Creating photo montages

In order to understand more about photo montages, i created multiple montages using adobe Photoshop. When creating my montages i used Eugenia Loli as a inspiration for my images as i though her photo montages were very unique ( separate page on her work).

In this experiment i wanted to create a piece which was similar to Eugenia Loli’s. I liked the overall concept stylistic approach that she created and in order to create the same stylistic picture i used a layering technique. I kept my image very colorful just like Loli’s as it gives a child like look to the image which i quite like. I used the galaxy background as my first layer which i didn’t edit at all. My second layer was the man in the image which i edited out of the original image by using the cut out tool. This tool cut around the man in the picture so that i was able to drag this section out of the picture to layer one. Once the man was placed how i wanted it on layer one i then focused on layer three where i used the same technique to cut the blue hand out of an image. The blue hand originally came from the artist Steven Spangler who i had gained inspiration from in the past and i though that this image would be a good fit for the theme i was creating. My other aim for using the layering technique was to create a noticeable 3D technique which is successfully did. My final step of this montage what editing the brighness to higher than it originally was which has made the image stand out more.  I am overall very happy with how this turned out.

 

In my response to John Stezaker, i decided to create my own photo montage. First of all i used a picture off the internet of two people in offices which i then edited using Photoshop. When editing this image, i created a layer each for the fire explosions. I then cropped each original picture to the part of the fire i wanted and used the ‘move’ tool to move the layer to layer 1 ( office layer). Using the ‘brush’ tool, i then made the fire into head shapes. My reasoning for making their heads into fire explosions is due to that being the mind set that they have. Their heads act as the disaster which they are putting into the world.  This photo montage is used to express my negative viewpoints towards the government and the way that their minds cause our misery.  As seen their is a similarity between mine and Stezaker’s work as we both edited different images onto people faces.

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Tableaux Vivian photo shoot plan

In order to understand Tableaux Vivian into further detail, i am going to recreate a movie scene. I have decided to take a clip from the mode ‘ The Addams family’ of a character called Wednesday Addams and i plan to recreate the chosen image.

For my attempt at tableaux vivant photography, i decided to recreate a scene from the film ” The Addams family”. The film follows a Gothic family whos long lost brother comes home from being missing and the family is thrilled. However, the mother begins to suspect the man is a fraud and get’s help from a lawyer who manages to get the Addams clan evicted from their home. Gomez realizes the two men are conspiring to swindle the Addams fortune and that he must challenge Fester. This film was released in 1991 in America. I chose to recreate a scene from this film as there are many interesting concepts in the film which really intrigue me.

Each main character in the movie has their own personalities, however apart from there differences there are also similarities between the family. Below is a mind map to show their personalities,

Mood board

This mood board of screenshots from the movie symbolizes the type of family they are, what they wear and how they act. The family seems to be together a lot, like they are very close. They all tend to wear dark colors, dark makeup and all look peculiar looking. In my photoshoot i will ensure to take this all into consideration and will have my model wearing dark clothing and in a dark location.

Image i’m recreating

Technical aspect analysis 

When looking at this image, i can clearly see that there has been a narrow depth of field used which has made the main focus be on Wednesday. There has also been a natural lighting used due to the outdoor area the image has been taken in. The lighting also shows us that the shutter speed of this image must of been quite quick due to there being a good amount of light in the image. I also think that the ISO has been set to around 800 due to the image being shown as being quite grainy. Due to being outside the White Balance of the image is most likely to have been set on daylight mode.

Visual aspect analysis 

When looking at the image i can see that Wednesday in directly in the middle of the image, the color of the image is quite dark which shows that there is no tone in the image due to there being no contrast in light and dark. Due to this image being taken with a narrow depth of field, the image looks 3D. I can also see there are background people in the distance, all of which we can’t clearly see due to the blurring.

Context aspect analysis 

This was a screenshot from a part in the movie where the character Wednesday is at a summer camp.

Concept aspect analysis 

I chose to recreate this image as it has a lot of underlying concepts. We can firstly tell that the character has an attitude to her due to her facial expressions. The reason her facial expression is like this is due to the situation she is in, she is disgusted with all the other girls fro being so girly. Secondly, it is clear that she is wearing her typically dark colors and has her well known plaits in her hair. This is due to her wanting to stay close to her family after they’ve sent her to summer camp because of the situation going on at home, however in this situation the dark colors and the prop she has are suggesting that she is in a dark place, maybe in her mind.

It is very important to capture the characters personality in the image. Wednesday is stood with a suttle disgusted expressed face which is showing us that she doesn’t fit it with the other girls because of her looks and interests.

Photo shoot plan

For my recreation of the image, i will take the images in a local park where there will be a natural light source. I will use my one main model and then also have a few people in the background image. With the help of my model, i will choose the appropriate clothing which resembles Wednesday’s character the best. For the photo shoot plan, i plan to use only natural light for the image as the original image was taken outside. I will use a daylight/ cloudy white balance in order to ensure the photo is very similar and i will find which ISO and shutter speed to use when im in the conditions. To make the image identical, i will also made a prop from a vodka bottle to act as the poison bottle that Wednesday is holding in the original image.

Aspects to include 

• Natural lighting- daylight/ cloudy WB, high shutter speed.
• Image to be taken outside for the scenery
• Narrow depth of field- Make image look 3D
• High ISO
• Facial expressions- Showing with eyes
• Props- ‘Poison’ bottle
• Model to wear a white collared shirt, black top and have plaits.
• Have background people
• Dark lighted image

Contact Sheets

 

 

Best Outcomes

Edited best outcomes

Technical 

When taking this image it was very dark outside and i therefore had to take the image on portrait mode using flash. My shutter speed was set to 1/200 and my ISO was on 800. I wanted Wednesday to be the subject of the image and i therefore used an F stop of 6 so that the model in the background was blurred out of the image.

Visual 

Visually, i made sure my model was in the center of the camera lense as so was the original Wednesday in the image. I also made sure we had the correct props, colored nails, hair style, coloring of the skin and correct outfit. Due to Wednesday having red nails, i instructed my model to paint hers red before attending the shoot and I made the poison bottle prop. I also used one model in the background to represent the cheerful environment Wednesday was in when the original shoot was done. I had my background model be cheerful by smiling and then also clapping to copy the original image.

Concept

When doing this shoot, i wanted the model to show Wednesday’s personality and she therefore made a disgusted look and was looking the same direction as Wednesday was in the original picture. This facial expression was the correct as it helped to tell a story.

Comparison between original and my final outcome

 

 

 

What is Tableaux Vivants?

‘Tableaux vivant’ is French for ‘ living picture’ and is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed with props and scenery. The scenery may also be theatrically lit.

Experimenting in a group 

In order to gain more understanding of what Tableaux vivants is, me and my classmates took part in a shared image where we recreated a chosen image. My role in this group project was as director. I placed everyone in the correct position so that they were identical as can be to the image. Ensured the right facial expressions were used, and that the overall set was correct.

Image we were creating 

When recreating this image we used a two point lighting technique. A soft box was used on the right hand side of the models which created the main light, and then a spot light was also used to the left hand side of the models. This spot light was used to create a shadowing on the two models on the right hand side of the image below. We also used a plain black background to help the models stand out and relate more to the original image. ( Process images seen above) 

Final image 

I think that this image technically turned out very well due to the correct lighting be used which helped to show contrast in the models and the plain black background which was what we wanted to create when planning this image.

The image is also visually correct as we can see the clear resemblance to the original image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Street Photography 

Street photography is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Most street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. Though people usually feature directly, street photography might be absent of people and can be an object of environment where the image projects a decidedly human character.

MOOD BOARD..

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Bresson was a French photographer, who thought of photography as a way of capturing a decisive moment. Bresson’s passion of photography came at an early age when he used to capture moments of his family holidays. Due to this small hobby developing he has made it into a career and has also made a large contribution towards photography.

Emotional response 

The children in this image draw us in a cause us to develop an emotional attachment to them due to it looking like their homes have been destroyed because of the wreckage behind them. The facial expressions on the children also draw us in due to there expressions not being happy which leads us to wonder what else is wrong and realise that something isn’t right.

Technical response 

This edited black and white image shows the destruction in the image in more detail (eg. the detail of the hole in the wall), as well as the children’s moody faces. The hole in the wall sort of acts like a frame and is a large subject of the image. The children being outside this wall as well as in it ( the boy on the right hand side) suggests that they don’t have much to play with which is shown by the boy of the right hand side smiling while climbing the unsafe wall. The formal elements of this image is shown through the use of the children in the location. The whole pictures is in focus, however the background is slightly less out of focus which gives the image a large depth of field. There was a quick shutter speed used due to the non existent blurring, as well as the image being taken in natural lighting in the children’s natural environment.

Conceptual Response

Not looking at the context before hand- I think that this image was taken to show children who have to live in poverty due to countries being at war. And the hold in the wall acts as the subject matter of the image as the hole shows how war has effected the children.

Contextual Response

This image was taken in 1933 right before the Spanish civil war which is sad due to the children playing in the last wars wreckage and now they will have to experience another war.

Planning my photo shoot 

I will be capturing my ‘ Street Photography’ images in town during the late afternoon. I will be walking around looking for interesting characteristics. The lighting will be natural and i will keep my camera setting on a manual focus due to wanting to have a quick shutter speed so i can take many images. I plan to be very discrete so i can capture people unaware and just doing the tasks they would normally carry out. I will also do this same plan in the passenger seat of a car.

Contact sheets

Best outcomes

Technical analysis 

In this street photography experiment, i used a  Canon EOS 1300 D and the image was taken in Manual Focus. Using Manual focus allowed me to change the white balance to cloudy as this image was taken in natural light, as well as being able to change the shutter speed to 1/250 and experiment with the zoom lens.

Visual analysis

Visually we can see that the man seems to be waiting for something as he has his hands in his pockets. He also seems a little annoyed that he see’s a camera pointing at him which we can tell by his frowned face.