This document summarizes and evaluates a series of experimental photography projects. In the first project, the photographer created a photomontage of a college building using disrupted structural elements and different angles. They were pleased with how the strong lines and mismatched alignments added complexity. In subsequent projects, the photographer continued experimenting with photomontage techniques, manipulating photos in Photoshop and including human subjects to represent the urban environment theme. Across projects, they found the surreal effects of disrupted lines and angles to be aesthetically interesting but sought to improve inclusion of subjects and balancing post-production adjustments.

1. Experimental Photography
Jonah Adshead
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3. Strong structural features that create the
intricate geometrical shapes of the
photograph work well.
The repeated
lines of the
columns and of
the girders in the
roof make the
photograph look
more interesting.
This scene just as a photograph would be very
passive and quite uninteresting, but the addition of
the disrupted structural elements and the different
angles of the many photographs give it quite a busy,
interesting appearance.
Photographing
the scene from
this high vantage
point allowed
me to include a
lot of the college
in one
photograph and
you can see the
depth of the
college right to
the other end.

4. Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
I feel as though I have realised my ideas well with this particular photomontage and that it works well. The
strong structural lines throughout such as the metal girders and concrete pillars that do not quite line up as they
should work well making the smaller images look mismatched as a montage- an effect I was trying to achieve. I
tried to include my arm in the photograph, featuring parts of himself was something that Hockney, the artist who
come up with this technique and a large influence of mine often did, but I don’t believe you can see it well
enough. I would change this if to do it again and make the arm more of a feature of the image in some way.
Qualities:
I think that overall my image is aesthetically pleasing and I am happy with the way it has turned out. The
montage is made of a very large amount of photos and I believe this works well in this photograph and adds to
the complex feel that al the different structural elements of the image give it. Without all the different
mismatched alignments of the different photos this is a very busy scene and the addition of the montage effect
works really well. The choice to add a black and white effect came from me not wanting to overcomplicate the
image with a very severe or surreal effect but the black and white helped to contrast between the different
elements of the photograph and make them stand out. I think the weakest aesthetic element of my work is the
arm not being fully in. It is there, but I couldn’t work out a way of rearranging the photos in a way that made it
one of the main elements. I think if I could’ve done this the image would have been much better.
When shooting the photographs for my photomontage I put the camera in full auto mode. This way the camera
made slight variations in its settings from photo to photo and things such as the exposure would be different. I
believe this made the images look better when put together as there would be slight mismatches in colour etc.
When I put the images into Photoshop I used the automate feature and used the collage setting to get near the
effect I wanted. I then resized and relocated some images to get the look I wanted.

5. I think that I could of improved my work by taking a few different selection of photographs of the same scene to
use for different photomontages. I could've taken photos from different angles or moved around more when
shooting to introduce more interesting juxtapositions of angles and vantage points in my photomontage.
I believe this image fits the theme of the urban environment well and displays an area I explored in my mind map
that being the inside of buildings. The image is also experimental as the technique of photomontage is what I
have used and is one I have developed and experimented with as I have gone along.
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7. In this photograph
there is a nice balance
of shapes. The
repeated patio panels
on the floor and the
girders in the glass
panel on the roof
create very
geometrical shapes
but the arches are
very fluid and organic.
The colours in the
photograph,
especially in the
centre with the
greenery, are very
bright and eye
catching.
Its not only the
repetition of the
shapes that are
interesting in this
photograph, the
repetition of the
arches and the
benches also gives
the photo a strange,
surreal effect as
they are different
sizes or angles.

8. Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
I think that I have produced a photograph that represents my initial idea for this piece well. I wanted to try a
photomontage that was much simpler and included far less images than the one I took previously in college. This
gives the finished photograph a more clean and refined look that I think works equally well. I like the way the
arches in the photograph line up but because of the different angles and sizes of the images in a strange warped
manner. I think this adds a surreal quality to the image that I really like.
Qualities:
Overall I am pleased with the way this photograph looks. I think the surreal warped appearance I mentioned
before is interesting and adds a quality to the image drawing the viewer in for a second glance. The photograph
has quite nice warm tones of colour and I think this works well with the image and the setting of it, a park bench
on a summers day has connotations of warmness and sun and so the colours compliment this.
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Again I used full auto mode when taking the photographs as the small automatic changes the camera makes in
settings from photo to photo make small variations between the different photos of the montage. In post-production
I didn’t do much to the photographs other than put them together in the montage using the
automate feature on Photoshop and then re-sizing, deleting or moving some of the photos where I saw
appropriate until I was pleased with the appearance of the montage. I then changes the saturation of the
photographs turning it up to give the photo a warm feel. I particularly like where the trees through the arch have
gone very bright green and the warm pink colour some of the flagstones have gone.
The repetition of the different features such as the benches and the arches is good. The benches are different
angles and sizes because of the amount I was zoomed in with that photo. This gives them a strange, surreal
effect because they look obviously wrong, but at the same time you can tell they belong there in the photograph.
The arches are also strange because the viewer knows they should all be uniformed and the same, but they are
disrupted slightly and are on different angles because of the different photographs. This again gives the
photograph an interesting, surreal effect that I am really pleased with.

9. I think that by taking more than one set of photographs and having more than one set of images of one scene
would have allowed me to compile multiple photomontages and choose the best one. I really like the one I have
got but the clear space at the top right I wish I’d have had a photograph to fill with. If I had of I think the montage
would have had more balance and been better.
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Another element I'm not happy with is that the photos aren't really balanced in terms of saturation. The top left
photograph is particularly noticeable so I wish I would've saturated this photograph more before merging the
photos into one montage where I was unable to edit it on its own.
I think that the image I have taken does reflect the theme of “urban environment” as the park I have taken
photos of is in the town. The benches and arches are architectural elements I have explored to photograph and I
believe they work well to suggest and remind the viewer of the theme I have chosen.

11. Use this slide to annotate your final image
The central focus of this photo is my
shadow and it is pretty much in the
centre of the photo. The road then
continues on on both sides quite
symmetrically giving the photo a
nice balanced feel that I like.
This landscape photomontage is full
of quite organic shapes created by
the gentle curve of the road and the
bushes and trees.
I really like the contrast in this photo
and how it has brought out all the
different details in the photograph.

12. Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
I think that I have represented my initial idea through this photograph well. With this photomontage I wanted to
experiment with the different settings I could use and effects I could put on the image to try and gain a different,
more surreal effect. I think the way I have played around with the threshold of the image has given it an
interesting contrast with interesting shapes and lines created by different objects being highlighted more
strongly. The harsh black and white colours are very interesting in this photograph and make the largely natural
features in this photo seem quite structural and urban and so changing a scene from the countryside into one I
believe fits the theme of “urban environment” well.
Qualities:
I am quite pleased with how this image looks. I think the more heavy manipulation in Photoshop post production
has worked well with this image and given it a surreal and more striking appearance. The threshold works very
well with this image I think as it has made the lines very definite and so things like the shadows stand out very
well. I think I was able to achieve such detail with the threshold effect because I shot the photo on a very bright
day and there was a huge amount of natural light.
With this photomontage I wanted to experiment with different shapes for the final canvas. For example the first
final piece I took in college fits quite a uniformed, rectangle shape so with this I wanted to elongate the photo
and make it more of a panorama. I think this idea worked well and made the photo more interesting to look at.
I chose to again use full auto mode when taking these photographs because the camera automatically makes
small changes to adapt to the scene from photo to photo and this makes for a more interesting effect when I
compile these photos together in the final montage. In post production I put the photos together using
Photoshop’s automate feature and then manually moved some photos, deleted some I didn’t feel needed to be
there or changed the order of them so some sat above others. I then put the threshold effect on the image and
played around with the setting there until I was satisfied with the outcome.
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As in the other photomontages I am pleased with the final image I got, but taking a few different shoots of the
same scene, making a number of different montages and choosing the best one would have been good. Having
different options is never a bad thing.
I also think if I would have taken the photographs from further down the road to the right the centre piece of my
image would have been more interesting; there is a barn there and this could have been my photographs central
focus rather than just the hedge and wall in front of me.
I think that my image does reflect the urban environment because although it does have a lot of nature in it
there are many things that make you think of the city etc. such as the wall in front, the graffiti on the corrugated
metal and I think the threshold effect itself has a very dark, dingy feel that reminds you of the city and the urban
environment.

14. (Experiment title)

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The leading lines of
the yellow parking
lines. I like the way
they are disrupted
and aren’t solid, it
isn't too noticeable,
but gives the
photomontage an
interesting quality..
I have posed in this
photo to include
myself and try to add
something to the
photo as people are
also a large part of
the Urban
Environment.
The colours are very
bright and
interesting especially
on the flower. This
catches the eye of
the viewer.

16. Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
I think that the image I have produced represents my initial idea well. In the previous photomontage I have
included my shadow in the frame and with this photo I wanted to experiment with actually including myself in
the photo. I think this works well and gives the photo an interesting stylistic appearance. There are many things
within the photo that remind the viewer of the urban environment but these things are shown in a interesting
way because the way the different photos knit together in the montage. For example the street sign that is cut in
half by the photos and the way the house is staggered with small parts of it being repeated a number of times
across the photo.
Qualities:
I am pleased with the outcome of this photomontage and believe its appearance is very interesting and cool. I
like the way the yellow street lines line up at first almost perfectly but then become more out of line further
away as the photos do not line up as well. It gives the photograph a un-uniformed, erratic look that I like. I also
like the fact that some of the photos are very blurred and I think this adds another depth of aesthetics to the
photograph.
The photographs with the flowers in I selected individually before merging the montage together and turned the
saturation and vibrancy up on them slightly. This made the colours in the flowers stand out more and makes the
photograph more exciting and colourful.
This photomontage is quite an interesting shape and I like this too. It gives the photo that more fluid feel that I
am aiming for and gives the viewer the feeling that this shape is the natural course my eyes took when looking at
the scene rather than the one set in stone rectangle shape that most photographs are.
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17. I think that I could’ve done a few little things to improve this photograph. I think that you can tell a little bit that the
saturation has been changed in the photographs with the flowers in more than the others and this disrupts the even
flow I want between the photos. I wanted the colours in the flowers to be brighter but I maybe should've used the
lasso tool to only select the flower rather than increasing the saturation of the whole photo making features such as
the brick wall that I wanted to remain the same stand out. This is only a small correction but one I would make if
taking this photo again.
I really like the blurred effect I have achieved with some of the photos and it would’ve been nice to experiment more
with this and either of taken more blurred photos or blurred the photos in post-production.
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The repetition of certain elements of
the photograph such as my legs add a
surreal effect to the photograph.
In this photo I myself and another
model have posed to add another
level of interest to the photograph.

20. Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
This photograph contains a lot of architectural features that remind a viewer strongly of the urban environment,
be it quite a refined and posh looking one. For this reason I believe I have achieved my chosen idea. People are a
large part of the urban environment and so I wanted to experiment more with including them in my
photographs. A few of the photomontages I had taken previously included a small part of me or my shadow but
with this photo I thought I would try to include another person also. I think this worked well and gave my
photograph another interesting quality with the warped, surreal appearance of my model achieved by using the
photomontage technique.
Qualities:
I think the photograph is good and represents my chosen idea while still being aesthetically pleasing and
interesting. I made a few changes to this photograph in post-production, changing the order and position of the
photos more than I had done in previous photomontages I had created. This involved doing things like spreading
out the photographs of mine and the models legs more so they repeated across the bottom of the montage,
Photoshop's automate feature had stacked them on top of each other and I believe spread out they look more
interesting and strange. I also used the “spot healer” tool to edit out a floating MacDonald's cup that I thought
didn’t look good there as half of it just sort of floated in the montage, this I believe improved the photo by
making it look cleaner and adding a clear area.
I chose to give the photograph a blue colour as I think it gives the photograph an interesting, different look and
gives it a strange cold feel. It was a close call between this and the black and white effects for the final image but
I went with the blue as I hadn't used it before and though it looked good. Using blue tones on photographs,
much like the brown colours in sepia, is very traditional as it was relatively easy back in the days of dark room
developing to get the colour blue onto a photograph as a change from the usual black and white. This fact
coupled with the old Victorian structures such as the lamps and statue give my photo quite an old and traditional
feel I quite like.
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I am very pleased with the way this photo came out and there isn’t much I would do differently. If doing it
again I may carry out a number of “takes” in order to make sure the set of photos I have used for this scene is
the best.
I also would like to see what it would look like if I had a model sat either side of me on the bench as this could
give the photo a cool mirrored effect.

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23. The threshold effect has given
this photomontage a very
interesting contrast that makes
all the different structural
components stand out very
well.
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Again I have posed in this
photograph to add another
element to the photograph-including
people in a scene
makes a viewer ask questions
about that person.

24. Evaluate: ideas eg analysis, results;
This photograph I believe fits my chosen idea very well. It is taken in a train station underpass and features
architectural structures such as support poles and a staircase that connote the urban environment. The
threshold effect I have decided to use adds to the already dingy and dark feel of the photo and this is something
that also connotes the urban environment to many people. The threshold effect gives the photo a graphic,
almost cartoony feel that is cool and much like the effect used in the film Sin City, a gritty inner city movie. All
different things that link to the urban environment.
Qualities:
I really like the way the threshold effect has given the photomontage a gritty, dark appearance and takes out
quite a lot of the detail in the photo making it only really consist of simple black and white shapes but ones that
are still recognisable. You can still make out the strong structural features like the support poles and the stairs
and I think this simplistic appearance is very good.
With this photomontage I experimented a lot with some more obvious and surreal effects such as the invert and
my final choice of threshold. I think the subject matter in this photograph could take this heavy manipulation as
it is easily recognisable.
I again experimented with including myself in the photograph and again I think it has added another cool quality
to the photograph. It also adds to that feeling that the photomontage is a number of photos taken in the way
you would see or look around a scene and so are taken from different angles and are each zoomed in slightly
more or less. When I include myself in my montages this way it looks as if I am looking down at myself and the
other photos are from different angles looking ahead or to the right, this adds an interesting organic flow to the
montage that I think works really well.
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I am pleased with the outcome of this photo in general but there are a few things that could've been done to
improve it. I could've messed around more with the different threshold levels or before this changing the
brightness of different individual images then achieving a different threshold.