Engage

When I looked through Neil Leifers photographs there where three things that stuck out to me. He captures the emotions that his subjects are feeling. He recognized when he had the chance to take a really special photo. And he captured images that will always be iconic and will always stir up emotion within people. These are the qualities I looked for when taking my pictures. Since Neil Leifer took mostly sports photos, I figured that a rugby game would be a great place to find these photos, especially since it was a championship game. There were a few moments during the game where I knew I would have a chance to capture a really special photo, one that had the chance to be iconic. One of these moments is right before a scrum starts. Both teams face each other, listen to call ``crouch, touch`` and then the final call; Engage! When both sides hear this word come from the referee they are like runners after the gun has gone off, and they hit as hard as possible to try and drive each other back. In this picture I believe that I was able to capture that intense lead up and nervous emotion felt by both sides, the moment right before the ``Engage. `` 

Neil Leifer

Neil Leifer is the greatest sports photographer of all time. He has taken numerous photos that have become legendary among sports enthusiasts and the general public alike. His pictures have an incredible power to them, as seen in his picture of Muhammad Ali after knocking out Sonny Liston. He took risks to get photos, which sometimes paid off and sometimes didn’t, but when they did, they were great. A good example of this is his photo of Muhammad Ali after Knocking out Cleveland Williams, taken from above the ring. But probably the biggest reason he is among the greatest photographers of all time, is because he took pictures of icons, and those photos themselves became iconic images. Neil Leifer`s ability to capture power in his photos, take risks to get those photos and capture iconic images, make him one of the greatest photographers of all time.  

I believe that this photo exemplifies Neil Leifer’s ability to capture power in his photos perfectly. This photo of Muhammad Ali has become an iconic photo because of who Muhammad Ali is (an icon) and because this photo describes the way Muhammad Ali is - powerful.  This photo of Ali standing over a defeated opponent makes it powerful enough but Leifer also manages to convey Ali’s expression and emotion in the photo, as well as the emotion of the crowd. Ali flexing his muscles gives the photo a sense of power and almost makes you scared. All of these qualities combined, as well as the positioning of Ali overtop of everyone else, makes Ali seem bigger, better and more powerful than anyone else in the world. Power is a quality that is hard to find in most pictures, but Neil Leifer manages to capture it.

Neil Leifer often refers to luck as being his greatest ally, but he is being modest. His picture of Muhhamad Ali after knocking out Cleveland Williams, taken from the rafters of the Astrodome, was all guts and skill. Leifer had the idea to go up into the rafters of the Astrodome and try and take an overhead picture. It was a huge risk, and may not have worked out for him, but Leifer says that this is one of his favorite photos of all time. This is why Neil Leifer is such a great photographer; he is able to recognize when he has the chance to take a great picture, think creatively about how to capture the story he wants the picture to tell, and then take the risk to get that picture.

The reason we love iconic photos are because those photos will stand the test of time and never lose the power of the message or story they convey. Leifer has been able to capture a few of those iconic images that won’t soon be forgotten. He focused mainly on sports, so he took pictures of sports icons. Take for instance the photo of Vince Lombardi being carried off the field on the shoulders of Jerry Kramer after winning the Super Bowl. This photo has become iconic because it captures Lombardi’s personality and the way people remember Lombardi. Lombardi is known for being one of the best coaches in NFL history and possibly even the best coach in all of sports history, and in general, just being a winner. This photo captures that perfectly; Vince Lombardi is a winner and you can see that in this photo.

Neil Leifer was possibly the greatest photographer of all time and his risky yet emotionally iconic images have become legendary. Leifer was able to capture emotions in his photos, as seen in his photo of Muhammad Ali depicting Ali`s power and his larger than life image. Leifer, although crediting much of his success to luck, used his skill to recognize he had the opportunity to take a picture that would be really special when he chose to climb to the rafters of the Astrodome. His photos express the emotions of the icons he took photos of, and will stand the test of time. So what makes a photographer great? Is it luck, skill, taking risks to get images? For Neil Leifer it was combination of these qualities that make him great.

OBEY FERG

I once again used the “FERG” idea for this project; just for this one I used a different image and a different process.  I used silk screening to put this image onto a shirt this time. Unfortunately the silk screen did not work out as well as I had hoped and the image came out a little messy on the shirt. So instead of putting the image on just once I decided to add the image multiple times to make the image look like it was meant to be like that to work with the shirt.

With this project I decided I wanted to make the image look like the “obey” image. I loved the obey image for the simplicity, yet the deeper meaning in the image. The simple words of “OBEY” work very powerfully with the image. So I tried to recreate this image and parody it a little bit with my words “FERG.” The creator of “OBEY” Shepard Fairey, a legendary street artist originally printed this image on sticker and used as an experiment to see how it would manifest itself. Well it manifested hugely as “OBEY” is now a clothing brand. Maybe one day “FERG” will have gone through the same manifestation. 

FERG

A few months ago I came up with a crazy idea. This idea was to take a picture of my face put the words “FERG” (my nickname) on the bottom and have this logo printed out on stickers. Then to put these stickers everywhere and create an almost cult following. At first this was a ridiculous idea which was as much of a fantasy as it was a true idea. At first I only shared this idea with a few people, because honestly how self-obsessed could I have become to actually consider putting my face on a sticker and spreading that sticker everywhere. Well turns out I must be pretty self-obsessed, because when the chance to use an alternative process and sell that piece arose, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

The first step in creating the shirt was too figure out what I was going to put on the shirt. After many suggestions from friends (some of which were pretty ridiculous). I decided on a picture that I had taken the year earlier in grade 10 photo. This was a picture that I didn't really have any need for at the time so I just hung it up in an English classroom, only to find it still there a year later. I used Photoshop to add some lettering and add a sepia tone to it. I printed the picture out on to the special iron off paper, followed the ironing directions, and then, boom the first shirt was done. I made 3 more shirts (4 in total) and have already sold 2 and others have placed orders just for different sizes. 

Layers of Hidden Truth

The process of a gel medium print is a long and drawn out process which involves layering the gel medium over a photo. I chose the picture of the ray bans because I believe that this picture represents that process, just in a different context. It is said that looking into one’s eyes is like looking through a window to the soul, well when you wear sunglasses you are covering up those windows, and layering over any problems that could be seen through your eyes.  The process of creating a gel medium is the same. I also tried to add some gold to the print as ray ban is often consider a luxury brand and worn by people hoping to display that quality of luxury. 

Good or Bad?

Nikon D3100, F/6.3, 1/160 seconds 

As we made our way down Dundas Street, taking pictures of anything and everything that might make a good picture. We walked past the police station and found this sign. I found the “No Fun” sticker on the sign both funny and symbolic. It’s funny because 1. Someone put a “No Fun Sticker” on an already boring sign and 2. Because someone is trying to defy the law with a petty little sticker. It is symbolic though of the way people often feel about the police, and of a free art form that can be seen in Toronto.

Brutality and racial profiling have become two very big issues for police lately. Any look at a news source and you will see headlines such as “To Protect and Hurt?” This photo describes a headline like that perfectly. Do the police do more harm than good? That question is being asked every day and that question is also being asked in this photo.  This photo also could represent another news worthy topic, how far can self-expression and art go before it crosses a line. The subject of graffiti as art or as an illegal form of vandalism is a question that often arises in the media. So is this a small harmless form of self-expression or vandalism is a question that must be asked.   

Irony and Beauty

The first photo is a very simple photo of a daffodil. Daffodils often represent something not so simple though. Daffodils are often associated with cancer as many charities such as the Canadian cancer society use daffodils as their logo. I took this picture for the ironic sake that the subject and the picture seem very simple, but in actuality the subject, and even the picture represent something incredibly complicated. This photo breaks the rules because I did not use rule of thirds at all, I did not create depth of field, i just pointed, focused and shot.  

  

The second picture dealt with the same ironic ideas as the first one. When you see a bench like the one in the picture you often see people sitting on it, these people are often not simple people, but people siting and thinking deeply. But this bench was empty and simple and represented that ironic picture of nothing. While there were no deep thoughts coming from anything on the bench, I still believe the photo itself represented a deep thought. This picture I literally did nothing but point at the bench and click the shutter, the picture is also a little off center and looks tilted. 

The third photo I wanted to try and get as close to that field of blue flowers as I could and make it look like a never ending sea of blue flowers. I did this by basically putting the camera in the flowers and then taking the actual picture I tried to keep the flowers off of rule of thirds but unfortunately it looks like it is. I thought there was a beauty to those pictures and by showing some of them in focus and the rest out of focus I could show that exclusive beauty best.