11/3/10

Pixel Perfect - Pascal Dangin's Virtual Reality by Lauren Collins

          Collins writes about Pascal Dangin and of the tremendous amount of work that he has contributed to many photographers, celebrities, and magazines. He is a professional retoucher of photos used for advertisements, magazines, etc. His view of life is that life is retouching. Make-up and clothes are simply accessories of what a person wants to transform into. Dangin owns his own company named 'Box Company' and has employed 80 workers to assist him. His seriousness about retouching shows because he requires employees to take anatomy and figure drawing class, along with a quiz before being hired. His retouching is basically all done on the computer on Photoshop. But, knowing the tools of Photoshop is not enough, Dangin has a wide range of knowledge in photography and anatomy. In the article, he says he believes retouching is only too much and overdone when it reaches the point of disfiguration. By disfiguration, he states an example where some retouchers slim down the legs of models so extreme that they would technically be missing bones. Dangin is usually not credited for his work, probably so readers and viewers would not easily be told that the pictures they see are not entirely real. Photo Retouching is interesting in that when put into the right hands and mind, anything slightly off can be fixed with a a little attention. Moreover, anything that the photographer might have messed up could be adjusted afterwards as well, such as lighting effects. Likewise, Dangin proposed that he could easily alter a model's character and personality by adding on eye make-up on Photoshop. Adjusting the colors and brightness of eyeliners can instantly make a model look and feel different to the viewer.
          I have a lot to learn about Photoshop as I do not use all the tools and features that it offers. Reading this reminded me of how I retouch some photos as well to make the people and lighting look better. Of course, I know I am an amateur and see how knowledgeable and serious Dangin is with his retouching makes me admire him for that.

• Pascal has clients such as Vanity Fair, French and Italian Vogue, Times Magazine, etc.
• There are times when the client being retouched will complain about something.
• Pascal slowly worked his way up, from the job of a shampoo boy at a no-name salon to where he is now.
• The magic of Photoshop and computers makes retouching an art form.
• Pascal is able to make anyone look better with his skills and knowledge.

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Museum Piece - Todd Hays

          Hays' article is about the process that designer April Greiman went through to create her poster for a show at the Museum of Modern Art titled 'The Modern Poster.' Greiman used the computer and various tools, including one named Paintbox in creating her poster. The Paintbox tool allowed her to draw, paint, and photocollage in real time. After creating the font for the modern poster, she added gradients to the letters and played around with the size and placement of the letters. Greiman states to readers that the poster and steps to create it was done in 1988. In the past, she stated that it takes $500 per hour to use the tool. Greiman was one of the earlier designers to use the computer to create her projects.

• Greiman had already had 2 posters chosen to be in the exhibition of 300 posters at the MOMA.
• She originally studied at the Kansas City Art Institute  (KCAI) and was introduced to the swiss 'style' of design.
• Greiman liked to incorporate classical with a bit of contemporary flair.
• The Modern Poster that was created showcases  the exciting and effective uses of hybrid imagery.
• The Paintbox tool is worth about $400,000 each and is a higher resolution tool than a television.
• The Modern Poster is also representative of all the tools that was available to Greiman at the time.

          In an interview with Josh Smith, it is revealed that April Greiman was indeed one of the first designers to ever touch a computer, specifically a Mac. In 1984, computers were just being introduced into the world, and Greiman was able to get her hands on one to test out. Greiman's use of the computer may be different in that she uses the computer for everything. One of her responses include that she basically does not have any hands-on things to do since most of it is all on the computer and done digitally, including all her photographs. Relating back to an earlier discussion of the difference between fine art and design, Greiman states in her interview with Smith that  she thinks "the best of art is all well designed. And the best of design is all pretty fine art." All in all, she believes there is no difference because they are very much the same. Fine art is designed well and good designs are all fine art. 

          Smith's interview was interesting as I got to see Greiman's other works described and of her view on design and technology. Her work is entirely done on the computer ad her work is a bit different than those of budding artists because of her typography which is known to be out of the box. It changes in size and orientation, whereas Smith mentions that students in school are usually told to keep it more straightforward and to follow a guideline. Greiman ends with that designers should enjoy what they are doing otherwise it would stink to live with.