Website Research

Robert Mapplethorpe

I have been researching photographers websites and the first website I looked at was Robert Mapplethorpe.  This website is run by The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation as Mapplethorpe died in 1989 of AIDS.  Mapplethorpe spent his early career developing his skills as a photographer through the use of polaroids and he studies art at the Pratt Institute near Brooklyn. Mapplethorpe's use of polaroids gained him some attention in his first exhibition in 1973, at the time he was living with Patti Smith in The Chelsea Hotel which also housed a number of artists who would go on to become well known for their works - this circle of artists and friends Mapplethorpe used as his subject and after his first exhibition Mapplethorpe acquired a Hasselblad camera which he also began ti use in his work.  Mapplethorpe's work ranges from portraiture where he emulates Greek Sculpture to beautifully sensual images of plants and flowers.

The website The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation is consistent and well laid out withe the headline of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation appearing on each page along with the menu which appear as you scroll over the top. Below you can see screenshots from the site - I was most taken with the first image on the home page - simple and beautiful - filling the page and with scrolling images so the image changes every few seconds.  The portfolio page is easy to use with the images in thumbnails so you can just click through.  The About page is informative and explains the foundation and there is a well written biography page with images.   Overall this website is easy to navigate, great for information, consistent and I am pleased to see the artist and his work represented in the best way possible online.

Helmut Newton

The second website I researched was Helmut Newton which is also from a Foundation The Helmut Newton Foundation - I thought it would be in keeping to look at two foundations to compare.  Helmut Newton I have written about in a previous post and looked at this website for information.  In terms of the look of the website this is much less impressive.  The website firstly appears quite small on the computer screen page.  The home page image is okay however does not really represent the body of work Newton created.  Going further into the site as you can see below the image on the page to go into Newton works is a  picture of himself which is not really the nest image of the man.  The Biography page is just black with writing and the navigation is more awkward as you have to go into 'Helmut Newton' to get his biography, exhibition and works which really I think should be easy to find on the main menu.  The header is consistent but not very exciting or inviting - overall this could be far more impressive considering Newton's body of work - disappointing!

Research: Helmut Newton

This week I intend to concentrate on researching all my dictionary listings therefore I will begin by looking at the photographer Helmut Newton.

Helmut Newton Photographed by Irving Penn

Helmut Newton was born in Berlin in 1920 as Helmut Neustadter, Newton left Berlin in 1938 and found work in Singapore on the Singapore Straits Newspaper, following this he travels to Australia and serves five year in the Australian army. Newton became an Australian citizen in 1946 and marries the model June Brunell a year later. From 1956 to 1964 works for various fashion magazines including French, British  and Australian Vogue and Elle magazine.  In 1971 Newton suffers from a heart attack and convalesces in New York. From 1974 to his death i 2004 Newton has a variety of exhibitions around the world and is awarded the commendation to “commandeur de l’ordre des arts et lettres” by the french Ministry of Culture in 1996. (Helmut Newton Foundation)

Newton's work is  combination of art and fashion photography, Newton used models that were; 'statuesque and sultry models, postures as solid as stainless steel.' (generatorhostels.com).  Newton also photographed iconic images of celebrities which are immediately recognisable in his cinematic iconic style.  Newton captured the essence of cool, rendering all those in front of his lens into icons.  The models in his images are almost hyper-real statues that dominate the landscape, you eyes are drawn inescapably from the form they present. The images are sensual, erotic, beautiful and a times disturbing.  Newton understood how to entice the viewer into his world and looking at his images you become the ultimate voyeur, you are complicit, you cannot look away...

The Erotic Stylish World of Helmut Newton

Catherine Deneuve, photographed for Esquire magazine, 1976.

David Bowie by Helmut Newton

References

Bal Harbour Shops (2018) Helmut Newton: Exposed [Online] Available From: https://www.balharbourshops.com/fashion/culture-watch/5719-helmut-newton-exposed

(Accessed 22nd October 2018)

Generator Hostels (10/08/16) Explore Helmut Newton's Legendary Iconic Photography [Online] Available From:  https://generatorhostels.com/parallel/articles/amsterdam/explore-helmut-newton%E2%80%99s-iconic-legendary-photogra (Accessed 22nd October 2018) 

Helmut Newton Foundation (2018) [Online] Available From: http://www.helmut-newton.com

(Accessed 22nd October 2018) 

Watergatexy (16/02/15) The Erotic Stylish World of Helmut Newton  [Online] Available From: https://watergatexy.wordpress.com/tag/helmut-newton/ (Accessed 22nd October 2018)

First Dictionary Listing

I have started to add content by looking at Jemima Stehli.  Jemima Stehli is a Feminist Photographer/Artist who used her own body in her work.

Source: Musee Magazine: Friends with Benefits - Image from the Series Strip

In this work she stripped for a number of men that she knew and asked them to take the picture when they wanted to as she stripped - this was a comment on the male gaze and the reaction of the men in each image is very different - some are surprised, some happy, some stare blankly at the camera.

Source: Jemima Stehli: Lisson Gallery (2003)

In this work above from 2003 - Stehli photographs herself at various angles using mirrors and the empty space so that parts of her body are visible - again thise feels like a body performing in the space and we are, as viewers, forced to gaze upon her body and consider each curve, her skin, her breasts in these contemplative images.  The use of mirrors emphasises and enforces the idea of the gaze and 'looking' photographically. 

On my dictionary listing I had added facts about Stehli where she was born, education and exhibitions and then written a short blurb about the artists and added an image.  I am considering how much content to add and how I should add links to create a wide web of information about each artist. 

This was my process fro this: 

This is the listing in the directory above and how it will look as you click into her space

This is the listing - I have changed the text and colours however I still think the background image is problematic and will need to be changed to make each page more readable. 

Continuing to Create My App..

I continued to work on my About section on my app, I changed the background for the whole app to something much lighter and changed the font and colour settings of the icons to make them blend better with the backdrop.

I now also added the dictionary section to my app i did this by using a listings section as this works as a kind of database and is easily searchable using keywords, categories and names.  You can see here I started by adding Art Photography as there is no content you get the sad face!

I want to now start to add content so that I can see how that looks and whether this will work well on the app so for my next post I will be writing and researching one of the photographers that I wanted to use on the app.

Starting to Create My App

I began by simply putting together a basic template to begin the process: 

I called it simply DeVelde for the moment and then I will begin deciding which features I would like to customise.  I began with the the About Me page and as the App creator points out this is one of the most powerful pages as it tells the world who you are and why you are doing this - it is used to reach out to you target audience.

I wrote about the mission of the app in the following section and added my website and an about me as the founder of the app onto this page.

As you can see from this the background and colours still need change to make this work well and be readable.  You will see progress of this creation in my future posts!

App Software Online: Appypie

Prior to choosing Appypie the app software that I have chosen to use I researched other app software - I started by looking at this: Website Tool Tester Blog which discusses the differences between 18 different online apps.  As this article states many apps are PWA (Progressive Web App) therefore essentially a mobile friendly website.  Native Apps are what most people actually want to buy however to create these is far more expensive but you can get them listed in the Android and Apple ecosystems. 

Source: Example App Builder Interface

There are many different app builders to choose from each with different pros and cons and to go through all of these here would be very laborious so I will go into instead the reason I have chosen Appypie: 

• It has a cheap basic package at $12 per month which I can cancel if I do not like it.
• It has a user friendly interface
• It does not require computer coding
• It has the functionality I require to create my dictionary of photographers
• I can add instant chats
• I can promote and market 
• I can add push notifications
• I can monetise this app

This is the dashboard to start using all the features which are easily accessible and simple to use. 

Major Project Initial Ideas and Project Sign Off

For my major project this term I would like to create a dictionary of photographers that is easily accessible. Therefore I would like to create an app and app content of photographers - I will begin with photographers that really interest me and although in this project I may only be able to create six to ten entries this could be the start of a much bigger project in time. Here is a photograph by Helmut Newton from his Polaroids collection which his wife curated after his death in 2004. He will be one of the photographers that I will be writing about. 

By Helmut Newton from Polaroids (2011)

Source: Sensual Polaroids By Helmut Newton

I have also completed my project sign off here so that you can see other software that I intend to use and the list of photographers I would like to research.

Zoe's Project Sign Off

I will need to consider also the title and design of the app and the features that I would like to employ.  I will write much more about this in my next post which will be researching app creators online.