Surfer in a dark room preparing equipment and outside early in the morning before he break of dawn in the cold ready to go and surf.
This photoshoot took place at my home. The aim of it was to capture a surfer in a cold environment (hence the thick coast), who was preparing for a surf in an environment that people would not usually like to be in (e.g. a cold garage, outside in winter, a dark rom on their own). This was to highlight the commitment surfers have to their sport and equipment to keep it in check and combat the stereotype of them being typically lazy.
Therefore the areas I chose to shoot in were in my garage and outside my house. I captured my images in these places because they provided areas of low and dim lighting, whilst also being areas that are cold and require thick clothing to keep warm. They are also areas that people usually would not enjoy spending long periods of time in, therefore by photographing my brother there, they can relate it to similar environments around their home and it gives them an almost personalized knowledge of the dedication of the surfers spending their time there to continue with their sport.
In this photoshoot I was aiming to combat the stereotype of surfers being poor and scruffy. Due to the old nature of the sport, surfers are stereotypically beach bums who live out of their vans and don’t give much to personal appearance. Which is why, to link my project to identity and place I am combatting this stereotype by showing the surfer combating the stereotype as the identity with personal appearance and the luxury villa contradicting the stereotypical place.
The areas where I chose to shoot in the villa, were places where the light was strong, there was vast amount of scenery and great views (meaning mostly outside) and in minimalistic areas for example, where the colours were plain so the colours of the object or person I was photographing would stand out and in places where the architecture was very prominent in the photograph. This added some depth and tonal range to the images as well. However, I think the best images were created when I wasn’t focusing on where I was shooting but what I was shooting as it allowed me to properly think about the techniques I had learning and camera skills which would help me capture the most effective image instead of worrying about cramming all different things into the photos.
There are 2 main types of stereotypes of surfers I am aiming to break down through my photographs.
These are:
Surfers are lazy – Surfers are stereotypically deemed lazy due to the thought people imagine of them being very laid back and chilled people. This is exactly the opposite in the real world and the way I am going to show a contradiction to this view is through capturing the not-so-fun behind the scenes chores surfers carry out in order to stay good at their sport.
My main ideas are to capture surfers, getting ready on freezing cold winter days when most are at home and to capture surfers routines in preparing and maintaining their equipment and waking up earlier than most to chase swells.
Surfers are scruffy and poor – There is a great stereotype of surfers being people who typically are always short of a penny and life a life in their rusty old van. This makes it hard for people to believe that surfers can also life at the top end of society in luxury accommodation in exotic places. Therefore my ideas for this shoot are to capture a surfer living in one of these places, and conducting a lifestyle of luxury through natural lighting portraits. I also aim to capture this surfer being well dressed and presentable instead of poorly groomed and scruffy clothed similar to the stereotypes of beach bums who smoke weed and look similar to homeless people.
When I went to do this photo shoot, my aim was to try capture photos that were similar to Hockney’s photos. I took pictures from different angles with the amount of light changing from angle to angle. I got the subject to move between photos so that there could be a sense of movement in some of the images. The subjects facial expressions changed throughout the photo shoot, and I could use these when I merge some of the photos together. On the whole I am happy with the outcome of this photo shoot as I have come out with some photos that I can use. If I were to do the photo shoot again I would do some photos indoors to and see what would come out of them.
Edits 1:
When I edit this image, I tried to find photos that would contrast each other so that it was obvious to the viewer that it was different photos on top of each other. I also moved photos out of position in order to give the image a sort of abstract feel and make the viewer concentrate on each part of the photo. I used IMG_8941 as the main background as the subject in the photo had their face straight looking at the camera, so I felt that it would be easiest to edit on. I then used IMG_8953 and IMG_8964 for the different eyes edited on. Each eyes had a different shading, and each one had a different white balance to it. I then aligned the eyes to the face and put one out of position as the eyes was looking in a different and I felt like the eye look in the right position in the place where it was positioned. I then used IMG_8942 for the mouth. I positioned the mouth under the background mouth, to give the image the distorted and lost effect that Hockney used. I then proceeded to use IMG_8930 for the left side of the face. I aligned the eye with the background one. I used this image to change the shading of the face and also to give the image that block effect in Hockney’s images. I used IMG_8935 for the right side of the hair. I did this to break up the background and also to make the block effect. I tried to make my edit as distorted and broken up as possible to make it look like Hockney’s work, but I made sure not to over do it or else it would end up like a mess and just make the image not attractive to look at.
Edit 2:
In this edit I used the same method as with the edit before. My target with this edit was to make it seem like it was moving, that is why I sort of divided the edit into three sections: the subject smiling; the subject with a straight face; and the subject with a sad face. I did the same thing and put other images on top to make the image distorted and sort of block like. I made sure that some segments were bigger than others and that they would contrast each other. There are different white balances that also make the segments contrast each other. I am happy with the outcome of the edit. I found it hard placing the segments in sections as I didn’t want to make the image seem like it was too busy and overcrowded. I also want to make sure that the subjects facial expressions were easily visible.
