Over the Christmas period I have been looking for new photographers to explore who create surrealist photos like Christopher McKenney and Brian Oldham. I came across Linda Blacker on Instagram and found her images very interesting and different. I like her work and want to incorporate new and unique ideas like hers into my own work to make for more exciting images. Blacker is a fine art photographer, born in Chelmsford, United Kingdom. Her work combines fantasy and reality creating colourful and mystical images. Blacker’s work is very much fantasy and consists of plenty of makeup, props, sets and costumes. Her work is so interesting and different, it stands out and is very strange. Most of the time I just like to look at her work and see what she is doing yet never look into her work in enough depth to start making conceptual ideas of what the meaning behind each image is. They are very visually beautiful and tell a great story of the different characters that she manages to create and portray through her models.
Linda Blacker website: http://lindablackeraluk.co.uk/projects/fine-art/
Linda Blacker Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindablacker/
“I like to be in control of the entire piece. From the costume, to the set, I style the characters and I am even very precise about the position I want the model to be in.” – Linda Blacker
Interview with Linda Blacker: http://shoottheframe.com/photography-profile/linda-blacker-interview/
Overview | What I Think
Looking further into the work of Blacker I find it so exciting and full of life. Her work is always so colourful and engaging which I think that I want to use when making my own images. I do think that Blacker’s work is very eccentric and over the top but I love that about her work. I won’t be doing any shoots like hers anytime soon as I don’t think it would be relevant to my personal study but I have taken some inspiration from her creativity and individuality. I want to somehow incorporate colourful smoke bombs into my own surrealist work and want to make unusual images that stand out just as much as the work of Blacker. All of Blacker’s work is done in a studio and with a makeup artist at hand which I obviously do not have but I like the idea of using the studio to make some interesting images.
I find this image particularly interesting as Blacker has literally made the model part of the art work. It almost looks like a painting and the model blends in to that environment so well. In this image the model is unidentifiable and Blacker usually makes images like this on purpose as they aren’t the main event there is so much more going on around the model and Blacker wants the image to stand out as a whole and for her spectators not to just focus on the model. To me the model is supposed to be a cloud or could be a representation of wind, nature etc as she is blowing softly but the hot air balloons look as though they are being greatly affected by her presence. I love the colours in this image as it is so bright and happy. The colourful hot air balloons really stand out and make this image really inviting. Something about this image just makes me curious as it is so strange yet it makes me want to look at it more and find out what is actually going on in the image. It looks as though the entire thing is a painting and the model was painted and told what exact position to stand in and the exact facial expression she should make. I do like the idea of having complete control over my images and being able to position my model how I want them but I always prefer just coming to the scene and choosing what to do there and then, I tend to go with whatever looks best not just the idea and angle that I imagined in my head as it might not always work out that way or look as good as I imagine so being open to changes and different angles is the best for me.
This image also interests me, I get the impression through Blacker’s work that she likes to use paint and make her photographs look like paintings. I like that this image shows a man being the night and the moon while the woman is the sun showing the relationship between the two. The arm the woman has resting on the mans shoulder and his arms around her makes the image seem like the two are in a relationship but almost can’t actually touch each other or hold each other properly as they look strange. Both of them seem to be embracing one another with both of their eyes closed, this could be to make the image more powerful and mysterious focusing more on the whole image and the sun and the moon rather than focusing on two people painted as the sun and the moon. They are supposed to blend into the image to become a part of it and aren’t really there to stand out or to take away from the art work of the image.