Ziyah Gafic
Gallery
These three photos are from Ziyah Gafics series of work "Quest For Identity".
Artist Analysis
Ziyah Gafic born in 1980 and raised in Bosnia, Sarajevo, where he still lives today. Furthermore, he is an award winning photojournalist and videographer by looking at different communities and events around the world. For example, the one piece of work I will be focusing on is his “Quest For Identity” where he took objects from the final victims of the genocide in Bosnia (where he lives).
His photos on the outside may look “basic” and “boring”, however once you understand how and why the images were taken it becomes very interesting and this is the reason I chose to study Ziyah Gafic and his incredible work.
He uses simple objects like: clocks, keys, combs, glasses and things such as diaries, toothbrushes, razors as seen above in the photo. The backstory behind these objects is that they are the objects that victims of the genocide in Bosinia carried with them on their final journey. What is so significant about this event is that this was the first act of genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. During four years of devastation, for the Bosnian nation in the early 90’s, approximately 30,000 citizens went missing. Most of the 30,000 people were killed during the beginning of the war and the end of the hostilities. The reason for Ziyah Gafic taking his photos is so that he can identify the lost ones.
Ziyah Gafic uses either head-on artificial light or he uses non-direct natural lighting. His photos are shot in colour and have quite a high contrast with the background and the actual objects photographed. He uses a high aperture because his photos are sharp and are not blurry. His photo has a low shutter speed and they are not exposed at all. The photo has quite a low ISO as it is not grainy in the slightest. The temperature of the image is quite neutral, however maybe slightly on the colder side. Finally, I believe that Ziyah Gafic uses the rule-of-third as the objects in his photo are centered.
Ziyah Gafic’s work in “Quest For Identity” reminds me of Mari Mahr’s work in “13 Clues To A Fictitious Crime”. The reason for this is that both objects in each photo relate to family in some way and most of the objects are quite old in both photos. I have a feeling I may follow a similar pattern like this. Due to this many of my photos may include old family objects.
Photoshoot Plan
My photoshoot plan shows how I will be taking my photos e.g. the different composition, camera settings, lighting, props and background. This will help me structure how I take my photos considering the artist in mind Ziyah Gafic. I will most likely take my photoshoot inside and take advantage of the sunlight. Furthermore, the sketches are what I would like to create and two of the sketches are a recreation of Ziyah Gafics work.
Contact Sheets
My contact sheets shows the different photos which I think are highlighting and can be further developed. I believe that my photoshoot with the flower frozen in ice turned out decently however, I could have done a better job, a better job which I will do in my second developments. My photoshoot plan helped a little bit but if I did not have a photoshoot plan it would have not made a huge difference. I did two photoshoots one is a flower frozen a a block of ice and the photos show the progression of the flower melting out the block of ice and then finally emerging. My second photoshoot is made by using old family objects and putting them on top of a up-side down frying pan.
First Developments
These are my first developments for Ziyah Gafic. Each photo is created using family objects and the bottom of a frying pan as the background for the objects. The reason why I used these objects in the photoshoot was because all the objects hold their own sentimental value just like how Ziyah Gafic's objects were from the victims of the genocide in Bosnia. I edited these photos by editing in the corners of the pan as I didn't like the teal background. Secondly, I raised the contrast significantly and also slightly raised the the brightness. Lastly, I lowered the exposure of the photo.
Highlighting Success
These three photos are the photos which I think are my best images out of the nine I have edited. I chose these photos as they most represent what Ziyah Gafic did in his series of work Quest For Identity but what I did is different as I changed the background and the origin of the objects are different.
Contact Sheets (Second Developments)
These are my contact sheets for my second developments where I took photos on family and antique objects on top of a blue checkered tea cloth. I took the photos at a portrait angle. Some of the objects I used were: my grandfathers pocket watch, my dads guitar, an old antique box, my grandmothers ring and a satchel with a pearl necklace. I'm somewhat happy with the photoshoot however I could have done better with the composition.
Second Developments (Double Exposure)
Above are my second developments which are double exposed and the saturation is almost to the point where it is black and white. I edited the photos by cropping them to get the composition to how I wanted it to be, then duplicated the background and then blended the layer to double expose the photos. I also raised the contrast as I thought it was better as I could tell the difference between the two layers better.
Highlighting Success
These three photos are the photos ,which I think are the best out of the ten that I have edited. I believe this as they look more professional than my others and I feel like I have chosen a slightly better composition when I took the photos during my photoshoot, therefore giving me a better and more finished final product.
Third Developments (Contact Sheets)
These photos were created with several antique objects such as binoculars and antique glass bottles. Also, I used scratched tin foil to create a textured background. I scratched the tinfoil using aluminum wire in a checkered pattern to create the background.
Third Developments
For these developments I did physical ones where I took 6 photos and put them underwater and used different methods: bubbles, burning, distorting and tearing. The photos represent antique kids toys and old things that used to be used similar to what Ziyah Gafic did. I wanted to capture something that resinates with his work.
Highlighting Success
These 3 photos the are the ones ,which I think are the best as I like the different elements that I added, which I think complete the photo. Elements such as using bubbles, burning, ashes of the burnt paper and tearing as shown in the photo in the middle. I chose these as I also thought the composition was better e.g. with the bubbles and where they were.