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Chosen Theme // Lack of Identity

I chose the theme of ‘lack of identity’ purely due to the fact of the creativity involved with this theme which i believe will be the most interesting to further look at. It also will allow me to manipulate my images on photoshop to create mesmerising illusions and serial photographs.

Photoshoot 1

For my first photoshoot I intend to focus on the deep feelings that people are experiencing in connection with losing their identity. Identity can be formed from the labels we place upon ourselves, the roles we undertake, the activities we complete and many other factors. In our judgmental and unaccepting society, people are often too embarrassed to express their identity or feel as if they cannot do so after being previously bullied for their personal traits. This process is what I personally define as ‘loss of identity’. Such loss of identity can result in increased levels of generalised anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, a loss of self-confidence, social anxiety, isolation, all of which threaten our ability to connect with other people. These unwanted feelings are the feelings which I intend to portray through my work to create an awareness of this serious issue that is dominating some peoples lives.

This idea will be achieved using photoshop to digitally manipulate my images to achieve these feelings. There will be no need for developing my pictures once printed with this idea because the edits will be effective enough to engage and attract viewers.

Photoshoot 2

This photo shoot will involve taking simple portrait photos and incorporating a sense of color within the images to contrast with the model that I will stage to appear saddened by a loss of their identity. I believe that including these vibrant and bold colors which are associated with happiness will strongly contrast and show that there are positives even when a person feels as if they are worthless. The bright colors will symbolize this sense of involvement and loving nature that is within our society. I believe that within this photo shoot I will be able to develop images that can have a positive impact on people with such things as depression which is related with a lack of identity.

Photoshoot 3

For my third photo shoot I have in mind to use mirrors. I want to have a photo shoot incorporating mirrors as they are the symbolic object of identity and obviously reflect our identity. I can use mirrors to create illusions in the way that when a person looks into a mirror I can manipulate it to reflect something different which relates to their feelings and thoughts. Another idea with the use of mirrors would be to take photos of mirrors in locations however have no people within the image to indicate a sense of worthlessness as the viewer is looking into a mirror with no reflection of a person. The background will relate to a feeling of isolation which people feel when they have lost their identity for example an open rural area.

Identity In Photography

As I explained within the photography style of self-portraiture, identity is a key, if not the main focus or theme within all portraiture photographs. Portrait photographs for commercial use are used to talk about a persons personality and life, in other words their identity. As well as portraiture photographs being used in this way within media, identity has developed to be a big and fascinating genre in photography. Photographers are developing ways in which they can portray identity through the use of digital manipulation and using programs such as photoshop to create serial images to reflect a persons identity.

The main themes relating to identity which are displayed through photography are, gender, culture, social, geographical, lack of / loss of identity.

Gender Identity

Gender identity is one’s personal experience of one’s own gender. Gender identity can correlate with assigned sex at birth, or can differ from it completely. Some people that are assigned as being a male at birth believe that they were meant to be a female or simply do not feel like a male. This is how gender identity can differ with assigned sex at birth and is what some photographers explore and present through their photography. Gender identity allows photographers to express ones identity for how they feel it to be, whether it be a female trapped inside a males body or a male that feels like he is a male.

Image result for gender identity photography

Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person’s self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture.

Image result for cultural identity photography

Geographical Identity

Geographical identity relates to an individual or group’s sense of attachment to the country, region, city, or village in which they live. Often photographers will photograph people in locations within their region which clearly indicates where they are from for example, if it was a photo in France, the Eiffel Tower would be a good subject to use as a background as it is very relatable to France. Or the photo would include objects which further identity where the person is from.

Image result for steve mccurry

Lack Of Identity

Lack of identity relates to a person that feels like they’ve lost their personality and belonging in a community. It can relate to how a person is feeling and the fact they don’t feel wanted or cared about in anyones opinion. It has a strong link to depression in the sense they don’t feel like they are themselves anymore and therefore suffer saddening consequences.

Image result for surrealism identity

 

Self-Portrait Photography

A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the mid-15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as important characters in their work. With better and cheaper mirrors, and the advent of the panel portrait, many painters, sculptors and printmakers tried some form of self-portraiture. Portrait of ‘man in a turban’ by Jan Van Eyck of 1433 may well be the earliest known panel self-portrait. Nowadays we take self portraits almost everyday through our phones and computers, therefore self-portraits have adapted to become even more interesting than those just displaying a true representation of a person. Self portraits have now become a creative way to express yourself through the use of digital manipulation. People are really exploring the ways in which they can adjust their self portraits to create surreal photos which portray a sense of their emotions or personality rather than simply a photo/painting of themselves.

Image result for self portrait photographyImage result for self portrait photography

Tableau Photography

Tableau vivant, French for ‘living picture’, is a style of artistic presentation which is often shortened to just ‘Tableau’. It most often describes a group of suitably costumed actors, carefully positioned and often theatrically lit. It also applied to works of visual art including painting, photography and sculpture, featuring artists’ models in similar arrangements. This artistic style is often used in the works of romance, symbolist and aesthetic.

 

Image result for tableau photography

Image result for tableau photography

To me, it would appear that this artistic approach is used to show chaotic scenes where a lot is happening. However it over exaggerates how mental the scene is. So, instead of the picture being like a documentary style where it captures a true representation of a place, it is directed to ensure that it captures every possible thing that happens in that place. Thus leading to an overall summary of a place over a day or possibly even several days.

2nd Photoshoot // Studio Photography

For this photo shoot I intend to explore a larger range of lighting and backdrops to display a wide range of studio photographs. My previous photoshoot consisted of plain facial expressions and didn’t create a story or portray any sense of the models personality. Inspired by work produced by Rankin I decided to take some more images within the school studio to try and capture images which can convey a story or sense of emotion in which the model is feeling. I also wanted to try and incorporate a greater understanding of chiaroscuro by editing the images to be highly contrasted.

Contact Sheet

Edits

My Favourite  Edit 

Within the process of taking this photo, I used artificial lighting in the studio with a blackened background. Using artificial lighting, mainly which came from the flash on my camera, helped to illuminate my models faces which is the main focus of the picture. I also used back lighting from above to help bring out the models hair, however it wasn’t too bright that made the hair distracting from the key elements of the photograph like the stretched parts of skin. I directed this photo with the intention to create a strong emotional response on the viewer which i believe has been successfully achieved. The image almost reflects a sense of deformity or could relate to physical abuse which is are very touching and horrifying topics. I like how the high contrast between the background and the facial features really brings out these themes which were intended to portray. To create the distorted effect upon the models faces, I played around with all the colours within Lightroom and increased the clarity by around 80 to really emphasis the detail within the face.  Increasing the clarity really helped to bring the image alive to give an extra punch and impact. I think this image was successful, not only because of the detail and the editing as a whole, but due to the story I was able to create, which could vary across several topics leading to the viewer able to unpick and interpret the photo how they like.

 

 

Tableau and Self Portrait:

Tableau:

Tableau photography often know as tableau vivant (french for living picture) is a style of photography or art which shows a set up scene of people in a over dramatized location. Actors wear costumes to fit the scene and stand in a frozen position to imitate a moment frozen in time. dramatic lighting is often used to emphasis certain parts and to create different atmospheres. They often consist of scenes frozen in time and are commonly set to look as though they were in a different era.

a variety of tableau photo taken by various photographers
tableau vivant photograph by Ryan Schude

Self Portrait:

A self portrait is a painting,drawing, sculpture or photograph of the person who made it,

Self portrait painted by Van Gogh.
self portrait photos taken by Vivian Maier all of his reflection in different locations.

second shoot:close up tonal portraiture final development and shoot

My second shoot idea would be a close up face shoot focusing on editing and tones:

aim;To be inspired my tonal beauty and a relationship within the vulnerability of facial insecurity and a lack of vision,also an unknowing of reflection and being.

editing techniques:

1)A substance to cover the eyes

2)Dissolving the image itself

3)Bluring the image over the face and also to create a sense of movement.

4)Poke holes within the image to create a source of light and lack of being.

For this piece I was inspired by the abstract and more hardship and lines within the piece itself, it shows a harsh lines and brutal ship in order to symbolize a removal of ability to see who they are and express and talk about who they are and emphasis that lack of identity.there is also a harsh contrast within the beauty and close up of the face and the visor and abstract destruction of the rest of the shoots. there is also a theme of negatives and how the images have and as if they are an outcast.

For this I was inspired by the lack of face and the movement of the nudge altogether,it shows a development of their personality and overall.I also want to show an interposing composition within this work so possibly using hands over the face to show an interesting miss direction of the piece itself. I like the way in which the face is still completely in connect and it is only the neck that is a somewhat diffusion of the body.It is very abstract  but still clear demonstration of lack of identity within a sense of confusion.

The overall composition of this piece is interetsing as it shows a grasp and focus only upon the body.The blur this time is focused more upon the face and a stillness of struggle upon the body itself, I like how the hair blends in within the movement of the face.The hands show an effort to grasp,perhaps in order to indicate a sense of release of wanting to hold onto something,perhaps a past memory or trying to grasp themselves.

I chose this concept due to the way in which light can be used to enhance the people and show an interesting form of almost censorship, the light shows a gapping within the images, the light does not come through their face but only surrounded themselves indicating the main centered interest and also a sense of their spirit and not surrounding on what they look like themselves.

Artist I was influenced by is:Taylor Chan

Sometimes he is said to experience a sense of disconnect from who he is as an artist, it is mentally clouded state to which he finds highly emotionally driaining .He is said to enter a state of isolation brought form his own insecurities,so his work is highly inspired by his won journey and suffering.
This photo to me was inspired by a lack of confidence and also ability to create something with colour and many actions and such.It is quite a plane image but still connotes struggle throughout the positing  and also the development of the loose style.
This is also the same artists for the image above with the blurred face so carries the same ambitions and connotations throughout the works sense of differing trouble and lack of power.
 This is my favourite piece from this artist due to the development of again how her body is covered and so develops into the background of the piece itself,furthermore her possession indicates themes of self conscious being and then also purity wihtin the white and in the somewhat childlike positioning;
This piece is more like a landscape piece but still connotes strong themes of identity and lack or trying to finds himself and his being; The sky is almost seen mirroring the sea  and how it forms shapes that always changing and about top collapse, Perhaps this is why he is walking towards the danger and unsuraty  of the sea because he himself does not know who he is either.
lastly this image is quite ominous and based around silhouettes to shows themes of possible abandonment and a self journey.The landscape creates a darker tonal range the also expands into nothing expect grey, this shows successfully that she herself feels like she is nothing and a metaphor for how grey is neither black nor white and is somewhere in the middle.
 images:

Here you can see my original images I wanted to show a simple composition in order to create effective centered editing.I also cropped many of my images in order to remove any unwanted shadows from the image itself.

best edited  images:

For this first image I was inspired by the first image shown above, it shows a removal of every feature that creates an impact of purpose, there is a sense of aggression swell that I wanted to show through the raggedness of the marks within the paper itself.

  Within this image I wanted to show a blur and repletion of the face throughout my images and how their shadows and positions are the same and there is only a  movement within their face, this was inspired by the second images want to further edit this though in such a way that it clearly shows a forward movement and blurring of the face but in a. more dynamic method.

Here I used the image above in order to show a lack of identity  again showing a removal of the eyes but in a way of covering them which is not as quite sinister as the previous. it shows a sense of blinding them of covering them fro the truth in a way. And much like below this is the same effect of raggedly removing of covering up who they are. 

within these two I additionally wanted to show previous editing techniques of cutting out and getting a light from underneath in order to highlight the holes and ragged sensation from within the image.The random marks allow a presentation of harm and unwanted areas that symbolize within the loss of identity itself. It is also enhanced within the slow shutter speed of the piece additionally.

This edit was unsuccessful,I wanted to connote a movement of the face and a sense of blurring but overall it looks more liquefied and not the aspect of  loss and movement that I was trying to portray.

evaluation:Overall this shoot was effective by using the original editing ideas and transferring those onto my own personal work,however i do not feel as though these images are the strongest out of this project even though they do show a sense of loss of identity throughout.

Introduction Creative Portraits

Identity, ideas and influences:

when I hear the word identity I instantly think of visuals, a passport picture for example which clearly shows a persons information and formal identity.  however a persons identity can be much more than this, it could include their past or life experiences.  people can change or hide their true identity for many reasons such as self doubt or the pressure of society. i am interested in the visual side of identity for part of this project because i think it is so relevant in modern culture. people often change what they look like due to idealistic expectation and in a world where looks mean so much no wonder there are problems. stereotyping can also link to this idea of identity in the sense of nationality, we assume so much about people from their looks. I think this is an interesting area to focus my photography on because it is so versatile yet extremely relevant.

Visual Influences:

 

RANKIN

John Rankin

John Rankin Waddell was born in 1966 and is known under his working name as Rankin. He is a British portrait and fashion photographer.

Rankin attended Thirsk school and sixth form collage. Whilst studying accounting at Brighton Polytechnic, he realized that his interests lay elsewhere and dropped out, taking up the study of photography at Barnfield College Luton and then London collage of printing. During this time, Rankin met Jefferson Hack, with whom he formed a working relationship. In 1992, the two decided to start a magazine together called Dazed and Confused after they graduated.

In December 2000 Rankin launched his own quarterly fashion magazine, Rank. He also publishes another magazine called, Another Man and more recently Hunger, biannual fashion and lifestyle magazine and website.

In addition, Rankin has donated his services to publicity campaigns for the charitable organisation Women’s Aid, providing photographs for use in the Whats it going to take? and Valentine’s Day campaigns

Image result for john rankin photographyImage result for john rankin photographyImage result for john rankin photography

I like the way in which Rankin incorporates a sense of color and vibrancy within his photographs to add a fun and interesting vibe into his studio photographs. This is different and in my opinion more interesting than the typical studio photographs which have little expression and often are in black and white. Rankin ensures that within every photograph the model displays an interesting facial expression to create a story and a realistic view of their personality. The use of painting upon the face of the models brings a sense of individuality and creativity to reflect the unique personalities of the people. I believe Rankin’s photos are trying to portray the fact that we need to be different and its good to be unique. In a world of clones, Rankin has noticed this and is demonstrating how it should be through his photographs.

Final shoot:Projection onto body;final images and development

My third and final shoot will be a projection of colors and lights all over the body and face.

aim:To show a conceptual insulation of color and personality and a vulnerability of exposure to express within themselves,also the contradicting blend of themselves hidden within the background of the piece itself.

edits:

1)To show  a vibrancy and blending of colors

2)Transparent sheet with paint to show levels and abstract sense of movement.

3)A blur of movement added.

These two ideas of projection ideas allow a vast amount of abstract color and also patterns to form  a sense of structure,I chose this because of the vibrancy and how it could possibly be used to reflect a persona of personality within the images themselves.This idea could also be furthered to cover and or hide the persona within the light,this can be used to present the destructive idea that they are not seen or perhaps the  environment surrounding them is always moving and creative and they themselves are purely an observer.

This idea is highly surrounding more structure and form,much like my previous artists it suggests rope and being tied and  constricted not knowing of how they are and or made it be,furthermore the structure highlights and enhance certain specific arts of the face itself. These pieces also always have an interesting angle to the piece itself,to further presents and over exaggerate the use of the light,this is interesting because the position being highly centered and not free connotes their body attitude and as low sense of esteem. 

This idea allows writing that symbolizes the persona and what they the,selves inside are feeling,this suggests their suffering and journey as to what they are going throughout,this can also be used to develop more tonal work within the portrait.

An additional artist who uses the projection technique was: by  Lee Kirby. who’s project is called ‘pro-ject’ and is clearly surrounding that of projection onto the body,he was inspired throughout when he grew up to become a passionate painter, with large influences form his mother.he then continued to study fine art in Norwich ,
His way of working has always interested me, creating a painting that resembles a photograph. Richter focuses on photographic techniques when painting, even down to how photographic paper has a sheen to it, which he uses in his work.After finishing a Fine Art degree I started to study photography. Three years ago I had the idea to try and work like my hero Richter but in reverse, this is when Pro-ject was born.

within this image I really love the The composition of all of the images, the colours used, the placement, everything. You get a real sense of movement and emotion when you look at these images even though you do not know exactly what they are trying to represent, through the composition, body language and imagery projected, you get an idea.I was inspired by the way in which he uses light and creating the movements within the piece itself,it shows a hidden figure that is  usual’s moving in a highly creative format perhaps trying to leave the lack of  identity that they are currently within.This is my favorite image due to the blurred movement,and also how the color is so vibrant and how this presents the idea to be freeing but still unable to see a face.The color only attaching to the body and not the background is also interesting because it allows a direct contact and vision of the project purely surrounding the human form and lack of it.

These images are very inspired by cars and a slow shutter speed attracting light shown over the top of the persona to symbolize how they are always ignored and again showing the technique of  blending him into the background of the piece itself.

So overall I want to experiment within the lighting to cover everything and then develop it to form the conceptual concepts of illuminating a persona underneath and such.

best images:

For this section I used an image of a strong vibrant 3d shape in order to successfully show highlight so lines segregating the face into pieces, used to symbolises either e rope of constraint or a sense of dazed confusion and categorising of people.

For these images I used a vibrant sheet of paper in order to show an almost space theme of colour over the face,This reflects a vibrant persona to which they do not share with anyone or how the space is used to denote a vast mass of unused space so showing a lack of knowledge as to what their identity really is.

Here I wanted to show a reflection go insecurity that the person has, covering thecae with negative wording of what she describes herself as, this was ‘you are my own’ and ‘breath’ it reflects an insularity of who they are, but in addition also within the slow shutter speed shows a confusion with only a four on the words and not accurately who she is.

for this area I had a large spiral effect that I thought would be further edited by the idea of a slow shutter speed, it shows a reaching out movement that has a strong colour showing a reflection of struggle and also, faces continually overlapping and moving showing an act of confusion of identity and lack of self worth.

For these images I used a mixture of multiple backgrounds to exaggerate light and colour at the same time,with the first image I wanted to show a sense of frustration and display how she is unhappy and capture many forms of herself to show the side she shows to people and then who she is. the second sheets highlight a warmth and also a clear direct view of the person and almost an evolution of who she is.

I edited this image by furthering the colour and making it more variant and circulated into specific areas.The composition of her grabbing her face also allows her grabbing onto the aspect of space within herself. 

This image I chose because it has an interesting compassion and angle it shows due to the camera being onto that she has less authority and is controlled,the segregating lines also show  a sense of being trapped ad contained into aspects that ‘create’ herself.

I chose this image because you can see an emotion and a struggle within the images, there are multiple attitudes and beings in the image and you can see a focused sense of movement and also colour.

within all the previous three images I edited them by enhancing the contrast and adding more structure to allow more detail within the images. 

lastly I chose this image because I liked how there is a clear focus on the face but then a distorted amount of wording over it again reflecting what she thinks of herself is overly too important, furthermore that is also a clear focus on the words next to the image itself,which cause a change of focusing dynamic composition. 

Overall this shoot was a different way in which to capture loss of identity ink a slightly more colourful and perhaps positive way.Although I do think theses themes are quite far and I do not more applicable photoshoots and colours theatre less related to abstraction.