Unit 7 Activity 4

Activity 4

• Find two examples of photomontages that are either from a commercial source or from a fine art background. Discuss in what context they have been produced and what techniques they share with political photomontages. 
• What messages, if any, are communicated through these photomontages and how effective do you think they are? Consider different ways that each image could have been tackled by the artist and come up with an idea for ‘another in the series’. 

These two examples of photomontages were created by a Greek designer named Charis Tsevis. I think these photomontages were created specifically for the media since there are celebrities in them. These photomontages were produced as basically visual biographies of the 4 celebrities that are both not living anymore and still living. Although, I don't really think they share any techniques with the political photomontages. I think the messages in the photomontages are simple in the fact that they show how successful men and women can be in the media.

Unit 7 Activity 3

Activity 3

• As editors exercise their ever-increasing power over information control, what limits would you impose on them as to the extent to which they can manipulate the photographic image? 
• Devise a series of guidelines that will control the release of images that have been constructed for media use so that the public is aware as to the extent of the manipulation.

I feel like it's okay for editors to do their jobs by editing photographs so that they look great for the magazines or newspapers that they're going to be shown in. Although, they shouldn't be allowed to completely manipulate the photograph because that's basically lying to the public just like they did in the magazine above. I think there should be some guidelines when it comes to professionally editing pictures. The editors shouldn't be allowed to photoshop a completely unnecessary object into one photograph like they did in the picture with the shark. I don't think editors should even be allowed to make models look thinner than they really are because doing that is just blatantly lying to the public. I feel like with these new guidelines morals and ethics would work into play and people would realize that its more important to tell the truth through their photos instead of lying by using a huge amount of skills through photoshop.

Unit 7 Activity 2

Activity 2

• Find two examples of political photomontages that are either from a historical or contemporary source. 
• Discuss in what context they have been produced and how effective you think they communicate their intended message. 
• Discuss the techniques that have been used to assemble the examples you have chosen and offer alternative ways that the artist could have put over the same message.

By: John Heartfield

By: Peter Kennard

In the first photomontage, it conveys a message of attacking the Nazi Party especially since it was made in 1932. Heartfield called this photomontage "Krieg und Leichen" which means "War and Corpses". This German title shows how angry Heartfield was towards Hitler because he relied on the wealthy to give so many Reich marks to him. His photomontage definitely communicated his message to the public because it showed his anger towards the Nazi Party. In the second photomontage, it conveys a message of completely disliking the idea of war. Kennard thought war was "dirty" and he felt that his photomontages gave some sort of "purity". This photomontage is from his collection of photomontages called "War on War". He conveyed his opinion on war through this photomontage and it effectively communicated his message to the public. I found these political photomontages for this activity because I thought they portrayed the strongest political views.

Unit 7 Activity 1

Activity 1

• Briefly discuss why you think painters of the Victorian period might have criticized these early photomontages and why the pictures were popular with the general public. (This technique of piecing together separate images to create one picture is again very popular with both artists and the media). 
• What two reasons can you think of for this revival of an old technique? 

I think those painters probably criticized the early versions of photomontages because they probably didn't consider them to be art. Also, many of the painters were still being introduced to the new era of the Victorian period. The Victorian period introduced new kinds of art such as photomontages. I think the painters still weren't used to seeing new types of art like photomontages. The pictures were probably popular with the public though because they enjoyed seeing newer art around town. I think this technique was revived because it tells the news of the public and it also shows the progress of art's success in the media.