Girl with a pearl earring

Watching the film Girl with a pearl earring was a very useful insight into the life and work of Vermeer. I'm not sure exactly how much of it was true (especially relating to the painting Girl with a pearl earring), but it must have been based on some amount of fact, and the information regarding where he lived and his studio must have been accurate.

What i got from it was that Vermeer was a very quiet and private man, someone who lived all his life in Delft and painted not as much as other famous artists of the past, but when he did it was quite a spectacle.



Undoubtedly his most famous work, not necessarily his best work in my opinion. However the light cast on the face of the woman is superb, as if there is a light source being shone onto one side, while the other side is enveloped in shadow.

I've read about this image a good amount, and what everyone comments on is the secrecy and uncertainty of it. For example, who was the woman in the painting? Why is there a turban used on her head? And did Vermeer even sell this painting in his lifetime? I like the questions that this work poses, as it is something that appeals to me in my image making.

Why should everything in a photograph be so obvious and understood?

The two paintings

As we have been asked to focus mainly on these two paintings by Vermeer, I have decided to initially look at them in some detail.



Woman with a Lute (1664)

I think it's very important to firstly see the quality of these paintings, as it is staggering, as is the realism they create in depicting a scene. The colours in Woman with a Lute are really dark, yet look very realistic and accurate to what they would have been. The light cast on the woman's face is very well done, and must have been particularly difficult to do, but what I'm really drawn to within the image is the composition and arrangement of objects. I think that everything must have been arranged for a reason and thought out so as to have meaning.




Girl reading a letter at an open window (1657)

For me, this is by far the superior painting of the two, and there is much more in it that I like. The reflection of the girls face on the window looks amazing! It must have been incredibly difficult to capture with paint and a brush. What's interesting within the painting is the fact that Vermeer has almost created a second frame; a frame within the frame, which is made up by the curtain and the overhead rail. I'm not sure what that is intended for, nor am I sure what he is trying to convey with his paintings. Could it be just capturing a stillness? Or perhaps just a meaningless moment in time?
I'm not sure, so looking at more of his work should be something I need to do, so as to grasp a more clear understanding.

Johannes Vermeer/Assignment brief

So now that personal space is finished with, I can get my teeth into the second assignment of 302, which i'm looking forward to. The brief is much longer and spans from week three to week twelve at the end of term, and will be much more engaging and interesting than the first i feel.

We are asked to study the work of 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer, trying to interpret the meanings behind the paintings, and produce a series of work in response. And the two paintings we are asked to look at in particular are:
Woman with a Lute
Girl with a letter at an open window

We are asked for a body of work which contains at least four final images.

The brief itself seems really unlike anything we've had before, and I'm quite eager to get going with it, and get to grips in detail with the work of Vermeer. Also the brief is set not only by Sarah, but by contemporary photographer Dinu Li whose input and ideas could be very interesting for my work.

A short conclusion

I'll keep this one short as the brief itself was only a two week one.

I've found it pretty hard to get back into the swing of things after the summer break, especially having a two week deadline, but it's been good in a way to have the pressure. I think my ideas and answers to the brief set were good, and the way I approached it was quite original however my images could have been better.

Don't get me wrong, I do like what I've shot and they are alright images, it's just that I don't think the situations I photographed were as good as they could have been; not personal or intruding enough. I do disagree with what people said about the use of black card to create a peephole, as I think it worked quite well, and if I had used a keyhole it could have perhaps looked almost comical in a way.

It is a cliche, but nevertheless true that if the brief had been longer and I'd have had more time perhaps I could have developed and improved my images to work better.

Final images

The image above is the one that i selected from my second shoot. I really like how the reflection in the mirror makes it seem even more that someone is watching in and the expression on her face is one that suggests she is totally unaware of her watcher. This is probably my favorite image out of the three due to the fact i think it really is right in someones personal space, and is an intrusion of it.





I like how in every shot the peephole is not quite the same shape or in the same place within the frame. I think i have succeeded in what i wanted to achieve, and created a voyeuristic view upon these people's personal and private spaces.

Peephole images 2

So after the group crit i decided to shoot again, and this time look for something that was quite a personal space. I thought that someone in their underwear in their room, just being themselves would be a good idea for this. So i got my model to just go about her daily routine, and photographing around that here my results are above.

I think that a lot of the images work well, and i am particularly pleased with my outcomes and the voyeuristic feel they have to them. Now i just need to edit them down and pick one to go with my other two favorite images.

Group critique and thoughts...

At the Thursday group crit we went through everyone's work so far for the brief and discussed the good points and ways in which it could be improved. When talking about my work, i initially told everyone about my first ideas and shoot and how it was unsuccessful, before moving on to my images shot for peephole.

There was a mixed reaction to the images i feel, as some people said they liked the dark shadow around the image, whereas others disagreed saying it took up too much of the image. The general opinion was that a couple of my images worked well, however the rest were too impersonal, and did not capture this private/personal space in a voyeuristic way in which i set out to do.

As i still have a couple of days left before the deadline, and also that i only need Canon prints, there is still time for me to re-shoot. I need to think of ways in which i can really invade a private space, and i need to think where these personal spaces really are.