Romanticism was a movement in art, literature, and philosophy that started in the late 1700s and became popular in the 1800s, especially in Europe. It focused a lot on emotions, imagination, and nature, kind of pushing back against the more logical and structured ideas of the Enlightenment. People in the Romantic movement believed in expressing deep feelings and connecting with the natural world, often celebrating things like mystery, beauty, and the power of human emotions.
Romantics were interested in things like the supernatural, the unknown, and the darker sides of life. They loved the idea of the “common person” being in tune with nature, and they often explored intense human experiences. Some well known figures from this time include writers like William Wordsworth, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron, along with artists like J.M.W. Turner and Caspar David Friedrich. Overall, Romanticism was all about celebrating freedom, emotion, and the wonder of nature, going against the more rational thinking that came before it.
Romanticism in Art mood board -
The Sublime -
The sublime is a feeling of awe or wonder, usually when you’re experiencing something so big, beautiful, or powerful that it’s almost overwhelming. It’s like when you look at a huge mountain, a stormy sea, or a vast starry sky, and it makes you feel small, but in a way that’s also kind of amazing. The idea comes from Romanticism, where artists and writers were really into capturing moments that made people feel this mix of beauty and fear, showing how nature or certain experiences could be both terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. It’s like a deep emotional reaction to something that’s so grand or intense that it almost feels beyond human understanding.
Mood board of images of the sublime in photography -
How does The sublime represent 'UNION'?
In Romanticism, the concept of the sublime often intertwines with themes of union, particularly the union between humanity and nature, or the merging of the individual with the vast, awe-inspiring forces of the universe. The sublime in Romanticism refers to experiences that evoke feelings of awe, wonder, and sometimes terror, especially when confronting the overwhelming power of nature or the infinite. This experience often leads to a sense of unity with something greater than the self, such as the natural world, the divine, or the collective human spirit.
Here’s how the sublime in Romanticism can represent the theme of union:
Union with Nature
Many Romantic poets and artists, like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Caspar David Friedrich, believed that experiencing the sublime in nature could lead to a profound connection or union with the natural world. The sublime experience often involves confronting nature’s vastness, power, and beauty, which can make humans feel both small and yet spiritually unified with it.
For example, Wordsworth’s poetry frequently celebrates how moments of intense awe in nature lead to a deeper understanding of the self and the universe, suggesting a harmonious union with the natural world. In his famous poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey“, he writes about how his previous experiences with nature have shaped his spiritual and emotional union with it.
Union with the Divine or the Infinite –
The sublime is also tied to the theme of union with the divine or the infinite, as nature and its awe inspiring qualities often serve as a metaphor for the infinite or divine presence. The overwhelming beauty or power of the sublime in nature can evoke a sense of unity with God or a higher power.
For example, Kant’s philosophy of the sublime, where the vastness or power of nature forces humans to recognize their own limitations, but at the same time, this recognition allows for a deeper sense of connection with something beyond the human experience. The Romantic sublime transcends individual existence and suggests that, in moments of awe, the individual is united with the infinite.
Union of the Self and the Collective –
Romanticism often emphasized individual experience, but the sublime also encouraged a union between individuals and the collective. The awe of nature, or the sublime experience of beauty and terror, could transcend personal boundaries, allowing individuals to feel connected to the larger human experience. This is particularly evident in William Blake’s works, where he explores the dualities of the individual and the collective, the divine and the earthly, the personal and the universal.
Blake’s poetry often invokes the sublime to illustrate the interconnectedness of all things, human beings, nature, and the divine. In his “Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” he shows how the individual can feel a sense of unity with the universe, particularly through the spiritual and natural realms.
Union Through the Emotional Impact of the Sublime –
In many Romantic works, the sublime evokes strong emotional responses, often feelings of fear, awe, or ecstasy that ultimately lead to a sense of unity with the subject matter. The feeling of awe inspired by the sublime overwhelms the individual, dissolving boundaries between self and nature, self and God, or self and the universe. This transcendence through emotion can create a sense of union with something much larger than oneself..
How romanticism relates to my project with the theme of 'UNION' –
Romanticism often depicted nature as both beautiful and overwhelming, and my sunsets can reflect this, showing the powerful union between human, animal, and nature. Silhouettes against the vast, glowing sky could embody themes of emotional depth and connection as romanticism does.
Inspiration: Romantic painters like J.M.W. Turner, who played with light, could inspire the dramatic play of light in your work, reflecting both beauty and the depth of human relationships.
For more exploration into art styles and movements that I could apply within my project to relate to the theme of ‘Union’ I looked into montaging and collaging. With montaging and collaging being a method of creation to bring different things together, I find they are interesting art styles to use, to present the theme of ‘Union’. Whilst looking into the art styles, I also looked into artists who have created such works of montaging and collaging, that I could then take influence from in my own work.
Definitions:
Montaging – an assembly of images that relate to each other in some way to create a single work or part of a work of art.
Collaging – the technique and the resulting work of art in which pieces of paper, photographs, fabric and other ephemera are arranged and stuck down onto a supporting surface.
Brief History:
Montaging:
El Lissitzky, The Constructor, 1924.
Montaging in photography, also known as photomontage, Is the manifestation of imaginative and artistic construction. The style seems to combine various photographic elements to create thought-provoking and impactful imagery to create challenges within the viewers mind on their perceptions of the art and reality.
Its origins trace back to the early 20th century, where the artist movement of avant-garde brought bold experimental art styles such as German impressionism and Soviet constructivism. With massive global events such as both World Wars causing mass climates of political and social change art took influence from this in its presentation. Out of this came movements such as Dadaism which photomontage is closely influenced from. Like with Dadaism, photomontage offered a rejection of traditional artistic norms and opted to choose the surreal style which promoted anti-establishment views and unconventional perspectives.
Artists of photo-montaging, are not confined in themes, but rather open to any subject they wish, however, often bound in the spectrum of dream-like imagery and surrealism.
Collaging:
Man Ray, Dora Maar, 1936.
Collage photography is the remixing and fragmenting of visual information from various sources to create a compelling narrative or produce a statement from the art piece.
Originating in France, collage came about into the modern art scene in 1911, with pioneering artists such as George Braques and Pablo Picasso bringing it into the mainstream platform. Like montage, collage is a technique to interpret reality by creating a piece of art, which in itself is a reproduction of reality. By using physical objects within a collage such as newspaper clippings it creates a precise image behind the work, as a message or reference to current events. Collaging Within photography can be found to merge into photomontage. By being able to combine things that aren’t physically possible, it creates visually impressive compositions. Examples of this within photography Include overlaying, impossible angles and rearranging objects within an image to produce surreal effects.
Methods of achieving this can be done through digital alteration such as with using tools on photoshop, or the manual process of using slow shutter-speeds to produce surreal effects within an images contents.
Montage and Collage artists:
John Stezaker:
John Stezaker, born in Worcester, 1949, is a British artist most known for his works of re-inventing classic movie stills, vintage postcards, books and illustrations to create fascinating collages with entire new meanings. By providing a new, modernistic, take on a classical image, Stezaker does this by altering its appearance through repetitive sections, or by creating a whole new image entirelt with thought-provoking juxtapositions. Stezaker’s work slices and sticks existing images to produce a creatively alternative art style, featuring influences from other styles such as Surrealism, Dadaism and found art.
His work has been featured world-wide and has earned him numerous awards for his creativity. His series ‘Dark Star’ is an example of this, being a display of his unique style and all its variations, which can be seen to blend montage and collage In a engaging way.
“John Stezaker’s work re-examines the various relationships to the photographic image: as documentation of truth, purveyor of memory, and symbol of modern culture.”
“Stezaker focuses on the concept of portraiture, both as art historical genre and public identity. Using publicity shots of classic film stars, Stezaker splices and overlaps famous faces, creating hybrid ‘icons’ that dissociate the familiar to create sensations of the uncanny. Coupling male and female identity into unified characters, Stezaker points to a disjointed harmony, where the irreconciliation of difference both complements and detracts from the whole. In his correlated images, personalities (and our idealisations of them) become ancillary and empty, rendered abject through their magnified flaws and struggle for visual dominance.”
– SAATCHI Gallery
Within his work, the theme of Union can be found through the explorations of subjects such as Identity which both Stezaker uses and what I have chosen to include and represent through my work.
Mood board:
John Stezaker, Marriage VIII, 2006.
John Stezaker, Old Mask II, 2006.
John Stezaker, Blind I, 2006.
John Stezaker, She (Film Portrait Collage) III, 2008.
Image Analysis:
Visual –
With the original image being taken from old Hollywood headshots, the tone of Stezaker’s adapted Images such as this one, make use of Rembrandt lighting to highlight the facial features and add shadow to create a contrast of ‘masculine features’ such as a sharp jaw line and brow. In contrast to the photographing of women at the period, they where photographed more-so in chiaroscuro or gauze filtered light to, highlight beauty, or symmetrical facial features. With the face being the focus, the texture of this image is given more detail. The shape and form is additionally added along side this. With a sliced line added by Stezaker, this adds an fascinating effect to the image as although having a portion of the face removed, disbalancing the images original harmony, it does also invoke a sense of believability due to the facial symmetry, which in itself can be a new sort if harmony.
Technical –
As stated, Stezaker’s adapted images feature the classical lightening techniques associated to the classic Hollywood era. Rembrandt and Chiaroscuro for example are achieved through a strong artificial (or possibly natural) light source pointed from a specific direction to create shadows on the face. With these images usually taken on a short depth of field this is to highlight the details of the subject. Additionally, being taken on cameras from the 1940s, 50’s and 60’s the ISO would have a higher sensitivity, producing a grainer image which can be seen in images such as this.
Contextual –
Being alternated Hollywood head-shots, Stezaker breaks down the historical context of the images whilst also producing reflections of identity through them, bringing a deeper insight into its ambiguous meanings. With his images covering both men and women, it can be taken further into a study of gender and with images featuring a blend of both male and female actors, It poses questions as what can unify them?
Conceptual –
What I find, best defines Stezaker’s concept behind his images is the summary of his work by SAATHCI gallery: “Stezaker points to a disjointed harmony, where the irreconciliation of difference both complements and detracts from the whole.” By unifying two fragmented images to create one whole, I find this creates an enthralling art style which Stezaker has seemed to master.
Christian Marclay:
Christian Marclay, Untitled (crying),2020.
Christian Marclay, born in California but raised in Geneva, Switzerland is a London-based artist who’s innovative work surrounds visual and composing samples of fragmented aesthetics of popular culture to create new forms and meanings through methods such as photography, printmaking and collaging. Notable works of his that feature elements of montage and collage can be seen with his 1991-92 series, Body Mix. Within this series Marclay created blends of album cover sleeves by stitching them together, blending both vinyl art and artist genres of the music, mixing low and high culture.
The mixing of these vinyl covers tended to unify to resemble a human figure, which can be seen as a way of looking at how music can form someone’s identity. This was a similar concept I took when creating some of my own images such as the recreation of the album cover and the collection of images of myself holding various record covers.
like with Stezaker, Marclay’s work also explores male and female identity as both are unified through the mixing of record sleeves merging their anatomies.
“Art is all in the details.”
– Christian Marclay
Mood board:
Christian Marclay, Body Mix, 1991-92.
Christian Marclay, ‘No Heavy petting’, 1991.
various other examples from ‘Body Mix’:
Image Analysis:
Visual –
Like with the various music genres, Marclay’s work features an array of colour with one or two kept similar to match a visual aesthetic. With this mix also comes a mix of tone from the darker more detailed black and white album cover to the more bright and vibrant others that surround it. Captured from a birds-eye-view the arrangement of the images to resemble someone, almost ads a three-dimensional effect to the constructed person within the image.
Technical –
With soft studio lights, this prevented minimal amounts of shadows on the album covers to try am seamlessly blend them together. With a fairly sharp shutter-speed, this allows a a perfectly exposed image which allows the individually colourful album covers to blend and merge and outline themselves against the plain backgrounds. By further having a neutral white balance, this allows for the art to produce its own visual contrasts.
Contextual –
Behind his work, Marclay has spoken about how he enjoys creating new art from other forms of art that already exist. “The process of editing is what I enjoy most – putting the pieces together and making sense out of them.” – Christian Marclay. His work is a clear example of both an effective collage and montage, as his concept strikes the structure of what defines them.
Conceptual –
His work can be said to explore and show how identity can be made through music taste. Furthermore, gender is another subject explored within his work with a merge of male and female body parts used to construct a figure, creating ambiguous meaning to its intentions. further more, his images can seem to construct a story through a blend of work, whether it be about someone travelling or depicting Christ’s Crucifixion.
Rafal Milach:
Rafal Milach, ‘Reverse’, 2024.
Rafal Milach, who was born in Poland, is a visual artist, photographer and educator who’s work focuses on tension between society and its power structures. His series ‘Reverse’ is a interesting modern art piece, making use of collaging and the aesthetic of film grain to produce a visually inviting study into the ‘standards of beauty’ and the way that the body, mainly that of women, is represented and perceived by audiences. Milach’s work criticises the strict rigor of body representation within the fashion industry and breaks down, distort and undermine the ‘ideal’ of how the body is presented. By making use of well-known art works from art and pop culture images, Milach attempts to emphasise the representations to bring to light the oppressive nature behind them. With his images made from montaging and collaging his own images and ones borrowed from popular culture, it creates both a simplistic yet contrastive art piece.
Mood Board:
Photos are from his series ‘Reverse’. Here they are presented in a large collection of images within an over-sized book in the collection of tens of thousands of books at 7L – Karl Lagerfeld’s library.
Image Analysis:
Visual –
With the pale, stone-grey coloured photographs contrasting to the more vibrant colours chosen by Milach, This creates an isolated effect to the photograph, drawing more attention to it. With the grainy film texture added to his photos, this creates a vintage effect which alongside the images of old pop-culture images adds to the overall aesthetic of his work as well as the conceptual basis of looking back towards old idealisms in the history of art, fashion and photography.
Technical –
His images seem to make use of strong but also soft, studio lightening to replicate that of the vintage images included in the series. His images are mainly taken at mid-shot level or on specific points of the body in a close-up. With no motion in the images, the shutter-speed can be said to be fairly quick, furthermore with a lot of grain between the photos, this could have obtained through a higher ISO.
Contextual –
Rifal Milachs work ‘Reverse’, explores through collages the ‘standards of beauty’ and the way the body, mainly that of women, is perceived and represented within things such as the fashion industry and other various mediums such as art and photography. With various aspects of the work featuring the inclusion of old pop-culture images, Milach can be said to attempting to challenge traditional views on what beauty is defined as.
Conceptual –
For this project, his concept is the exploration of the perceptions of what has defined the ‘standard of beauty’ and create an open to criticism those perceptions that have been made in things such as the fashion industry and photography. Milach’s project can be applicable to the theme of identity with the subjects of his work being both stereotyped and countertypeed to their traditional presentations.
Characterised by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorifying nature and the past, Romanticism is an art and literature movement, which took value in human emotions, instincts and intuitions. Romanticism began in Europe near the end of the 18th century in approximately 1770, during a time of war with the French Revolution, which fuelled it. The movement was primarily a reaction towards the scientific rationalisation of nature, and a revolt against the restrained emotional nature and the overwhelming changes in society introduced by industrialisation. For most of the Western world, its peak was approximately 1800 to 1850. A main characteristic of romanticism is the deepened appreciation towards nature. There are a range of romantic landscapes which portray and praise nature for its ferociousness and lack of mercy, or it being beautiful and serene.
Dark Romanticism
Shadowing the euphoric feelings surrounding Romanticism is the sub-genre of Dark Romanticism, which explores horror, the sublimity of decay, and the supernatural. Dark Romanticism focuses on the sublimity of decay inherit brutality of nature and evil of an individual.
Sublime
Sublime is described by Edmund Burke as an artistic effect that is “the strongest passion”, and in all cases terror and fear is the ruling principle. The sublime is associated with evoking the feeling of the strongest emotion that the mind is capable of experiencing, usually surrounding nature, which inspires great awe and terror knowing you are smaller and insignificant in comparison and at the mercy of nature.
rebellion, freedom, symbol, intuition, emotion, the individual, truth
Francisco Goya
Gustave Doré
Symbolism
Characterised by its emphasis on the disturbing, the mysterious, and the unspeakable, Symbolism is an art movement, originating in the late 19th century, which rejected the realistic depiction of the natural world in favour of imaginary worlds and entities. The work of symbolist artists and writers was fuelled by psychological content, particularly erotic and mystical, which could include figures from literature, Greek mythology, the bible, etc.
disturbance, emotion, the uncanny, anarchy, spiritualism, esoteric, perversity
Gustav Klimt
Serafino Macchiati
Surrealism
Aiming to revolutionise the human experience, Surrealism is an art and cultural movement which balances a rational vision of life with one that explores the power of the unconscious, finding beauty within the unexpected, the uncanny, the disregarded, and the unconventional.
the unconscious, irrational, dreams, automatism, juxtaposition, destruction, eroticism
For this photoshoot, I first began by taking pictures of crowded places in Jersey and England. I decided to do this as I wanted to highlight the strength of their friendship by showing how they managed to become friends despite there being billions of other people in the world who they could’ve been friends with. I then decided to further this photoshoot and make my message more clear by taking inspiration from the artist Hayley Warnham. I felt this artist’s work linked well to my images as she adds bold colours to photographs taken by her father which is symbolic of the happy, positive emotions she felt whilst looking at these vintage images of her family.
Overall, I like how these images came out as they are not blurry and have crisp edges which is what I was trying to achieve. Additionally, I think I was able to capture quite large crowds in all my images which enables me to highlight this sense of the low probability of them becoming friends yet them overcoming this.
This is the image by Hayley Warnham which inspired my idea
I then took these images of crowds and began to recreate the work of Hayley Warnham. I began by opening up one of my crowd images on photoshop and then another image I had taken separately of my two friends together. I then used the quick selection tool to outline my friends only then pressed layer via copy. Next, I dragged this layer onto the crowd image and adjusted the size to make them proportional to the rest of the people seen in the image. Afterwards, I went onto google and copied one of her images into Photoshop. I used this as a reference for the colours I was going to use in my image to make my work replicate hers more closely by using the pipette tool to select the exact same colour she used. I added colour to my cut out by using the quick selection tool again on them but this time pressing fill to which it then allowed me to select a colour to fill the area outlined. Finally, I wanted to emphasise the bold colours of my friends more and so I decided to make the background image black and white.
Final images:
Overall, I think my photoshoot inspired by Hayley Warnham was successful in exploring the of the theme of friendship. By contrasting the vibrant cut outs of my friends together with the black and white backgrounds, I managed to create a visual narrative about the transformative power of friendship and the way my friends bring each other colour and joy to their lives. The colours symbolise how my friends elevate one another’s lives and without each other, their lives would be mundane and boring (as conveyed through the use of a black and white background). By photographing crowds, which can often symbolise anonymity or a lack of individuality and making it into a backdrop for my two friends highlights their strong bond and the special impact they have on each other as they cause each other to not just fade into the background of life. I like the juxtaposition of vibrant, colourful figures against the greyscale background as it helps make the cut outs stand out and ensure they’re the focal point of the image. The bright colours create a sense of energy, joy and life whereas the neutral tones in the background helps put more emphasis on the cut outs, symbolising the importance of friendship as a source of emotional colour.
In conclusion, I think my photoshoot has been successful in creating an engaging narrative about how my friends infuse joy into each other’s lives. I also think I managed to replicate the work of Hayley Warnham quite closely as I used the exact same colours seen in her cut outs using the pipette tool and I created a clear contrast between the background and my friends by making the background black and white (similar to how her backgrounds are often a sepia, muted tone).
Peter Lik is an award-winning Australian landscape photographer known for his breath taking images of nature, particularly his stunning captures of sunsets, oceans, and vast landscapes. Born in 1959, Lik developed a passion for photography at a young age and later became famous for his ability to capture light, colour, and texture in an almost surreal way. His signature style blends dramatic compositions with rich, vibrant tones, making his work instantly recognizable. Lik has gained worldwide recognition, with some of his prints selling for record-breaking prices, solidifying his status as one of the most successful fine art photographers. His deep appreciation for nature is evident in every image, inspiring viewers to see the world’s beauty through his lens.
Peter Lik – Australian Photographer
What styles does he use? -
Artistic Style & Themes
Peter Lik’s style is honestly insane. His photos don’t just capture landscapes they make them feel larger than life, almost like stepping into a dream. They give off a very surreal feeling even just from being a viewer of his work. He plays with light in a way that makes every scene feel so alive, whether it’s the glow of a sunset over the ocean or mist creeping through a canyon. One of the things that really stands out to me is how rich and vibrant his colours are. His sunsets aren’t just soft pastels, they explode with deep oranges, fiery reds, and intense purples, creating this super dramatic effect that makes his work instantly recognizable.
Another thing I love about his style is how he balances everything so perfectly. His compositions are always on point, he knows exactly where to place the horizon, how to use leading lines, and when to shoot to get the best possible lighting. A lot of his shots feature reflections, either in water or glossy surfaces, which makes the whole scene feel even more surreal. It’s like he finds a way to amplify nature’s natural beauty instead of just documenting it. His work has this mix of peacefulness and intensity at the same time, which is what makes it so unique.
Mood board of his work -
What techniques does he use? -
Techniques & Approach
Peter Lik is all about capturing the most epic landscapes, and he definitely knows how to make nature look its absolute best. One of the biggest things he focuses on is natural light, he times his shots perfectly to get the most dramatic lighting possible, whether that’s during golden hour, right at sunset, or even in the middle of the day. His ability to work with light is next level, and it’s a huge part of why his images feel so bold and cinematic.
When it comes to his photography gear, he shoots with high end medium format cameras, which help capture crazy amounts of detail and depth. He’s also big on using long exposures, especially for shots of moving water or clouds, giving them that soft, almost otherworldly effect. Another thing he does a lot is panoramic photography, stitching multiple images together to create these massive, ultra-detailed prints. And of course, post-processing plays a role too. His edits enhance the natural vibrancy of the scene without making it look too artificial. It’s clear that he doesn’t just take pictures; he builds an image with a perfect balance of composition, light, and colour to create something that feels almost too perfect to be real.
Peter Lik photo analysis -
This photo is a beautiful example of sunset landscape photography, utilizing a balanced composition and soft, flowing textures to create a peaceful and surreal atmosphere. The horizon line is placed near the upper third of the frame, following the rule of thirds to maintain a well-structured and visually pleasing balance. The rock formations scattered throughout the scene add depth and serve as natural focal points, guiding the eye toward the horizon where the warm glow of the sunset meets the deep blue sky. The water’s movement creates leading lines in the foreground, naturally pulling the viewer into the scene.
The lighting and colour balance in this image are striking. The sky transitions smoothly from a deep, rich blue at the top to a warm, golden-orange near the horizon, creating a stunning contrast between cool and warm tones. The wet sand reflects these colours, amplifying their vibrancy and adding to the dreamlike quality of the scene. The dark silhouettes of the rocks stand out sharply against the colourful background, adding a sense of depth and making the sky appear even more luminous.
From a technical standpoint, this image likely uses a long exposure technique, which gives the water its smooth, misty appearance. A low ISO (100-200) ensures the image remains sharp and free from noise, while a small aperture (around f/8 to f/16) keeps the entire scene in focus, from the foreground to the distant horizon. The slow shutter speed allows the movement of the waves to be captured as a soft blur, emphasizing the sense of peace.
Overall the mood of the image is calm and relaxing, creating a deep sense of peace. The contrast between the static, solid rocks and the almost ethereal water creates a dynamic yet harmonious balance. The way the colours blend seamlessly into one another makes the scene feel almost too perfect to be real, reinforcing the idea that nature, in the right moment and light, can appear truly magical.
Who influenced Peter Lik? -
Peter Lik’s work is definitely influenced by his deep love for nature and the way light transforms a landscape. You can tell he’s drawn to those dramatic, fleeting moments like the exact second the sun dips below the horizon or when mist rolls through a canyon. His photos feel like he’s capturing something rare and almost untouchable, which makes them so powerful. He’s also clearly inspired by travel and adventure, always seeking out the most breath taking locations. Whether it’s deserts, oceans, or mountains, he finds a way to make them look even more surreal and awe-inspiring. His ability to bring out such intense emotion in his work has definitely influenced a lot of photographers, and it’s easy to see why. His images don’t just show a place, they make you feel like you’re standing right there, taking it all in.
Personal Opinion -
What I love most about Peter Lik’s work is how he makes nature look so unbelievably vibrant and alive. His photos aren’t just pictures of landscapes; they feel like moments frozen in time, but somehow still full of energy. The way he plays with light, especially during sunsets, makes everything feel so rich and intense, like nature turned up to its highest setting. I also really admire how he captures depth and movement, especially in his long exposure shots where the water looks smooth and misty. It makes everything feel so peaceful but also a little surreal.
His style definitely inspires me because it proves how much of a difference lighting, angles, and timing can make in photography. It’s not just about taking a picture, it’s about waiting for the perfect moment and knowing how to bring out the best in a scene. I’d love to experiment with capturing more dramatic lighting and bold colours in my own photography, especially during sunset. His work reminds me that nature already has all the beauty we need, it’s just about learning how to see and capture it in the right way.
Penelope Umbrico is an American artist known for her unique approach to digital photography and how she engages with the internet and technology. Her work often explores the relationship between image culture, technology, and the ways in which we experience and share moments in the digital age.
Umbrico’s art is centered around the idea of found images she often collects and repurposes photographs that are already circulating on the internet, particularly those found on platforms like Flickr and Instagram. One of her most well-known projects is Sunsets, where she collects thousands of sunset images uploaded by other users, then reconfigures them into new works of art. The project highlights the idea of mass-produced, ubiquitous images in the digital era and explores how personal moments (like a sunset) can become part of a larger, often impersonal, digital archive.
Her work often touches on themes like image overload, the democratization of photography, and how technology affects our perception of the world. Penelope Umbrico’s work invites viewers to reflect on the way we interact with images, technology, and nature in an age where everything is constantly shared and archived online.
She’s exhibited internationally and is known for her thought-provoking pieces that challenge traditional notions of authorship, originality, and what it means to create in the digital age.
Penelope Umbrico
What’s the Project About?
So, Penelope Umbrico isn’t just out there taking photos of sunsets herself. Instead, she goes through social media sites like Flickr and Instagram, collecting thousands of sunset photos from random people all over the world. It’s like she’s curating a collection of these everyday, personal moments, and then she rearranges them into something totally new. It’s not just about the individual sunsets anymore, but about this big collection of photos that anyone could have taken, and yet when they’re put together, they tell a whole different story.
What makes it interesting is that the sunset itself isn’t just a personal experience anymore. It’s part of a huge, shared digital archive. Everyone has their own version of a sunset, but when you see them all together, they lose some of that personal feel. Umbrico’s project makes you think about how we post these moments online and what happens to them once they’re out in the digital world.
Why I think It’s So Cool
What I love about Umbrico’s Sunsets project is that it’s not just about showing pretty pictures. She’s not really criticizing the photos themselves, but she’s making us think about them differently. When you see so many sunset photos all together, it makes you realize how oversaturated the internet is with this kind of content. Each photo might seem like it captures something unique and beautiful, but once they’re all mixed together, they almost lose some of their magic. And that’s kind of the point like how do we make sense of all these shared experiences online?
Umbrico’s also playing with the idea of what it means to share something digitally. Normally, when you upload a photo, it’s kind of a way to say, “Hey, I was here, and this moment was meaningful to me.” But when you’re looking at these sunset photos on a platform with millions of other people doing the same thing, it changes the experience. Umbrico’s project kind of makes you think about that, and how our obsession with sharing images has an effect on what they mean to us.
The Art of Technology
Another cool thing about Sunsets is how Umbrico mixes art with technology. She doesn’t just throw up these photos as-is. She uses digital tools to manipulate them and make something new, almost like she’s highlighting the way technology affects how we interact with art. The result is this huge, colorful collage of sunsets that almost looks like a digital painting. The sunsets still look beautiful, but they feel a little more fragmented and disjointed when you see them all together.
And I think that’s a metaphor for the digital world in general. We use technology to capture and share moments, but the more we do it, the more we lose that personal connection. These sunset photos, while stunning on their own, kind of lose their magic in a sea of other photos. It’s almost like you have to ask, “Do we even see the sunset anymore when we look at it through a screen?”
Why Does It Matter?
Honestly, in today’s world, we’re flooded with images daily especially on social media. Sunset photos are everywhere, and everyone’s sharing them. But Sunsets is important because it makes you stop and think: What does it mean when we share everything? What happens when we turn the most personal moments into something public? And how does that change how we experience the world around us?
Umbrico’s project doesn’t give us a straight answer. It just makes you reflect on the way we consume and share images today. And I think that’s what makes it so powerful. It’s a reminder that even something as simple as a sunset can have a much deeper meaning when you look at it in the context of the digital age.
My Final Thoughts
Overall, Penelope Umbrico’s Sunsets project isn’t just about sunsets, or even just about photography. It’s about how we live in a digital world where our personal moments get shared and reshaped in ways we don’t always realize. Umbrico’s art makes you think about how technology shapes the way we see things and how we connect with each other through images. So next time you snap a sunset pic, maybe think about where it’s going and how it fits into that huge digital landscape. It might just make you appreciate the moment a little more.
I want to make a short photobook, to link it to my film.
First I started by creating my book within lightroom. I did this by going into my union folder. Select all using ctrl A. Go back into top collections, create collection inside of union, seperate folder. Click book, create. Drag in new images and create save book. Blurb book- choose size- square- orientation and format. Hard cover wrap images. Premium paper. Name and title page? Maybe a short paragraph. Images are at the bottom can drop and drag them in, use zoom button and favorite different templates. Use right click too add pages.
I made things easier for myself by flagging my images, allocating which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t.
I then chose a main image for my front cover, I wanted it to be a wrapped image to create a more informal feel. And I know that I will still be taking more photos too add to my actual book.
I have made my title the same font as my intro to my short documentary in order to link the two together.
I then added all of my text onto the cover page, creating a final cover.
I then decided that my first page would be a text page, so I started mocking up different text pages.
I then came to the conclusion of this.
I wanted to start my photobook off with a darker tone, so that my photobook matches my documentary.
I wanted my images to contain a sequence, a set of four images and then a double page spread to break up the times of the day.
I interviewed one of the drivers within the image, I did this to break up my book, and add more context.
I then shifted my gaze, keeping the same sequencing, but adding a more sunset feel to it.
I then create a secondary interview, with the other person that I will interview for my short documentary.
I then finalised my book with the images that are more well lit.
I have added an environmental approach to my photobook, by adding breaker images where they are actually engaging in something.
I then went into my premier short documentary and took screenshots of things that I think would fit within my book.
I did this to create a genuine behind the scenes feel.
I then played around to see how these images would look within my book.
I didn’t really like how these images came out, they looked really pixelated, I think that it was a good experiment to see how these would’ve looked but I don’t think that the execution was good.
I then added another 6 pages from my latest photoshoot, and so that I would have enough room to add in another small interview.
After looking at my book layout in full I decided to play around with the composition moving some images around a bit more.
This photoshoot was the shoot I wanted to focus on my friend and her little brother and how their relationship is a union. The difference from the first photoshoot is that this shoot is set indoors in their house.
Favourite edited images:
Joiners:
I created the joiners in the same following steps:
To create these I first edited my images on Lightroom where I adjusted the exposure levels and contrast. I decided on keeping some images in their original colour and some in black and white.
I then filtered the colour marked images and exported them to my documents where id be able to use the edited images to create the joiners.
The first image I used was of the two walking together while holding hands. To do the edit I used the rectangular marquee tool to draw out the boxes that I wanted. after highlighting the first cut out, I right clicked on the box and pressed ‘Layer via copy’ where I then got another layer on the right side under my background. I duplicated the background and moved the layers that I was cutting out to the top. I did this many times while also hiding the background multiple times to see what squares I had missed and if it looked okay. I think went back on each layer and double clicked them. this then gave me editing options for that particular section so I went down to drop shadow and edited the opacity, size, angle and width. doing this meant the boxes were more visible and looked more like they stood out.
The last thing I did was add a colour as the background. I did this by simply copying an image from the internet and pasting it onto the edit which created a new layer which was then able to move end every other layer in the edit which brought it only to the background.
Photoshoot Evalution:
In my opinion, the photoshoot for the theme “Union” went quite well overall. The settings I planned to use in my photoshoot plan was the one I ended up using and this was the subjects own home. I think choosing their home as a photoshoot setting was a good choice as the two are familiar to their surroundings and feel more comfortable participating in a shoot when they know their environment well. As well as this, I believe taking the images in the house makes the shoot a lot more personal to the siblings as its where they have spent part/all of their lives living with each other. I was able to get more shots that were staged rather than candid like photoshoot one as I found it easy to freeze the scene just by telling the two to sit still. this would’ve been more difficult to do in an outdoor setting as I wouldn’t be able to control other factors like moving cars, other people in the shot, or the affect of the weather (eg wind). I like how in this shoot I’ve managed to take images of many different activities the two are engaging in as it was all there to use and set up. this inside things like games, instruments, music playing on the tv and balloons. Being in their home meant they were able to show more deeper connections between each other like laughing while playing instruments or simply having a hug. As well as the first photoshoot, this shoot was again able to show the older siblings care for the younger sibling by helping him with the reading or helping him play the game on the floor.
One thing I didn’t manage to do was create the joiners with the camera. I did my joiners on photoshop again as I was unable to create them the other way.
The black border in the images below is what I would cut off. The same goes for the third image with the white boarder.
Photoshop Gallery
Conclusion
Overall I am satisfied with how this project turned out, I believe I was able to interpret the idea of dreams and reality uniting into some sort of screenshot or freezeframe of a moment.
What I would have done differently is I would have included a lot more human subjects and lean towards Francesca Woodman and Anthi Kollia’s work in order to create a narrative of a character experiencing these scenes (my images) instead of the viewer being left to interpretation. I would have also mounted my images differently to try and form a narrative.
The best part I like about a few of my images is the ‘found footage’/ liminal style that I had created on Photoshop. It creates a more eerie and old camera-like affect. I also like how it brought out more colours and caused a glitch affect.
I have selected my best photographs and arranged them into a gallery.
Evaluation
Overall I think my final outcomes were successful as they represent union through the way they connect together and relate to one another. I have demonstrated this through a series of different edits, firstly using Lightroom to slightly adjust and edit to then exporting onto photoshop, where I then experimented with layering different and the same photographs on top of one another, to using the joiners technique.
I was firstly greatly inspired by Ernest Ludwig Kirchner, a cubist artist who used very distinct brushstrokes of colour which formulate the overall painting, creating this dramatic, expressive image. Kirchner’s intentions of his work to was to reveal the inner truth, and inner souls of humans even if it was shocking or the fewer. This really influenced me as his loose, figurative, sold blocks of colour, that were painted in a formational, distinct way, overall created this really expressive, intense, dramatic painting that revealed a lot about the subject. Within my own work I incorporated this theme, showing you insights of peoples lives through what they do everyday, or what their passion is. In particular, I captured moments as a girl applies her makeup, and getting ready to a different girl and her passion with music. I decided to take environmental portraits of this, which captured the subject in the moment, whilst still staging some aspects of the portrait, like how the subject as positioned and is set up, I also took the photo with the light coming in from behind me. This expressed union as we are presented with the subject and their ‘natural environment’ such as their bedroom, which describes this story and shows us how they are connected together, as it is something that is personal to them.
I was was further inspired by David Hockney and his photo joiners editing technique. This further intensified and dramaticed the photo as the photo became almost unrecognisable at first through the uneven, imperfect pieces that are re-joined or united together again which is completely different to the original image. This distorts not only the image itself but your response to it as the subject is not obvious, you have to look for it. This visual technique hides but also reveals narratives forming a new kind of reality, as you have to look in-depth to where you see the actual subject. Within my response, I wanted to emphasise the disjointed effect particularly where their were hidden or unnoticeable details, by repeating part of the layer, then layering this on top which created this sequence of a repeated pattern/ detail. In particular, I did this where the graphical parts were – like on the magazine as this created interesting depth, and expressed the intricate details.
From looking at the joiners technique I wanted to experiment with a new way that I could express the disjointed, fragmented effect, but then show how this was reconnected back together, in a way that unites. I decided to create a mosaic, grid pattern:
I thought this was effective as the broken up pattern creates a similar effect to Kirchner’s loose painting style of expressive brushstrokes.
I then began experimenting with new ways in particular layering photographs. This created an interesting illusion of the subject as their was duplicated versions of the same subject. I found this an interesting way of expression union, as it showed how someone was united together in a particular way. This also created a type of figurative movement, as it is not clear what you see , because your focus is mis-lead by the shadows of the of the second layer (particularly for the third portrait).
Throughout this project I wanted to find new ways I could create depth and show how two subjects are connected together, through various editing techniques from using environmental portraits.
