To produce tableau vivant images, the studio was used in order retain full control over things such as lighting and the background. The images that we decided to replicate were the following:
“Last Supper” – David Lachapelle“Liberty leading the people” – Delacroix
All of the above images were chosen for their story telling visuals, as each image portrays a still frame from what would usually be depicted as a fast moving scene.
The products of the photo-shoot we conducted in the studio can be seen in the contact sheets below:
Key:
Red F: Out of focus, Red P: Subject in the wrong position, Green F: slightly out of focus, Green P: subject in slightly incorrect position, Red box: discarded image, Green box: selected for possible to final image
The above images were taken by a range of other students within the photography class, and the lighting and prop management was coordinated by a range of photography students as well. After analyzing the end results for the tableaux photo-shoots, I have decided on the following 2 final images:
The unedited final image (1)The edited final image (1)
Above is the final edited image from the photo-shoot in which we attempted to recreate “Liberty Leading the People”, a painting created by Delacroix. This image required props in order to create a flag, and the studio was used in order to draw maximum attention to the subjects in the foreground. The lighting in this image is focused on the subject representing Liberty, and the rest of the image is relatively shaded. This is done to mimic the atmosphere of a war setting, and the saturation as been turned up slightly to mimic the slightly orange tone of the original image. The image has also been edited to remove the white floor and curtains in the background, allowing or the image seem slightly more realistic
The unedited final image (2)The edited final image (2)
The image above is the final edited image from our attempt to mimic the photograph taken by Lachapelle, “Last Supper”. For this image we used a table as a prop, and pointed the lighting towards the subject in the middle of the table, accentuating the fact that this subject is supposed to represent Jesus. Editing has resulted in the darkening of the background, which allows for the scene to draw maximum attention to the subjects and the foreground.
My idea is to replicate abstract portrait paintings. These paintings all reflect someones individual identity and how they think they are perceived in the world. For example, Frida Kahlo’s work is all about her empowerment because when creating her work, women were seen as the weaker gender in society. Kahlo’s paintings often feature root imagery with roots growing out of her body to tie her to the ground, reflecting in a positive sense the theme of personal growth; in a negative sense of being trapped in a particular place, time and situation; and finally in an ambiguous sense of how memories of the past influence the present for either good and/or ill. In ‘My Grandparents and I’, Kahlo painted herself as a ten-year holding a ribbon that grows from an ancient tree that bears the portraits of her grandparents and other ancestors while her left foot is a tree trunk growing out of the ground, reflecting Kahlo’s view of humanity’s unity with the earth and her own sense of unity with Mexico.
These portraits were all a key turning point within the world or artistic culture: with Picasso who covered a range of topics from isolation to family. These artists opened the worlds eyes to abstract art which is understandable. They portrayed ideas in such augmented realities that they made sense.
My plan
My photo shoot plan fro Tableau photography is to replicate these paintings on peoples faces so that I can reflect the physicality and emotions behind these abstract portraits.
Frida Kahlo is going to be my main influence due to her views are so strong in her time in society. I would recreate scenes from the biopic movie ‘Frida’ give a sense of what her life was outside of her controversial paintings.
A photo-montage is a type of montage constructed from photographic images. In the modern age, this style of photographic editing is typically created using Adobe Photoshop or other computer software. The style has been tracked back to as early as the 1860s, but was made more popular in the 1880s when people were starting to be more experimental with their exposures. Early photo montage would consist of cutting out parts of one or more images and paste them on top of an existing photograph. These elements would later be explored in more detail by futurist and dadaist photographers at the start of the 20th century.
‘Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two young women who first meet as sorcery students at Shiz University: the blonde and very popular Glinda and a misunderstood green girl named Elphaba. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences for her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.’
https://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/london/about
Mood Board
Defying Gravity
Taken from Google
In the defying gravity seen we see Glinda and Elphaba caught in a room, needing to make a plan and fast. When the protagonist Elphaba casts a spell to make a broom stick fly she decides she will escape using that. She then invites her good friend Glinda to join and escape together but Glinda declines as it is not in her nature to rebel. The Guards break into the room and take Glinda Elphaba is seen traveling down the stage saying “It’s not her she has nothing to do with it I’m the one you want” The guards let go of the blonde girl and stare at Elphaba in awe as she takes to the sky.
Popular
Taken From Google
Popular is the scene where we know the two girls are attempting to get on, but of course on Glinda’s terms. This scene is Glinda giving her new friend Elphaba a make over to make her more popular and appealing to other students at the university. Of course she “Glindafies” her making her seem like a duplicate. We see Elphaba go through the different stages, from taking her hair down to tossing her hair. Eventually, a pink flower is placed in the green witches hair, creating an emotional reaction with the audience. Elphaba is then seen running of the stage in tears.
No Good Deed
Taken From Google
In no good deed we are faced with Elphaba rising onto the stage with her spell book screaming Fieryo, the name of the boy she loves. This man has been taken by the guards to be killed. The green witch is then seen casting a spell to try and keep her loved one alive, but then backtracks and reminds herself on the damage she has caused to her loved ones. She then comes to the conclusion that she is Wicked.
Contact Sheets
Edits With Story Telling
This is my photograph showing the Defying Gravity scene. The protagonist Elphaba is seen in the centre of the image with wind blowing through her hair, presenting the idea that she is in the sky. She is holding her broom high into the air, showing she is proud and is looking towards the broom. The fact that she is not looking at the lens presents the idea that she should not look back and that she is determined to succeed in what she does now. The story behind this shows how she does not need to do as people say and that others should not determine the life that she lives. It portrays her empowering character as a role model to others, it is used to present the views of feminists and how men do not rule to world. This message can be used in any context, for example it could show that A Levels do not define who we are and won’t stop us reaching our hopes and dreams if we fail them. The purpose of this photograph is to inspire others. When editing this image I decided to make the image darker allowing her different tones of green to be presented and allows Elphaba to stand out from the background. To achieve this I just levelled and and adjusted the curves.
In my no good deed Tableaux we are presented with the green witch in the centre of the frame. She has her spell book open and is casting a spell, shown by her hand movements. The neutral facial expression and direct eye contact with the lens implies the worries and concerns the character has. To story trying to be told is that magic can not fix up our lives. Obviously, we can not cast spells in real life so when transferring this message into the real world it is essentially saying think before we do something as we do not know how it is going to affect others around us. This is a sensitive image as multiple emotions can be interpreted by my models face. Unfortunately, the face of the model is not the main focus point is is sort of out of focus, this loose some of the overall effect and may lead to misinterpretations of the photography. To edit this photograph I just levelled and and adjusted the curves in order to make the image seem naturally darker.
Within this photograph we have the two witches staring at each other, which was inspired by the ‘What is this feeling’ scene. We see Glinda staring at Elphaba with neutral facial expression and sort of squinting her eyes which informs us that she despises the green witch. On the other hand, Elphaba has a smile on her face which informs viewers that she finds it funny that Glinda loathes her. To edit this photograph I just levelled and and adjusted the curves in order to make the image seem naturally darker.
In my final image I wanted to capture the personality of Glinda and the moment when the two girls finally bond. We can see Glinda playing with the hair of Glinda with a big smile on her face, this informs viewers that Glinda is a girly girl and enjoys giving others makeovers and playing with peoples hair. In contrast Elphaba does not seem that fazed by it showing her tomboy side. The contrast shows that for the two witches to be neutral the green witch has to compromise and try and begin to like what Glinda wants. This presents the idea that girls are only concerned with hair, makeup and their phones, but clearly they are not which is demonstrated by Elphaba. Due to the harsh lighting, it allows the two witches to stand out from the background allowing the message to come across better. To edit this photograph I just levelled and adjusted the curves in order to make the image seem naturally darker.
Comparison
When comparing my work to The Entombment of Christ (Deposizione) (1601-3) there are some similarities and differences. The main difference is that my tableaux covers issues that teenagers face today, whereas the artist research shows a major event which took place in 1601. A similarity is the of plain backgrounds which allows the story to be the main focus point allowing the storyline to be outlined clearly within the photograph. Another difference is that my tableaux is a photograph which allowed me to experiment more with lighting, shutter speed and depth of field, compared to the painting made in 1603. Moreover, a lot of thought has been put into my tableaux as I considered costumes, lighting, props, background and facial expressions of my models. Doing this allows a full story to be told, I learnt this from when I researched The Entombment of Christ (Deposizione). In my Defying Gravity image I took inspiration from the painting to use the chiaroscuro effect which has allowed parts of the models body and face to be lit up and gradually get darker, which has allowed a more dramatic effect and tone to be added to my final image.
Evaluation
To evaluate I believe that my tableaux was successful, due to the techniques and skills I have acquired from doing a class tableaux. I was successfully able to create a story within a picture, which is clear for viewers to understand. I have also been able to put in multiple elements to create a successful Tableaux. If I was to do another tableaux I would aim to look at a more religious approach, as I believe the final images would be able to produce a more meaningful representation of a story to viewers, as everyone would understand. I would also at potentially looking at a different editing strategy in order to make the images more dramatic. Although I enjoyed looking at this style of portraiture I do not think that I will continue this idea.
A tableau vivant (often shortened to tableau, plural:tableaux vivants), French for ‘living picture’, is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically lit.
Ryan Schude, of a family camping in a WinnebagoCaravaggio – The Entombment of Christ
Photo montage, composite photographic image made either by pasting together individual prints or parts of prints, by successively exposing individual images onto a single sheet of paper, or by exposing the component images simultaneously through superimposed negatives. In the 1880s the juxtaposition of separate images through successive exposures became fashionable in the “combination print,” especially in the form of the contrived group portrait. The subjective, fragmented, potentially absurd qualities of this juxtaposition were exploited by Dadaist and Futurist artists of the early 20th century.
The photo montages of George Grosz, Hannah Höch, and John Heartfield from this period are among the major examples of the form. Photo montage was also used extensively in the Pop art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. A technically sophisticated form of photo montage was developed by the U.S. photographer Jerry Uelsmann, and artist David Hockney is also noted for his photo montages.
This week’s tasks are designed to encourage you to explore your creativity by looking responding to Constructed Portraits.
Photo-montage
Composite portraits
Collage
History of Photo-montage (Europe 1910 onwards)
A photomontage is a collage constructed from photographs.
Historically, the technique has been used to make political statements and gained popularity in the early 20th century (World War 1-World War 2)
Artists such as Raoul Haussman , Hannah Hoch, John Heartfield employed cut-n-paste techniques as a form of propaganda…as did Soviet artists like Aleksander Rodchenko and El Lissitsky
Photomontage has its roots in Dadaism…which is closely related to Surrrealism
Many Pop Art images and constructions tackled popular consumerism, advertising, branding and marketing techniques
Pop art also explored political concerns such as war, and gender roles too
Richard HamiltonPeter BlakeRobert RauschenburgAndy Warhol
Examples and Inspiration
richard hamilton / kurt schwitters / peter blake /
soviet art
sammy slabinck
john stezaker
jesse treece
jonny briggs
david hockney
hannah hoch
Annegret Soltau
Brno de Szou
Joachim Schmid
Jesse Draxler
Peter Kennard
Eugenia Loli
Sarah Eisenlohr
Grete Stern
Jerry UELSMANN
Duane Michals
Edmund Teske
Man Ray
El Lissitsky
Martha Rosler
John StezakerPeter KennardAnnegret SoltauStreet Poster—Jacques VillegleDavid Hockney – joiner photographsChristian Marclay-Album CoversSoviet war art and propagandaJoachim SchmidJesse DraxlerMartha RoslerJerry UelsmannSarah Eisenlohr
In her artist statement Montana based artist Sarah Eisenlohr explains that her collages use places of existence to create fictional ones in an effort to demonstrate the ways in which humans have transformed the earth. These scenes often carry undertones of spirituality and faith. “I consider the figures’ desire for shelter, warmth, and something stronger than themselves as symbols of serenity that I seek through spirituality, while the use of sublime in my work points to a relationship with the divine,”
Eugenia Loli
California based artist Eugenia Loli draws inspiration for her surreal art collages from vintage magazine images. Loli intends for her images to serve as a snap shot from a surreal movie from which the viewer can create his or her own narrative.
Task 1
Create a blog post that includes a clear understanding of the history and background of photo-montage.
Include a moodboard / mindmap
Add examples of Early – late 20th Century Photomontage eh Hannah Hoch
Task 2
Choose a specific photo-montage artist and write/create a CASE STUDY
Include a detailed analysis of 1 x key image by the artist
Clare Rae is a photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. Her work has recently been placed in the CCA Gallery in Jersey, the work that has been put up is the work she has done that has taken inspiration from Claude Cahun. Some of Claude Cahuns work has also been put up to show the viewers of the gallery how Clare has taken inspiration and what she has changed from how Claude Cahun worked. Claude Cahun normally used her body in her images. In response to this Clare Rae has used her body in her images. She describes this as a private performance for herself. Her work shows her body as a piece of art. She is trying to present an alternate view of the female body.
Clare Rae like Claude Cahun worked mostly in black and white while taking images for this project. Though she used the same colour scheme to get contrast between lights and dark’s, Clare Rae normally used lighter background colours, so that in black and white it would become a lot brighter with the darker colours over the top. This is different from how Claude Cahun worked as she normally used backgrounds that were a lot darker and overlapped lighter colours on top.
This is my favourite image in the CCA Gallery. It shows Clare Rae interacting in the environment in a way that makes her seem trapped.
Due to using their bodies as an art piece, both would have had to think about what they were wearing a lot in their images, to get what the wanted displayed in each image they took. They had to interact with the environment around them, this means that a lot of thought would have had to go into how they were going to pose themselves in their images.
In conclusion, the images produced by both people could be taken in multiple ways and have a different meaning for every person.
Within this photograph we have the two witches staring at each other, which was inspired by the ‘What is this feeling’ scene. We see Glinda staring at Elphaba with neutral facial expression and sort of squinting her eyes which informs us that she despises the green witch. On the other hand, Elphaba has a smile on her face which informs viewers that she finds it funny that Glinda loathes her. To edit this photograph I just levelled and and adjusted the curves in order to make the image seem naturally darker.
In my final image I wanted to capture the personality of Glinda and the moment when the two girls finally bond. We can see Glinda playing with the hair of Glinda with a big smile on her face, this informs viewers that Glinda is a girly girl and enjoys giving others makeovers and playing with peoples hair. In contrast Elphaba does not seem that fazed by it showing her tomboy side. The contrast shows that for the two witches to be neutral the green witch has to compromise and try and begin to like what Glinda wants. This presents the idea that girls are only concerned with hair, makeup and their phones, but clearly they are not which is demonstrated by Elphaba. Due to the harsh lighting, it allows the two witches to stand out from the background allowing the message to come across better. To edit this photograph I just levelled and adjusted the curves in order to make the image seem naturally darker.
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