The Thinker by Auguste Rodin (Joanne)

'The Thinker' is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin which is located in Muse'e Rodin in Paris and was built in 1902. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle and has moved into popular recognition as a symbol of intellectual activity.

After group discussion we decided to take this piece of art as inspiration to re-create 'The Thinker' via photographic means, portraying a similar visual form which would represent Bloomberg being knowledgeable and powerful. Our original idea was to photograph 'The Thinker' representing Bloomberg's corporate identity at different locations which would evoke the idea of humanity throughout the series of photographs that we would produce. The community buildings chosen would also have been visual metaphors such as: a library (knowledge comes from books), a school (to represent intellectuality via the form of education), a hospital (to represent health - birth to death theme), a bank (to represent financial responsibilities "money makes the world go round"), and a airport (to represent humanities fastest form of world wide travelling of passengers and cargo).

To pose as 'The Thinker' (JS) had in mind a body builder who competes within the World Strongest Man events called Jon Walsh and thankfully he was happy to help. From communicating between facebook and text messaging (JS) set a date to meet to take our models photograph similar to 'The Thinker' pose within Accrington Library, however as things do not always go according to plan the library at last minute decided that it would not be possible for us to use their premises, as such (JS & RR) re-organised the shoot at the Haworth Art Gallery.

Below are (JS) contact sheets in regards to the areas that we may have photographed Jon in the Library.

The main area of interest was at the top of the balcony where we had hoped to have positioned Jon below and in front of the stained glass window which displayed the words

'KNOWLEDGE IS POWER' and 'A LIGHT TO GUIDE'

At the re-location for 'The Thinker' shoot, luckily the staircase at the Haworth Art Gallery was perfect. We asked Jon to position himself in a thinking pose and also ensured that a fairly large potion of the background was including the window area (keeping in mind of the photographs I had already taken of the stained glass window in the Library) hopefully to add this to the final photograph.

As we were photographing in doors and from prior inspection of the Haworth Art Gallery before setting a date for the shoot we decided that extra lighting would be essential. We positioned a flash light using a mesh head at the top of the staircase, above photographers level, pointing down at our model, as well taking into consideration the ambient lighting through the window.

Below are contact sheets from the photo shoot

As agreed with the group I shared my four best RAW files from the shoot shown below so we all had the opportunity to edit to our own personal preference.

RAW image with suit

RAW images topless

Below are my edits

Whilst researching into the history of the sculpture of 'The Thinker' I came across this website http://www.code-interactive.com/thinker/a112.html

excellent protocol & information to consider in regards to the advertisement brief

What Makes a Great Logo

If you are a consumer, or a marketer, or a CEO of a company looking for branding, you should be interested in logos. Logos are the centerpiece of a company’s brand image and can tell you a lot about the company. The quality of a logo can tell the consumer how much their image (and customer opinion) means to that company. The effectiveness of a logo can help sell whatever product or service that the company offers. Also, the beauty of a logo is something that the company can be proud of and identify with.

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1. Follow Basic Design Principles
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