Art Movements- Surrealism?

As part of my Weird and Wonderful project, I have touched on elements of conceptual and surrealist photography. However, I decided to do some research on the art movement of Surrealism, and compare it to the here and now, and distinguish the changes and developments within this area.

Surrealism is a cultural movement, first founded in 1924 by Andre Breton. The style, uses visual imagery from the subconscious mind. There is an element of surprise and juxtaposition within the artwork produced, and can be used widely as a use for expression.

Moodboard on the Art Movement; Surrealism

Surrealism was popular with members from the Dada community.
Dada, is another art movement from early 20th century. The aim of the Dada movement, was to produce pieces with political influence. Particularly, it is related to Nazi Germany.  It includes a mixture of cubism and collage which create busy compositions. Essentially, the Dada movement was used for people to create their own truth by using this style of montage, which also links in with escapism. This then lead onto the surreal movement. Qualities from the Dada movement are represented within the surreal movement; for example, the strange compositions.

Moodboard on the Art Movement; Dada

The first known element of Surrealism within photography, came from the photographers; Man Ray and Maurice Tabard during the early 1900's. As friends, they both experimented with the use of photo grams and became very experimental within this movement.

Moodboards on Maurice Tabard

Moodbard on Man Ray

I proceeded to use the website Flickr, to research surrealism and conceptual photography in the present time. I am curious as to the difference between Ray and Tabard's starting points, to the developments made over the years. As technology has improved, so has photography, and the outcomes that are produced are more refined. As well as this, I can then compare these developments within my own work, distinguishing how the art movement has influenced me and the work I produce.

Below are links to photographers that I have found that relate to the art movement of modern surrealism;

Olivier Ramonteu

Ramonteu has been a member on Flickr since 2008. Originally from France, he likes to explore different worlds within his photography. His portfolio contains a variety of different styles, but the main style would be conceptual.
In 2012, Ramonteu created a series called 'Dance.' When browsing at this series, it reminded me of some of my current work within this project. It also reminded me of the early experiments with surrealism. He linked this series in with mythology and fantasy stories. Essentially, he has used photography as an interpretation of these stories.

Above, are two photographs taken from this series. Subjectively, the photographs are in black and white, which enhances that eery effect. The black and white filter also relates back to the early works of Man Ray and Maurice Tabard. Objectively, the subjects within these photographs are distorted along with the background. The locations, compared to Ray and Tabards early works have developed due to the outdoor location of the lake and fields. Ramonteu, would have used post editing to create these effects to enhance the mood he is trying to create. Similarly to the earlier surrealist photography, this series are full of simple compositions. Along with this, the series presents similarities to my own work within this weird and wonderful project. The movement that is created, is one that I have experimented with, and also the lake is a popular location to use to create surreal elements.

Severine Arend
Arend has been a member on Flickr since 2009. Her photography, is mainly portraiture, which relates to modern surrealism. The series that I am most interested in, is her self portraiture album. As I am currently using self portraiture as a genre within my own project, looking through Arend's self portraiture also gives me inspiration. Arend focuses on dreams and nightmares in her self portraiture.

Arend has captured personal dreams and nightmares using photography in the style of surrealism. This series presents a modern take on the movement, yet shows characteristics from the early style. The compositions are still of a simple nature and do not tend to be over complicated. The main difference between this series and the early works, are that of the use of Photoshop. These particular photographs have been set up specifically and have taken much thought and planning into the composition. There is also clear experimentation with lighting. An element similar to my own project, is the experimentation of levitation, a skill which I have used in my Photoshop work. It seems as though levitation is a common representation a of dreams and fantasy theme. 

Harry Dunkerley
An Artist and Photographer from England, joined Flickr in 2013. He takes influence from surreal and conceptual photography and art to portray compelling narratives and fantastical scenarios that defy limitation.

Another modern style surrealist photographer I came across, was Dunkerley. His photographs reflect childlike scenarios rather than dark fantasy. Dunkerley shows that surrealism can be used in a positive light as well as negative. Dunkerley's photographs are brightly composed and reflect innocence. Imagination plays a big part in these photographs, creating worlds that you would rather escape to. Overall, Surrealism is an escape for individuals, whether it be creating a place to escape to, or using it to describe the place you are in. Again, simplicity is key. Dunkerley's compositions only contain himself within a certain location. It is then, there is a small element of surrealism, which can then make the audience believe in the photograph. 

Violet D'Art
Violet, has been a member on Flickr since 2008. Her photographs are self portraits, focused on the emotion of loneliness. She uses this emotion as inspiration for all of her photographs. She believes that loneliness helps one find themselves and aids self discovery. She creates scenes of a dreamlike nature, beautiful and dark and to dig into the viewers emotions. Surreal, yet real enough.

D'Art, uses self portraiture within surrealism as an escape. She has used one emotion, and expanded on this using her imagination and creative process. This is a perfect example of someone who is trying to describe emotion and feelings through photography. A use of expressionism can then be linked in with this style.
Comparing these photographs with the art movement of surrealism, there are significant differences. The artwork produced within the movement is clearly artificial and imaginative, yet with the development of surrealism in photography, photographers have made an aim to make the photographs as believable as possible so that the audience can't tell the difference.

Bobbi Fox
Fox, has been a member on Flickr since 2008. Her work is conceptual, and mainly self portraiture. Her photographs, are again, dreamlike and relate to the theme of dark fantasy. Her work contains photographs that contain a horror theme which is similar to the photographers that I have looked at within this project.

Fox's photographs contain elements of fantasy and horror. The horror theme is similar to my chosen photographer Christopher McKenney, and also some experiments that I have tried out myself. Within my project, I have used fake blood to enhance the mood of the photograph.These dark photographs, would have been enhanced using Photoshop to create the eery mood. Compositions can vary within surrealism, this is so that it stays compelling and interesting. The bottom photograph, shows a different view point, which create for a more interesting as a series.

Bobbi Fox inspired photographs

 I decided to respond to the photographer Bobbi Fox as an extension to my project. I felt that the composition with the girl holding the light in the woods was similar to the theme of my project.

This is a response for the photographer Bobbi Fox. I found that the inspiration for this photo shoot was similar to the topic of my project. The use of lighting is similar to my chosen photographers. Lissy Elle Laricchia and Brooke Shaden, have both experimented with the use of lighting in an outdoor location. For this shoot, it was mainly about finding a feasible way for me to experiment with this composition, therefore, I simply used my back garden as the location. I used an old, outdoor light as my source which was attached to an extension cable, which was then plugged in to a socket in my house. I water until it got dark to take this selection, so that the lighting could have full effect. Luckily, it was a windy day, which happened to work in my favour. The movement within my hair, creates a dramatic effect. I set my camera up on a tripod with a fairly slow shutter speed due to the natural lighting. In photo shop, I erased the wire cable from the composition, so that it looks like I am holding a lightbulb without a power source. Objectively, I am mainly central to the composition. I experimented with holding the light closer to my face and away from my face which gave different tonal effects within my face and dress. I desaturated the photographs so that it becomes a consistent part within my project. Subjectively, this has enhanced the paranormal effect, and creates a feeling of power.  The light is representative of the magic and power that Mara has encountered. It compliments Mara establishing her power, therefore relating to the shock and disturbance that it caused. 

Bobbi Fox Shoot 2 response

Reflecting back upon the original photograph, it was shot at dusk, rather than in complete darkness. I proceeded to go back out the next day at dusk and reshoot the same image. Luckily, the wind hadn't subsided the next day, therefore, the results were just as effective. These photographs, I added a 'cool' filter to experiment the tones from the original photograph. I essentially used the same process as the previous shoot, however, I experimented with different positions of the light, still linking it to my theme and narrative. These photographs, make the audience more aware of the location compared to the previous shoot. As the audience can establish the location, it makes the narrative more believable and links in well with my project and it's settings.

Overall, Surrealism can be portrayed in different ways. I have established that as technology improved, so did the imagination of photographers, and then allowed them to become more experimental.
Comparing Surrealism from the Art Movement in 1924, to current day, there have been many developments and the two are clearly different forms. It is understandable that you may not be able to distinguish the exact movement that photographs today are related to. There have been many that are influenced by several movements, not just one.
As I have researched photographers on the popular photography website, Flickr, photographers are currently working on projects and filling portfolios. Some are not well known, whereas others are. These I refer to as 'Unknown Surrealists.' Finding similarities from these photographers within my own work, essentially makes me a 'Unknown Surrealist.'