Liberty Leading the People

This year's photography, video and animation (PVA) course is made up of two units. One being on Coursework and the other being Exam. This year's coursework title was 'Symbolism', therefore we have to investigate the idea of 'Symbolism' within our own artwork. 
To begin with I investigated the theme of symbolism and realism.
Symbolism is  late 19th century movement by young artists who rejected realism, their work used symbols or attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events or relationships. Symbolism art is used by artists to express mystical or abstract ideas through the symbolic use of images suggesting ideas or emotions through objects and colours.
Realism is the polar opposite to symbolism as symbolism was developed to contrast with realism giving artists more freedom as opposed to representing the subject matter truthfully without artificially representing an event or place. It avoids artistic conventions, implausible and supernatural elements treating forms, colours, space in a manner to highlight the actuality or ordinary of the visual experience.

Realism and symbolism allow artists to produce varied pieces, realism in a realistic and truthful way and symbolism in a exotic and interesting way using colours and shapes inaccurately to produce a through evoking piece of work.
For my work I hope to produce a piece of work which combines symbolism and realism, basing my photographs on truthful experiences but presenting the image in a unique and interesting way.



As part of our coursework unit we have to create a 3000 word personal study in which we will find and analyse pieces of work relating to the idea of symbolism. To begin with we started looking at artwork in depth and analysing pieces of artwork. We were given the painting 'Liberty Leading the People' by Delacroix which is a piece we will view in The Louvre on our Paris trip. Below is the work I have done concerning this painting. 

Analysis of Painting

The first step was to understand the painting and strip it down to its core parts. Below is a deconstruction of the painting in which I have analysed pieces in depth and identified key elements of the painting.

Mini Essay

Now I have analysed the painting I need to write up about it in the form of a written essay. I have focused on Liberty's role within the painting and the effect this has on the viewer.

Re-Creating the Painting

Now I need to get back to the artistic side of things. A key part of this course is analysing and understanding artworks and being able to adapt the techniques the artist has used into your own work. 

Since in my essay I chose to focus on the role Liberty plays within the work I have chosen to create a photographic response to this by using a single girl and the French flag. I used a single spotlight to use light sparingly much like within the painting. I focused on anger and passion so my model held many poses with clenched fists. I did this with the aim of conveying From this I will pick my favourite image and go on to editing it further to create a final response. 

Final Response
I picked the image to the left to create my response to Liberty Leading the People as I felt it conveyed two key messages from the painting which are: strength and women. I used a female model to imitate Liberty as she is the essential part of the image. I edited my image by adjusting the levels, curves, exposure and vibrancy. I then wanted to enhance the danger of it and make it seem darker. In order to do this I used a placed a green block colour over the image then used the overlay tool to blend it, I picked the green colour from a part of the background so it blended well with that.

Following on from this, I went onto edit my image further by adding a secondary image to the background making the opacity low and adding a darker overlay. I made the whole image far darker and added a red/orange overlay to represent to blood element as well as the strength. I also add a black edge round border to make the edges faded. Then I wanted the fist to be the main feature so made it larger than it truly is and used the dodge tool to make it brighter so it stood out more and was more clearer than before.

Analysis of The Kiss by Robert Doisneau

Following on from my work on Liberty Leading the People I need to find an artist to compare/contrast the painting above with. As we are visiting Paris as part of the course I chose to use a Parsian photographer. I chose Robert Doisneau and his famous photograph The Kiss as I feel although it's staged it looks interesting and the way he displayed movement and passion within one moment to be inspiring. I have analysed this piece of work below.

Analysis of Sidewalk Cafe by Henri Cartier Bresson

I am going to compare Robert Doisneau to Liberty Leading the people but also to another piece of work. Again I chose a Parisian artist whom I will see on the trip. Henri-Cartier Bresson developed the descieve moment and captured simple shots which are more complex than they seem. I chose Sidewalk Cafe as it's similar to The Kiss therefore they would be good to compare to one another. 

Comparing The Kiss and Sidewalk Cafe

Before I compare The Kiss and Sidewalk Cafe to Liberty Leading the People I need to compare them to each other. I have already analysed both the photographs now I need to transform the notes into a written essay. Below is this.


Both the photographs portray romance, they show a couple in a passionate moment. Bresson's Sidewalk Cafe photograph uses a triangle structure to draw the observers attention to the action taking place within the photograph. Much like Doisneau's Kissphotograph which uses two triangles to show two levels to the photo; the central triangle which shows a clear focus on the couple and the second triangle which shows whats happening around the couple and gives speed to the image as everyone else is moving shown by the blur expect for the couple which are in full focus. They are both showing love in a similar way, Wiki said Doisneau's image was “an internationally recognised symbol of young love in Paris” which is what both these photographs portray. They are similar as they are both taken in Paris on what appears to be a normal day, they roughness of the images explore the concept that they are made to appear to have been rough photographs quickly taken to capture a moment. Yet although Doinseau's photograph is staged we are not aware if Bresson's image was and this helps add to the interest as both images are believable so make us, as a observer care more for the action. 
Doisneau's Kiss image explores a couple in a romantic embrace, although the image is staged the blurred background makes us feel he has captured it in a decisive moment. This is shown through the man's shoulder in the foreground which is closet to the camera being blurred and the cars in the background being blurred to emphasise how the couple are in their own moment and stopping time just for a second to enjoy each other.
Bresson's Sidewalk Cafe is far more simplistic than Doisneau's image as it just focuses on the couple without much else happening around them. The light is used interestingly however as it used more around the woman than the man which highlights the idea of women's superiority and power. The dog is arguably as equally important in the image as the couple themseleves, the fact he is under the table and attached to the lead gives the illusion this photograph has been taken on an ordinary day where the couple are simply having lunch in a cafe. The dog is also looking up at the couple which draws our attention up to them, additionally the fact the man's hand is on his knee it leads our eye down to the dog on the floor.
Although the pictures are both very similar they have also many opposing qualities. Bresson's image is in full focus so possibly the image is staged and the moment hasn't been captured as quickly as the other photograph. Doisneau's Kiss photograph has many other people in the background and oreground and there is a lot to distract us from the couple in the centre yet our eyes are drawn to them due to the blur around them. Whereas Bresson's Sidewalk Cafe doesn't have much else happening around the couple and therefore except for the dog we have not much else to look other than to observe the couple in the centre.

Response to The Kiss and Sidewalk Cafe

Now I have analysed both The Kiss and Sidewalk Cafe in detail I wanted to create a response which merged all the key ideas from each photograph into one response. When responding to Liberty Leading the People I created a photographic response although it was a painting so showing it in a different media. Now I have two photographs I have decided to create a drawn response to subvert the media used.

I found these two photograph presented good techniques of efficient photography, therefore I re-created an image based around both of them producing it in a minimalistic way. I have picked out some key elements from each image and combined them to produce one image which showcases the important elements.

I used the pen tool and drew over the photos in Photoshop, I decided to draw over both couples and then any other parts of the images which I felt were key. I tried to combine both the photos but still keep them separate. I also added colour to the images but kept the black and white theme with the background, which I made more light around the couple linking to the other artists who used light effectively to draw attention to a certain area of their work.


Comparing Liberty Leading the People to The Kiss and Sidewalk Cafe

From my two chosen images I wanted to relate them back to my original painting of Liberty Leading the People, therefore I produced an essay comparing This Kiss by Robert Doisneau and Sidewalk Cafe by Bresson to Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix.





Liberty Leading the People, The Kiss and Sidewalk Cafe all use similar techniques to achieve a unique image. Although all of these pieces of artwork are different in appearance the techniques used are incredibly similar.

Liberty Leading the People focuses on the French Revolution and the strength Liberty has to lead the people over the dead bodies and the rubble towards a better future. The Kiss similarly shows the power of France and Paris as a couple in the centre of the image, it shows the strength of passion and romance as one couple have managed to almost pause time in their own world to embrace each other for one moment. Much like Sidewalk Cafe which shows the strength of the couple to produce a romantic image in such a ordinary setting and makes a cafe which we would think to be ordinary suddenly become intense and interesting.

Kiss by Robert Doisneau is similar to Liberty Leading the People as although it is a black and white photograph the attention is drawn to the centre and to the couple. Similar to Liberty Leading the People as although there is a lot happening around Liberty she is still the main focus of the painting and our eye is constantly drawn to her due to both her statue and her commanding presence. However, there are other people in the images that we are drawn to within Liberty Leading the People we are also drawn to the man in the top hat as we wish to know why in fact he is there, he doesn't fit in with the others as he is clearly dressed from another class yet he still appears to be a central role to the image. In the same way as the man in the beret in Kiss as although he is not looking at the couple the fact he is in focus and simply walking past makes us wonder if he noticed the couple at all which adds to the photos believability.

Sidewalk Cafe by Bresson also uses light sparingly much like in Liberty Leading the People as Delacroix uses light sparingly mostly around Liberty and specifically around her head which conveys the idea of a halo and that she is possibly goddess like, emphasised through her being painted with naked breasts. Bresson uses this light technique in his photograph as light is used mostly around the woman and the light seems to deteriorate as it goes towards the male, this implies a sense that the woman is key to the photograph. Additionally in Sidewalk Cafe the dog at the bottom of the image is looking up at the couple so acts as a leading line for the observers eye to be drawn to the couple. Delacroix uses leading lines techniques as well by having a person just below Liberty looking up at her showcasing her importance to the painting.

All these images have similar techniques to produce famous images that have pervaded art for many years. Although they take different forms and meanings we can still evidently see a clear theme and form running through all of the images.

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