Shepard Fairey- Art v. Plagiarism

1. Do you believe that it is right for Fairey to take images from other artists and present them as his own? Has he done enough to change them and make them his own?
I don't think that it is fair to the original artist for Fairey to present his or her artwork as his own. I do, however, think that this article is a little biased. I understand that it is wrong for Fairey to neglect crediting the artist of the original work, but I believe Fairey certainly changes the image enough to present it as an interesting design on a t-shirt or decorative street art. I think Fairey deserves some credit for his interesting recreations of existing artwork, even if that is all they can be considered.

2. Is it okay to copy and image that is in the public domain (no longer protected by copyright laws) and present it as your own?

 

Technically, since it is no longer protected by copyright laws, it can be used by anyone, but I do think that credit should be given where credit is due.

3. Is it right to copy the style and techniques (i.e the way they use line or color in their work; or the way they apply paint to a canvas) of other artists without crediting them?

I think drawing inspiration from another artist's techniques is okay. However, if an artist is trying to work in the exact style of another artist, that artist deserves to be credited.

4. Would it be okay for Fairey to copy these images if he gave credit to the original artist?

 

I believe that this would definately be a better alternative to what he does now, but getting permission first would probably be the safest option for Fairey.

5. Do you agree with the article’s stance on the work of Lichtenstein? Was he plagiarizing when he took images from comic art to duplicate for his paintings? Why or why not?

 

I couldn't form a full opinion on the work of Lichtenstein from his brief mentioning in the article. The author states, "everyone was cognizant of the artist’s source material". How? Did he credit the original artist? Or did he just choose very recognizable images to copy? The author did not explain this clearly enough. I think most poeple are aware that Fairey recreates the work of others, as well, so defending Lichtenstein without adequate support seemed a bit hypocritcal to me.

Documentary Photography Series

Kitchen Nostalgia

1)  My focus was the retro and dilapidated qualities of my own kitchen. I was trying to convey the character of the room; I believe that the best memories in life are made in the oddest places, like an old kitchen.

2)  Most people spend a large portion of their days in the kitchen. Kitchens are for cooking and family meals. I even do my homework at the kitchen table every night. My kitchen has always been a constant in my life; it hasn't been changed or remodeled in any way since the day I was born, so it brings back fond memories of my childhood. It is something that I won't be able to forget.

4) There are a few things I would have liked to improve. Firstly, I would have liked to have made my pictures look a bit more retro in the coloring. Next, I would have liked to put more focus on certain objects by blurring the background. A few of the pictures feature that sort of blurring, but I give the camera credit for that, mostly. I did little blurring in Photoshop. Lastly, I would have liked to alter the image from it's original version more drastically by using black and white and color in the same image or by making something a color that it could never be in real life.

5) I liked that my images really highlight the most interesting parts of my kitchen. Also, I think they have an interesting quality to them because they were taken at strange angles. Lastly, I like the general quality of the photos. The details are very crisp and distinct.

6) The zoomed-out photo of my kitchen, entitled "Taking a step Back",  is probably my weakest image. It doesn't even look as if it was edited from its original version at all. I personally think its a boring image.

7) I think my strongest image is probably the one taken in the dishwasher, entitled "Life as a Dish". It's a view from the bottom rack of the dishwasher, which makes it pretty interesting. Also, the colors are bright and attractive.

 

Peeling Corner

Grandma B.'s Metal Cups

Life as a Dish

 Sliding Door Crack

Burn Out

 Spiky Ceiling

Inside Oven

 

Taking a Step Back

Out-of-Town Light

Faulty Lock Holes

The Old Sharpener

Mom's Teapot

Photo Recipe

Before:

  After:

What I did:
1. I doubled clicked the initial layer to make it its own layer.
2. I then copied that layer and set it to overylay.
3. Next, I sharpened the image by setting the Unsharp Mask to 200 with a threshold of 35.
4. After that, I created a new layer and added a fuzzy black border (with a 960 px brush on zero hardness and 65% opacity) around the apple.
5. I set that layer to overlay.

¡Voilà!