Vincent (Starry Starry Night) Don McLean

I found this great music video for Vincent van Gogh, hope everyone enjoys it.

Starry Starry Night

On a recent trip to New York with the college we all went to the Museum of Modern Art - MOMA.  While in the museum I was lucky enough to see the original painting by van Gogh entitled The Starry Night.  We were allowed to take photos so here it is:



The Starry Night, Saint Remy, June 1889 Oil on Canvas by Vincent van Gogh

"This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise," the artist wrote to his brother Theo, "with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big."

Vincent van Gogh

I've added the wonderful Vincent to my research and thought I'd share a couple of images with you. 

The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles at Night, 1888




Cafe Rouge, Brindley Place, Birmingham 2011

 



Cafe Rouge, Brindley Place, Birmingham, 2011

 

After taking the photos of the Cafe Rouge in Brindley Place I remembered seeing something similar in an artwork by van Gogh.  I think that my photos resemble the painting of The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles at night, 1888.



My Final Week

Ahh, at last we come to the end.  Seems a shame really.  Over the last 8 weeks we have been working on our FMP.  To begin with i was going to take pictures of landscapes to portray how I felt about them (dealing with my emotion, unlike others like in my previous project).  But this was going badly, so I decided to make it a project about Night and Day showing the differences between them with the environment and human behavior.  All my photography is done, and my final images are chosen for the show.  After half term when I put the show up, I will have the day shots together and the night shots together.  The 8 day shots will be spread like a zig-zag, whereas the 15 night shots will be side by side like a grid.  I just need to get mounting foam, and cut all of these up and I shall be done with my physical work.  All that will be left is my evaluation to complete and annotations in my sketchbook.

  My project went according to plan, but was not doing so at the start with my original idea.  All the shots I took and the times of day I took them would always grant me pleasant surprises.  My timing and keen eye for a good photograph have improved.  I am more able to visualize and create better shots through this project.  On the whole, I am very happy with my work and proud of what i have achieved in this project, and over this whole course.            

                                                                            Night

These are all of my final images.  In our final critique me an my classmates selected these final images and decided to sett them out in A5 size, and arrange all the day shots together and the night shots together in a grid. 

Final Images

This week I've put my final images together after a critique.  We decided to make the photographs hung up in an A5 format and arranged like a grid, with all the day shots together and all the night shots together.  I will print them on a digital printer on Photo Quality Paper.  Here are the images I have selected....

                                                                             Day

Ahh the observatory.  The view to the stars.  Who are the people in this photo? 

This creepy image is more like my earlier images before I altered my project.  I wonder where the light's coming from?

One word: Jellyfish!  I swear this looks like a jelly fish.  I've no idea what ride this is.  It looks more fun now thatn it probably would normaly!

I These lights are produced by a helicopter on the ground.  I have no idea how this happened.  But I love it!  The lights streak up and reach for thwe sky. 

Roger Vail

i love the swirl effect on this image.  The camera is set on a long exposure due to the darkness, and this results in the the lights movement coming more to life that ever.

Critique

I showed my class my most recent images from Birmingham in Broad Street, the canal at Brindley Place and a construction site of the new REP theatre at Cambridge Street.  I started taking the photos at twilight and continued into the evening.  I followed up with more photos of the same area the following morning.  The night time bars and restaurants that were full of young singles looking to party, were replaced by couples with children and Grandparents during the daylight hours. Broad Street at night was full of limousines, lots of lights, que's for clubs, security door people, police and taxis.  In daylight Broad Street became a place for pushchairs and office workers.   
My peers said these were good but I should organise them so they compare the day to the night showing the same palce/object, or a simular place/object or even the style of the photograph.  The image of the traffic light glow on the boards by the construction site would make a great Diptych (or Triptych) and there needs to be a focus with the layout of the images together.

Bars on Empire State Building

Liberty Island from Empire State Building

View from Empire State Building

Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station

Subway to docks

Liberty Island

Guitars on the walls in the Hard Rock Cafe

The Hard Rock Cafe

New York Trip

The view from my window at the YMCA

The Daily Planet....Lol JK

Times Square

Broad Street

Brindley Place

Contruction site at the side of the Rep Theatre