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Reflection:

In this workshop, we discussed the role of the camera and images, and how their relationship ‘concerning the digital to its current iteration as a marriage between image, technology and the Internet’ (Fontcuberta,2017).

From the seminar, we were introduced to the idea that ‘the age of post-photography can be understood as the age of the inorganic image: a composite of littered information – collected, ordered, layered, buried, stored and discarded’ (Fontcuberta,2017). In addition to this, we paid attention to the camera and considered why it is described as the ‘black box’.

After understanding the main theories and concepts presented in the seminar, we all participated in having our individual photos taken before using Photoshop to compile them all into one image. To achieve this, we uploaded the images onto one another using the layering and masking functions in Photoshop and merged them together before selecting the layer tab and changing the mean, mode, and medium of each image on the layer to create an average of a photograph. This allowed us to manipulate images what the ‘black box’ produced and to create different content based on similar features of an image.

In response to this experiment, I was interested to see how the average of a person’s features changed over a number of years. The example I used was Harry Styles, as there were many photos available for me to access online and I understood that he had many looks over the years that he has been actively famous. I then saved these images and uploaded them into Photoshop on individual layers, ensuring that each feature was scaled up with one another before selecting different averages.

The images above were my results.

Evaluation:

From this task, I believe that I have gained a better understanding of the role of the camera and how we use it to create an image to manipulate for our own purpose. I also used different functions of Photoshop that I was not aware of and therefore enhanced my skills and knowledge about the software that I could find useful for future projects. However, if I was to complete this task again, then I would probably use an example that had a more array of images throughout a longer time period to see whether the average features would still be the same, or whether the subject of the photo would have changed drastically, creating a completely new persona.