Montage: Activity 4

Find two examples of photomontages that are either from a commercial source or from a fine art background. Discuss in what context they have been produced and what techniques they share with political photomontages.
What messages, if any, are communicated through these photomontages and how effective do you think they are? Consider different ways that each image could have been tackled by the artist and come up with an idea for ‘another in the series’.

Thomas Barbey

Untitled, 1982 Jerry Uelsmann

           The context in which these photomontages have been created are not exactly illustrated but it is clear that both images were created by someone who possesses a fine art background. The seamless merging of these photomontages implies that the artists knew what they were doing and knew how to manipulate their resources to their benefit. Just as political photomontages have a subtle (or not so subtle) message these montages do as well. The first has a sense of perspective and the incorporation of everyday objects with those who are not so common, combining a daring feat such as skiing or snowboarding with a commonplace table and tablecloth. The second conveys the message of roots and creating a steady foundation upon which a home and family will be built. It is a perfect illustration of the phrase "home is where your roots are". Not exactly worded like that but most people know what the basic point is.

           It would be relatively easy for the artists to continue on to make a series from these photomontages. Based upon the effective conveyance of the messages in their first montages this would be an easy task. Barbey could likely create another image in which athletes were performing on an everyday surface/environment and Uelsmann could further combine more earthly elements with human-made objects. Barbey stitched together an image of a ski slope and a tablecloth to make it appear as if the skiiers were going down a tablecloth - it makes them look small in comparison to their surroundings and Uelsmann bonded a tree's roots with an old, two-story home, both of which required critical thinking and trial-and-error approaches. It is likely that they both had a dominant theme for which they were trying to accomplish.

Montage: Activity 3

As editors exercise their ever-increasing power over information control, what limits would you impose on them as to the extent to which they can manipulate the photographic image? Devise a series of guidelines that will control the release of images that have been constructed for media use so that the public is aware as to the extent of the manipulation.

Jennifer Lawrence,  huffingtonpost.uk

My guidelines would be as follows:

• No editing to alter body shape or size.
• No creating skinnier arms or legs, or smoothing out wrinkles or curves - they are natural.
• Only make up products can be used to enhance a model's features - no post-processing editing of skin, etc. unless witnessed consent is provided by the model.
• Merging pictures for a commercial use should not be allowed.
• Photomontages should be allowed artistically or for political use only if there is a disclosure that states the image has been tampered with.
• Using another person's work and making small changes should not be allowed unless permission by the original artist is given.
• On some page in the published magazine, book, article, etc. there should be a side-by-side comparison of the edited image and the original (just as the one above).
• The basic integrity of the picture should be preserved.

Montage: Activity 2

Find two examples of political photomontages that are either from a historical or contemporary source. 

Discuss in what context they have been produced and how effective you think they communicate their intended message. 

Discuss the techniques that have been used to assemble the examples you have chosen and offer alternative ways that the artist could have put over the same message.

Museum Ludwig: Marenus, Drahtseilakt, Paris 1940

           This image was created in 1940, in the midst of the second world war. We see balancing on a tightrope Hitler and two of his followers, one on the other's back. This balancing act that is portrayed most likely symbolizes the tedious and comical attempt at world domination or at least world control by these dictators, which is a very easy message to understand; their walking on a tightrope shows tediousness with what they are doing and the expressions on their faces and positioning of their bodies adds to the effect. In addition to the tightrope, the bed of swords underneath them most likely represents their opponents and the consequences of their success and their failure. Marenus composed this picture by taking separate images of each man and layering them on top of one another, then used an image of a man on a tightrope to get the rope (he eliminated the man/woman) and then he took another image of swords or bayonets being raised in the air. It is likely that he also had a separate image for the barbell/balancing stick the bottom Nazi is holding. Using a similar concept, Marenus could have used another element from the circus such as a unicycle to convey the same message.

Defended to Death, Peter Kennard

           This image was produced during the Cold War, a war in which the Soviet Union and the United States had a suspenseful yet uneventful nuclear scare. Here we see an old-fashioned gas mask secured on Earth which acts as the face of a man, one eye with the American flag and the other with the Soviet/Communist flag (symbolizing the two enemies), and the mouthpiece of the mask being stuffed with nuclear missiles. Pretty straightforward. A composition of approximately five images (the globe, the mask, each flag, and missiles) Kennard used techniques such as layering to place each image in the appropriate place to convey the desired message, which is the toxicity of the Cold War and the hazards it would incur or was incurring already. I cannot think of an alternative means to clearly convey the same message.