HUMN 303 Week 6 Art Creation & Reflection – Photography/Cinema

Sample Answer

The invention and revolution of photography had profound effects on art and the creation of artwork. Artists found painting easier because of the help of light reflection through photography as they could only trace the image and paint (Martin et al., 2019). The invention of the camera allowed artists to take photographs of artistic and unique architectural pieces like Petit Trianon, Versailles in France by Eugene Atget. The essence of this paper is to offer a reflection concerning the interaction between my produced artwork through photography and an inspiration piece, Petit Trianon by Eugene Atget.

Inspirational Piece

• Petit Trianon, Versailles France by Eugene Atget, 1920s

The selected inspirational artwork piece is Petit Trianon which was captured by the famous French artist, Eugene Atget around the late 1890s and early 1900s. The piece is a photograph produced from albumen print based on gelatin dry place negative. The artist took up photography as a professional in the late 1880s (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2024). Atget took the photograph from a distance and leveraged the effects of surrounding objects to establish an intense feeling for the viewer or observer.

The background of the piece is mainly a fascination with architecture in addition to the forces of nature (Lamy, 2023). The majestic architectural piece captures a building just close to a river. A reflection of a water stream, combined with dark themes demonstrates critical features of artwork.

My Created Piece

• US Capitol Building, Washington DC

My creation is a photograph that I took during my visit to the Capitol in Washington District of Columbia (DC). The Capitol building photograph shows the magnificent architectural piece of art designed at the founding of the United States. The cornerstone of the building that houses the U.S. Congress was laid by President George Washington in September 1793 (Hantman, 2024). The photograph captured the front part of this unique architectural piece located along the banks of the Potomac River in the Southeastern part of Washington, D.C.

Designed in the neoclassical architectural style that was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman roots, the picture captures the tall columns, doomed roof, symmetrical and geometric designs and grand scale (Goodsell, 2019). The stairs to the building depict early architectural designs and the photography shows a beautiful background in a blue sky.

Thematic Connection between the Two Pieces

The core themes in these two pieces of architectural art include celebrating nature, developing unique designs to mirror important historical moments, and demonstrating the increasing power of photography. Like the piece by Atget, Petit Trianon in France, the US Capitol building photography shows a critical historical time; the neoclassical period. The two pieces also mirror the integration of nature and evolving architecture, especially how the designers ensured that the building was close to a natural source of water.

The photographs do not use the same medium since Atget took his photograph of Petit Trianon in the late 1890s or possibly in the early 1900s. The photography materials and equipment, especially the camera were different from today. In this case, I used my smartphone camera to take the photograph of the US Capitol. The third distinction is that the U.S. Capitol photography is fully colored while Atget’s Photograph of the building in Versailles is not colored to demonstrate the transition over the years.

The medium impacts viewers’ experiences as the color makes the photographs more attractive and inspires curiosity about the history of the building (Fekete et al., 2023). Atget’s photograph entails a significant hue with formal elements arranged perfectly well. Both pictures have formal elements, especially in the stairways from the streets to the main building (Hantman, 2024). Formal elements are also symmetrical and depict nature like the river and the blue sky, respectively.

Conclusion

The invention of photography revolutionized the taking of pictures for artists to work better and produce all elements of their artwork. Photography improved the painting and abilities of the artists to show all aspects better than before. The implication is that these artistic works enhanced understanding of art and its purpose for artists and society.

References

• Fekete, A., & Sárospataki, M. (2023). Plant Use in the Late Renaissance Gardens of the 17–18th
  Century Transylvania. Plants, 12(9), 1798. https //doi.org/10.3390/plants12091798
• Goodsell, C. T. (2019). Mnemonic Meanings of the American capitol. In Culture-Meaning-
  Architecture (pp. 247-260). Routledge.
• Hantman, A. M. (2024). Under the Dome Politics, Crisis, and Architecture at the United States
  Capitol. Georgetown University Press.
• Lamy, G. (2023). Men, plants and gardens between Mauritius and the Petit Trianon in the
  XVIIIth century1. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, 43(1), 34-66.
• Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. A. (2019). The humanities through the arts. New York McGraw.-
  Hill Education.
• Victoria and Albert Museum (2024). Petit Trianon, Versailles, France.
  https //collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1058012/petit-trianon-versailles-france-photograph-atget-jean-eugene/petit-trianon-versailles-france-photograph-atget-jean-eug%C3%A8ne/