Fake It: Modern Transportation?
My idea definitely stemmed from my job as an automotive photographer but also photographer in general. As for the photo shot by me that was required, I chose a picture of a car I had taken and simply masked it to be used in the setting of what seemed to be an older form of transportation, specifically men moving herds of buffalo and transporting cargo.
Image Source: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017669643
The main aim of the piece that I wanted to tackle was the juxtaposition of a side by side comparison of an older form of transportation and a more modern form, creating this weird yet funny feeling of seeing a more modern form of transportation, a car in this scenario, in such an old timey photo. Additionally, this was also inspired by posts I had seen recently on social media where photographers were taking very very old film cameras and taking photos, and while striking, I thought it was quite funny and definitely weird when I'd see at times they'd often capture something very modern such as a car, or streetlights, ATMs, etc. When they'd accidentally capture those more modern elements in frame it would create this weird juxtaposed feeling of "that shouldn't be there lol." And I really liked that and therefore wanted to approach that in this piece. And I personally think it looks somewhat convincing at first glance haha.
In this composition there is an image of a long line of people with carriages being pulled by cattle on a dirt road with nothing around them but open fields or possibly farm lands and the image seems to be from quite an older time era. In front of them is a new modern car that is being pulled down this dirt road alongside the other travelers by an ox.
ReplyDeleteFor me when I view this composition I see an ox pulling a new car. This setting and content is meant to be contradicting because instead of driving the car as a form of transportation or using it to pull their luggage they are pulling the car itself which is kind of backwards and comical. While viewing I see this as ironic and compelling. It reminds me of a retro feeling or the iron of today's culture of people collecting vintage items or dressing/thrifting older clothes and upcycling items, or making their images look vintage and older.
However in this image I’m not fully sure if the ox is just simply pulling the vehicle because they're trying to bring the vehicle somewhere new with them or if the vehicle is stuck or something. A part of me thinks it's stuck because it's slightly off the path and not lined up with the road so that makes me think the car is stuck and they're trying to get it out. But from the description it sounds like they're just trying to pull the car similar to their luggage as a belonging. I feel like in order to make it seem just as if they simplify transporting the car it needs to be centered in the road - not partially off the road. It also gives me the impression that they are trying to get the car unstuck because the vehicle is not in line with the large line of travelers. If the vehicle was just being transported I feel like having it in the line with the current line of travelers makes sense. With the car off to the side it seems accidentally and more like they accidentally got the car stuck. Also, I feel like two or more ox would’ve made this more believable because I don’t think one ox could realistically pull an entire vehicle. Overall, the concept is clear and the point of this composition was to juxtaposed an old, dated way of transportation with current, new modern way of transportation. The juxtaposition was successful and the techniques for the composition were executed well such as the masking, adjustment layers, and shadows were done very effectively and the image is believable at first glance.
I think this composition is relevant because there are so many photographers and artists trying to replicate older styles of photography and style. Current themes like vintage, retro, and antique styles are coming back into style and recreated with a modern spin off. It’s like people making their instagram photos look old using black and white filters, grain, and vignetting or people buying and using film cameras, or even people thrifting and styling old clothes in a more modern way.
Overall, the concept of this composition makes sense and is successful with the artist;s original intention. The technique and skills were done well and effectively. This composition also relates to today's culture in the sense that we are always trying to recreate old trends and ideas. In conclusion, this image is believable in first glance and is something that would make the viewer have to second guess and study the photo to decipher whether or not it is real or fake.