CASE STUDY:
DAVID HOCKNEY
Do a case study on David Hockney's works and create a series of 3-5 images using traditional methods (non-digital) based on your study of the experimental intent for a campaign using his style.
ABOUT DAVID HOCKNEY
David Hockney is a British painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. He is an important contributor to the Pop art movement of the 1960s and is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. In the 1980s, he produced photomontages and photo collages which he calls Joiners using Polaroid prints and later 35mm commercially processed colour prints.
He believes that a photo is not enough to express the time that has passed as you look at the scene. He is able to capture both space and time in his collages by taking multiple images of the space and piecing them together, so you can see the time that has passed within the image.
CREATIVE BRIEF
O School (CLG, Charity) is a dance studio and performing arts centre, as well as a social enterprise that opened up in 2006 under the purview of MCCY, with Institute of A Public Character (IPC) status effective from 2016. O School provides a wide variety of dance classes to the Singaporean dance community and aims to identify and develop youth dance talents as well as the Singapore dance market, so as to build sustainable careers for these talents.
INSIGHT
A photograph is not enough to capture the movements of a dance
MESSAGE
Dancers are dynamic storytellers
Dancers are dynamic storytellers
CONCEPT
Capturing dynamics
PROCESS
I felt that one of the rawest and dynamic moments of dance is during battles when dancers freestyle in front of a crowd. This is when movements are the most unpredictable, when the dancer's truly enjoying themselves and when you can feel the audience backing up and supporting the dancer.
I used images I took from my dance club's Jam night last year.
FINAL WORKS
REFLECTION
I really enjoyed during this case study. I thought it was very interesting how David Hockney is able to create a cohesive image that looks like it's from one singular angle by taking pictures from many different distances and angles. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out and do that, but I'm lucky that I had some photos that were of the same subjects. We were given the choice between Jerry Uelsmann and David Hockney, and I ultimately chose David Hockney because I knew that I would be able to use his techniques to show dynamics.
I would definitely consider using David Hockney's technique in the future. It really brings a whole new perspective into what you can capture with images. Looking at his collages makes me feel like I'm in that moment and looking at the subject(s) move, which is perfect for something like a dance campaign, where just a photo itself can't capture the eye.
THANK YOU FOR READING
