Dissonance is defined as tension or a clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements.
Harmony is a combination of musical notes that produce a pleasing effect; agreement or concord.
Though these terms are typically associated with sound and music, they have a relevance to visual art as well, and you can find their equivalents in terms such as tonal contrast, symmetry and asymmetry, and in color combinations such as complimentary and analogous color schemes, which produce feelings of tension or calm, respectively. What can create these feelings, too, is the content or subject matter of an image, and the most effective pictures, of course, will use a certain quality of light, picture structure and color in unison to affect how a viewer reads an image.
For this assignment, you’ll make 4 pictures in which you try to conjure feelings related to the terms dissonance and harmony. It's up to you how you choose to interpret these two themes through color, composition and light. Some pictures can express elements of both, and when we look at your pictures in class, you'll need to discuss how your particular feel appropriate.
Two of the pictures in this set must be portraits. You will need to make one portrait that addresses dissonance and one that addresses harmony. By portrait, I mean pictures that help us understand and feel something about a specific person in the photograph. (A picture of a group of anonymous people does not constitute a portrait.) Commonly, the person who is the subject of the picture will be looking into the lens, but this is not an absolute and not necessary if looking away from the camera suits the desired, emotional impact of your photograph. Beyond the portraits, your other two pictures can investigate harmony and dissonance using any subject matter and content that you find appropriate and meaningful.
What’s Due:
- 4 Printed Photographs
- 2 must be portraits
- one portrait that evokes dissonance and one that evokes harmony
- 2 Additional photographs
Part 2:
- Select one of your images (it does not have to come from this assignment) and print it on 3 different paper types: Moab Metallic Pearl, Moab Entrada Rag and Epson Premium Luster
- From the same image, make an enlargement on 17" x 22" paper
Due Date: Thursday, November 9th
