Research

 04/03/2025  Annette

Location Research 

David Hockney

Born 9 July 1937, an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Hockney has owned residences and studios in Bridlington and London as well as two residences in California, where he has lived intermittently since 1964: one in the Hollywood Hills, and one in Malibu. He has an office and stores his archives on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California.

On 15 November 2018, Hockney's 1972 work Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold at Christie's auction house in New York City for $90 million (£70 million), becoming the most expensive artwork by a living artist sold at auction. It broke the previous record set by the 2013 sale of Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog (Orange) for $58.4 million. 

This is one of the most famous artworks by David Hockney. I am very surprised at how much money he made, this makes him a good artist who loves what he does.

I chose this pictures because I am actually drawn to his locations on the paintigs because i like his use of colours and it gives me so much inspiration on doing my project on nature loctions. The way he portrays landscapes really brings them to life, and many people find a sense of nostalgia and beauty in his work. 

Vinny

Understanding semiotics

Today we were learning about semiotics and the 3 types, which are: icon, index, and symbol.

Semiotics - The study of signs, indicators, and likeness things we use to derive (logically) meaning in the world around us.  

Icon - directly resembles an object. e.g. pen

Index - a sign that has an implied logical association with the object. e.g. the smell of smoke indicates...

Symbols - a sign that is not inherently connected to the object. e.g. a middle finger raised indicates... (we've been taught to associate) 

Vinny

Exploring Location worksheet    

 

Using Sound 

A soundscape is a mix of sounds that make up a place, like nature or a city.

A soundtrack is the music or sounds that go along with a movie or game to make it feel more interesting.

Three Composers

John Williams - is a legendary composer famous for his film soundtracks. He created music for classics lie 'Star Wars',  'Jaws',  and 'Harry Potter'. He's won tons of awards, making him one of the best in business.

 Work example 1 - Jaws

The 'Jaws' soundtrack is iconic, mainly known for its simple yet powerful two-note motif. It perfectly builds tension and fear, setting the mood for film's suspenseful moments. I think he did an amazing job capturing the danger hidden beneath surface.

Work example 2- Harry Potter

This soundtrack is honestly such a lovely piece. It captures the magic of the Harry Potter world perfectly. The melody is super catchy and it really sets the vibe for Harry's adventures .

Danny Elfman - is an amazing composer known for his unique and recognizable style. He's done the music for several films, 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Beetlejuice', he s scores often have a dark feel. He's collaborated with Tim Burton a lot, creating some nice soundtracks together.

Work example 1 - Beetlejuice

The Beetlejuice soundtrack is seriously awesome. The way he mixes playful, weird and creepy sounds is just perfect for the movie.

Work example 2- Nightmare Before Christmas

 

The Nightmare before Christmas  soundtrack is awesome. Danny Elfman captured that weird , fun vibe. The way he mixes playful and creepy sounds is just perfect for the movie. 

Secondary Research

David Remnick 

David Remnick has been the editor of The New Yorker since 1998 and a staff writer since 1992. He has written hundreds of pieces for the magazine, including reporting from Russia, the Middle East, and Europe and Profiles of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Katharine Graham, Mike Tyson, Bruce Springsteen, Ralph Ellison, Philip Roth, Benjamin Netanyahu, Leonard Cohen, and Mavis Staples. He also serves as the host of the magazine’s national radio program and podcast, “The New Yorker Radio Hour.”

Remnick began his reporting career in 1982, as a staff writer at the Washington Post, where he covered stories for the Metro, Sports, and Style sections. In 1988, he started a four-year assignment as a Washington Post Moscow correspondent, an experience that formed the basis of his 1993 book, “Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire.” In 1994, “Lenin’s Tomb” received both the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction and a George Polk Award for excellence in journalism.

Under Remnick’s leadership, The New Yorker has become the country’s most honoured magazine. It has won more than fifty National Magazine Awards during his tenure, including multiple citations for general excellence. In 2016, The New Yorker became the first magazine to receive a Pulitzer Prize for its writing, and now has won eleven Pulitzers, including the gold medal for public service. Remnick was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016.

Gordons Parks

A black-and-white photograph is rarely black or white—the vast majority of the images we describe using these words are built using countless shades of Gray. Gordon Parks understood how to deploy nuance as an aesthetic strategy and, even more importantly, as a method of grappling with the complexities of Blackness in a white-dominated world. This finely tuned balance of artistic confidence and political conviction is the hallmark of Parkes's work in the pages of Life magazine—in black and white, and in colour—where, for more than a quarter-century, he contributed photo essays that challenged stereotypes, and articles that provided much-needed insight into a Black man’s perspective for the magazine’s mostly white readers.

Parks was awarded a prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942, only a few years after acquiring his first camera. He moved to Washington, DC, where he became one of the few Black photographers to work for Roy Stryker at the Farm Security Administration. The work helped him to fine-tune his photographic skills and learn to harness the power of a camera—his self-described “weapon of choice”—to combat the inequality and injustice he found all around him. In his photograph Man with Straw Hat, Washington, D.C., Parks may have recognized himself in the smartly dressed figure on a street corner, the upward tilt of his camera conferring upon the stranger a heroic air. He also learned to build the trust of his subjects, earning the privilege of photographing intimate moments at their homes. After World War II, he took advantage of the wide circulation of popular magazines, which were read by an extraordinary proportion of American households, to draw attention to these issues (and to earn a living), working for Ebony, Fortune, Glamour, Vogue, and Life.

Photography 

My cousin took this photos where we lived most of our lives. This has an impact on you only if you lived the lifestyle we did. These are originals and I will try and edit them.