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Photomontage - PDF version
GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Image Manipulation From Photomontage to Photoshop Since it’s inception in the nineteenth century, Photomontage been used as a graphic means of communication by visual artists. Now, with the availability of image processing software such as Photoshop, this technique has beautifully translated to the digital realm and is now used extensively and creatively by digital image makers. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Image Manipulation From Photomontage to Photoshop This is not to suggest that Photomontage laid the foundations of image manipulation but rather that it was the start of one of the techniques now employed by digital artists. Similarly, although it was an interest in Photography which influenced Photoshop’s creators, it was not written specifically with photographers in mind but was initially created to solve a specific technical problem. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage Photomontage Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method is realised today through image-editing software; this technique is referred to by professional as ‘compositing’, and in casual usage is often called ‘photoshopping’ GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage Photomontage Photomontage as an art form has its roots in the First World War, although the creative manipulation of photographs has a provenance going right back to the invention of photography itself in the early part of the nineteenth century. It was the Victorians, specifically Oscar Rejlander, who produced the first and most famous photomontage of the era. ‘The Two Ways of Life’ (1857) was a seamlessly montaged combination print made of thirty-two images and too six weeks to complete. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage Dada The Dada movement in Berlin was instrumental in making montage into a modern art-form. They first coined the term ‘photomontage’ at the end of the war, around 1918 or 1919. Major exponents were John Heartfield, Hannah Höch, Kurt Schwitters, Raoul Hausmann and Johannes Bader. The word ‘montage’ in German, literally means fitting or assembly line. Hannah Höch 1919 GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage - Dada John Heartfield For Heartfield the definition of “photomontage” was wider than most, insisting that it should include the single photo with caption, since text and image interacted with each other in a similar way to multiple images. Heartfield’s use of captions was, and perhaps still is, unsurpassed. Many of his best works utilise famous quotes of leading Nazis, and subtly undermine the intended message by quite ingenious visual puns. So, when Hitler said, “millions stand behind me”, he was boasting of his popular support, whilst Heartfield used this to reveal the fact that the Nazis were being bankrolled by leading German industrialists. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage - Dada John Heartfield John Heartfield was born Helmut Herzfeld on June 19, 1891 in Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany to Franz Herzfeld, a socialist writer and Alice née Stolzenburg, a textile worker and political activist. In 1918, Heartfield made a decision that would ultimately impact the rest of his career. He became a member of the Berlin Club Dada as a protest to Germany’s current barbaric state and also joined the German Communist Party. In early 1924, he met and struck up a friendship with Bertolt Brecht, an individual who would have a major impact on his life. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage - Dada Hannah Höch Born in 1889 in Gotha Germany, Hannah Höch studied graphic arts in Berlin and was probably the only woman artist active in the Dada movement. Her photomontages depicted the contradictory and faceless roles of being a woman in the Weimar republic (along with the sexism she experienced). GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Das schöne Mädchen (The Beautiful Girl, 1919 1920 Photomontage - Dada Johannes Baader GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage - Dada Raoul Hausmann GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage Dada – Part of the Problem? Dada rose out of the horror that was World War One, ignited by young artists’ abhoration at that which had nearly destroyed their continent. First and foremost Dada was an anti-war movement but it also changed art and the way artists looked at themselves. Artists were starting to examine their role in terms of social relevance; whether in fact they meant anything. Were they part of the problem or part of the solution? Was art was a vehicle for social change and, indeed, if it should it be? GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage 1950s As Surrealism took hold as the dominant art form in Europe photomontage gradually faded into obscurity for many years. However it enjoyed a renaissance in the 1950’s partly inspired by a renewed interest in Dada. It was at this point, that the advertising industry, inspired by the Pop Art movement and the increasing popularisation of art, started to produce more photomontages, a trend which we will see has continued to this day. Richard Hamilton 1956 GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Broken Missile 1980 Photomontage 1980s – Peter Kennard It’s new found life in advertising, photomontage has continued to be used as a very graphic means of communication by visual artists to this day, such as Peter Kennard in connection with the anti-nuclear movement, Sean Hillen in connection with Northern Ireland’s civil war. Defended to Death 1982 GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage 1990s – Sean Hillen The Oracle at O’Connell St. Bridge, Dublin 1995 GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 The Lia Fail of Waterford 1997 Photomontage Photomontage to Photoshop Workshops GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage Photoshop and Illustrator Photoshop and Illustrator are two of a set of Adobe Creative Suite software packages. Our versions are Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS4. These are commonplace in all design studios and it’s essential that you know the packages well, if you intend to work in that environment. Photoshop is used for working with type and imagery and is bitmap based. So be aware of the size at which you are working. Illustrator is vector based and is used primarily for solid colour, typography, and typographic design – it's main advantage is that vector based artwork lends itself to resizing without any loss of image quality. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011 Photomontage CMYK and RGB When working with a piece that is to be printed, it’s important to work in CMYK colour mode (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) For screen work, such as web designs, you need to work in RGB mode (red, green, blue). Adobe InDesign (or Quark Xpress) is then used for publications, importing elements from both Illustrator and Photoshop as necessary. GDES1003: Creative Digital Imaging Photomontage Andy Screen 2011
