Who is my Favourite Expert?

My favourite expert is artist is Julie Verhoeven. Her style is so unique it’s hard to mistake her work for work of other artists. I also admire her because of the wide range of areas she has produced work in. Clothing, illustration, moving image and even cup and saucer sets. Verhoeven even owns her own fashion label named ‘Gibo’ and has worked alongside brand names such as H n M, Louis Vuitton and Mulberry.

The media she uses really compliments her style and she isn’t afraid to be expressive, her work reflects the kind of mood the work is meant to echo and actually reflects her flamboyant and distinctive fashion sense.

Another reason I like her work is because I find her very inspiring. I’m never jaded by her work and she allows me to think more creatively, especially when working on the human form and clothing. She’s sure of herself and that’s why I feel her style works so well.

Julie produced this piece for the Breakthrough group, the piece was to glorify the page 3 model. Not many people would approach this brief in such a way. The bright colours and vicious brush strokes of the hair, as well as the fuchsia pink ring to magnify the breast. She is not at all shy of expressing exactly what she wants to express as part of her art work.  

The lack of colour, or use of just black and white reflects the expression on the womens face in the image. The red highlights to show the piercings (and add humour in some parts).

Lip Gloss Tube

To show the scope of work she does, her piece entitled ‘Bless You’ a mixed media tissue box made by Julie Verhoeven!!!

That’s why I feel Julie Verhoeven is my favourite Artist.

Photography

‘Text is used to influence our emotions’... how?

Text is a powerful tool within visual communication; it can make or break a piece of work. Sometimes text helps to convey a message and other times the use of just the image alone can make an even more dominant statement itself

Depending upon the purpose of an image, text can be vital as it adds much more understanding.

This image of a young woman seems completely ordinary as it is, the fact that the image is in black and white combined with the expression on her  face only allows us to believe she is unhappy for some reason, but that is all that is given away, until text is brought into play. The ideology behind it is completely turned on its head, and we’re forced as an audience to understand its revealed purpose.

Similar to the image blow, at first glance the image seems quite bizarre in what it is trying to convey. Those who are familiar with the film ‘Juno’ will recognise the pregnant girl sitting on the chair. Ellen Page plays a confident and very strong mined girl who falls pregnant at a young age. Her dilemma?... finding capable parents to foster the child.

The message becomes clear and can almost shock the audience at first.

How can text change the meaning of an image?

Within photography, I think it’s vital for a photographer to ‘capture the moment’ as the photograph has to speak for itself. Capturing the atmosphere, essence and over all vibe of a place is what makes a good picture.

On the other hand, combining text with photography allows the image itself to convey perhaps a less obvious purpose because the text acts as an anchor, giving explanation of what the picture is conveying.

 Using text with or alongside an image can also change its purpose or the photographers intended meaning. This can be done in different ways, for example...

The red fence would just be ‘a red fence’ if it wasn’t for the graffiti but the wording acts as a voice, perhaps the voice of the photographer. The photograph is now personal to someone, it’s no longer ‘just a fence’.

This photograph without text would look like an ordinary door mat but the text which is added to it changes the meaning and makes it humorous. The purpose of the photograph depends upon the intended audience.