The photo was taken in southern France in 1949 by Gjon Mili. Its called " Pablo Picasso draws a centaur in the air with light". The name just completely describes the photo. The photo was a collaboration between Pablo Picasso and Gjon Mili, it was taken when Gjon Mili visited Pablo Picasso. Gjon Mili is an Albanian photographer, born in Albania on november the 28th 1904. Mili grew up in Romania but migrated to North America in 1923. In 1940s France, world war 2 had just ended and efforts to rebuild were underway. Police were clashing with lots of communists. This photo doesn't represent society at the time and seems very random, most sources point towards Pablo Picasso just having fun, we can tell by the smilie on his face.
In the photo we can see Pablo Picasso drawing a centaur using a light and slow shutterspeed. Centaurs are creatures from Greek mythology which have the upper body of a man and lower body and legs of a horse. He was just finished drawing the Centaur and was still in the middle of the movement when the photo was taken. The photo is abstract and achieves a form of reality using colour and shapes. The work represents life using light, drawn by world renoun artist Pablo Picasso. The photo is called "Pablo Picasso daws a centaur in the air with light", This title tells us exactly what is happening in the photo. The title doesn't really effect the photo in any way and doesn't change our perception of the photographers work. The photo is realistic but includes and unrealistic, abstract drawing, adding depth to the tone of the image. The photo wasn't been distorted but the shutter speed was long, making the light leave lines, making the theme of this photo "painting with light". The work communicates ideas of creativity and a sense of imagination, showing hope in post WW2 France.
In this photo, at first glace its difficult to pick our compositional features. In photography we usually tend to keep our iso as low as possible, this photo is very dark but not very grainy so we can assume the iso is around 200-400. The photo is capturing alot of light so the fstop is likely low at around f/1. In painting in light, the rule is putting the shutter speed as slow as possible, on most cameras this would be 30 seconds because remote shutter releases weren't invented until the 1960s. A standard prime lens would of been used because there is nothing interesting going on lens wise. There was no lighting apart from a lamp off camera and the electronic light in Picassos hand. Mili would of used a tripod because long shutter speeds pick up on any camera movement including even the slightest of movement in the hand and the setting was Picasso's studio in southern France. There was no backdrop but you can see plates and vases in the background in Picassos studio. The photo uses a central focal point and is asymemetrical. Central focal points are used to instantly grab the viewers attention and is usally the subject of a photograph, after deep analysis we know the photo was very well planned out and choreographed.
Personally I dislike this photograph because despite the work behind it, it looks very spontaneous. The photo successfully captured painting with light at a high level and created a very moody tone but didn't model Pablo Picasso in any way, helping give the image the spontaneous look. This photo is extremely detailed but lacks much meaning. This links to my photography though painting with light and I can use the idea of drawing images in my own shoots.
Moodboard
White light
Neon lights
Spaghetti light
Bob Eckert
Bob Eckert lives in New Mexico, he is a photographer and runs a weekly newsletter. Hes earned lots of awards and specialises in on location shoots. His photography is posted from the US and across the world.His portfolio includes landscapes, people, animals and even places like industrial plants.
Throughout this project Ive explored idea of of expression through art combined with photography. Painting with light can mean drawing picturesm writing messages or just making colours. I was very unsure when I first started the project about how I can be creative and expressive but after doing my own research I realised that painting with light is alot more than meets the eye. I wasn't completely interested in the project but Im not very invested. Rob walker has been a big inspiration to me throughout this project. Walkers work has greatly inspired me to try new things in painting with light. Painting with light has lots of hidden messages and is about highlighting what you want to express or say, it took alot of framing and taught me alot about iso and shutterspeed. I experiemented with different colour lights and different timings and shutter speeds in this project, the messages I wanted to express took lots of different tries to find what works best and I really enjoyed that in this project. To refine my work I took lots of influence from painting with light photographers and over styles of photography, it was very experiemental to get my settings just right for each shoot. I realised that research before shoots was vital and was the key to getting high quality shoots and I think my research shows though my work. If I had more time I would of experimented with trying new edit styles in this project. I hope viewers will understand the depth and research behind my work and understand that your work always pays off.