For my second shoot looking at symbolism and plastic waste in the studio, I used a volunteer model and captured a mixture of head and half-body portraits. These photographs below are the result of, planning my ‘studio’, lighting, model, material and symbolic message, as well as, inspiration from fashion photographer Matthew Lyn. From researching Lyn’s series ‘Trapped and Wrapped’ I decided to experiment with his beautiful themes of light and shadow as well as trying to show examples of movement and form.
Although I was planning to take full body portraits, my final results below show only half body compositions. This is because I felt this cropping made the plastic material look better arranged whilst wrapped around her body. The symbolism I am hoping to show with the idea of using plastic waste is the problem of plastic being used for everything (filling our surroundings), the effect it has on animals and marine life, as well as our connections to this issue. To carry out this shoot I created a makeshift studio in my bedroom by hanging a white sheet up on the wall and using a large desk lamp for artificial lighting. Like I have done in my last shoot I took each shot using a very dark exposure so that I could capture all images in focus and with a high contrast finish. As I have already experimented with different plastic waste materials in the studio in my last post, for this one I just chose to use my favourite prop, cellophane. To properly get across the symbolism of this shoot I tried experimenting with the ideas of distortion, being trapped, and suffocation. I think the outcomes of this shoot will go nicely with the self portraits from the previous attempt at this topic. When selecting my finals, I was very picky as I have already got a few successful images depicting the same subject matter. Below are a select few of the original images from this home-studio shoot presented as a contact sheet…
The first image displayed full and in colour above is a side portrait, half boy shot, depicting the model carefully drapped in a plastic material. To create this look I used an interesting arrangement of cellophane and painted small purple smudges on my model for a bit of extra detail. The meaning behind this photograph is similar to one I explored in my last self portraiture shoot. The head facing away and closed eyes covered by plastic represents our failure to see what is literally right in front of our eyes. I like this clear metaphor I have created with the material along with the stern expression and strong jaw line of my model. The artificial lighting in this picture, as well as my alterations made in post production, has created some very interesting shadows and highlights. I really like the spot light effect I have added to all three of my outcomes as, for me, it symbolises how I am trying to ‘shine light’ on this grim subject. Overall I have chosen this image as my best result from this shoot because of its interesting composition, lighting and soft colour tones.
The next two black and white finals shown above are some of my other successful outcomes from this shoot, depicting the same material, but different poses and symbolic messages. The first photograph on the left shows the model standing straight, looking down at what she is wrapped in, with a simple composition. The message I was trying to get across with this pose was ‘having a look at what man-kind has created’. I like the modest look this composition has along with the dark contrast of the material and her hands. The plastic covering the models eyes also gives the image an abstract and almost fashion photography look. Lastly the image on the right shows the model gripping the plastic that is wrapped tightly around her neck. This obvious symbolism is to show my message through ideas of being trapped and suffocation, ultimately telling the story of the effect it has on animals and marine life. I chose this simple composition because it resembles a previously analysed portrait taken by my inspiration Matthew Lyn.