I chose this as my final images as I think it is a good interpretation of Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson photos from their series ‘The Identity Project’. In this series  they apply cut outs of facial features from  magazines onto their subjects faces to create a new form of facial expression, like they appear to have cosmetic surgery. This provides a juxtaposition between everyday humans and the images seen in advertisements e.c.t

The image has the contrast between cold and warm colours. The blue tints on the cut out face is balanced out with the blue shirt the model is wearing which is contrasted with the warm colours on face similar to the hair, makes it complementary. The image has a background which is created from taking the photos in a studio. Unlike Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s photos where they sometimes incorporate a background of a bedroom or something personal, I decided to keep the background black as it keeps the focus and emphasises the model and creates contrast between the bright white cut out and the dark background. In Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s photos they physically stuck the cut out on to the models face whereas I had the model hold the cut out in front of her face creating mask like effect. The cutout is mostly centered  creating a division between the paper and face down the middle of the image. Although the cutout is not the same size as the models face and does not meet to look like a real face, Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson also did this to make it obvious that the cutout are not edited on after the original photo was taken. I made it so the cutout is bigger than the models head to emphasise the seriousness and harshness on the models face (as well as the cold colours) which is contrasted with the warm colours on the models face to show power. The lighting used when taking the photo was harsh to highlight the models features and to brighten the face on the cutout making it stand out more than the actually models face. It is also portrayed harshly to create a harsh division.

The concept of the image I found when exploring Brno Del Zou and John Stezaker photography when they manipulated faces to create a different appearance for them. The concept for Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson series is beauty, identity and fashion. The idea came from challenging brainwashing ideas of beauty as it is expressed in culture and especially in the illusion of beauty as represented in fashion magazines.  The series is to picture an individual’s face as a collage of collective images: models, standards, norms of beauty, to question the construct of personal identity. It focuses on Photoshop creations, and the impact that this beauty has on people. Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson covered eyes and lips of models from fashion magazines on real humans and the result is a mixture between reality and glamour.

Throughout the project i developed my ideas and overall I think this photo sums up my portrait project and my final ideas well.

Image 1

I chose this as one of my final images from my creative portraits homework that interprets Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s photography where they apply cut outs of facial features from  magazines onto their subjects faces to create a new form of facial expression, like they appear to have cosmetic surgery. This provides a juxtaposition between everyday humans and the images seen in advertisements.

Experimentation

I first experimented by altering the colour of the photo from black and white to colour and adjusted the hues to create contrast wihin the image. I also edited the cut out face different colours from the background to create even more contrast and to emphasise that it is an important part in the image.

I also experimented with the shape of the frame to see if the image was more effective when focused on the middle section of the photo.

I found that i preferred the image when i had a rectangular frame so the audience is not distracted from the image and concept.

Compare and Contrast

When compared to Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s photography I think that the image portrays the same concept and provokes the same emotions that the audience would get if they saw Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s work. One main difference between my work and ‘The Identity Project’ series is that where in Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s work they often physically stick the cut out image to the models face, whereas in my work I had my model hold the image in front of her face creating a mask-like appearance. This makes the image look like the cut out could have been edited in after the photograph was taken but the model was physically holding the cut out so the image did not need too much editing afterwards. Another difference is that the background of my photographs is black focusing all the attention onto the model with no distractions, whereas in a couple of Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson’s photographs they included a background of a bedroom or something personal in the photograph making the images more personal which is not achieved in my images. Although most of their images had a white background to emphasise the model rather than whats in the background aswell.

Image 2

Another one of my final images is this image that was in my creative portraits homework and took inspiration from Brno Del Zou’s work where the body and the faces are revisited and their volumes are highlighted in order to create installations of multiple scales. I tried to recreate his work by editing images in photo shop and also physically cutting out paper and sticking it down and found that when I physically cut out the face it was more effective.

Experimentation

I tried experimenting by changing my image from colour to black and white like Brno Del Zou’s photos and also different colours like pink and red. The one with the best overall appearance is my original as I think the experimentation’s look too over edited and i like the orange/yellow tint that is shown when i took the picture as i used artificial light and altered the ISO.

Compare and Contrast

When compared to Brno Del Zou’s photography you can definitely tell that my images are inspired by and are an interpretation of his work. One main difference between the images are that Brno Del Zou’s photography contains many different images with significantly different angles of the same face. Mine however, although are of the same face, do not contain as many angles as Brno Del Zou’s in the final image and are mostly of the same angle but with different facial expression. This is the effect I wanted to created and wanted to create the image of a full face with altered expressions and arrangements within it. Another difference between mine and Brno Del Zou’s work is that he physically raises the different images within the face to create visible shadows between the different cut outs. Whereas I directly stuck the cut of images onto the original image to make it look more like a real face without shadows and different sections. I think both these arrangements create different effects but have similarities between them. Another difference is that Bruno Del Zou’s work is in black and white whereas mine i kept like the original photo with the orange/yellow tint as it makes the photo look even more individualized and direct. Because you can  see the thin white outline where I cut the paper it creates an unrefined, homemade effect which I think makes the image more personal.