PROJECT: "It was as if in a dream."
OBJECTIVE:
Utilizing your knowledge of a "visual vocabulary", design images which viewers may interpret as images from a dream or similar "other reality" experiences: "psychic visions, vision quests, trances, psychosis, etc." The image can be either serious or humorous.
REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS:
1. It would be of most benefit to the students' learning process if the image was created in front of the camera. Choosing appropriate subjects, places, props, and lighting effects, the student should be able to create an image that conveys some notion of alternate realities. The emphasis is photographing the interaction of subject and lighting effects.2. Whether you use real people or just things in your picture is your choice. Similarly, you may also consider changing the scale of your concept. Models, dolls, table-top sets, and any other creative means of bringing your concepts to physical reality are all acceptable.
3. The acceptable level of darkroom manipulation should be limited to simple printing and toning effects. These would be techniques like bending or angling the paper to change apparent perspectives, image diffusion or other manipulations of focus, radical changes of image contrasts, hand coloring of image, and chemical toning (sepia, etc.) of the print.
4. Darkroom processes which radically alter the image, such as "solarizations", are not acceptable! The primary emphasis for this project is working with the camera and films, not darkroom tricks.
5. The subject of your image is open, as is the manner in which you shoot the subject. The only guide lines for this project is that the images appear to be from another reality.
6. Don't be inhibited by failure. This is a project where effort expended can make the grade. Try to extend yourself, experiment, and mostly have fun.
7. Submit at least one presentable prints for grading. You may show up to five prints in class. If things don't go well, include other prints so some kind of conclusions about your concepts and procedures can be made. As always, observe your limitations of time, resources, and energy. Develop a sense of proportion as to what you what to do and what can realistically be achieved.
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