos representing the formal element of line was to photograph the urban landscape looking for things that were similar to Walker Evans style of photography. I focused on street signs and road markings. This was successful as it was clearly focused on the formal element of line and resembled Walker Evans style. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a Cannon 5D for all the shots taken. All images where shot with an aperture between f4 and f8. I did not change my aperture setting when shooting. But with hindsight I would have chosen to have a higher aperture with some of my photos to make sure everything was in focus. 

To improve some images I chose to convert them to black and white and increase their contrast I did this with 5 images.

To do this I used photoshop, first I applied a black and white filter to each picture.

This created a slight resemblance to Walker Evans style but it still needed to have a harsher contrast. So I use the Curves Tool to make the black parts of the photo and the white parts of the photo whiter.

This created a style that was much closer to the work of Walker Evans, it featured the harsh contrast that allowed for the portrayal of line to be much clearer.

I then took each layer I had applied to this photo and applied it to all my other selected photos.

A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My research on Walker Evans really helped with my aim to photography the formal element of line as it inspired me to use hard contrasting black and white edits to make the lines sharper and to have no distraction from the element. My research into emotions and mood with line was not helpful as I felt it did not apply but many of my photos used a leading line.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  
I believe that my series of images that was inspired by me research on Walker Evans. My final images were improved by editing them by making them black and white and applying a harder contrast using curves in photoshop.

With this photo it does not entirely link to the work of Walker Evans, the black and white harsh contrast but the actual content of the photo is different from his work my other selected images. The image does have line as we can see the curvature presenting the difference in focus.  

This photo links to Walker Evans more than any of my other photos, this black and white harsh contrast is present and the content links directly to his style. Walker Evans even took a similar photo with similar content but included a harsher contrast.

This photo has the Walker Evans harsh black and white contrast and its content links to his work as he took many photos of signs, but Walker Evans mainly filled his frame with black rather that white but this photo does the exact opposite. 

This photo also uses the harsh black and white contrast but varies from Walker Evans content as it uses the light reflection as the line.

This photo does have the Walker Evans harsh contrast but also varies from his style of content. The line is created following drain coverage.