19.1. Tableaux Vivants:
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Response to TOM HUNTER
The Image we were Imitating
Contextual Reasons: Tom and his neighbours were receiving letters addressed to “Persons Unknown” saying they are non longer welcome to live in semi-derelict squats from the local council. Tom therefore wanted to capture “the dignity of squatter life” in order to show the council that these were real people they were putting in danger and that they would be greatly impacting their lives.
In the end his famous image ” Woman Reading a Possession Order,” got a dialogue going with the council – and they infact managed to save the houses.
References:
The book we found the image we were studying and re-enacting is called “Tom Hunter”. It is a collection of images from different projects of his which includes work from, Tom Hunter and the modern world, Persons Unknown, Traveller Series and Life and Death in Hackney.
Here is a link to an article written about Tom and his Persons Unknown project which gives deeper contextual reasons and some background behind the photos.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/nov/04/photography-tom-hunter-best-shot
Action Plan
We first gathered props such as the headphones, water bottle, chairs, table and cloth and bottle cap. These props were all intended to give our image the likened look to the real picture captured by Hunter.
We then sat each other in the correct positions in order to have each of the three people sat in exactly the same position as the models in the photograph and they posed with similar facial expressions.
Technical Features – We then set the camera to an ISO of 800 and made the shutter speed faster to 1/10 second. There was a slightly higher shutter speed so the image was sharp incase any of the models moved slightly.
Contact Sheet
Final Image Response:
Visual Features – These include a fairly plain range of colours being mostly greys, whites and creams with a lighter tone due to the side lighting and a strong contrast between the shaded and non-shaded areas . There is quite a large depth of field and 3D effect created due to the fact that the 3 models in the photo are all sat at different distances from the camera, meaning that their shadows create a visual element of distance when the shadows are overlapped.
Tableaux Vivants
What is tableaux vivants?
The phrase itself is a French phrase which translates to ‘living picture’. A tableaux vivant is a static scene where there is a singular or multiple models telling some sort of story. These paintings and images are usually well thought out, not only in terms of lighting and camera settings but also in terms of costume, positioning, background as all these factors contribute to the message being sent across to the receiver of the image. This type of imagery combines aspects of theatre and photography to create a staged reality.
In this Tableaux we can see these two men lifting up another man, who seems to be dead. You then have two woman who are in the background, almost caring for the man. The woman in the top right corner seems like she is praying or calling for god in order to make sure the dead man is safe. The other woman seems as if she is taking in the fact the man is dead and is morning over his death. The clothes worn by the models tell us that the scene is set in the olden day. The background is completely black which allows the viewers attention to be solely focused on the scene being portrayed in the foreground. It also portrays the idea that the dead man is in an empty void, as that is the general consent with death now a days. The most lit up area of the tableaux is the dead man who is located in the center of the frame, the other people then get less lit the further away they are from the man. This lighting technique implies that the man is the main focus point, and that he was someone who may have been considered important at that time. The lighting also seems to be creating a chiaroscuro effect on some of the models allowing a contrast of tonal regions to be presented in the image. The prominent formal elements found in this image is tone, shape and texture which is shown throughout the bodies found in the foreground in the image. Due to this being a painting no photography techniques have been applied. However, analysis it as if it was a photograph the ISO is low as there is no intended noise within the image. Moreover, the shutter speed is likely to be quick and the aperture is small as not much light is being let into the image. Finally, the depth of field is large as it is all in focus. Contextually, the image was painted for a church not long after the death of Saint Peter. Saint Peter was said to be cruicified Moreover, the people surrounding him are religious people who are lowering him into his tomb.
The traditional feast days of Saint Peter are:
- January 18, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome
- March 19, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch
- June 29, Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
- August 1, St. Peter in Chains
- November 18, Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul
Taken from: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Saint_Peter
I can now see an emotional attachment and story which is being presented within this oil painting. Viewers who are more religious may find this image more meaningful and empowering than I do. However, after researching this image I understand that a successful Tableaux needs to tell a story and create an emotional attachment with the receiver of the image
As a class we decided to do a group photo shoot based on ‘Entombment of Christ (Deposizione) (1601-3) ‘. This allowed me to understand the thought process that I need to use when going on to create my Tableaux image. I learnt that all aspects play a massive role within making the image. The photographs where taken in the studio with artificial lighting.
Contact Sheets
Final Outcome
This final outcome was successful as it looks very similar to the original painting. The lighting is similar as well as the poses and postures. However, the costumes used are not the same which sort of ruins the old day effect. To edit these images I decided the level the images and adjust to make the image darker allowing the background of this image like the painting
We also decided to re create Eugene Delecroix ‘Leading the people’ as another example of Tableaux photography. This is another painting taken from what seems to be the french accomplishing something, almost like the war which is suggested by the guns and dead people. The reason for doing another tableaux with the class was to ensure that I knew exactly what I was doing for my own tableaux.
Contact Sheets
Final Outcome
This was the best outcome taken from this photo shoot. There is a clear spotlight on the model in the center to ensure she is the main focus point, like she is in the original painting. I ensured the background was black, as we did not have the background of the original image. The main difference between the original and my image is that the props and clothes are different which somewhat ruins the overall effect. To edit these images I just adjusted the levels and curves to ensure the sharpness was accurate.
Hannah Starkey
Hannah Starkey is a contemporary British photographer who is best known for her images of women in staged settings. Starkey says that her own photographs are 'explorations of everyday experiences and observations of inner city life from a female perspective'. The women featured in them are either actresses or anonymous strangers who she asks to pose. Hannah Starkey's photographs reconstruct scenes from everyday life with the concentrated stylisation of film. Her images picture women engaged in regular routines such as loitering the streets, sitting in cafes or shopping. She captures in between moments of daily life with a sense of relational detachment. Starkey often uses composition to intensify this sense of personal and emotional disconnection, with arrangements of lone figures.
My Response To respond to Hannah Starkey's photography style, I decided to recreate some of her tableaux photographs. Before capturing an image, I would show the subject the photo I wanted to recreate so she could pose in a similar way. To replicate her style and create a sense of relational detachment through the image, I (as the photographer) captured the subject from a distance to create a disconnection.
Photo shoot #1
Photo Shoot #2
Photo Shoot #3
Tableaux Vivants Recreation
THE RAFT OF MEDUSA:
WORK STRATEGY:
WHO – for this photo shoot, there were multiple models in order to recreate the raft of medusa.
WHAT – the main objective of this photo shoot was to try and stage the raft of medusa, adopting similar mannerisms as the people depicted in the painting.
WHEN – the images were taken during school time, indoors where artificial lighting as used ti light the room.
WHERE -the images were captured inside a classroom.
WHY – to understand the ways in which to direct people and think about aspects such as mannerisms, lighting, facial expressions and positioning.
HOW – I used my regular DSLR camera for this photo shoot, using the artificial lighting provided.
IMAGE ANALYSIS:
VISUAL:
The recreation of our image includes a lot of similar aspects as the original, trying to recreate similar facial expressions and positions as the subjects in the painting. Central in the image is main subject, holding up and waving a cloth to try and get attention, it is the first thing that the eye is drawn to due to the height at which the subject is at, towering above almost everyone else in the image. There is a sort of power play going on in the image, with two of the subjects being above everyone. This positioning is trying to convey the different states of the people on the raft, some healthier than others, whilst some are on the brink of death. We used a few extra props and stood on the table to symbolize the raft, and used a coat to symbolize the sail.
TECHNICAL:
The classroom environment we were in made it difficult to capture a similar lighting as in the image. There were direct lights which were pointing from up above, to try and correct this and create chiaroscuro lighting, we only kept one light in the room on .In order to have a very crisp and sharp image, a tripod was used to stabilize the camera whilst the image was being taken. The limited lighting in the room meant that the ISO had to be fairly high, being set to 6400 to avoid being under exposed, furthermore the f/stop used for this shoot was also quite large at f/3.4.
CONCEPTUAL: The Raft of the Medusa (French: Le Radeau de la Méduse) is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824). Completed when the artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. At 491 cm × 716 cm it is an over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today’s Mauritania on 2 July 1816. On 5 July 1816, at least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practised cannibalism. The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain.
CONTEXTUAL:
Géricault chose to depict this event in order to launch his career with a large-scale uncommissioned work on a subject that had already generated great public interest. The event fascinated him, and before he began work on the final painting, he undertook extensive research and produced many preparatory sketches. He interviewed two of the survivors and constructed a detailed scale model of the raft. He visited hospitals and morgues where he could view, first-hand, the colour and texture of the flesh of the dying and dead. As he had anticipated, the painting proved highly controversial at its first appearance in the 1819 Paris Salon, attracting passionate praise and condemnation in equal measure. However, it established his international reputation, and today is widely seen as seminal in the early history of the Romantic movement in French painting.
TOM HUNTER:
IMAGE ANALYSIS:
VISUAL:
The image below holds a lot of emotional attachment. The baby on the bottom left corner is only noticed after really looking at the image for an extended period of time as the mother is the focal point of the image. The eye is first drawn to her rather than the surroundings. The color in this image is also very bright and saturated. The overall feeling of the image is bright and colorful with the light coming in from the window and the bright lemon colored wall in the background of the image. There is a lot of natural light hitting the front of the model’s face, giving the image a very natural and organic look, as if somebody was simply documenting the woman’s day. The baby in the bottom left corner of the image adds a lot of emotion, yet at the same time blends in with the environment, almost as if it has been forgotten. The subject in the image is not making eye contact with the camera and does not have any clear facial expression suggesting that possibly a sense of shock has hit her, and she is frozen in time. The image almost feels like an invasion of privacy from the angle from which it is taken and the lack of contact made with the camera.
TECHNICAL:
The exposure of this image is very balanced, with the highlights and shadows working together to create a very harmonious image. The way in which the natural lighting hits the subject from the left hand side of the image suggests that no additional lighting equipment has been used in this photo shoot. Again making this type of photography seem more documentary style. The colors in this image are also well balanced, possibly being more on the over saturated side as the orange clothing on the baby is very visible and bright. There is a clear foreground, mid-ground and background, with the baby being in the foreground, the woman reading the letter in the mid-ground and the shelf and wall in the background.
CONCEPTUAL:
Filipa had just had her first baby. We spent the whole day trying things out: we had a bowl of fruit, then we tried some curtains, then incorporated the baby. The light was perfect, a late winter sun coming through the window, really low, like the northern European light.
I used a large-format camera, which really captures that light. And I used the Supachrome process to print it – old-fashioned even then. The exposure was about a second, so it was like sitting for a painting: she had to stand still. I was waiting for the light to pour into the lens, rather than snapping at something.
I phoned her up last week and she’s still happy with the picture. It’s a record of her, her child and her home at the time. The great thing is, the picture got a dialogue going with the council – and we managed to save the houses.
CONTEXTUAL:
I was living in Hackney in London, in a whole street of squats, having spent two years travelling around Europe in a doubledecker bus. Everyone got a letter addressed to “persons unknown”. The council wanted to knock down the street and build warehouses. The Tories had brought in the Criminal Justice Act, which was designed to stop parties. Every time you saw a picture of a squatter or a traveler, it was to go with a story about how antisocial they were. I just wanted to take a picture showing the dignity of squatter life – a piece of propaganda to save my neighborhood.
I took this in 1997, for my master’s degree show at the Royal College of Art. The 17th-century golden age of Dutch painting had had a massive impact on me: the way they dealt with ordinary people, not kings, queens and generals. I thought if I could borrow their style for squatters and travellers, it would elevate their status. In this shot, inspired by Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, my next-door neighbour is reading the possession order.
RULE OF 3RD’S:
This image follows the rule of 3rd s, as can be seen when we divide the image into blocks. The woman is sectioned mostly in the last third of the image, yet the letter she is holding positions itself in the very center of the image, becoming a very clear focal point of the image.
Tableaux viviants- Means Girls
For my attempt at tableaux vivant photography i decided to re create a scene from the film “mean Girls”. The film follows a character named Cady Heron who was educated in Africa by her scientist parents. When they move to Illinois she experiences public high school, and befriends a group of girls -Regina, Karen and Gretchen- who are names “The Plastics”. Cady soon realises how the group of girls got their nicknames. This film was released in 2004, and depicts a stereotypical picture of how girls act. I chose to recreate a scene from this film as there are many interesting concepts and also because this film represents teenage girl culture.
Each main character in the movie have their own personalities and characteristics, yet they are also very alike due to the underlying theme of conformity. Below is a mind map where I have analysed each main character, along with their personalities, and also themes and concepts:
Mind map
Mood Board
This is a mood board of screenshots from “mean Girls”. This mood board has helped show how the colour pink, is very symbolic throughout the movie. I appears many times, and seems to symbolism femininity and womanliness for the characters in the film. As it seems to very important throughout the movie, I will make sure to incorporate the colour into my final piece.
Image I’m recreating
Context
This screenshot was at a part of the film where all the girls went shopping at the mall.
Technical
It is clear to see that the 4 characters are the main focus of the photograph, as they are all pictured in the middle of the frame. It is also sharp and in focus
Visual
I like how they’re all wearing pink, as it’s very bright and attractive to the eye. I also makes them stand out among everyone else in the background. It is also very aesthetically pleasing how each of the characters’ outfits complement each other well as it makes the image go together well. All of the characters also have different expressions and body poses, which adds interest as there’s more diversity within the image.
Concept
I chose to recreate this image because it is very rich in themes and underlying concepts. Firstly, you can clearly tell that there’s a lot of pink in this image. The reason there is much of this colour within this scene is because the colour pink represents femininity throughout the film, as it’s a colour stereotypically associated with females. Secondly, it’s clear that there is a hierarchy within the friendship between the girls. You can see that (from left to right) Cady, Karen and Gretchen are all posed staring directly at Regina (far right) as if she is very important, meaning that he hold great power and authority within the group. You can also tell that there is an underlying theme of conformity, is can clearly be seen through the fact that there all dressed in the same colour as if it brings them all comfort to look similar and not stand out.
It is also important how each of their poses represent their personality. Cady (left) is stood with her arms tightly folded, showing she is feeling quite self conscious trying to fit in with the rest of the girls. Another way we can tell she is feeling self conscience is by the fact that she is not particularly engaging with the other girls, instead she is looking away with a rather anxious look on her face. She’s also stood and the end of the group of girls which represents how she feels quite distanced and different from the rest of the girls. This is also seen through her choice in shirt. Although it is pink, like the clothes of the rest of the girls, Cady is wearing what could be considered a stereotypically masculine choice of shirt, which further shows although she is trying to be like the other girls she is not 100% comfortable dressing stereotypically “girly”. Karen (second from the left) Is stood at the end of the original groups of girls (excluding Cady) which shows how she is the “sheep” of her group due to her not being as “socially bright” and relying on the rest of the girls as an example on how she should behave. She has also got quite a blank expression on her face which further portrays her as being the “stupid” member of the group. Gretchen (third from the left) is standing very close to Regina – the groups’ leader- and she is also staring very intensely at her. This symbolises Gretchen’s desire to please Regina and it also shows the characters desire for praise from Regina. Lastly, Regina (Right) is the character who has the most attention in the image. This is achieved by a combination of many things. For example, all the other characters are looking at her which shows her importance in the group, and she also seems the boldest and most confident as she has a very happy expression on her face and seems care free as she talks on the phone.
Photo shoot plan
For my recreation of the image I will take my image in a part of the school where there is a large window so it best resembles the background of the original image. I will also have 4 models each specifically assigned to represent each character. With the help of my models, we have also decided on the appropriate clothing which resembles each of their specific character the best. For the photo shoot, I plan on using a soft box light to make sure that my image has a bright undertone to it like the original photograph, and also so the quality is sharp and so the picture is clear. To get the image accurate, I’ll also be getting my images to use props like a coffee cup and a phone.
Contact Sheet
Best outcomes
I cropped both of these images and added a slight vignette to the outside of both images to make it look more like a film scene. I decided to choose the first image as my best final outcome because it was brighter as I used a soft box light, and I thought that it had more of a similar tone to the original image.
Best edited outcome
Visual
Visually, I have made sure to position my models as close to the original image as possible. I also made sure to use a background as similar as possible to the background of the original image also. I chose to add a slight pink tint to this image using light room as pink was a very meaningful colour throughout the film. This is also the reason why my models worse pink close in in the photo shoot. The image also turned out very clear and sharp, which was due to the soft box light I used in the photoshoot
Concept
I wanted to make sure the models I chose for each character represented the concepts and individual personalities of the original characters from the film. I made sure that the model on the left, playing Cady, was wearing Jeans and a pink shirt as the jeans and the plain pink shirt represents how she was attempting to appear like the other girls yet she still didn’t feel comfortable doing so. On the other hand, my model on the far right was wearing the most pink out of all the models as it represented the original character’s status within the film. As she was the most important character in the group, she was also the one who wore the most pink.
Comparison between the original image and my final outcome
John Rankin Case Study
John Rankin is a British photographer well known for his work with various celebrities. He specializes in portrait, fashion photography and some work in directing. in 2011 he started Rankin Film in order to direct and produce his own directorial and commercial work. Many consider his work to be rather vain with there being little meaning behind his images as he focuses on composing the most aesthetically pleasing image.
Much of his work uses soft single point lighting however he has experimented with various lighting techniques in the past. he consistently uses soft lighting however to best compliment the subject of his photography, since harsh lighting could produce unwanted shadows on someones face. since he focuses on ‘glamour’ photography it is important that he portrays his subjects at their very best and so soft lighting is used.
Since he often uses single point lighting he will frequently use a reflector in order to cast soft lighting to soften any harsh shadows and create a light glow on parts of the face which aren’t direct lit. this allows him to use other techniques such as combining a low ISO with a long shutter time in order to create high contrast/vibrancy images without the risk of harsh shadows across the face.
Much of the ‘visuals’ of Rankin’s photography is achieved by experimenting with lighting however retouching is still used.
An example of Rankin’s editing, focused on achieving a conventionally ‘beautiful’ piece
Street Photography Part 2:
These are a couple of examples that I took for street Photography:
These are my contact sheets from the street Photography trip
From this trip if I have learnt one thing is that confidence is key, which is something that in this trip I was lacking too do. Simply because I had watched videos on some of the reactions that famous people received when just photographing random strangers. However having analysed my contact sheet even further I can notice that most of my images are quite blurry, this could have been becuse my shutter speed was too low so the camera was unable to capture the pictures I was after. when I was on this trip in town no comments were actually made so most people I photographed the worst thing that came out of it was sometimes an evil look but nobody actually asked what was going on which also surprised me.
My technique for this trip was simply to sit on benches, lean against shop windows or just simply stand in corners and photograph people as they continued through there everyday life. this actually worked sometimes at my own expense apart from there are just some images of buildings instead of people but it was all part of the fun . Another thing that I have noticed from these images are that there is quite a lot of backs turned away from the camera, which again was partially my fault for not having tried to capture the front of them but as I was looking at them I realised that even getting 3-5 perfect images would have been great as most photographers will take between 200-500 images and only select 5 or so to actually be published which in this case is what I have done.
Out of all my images there are not very many that I would say worked. The two images at the top of the post are both from people I know but they weren’t 100% sure what I was doing. I feel like the top image is well focused on the idea that that is how some people approach the idea of portraits as the boy on the right is smiling but seems also confused as to why there is a camera in his face whereas the boy on the left does not seem very happy with what was going on. furthermore, as I said earlier its warpped around the idea that it is unknown what your going to capture. when I was walking down to go to this trip I was nervous but excited and what I was going to see and capture but not through my eyes but through a camera lens and doing something where your out in a public place sourrounded by people most of the time poeple do become confused but rather smiley as soon as a camera is pointed right to them. (unless they’re just generally grumpy)
Group attempts at tableaux viviant
As my first attempt at Tableaux viviant, we decided to recreate the following image as a group.
Context
This piece depicting Christ being entombed was created between 1603-1604, for a chapel in Vallicella, Rome.
Technical
This painting was painted with an oil on a canvas. It contains dark toned colours and hardly any brightly tones colours.
Visual
This painting shows Christ being entombed. In the painting you can see him surrounded by 5 other people, 2 men holding him and 3 women crowding around him with sad and distressed looks on their faces. This painting is also quite darkly pained, and there’s not much light incorporated into the photo, making the painting convey negative feelings to the audience.
Conceptual
As the painting is quite dark, as I mentioned before, I think that it it is trying to convey how upsetting it was for people to witness Christ being entombed as the colour black is usually associated with death and negativeness. The way Carvaggio painted this darkly, also clearly shows that he himself pictures this moment quite darkly, which shows that the painter was a religious man who is saddened by this event. The way Caravaggo painted Christ as the only person in the painting wearing bright white, clearly shows he wanted Christ to stand out as the most important person in this image, which shows he probably hold Christ in high regards, and thinks highly of him also.
Process
Here you can see a member of our group directing the rest of the group in order to get us into a similar position to the people shown in Caravaggio’s painting. During this process it was important that the background was dark, which was the we decided to use the black backdrop. It took some times in order for the member of the group to be positioned properly, and for the lighting to also be set out accurately. After we all knew where we were standing and how we had to pose out bodies in order to achieve an accurate representation of the original painting, the directer along with the photographer moved onto the lighting. A light was placed focused on our group that we all stood out and also so that the background was a dark colour in comparison to the people posed.
Contact sheet
Final outcome
This was the best image outcome captured by the photographer. In this image we have successfully been able to position ourselves similar to those that were pained in the painting. We have also successful been able to convey our assigned characters’ emotions on our faces, which is an important element in tableaux. The background is also very ark which helps us to convey the elements of darkness and death from Caravaggio’s painting into our image. This was achieved through a black background, and also by the strategic placing of lighting which made the actors stand out even more compared to the background.
Analysing the process
While experiencing this process I learnt many important things that I will use, and take into consideration when I do my own tableaux photo shoot.
Firstly, I learnt that the most important part of tableaux is the positioning of the actors along with their expressions, rather than how you actually take the image itself. The majority of the time in this photo shoot, went into making sure we looked accurate and also into making sure the light and the background complemented each other so that our image would convey the same concept that the painting did.
Secondly, I noticed that the director has to be very clear with their instructions, and that they also need to have a very clear vision in their head of how they want the scenery to look. Since a huge part of obtaining a successful tableaux image is planning, I know that when I come to do my own it has to be well planned so that it turns out accurately. I also now know how important scenery/location and lighting is in order to make a successful tableaux image.
Tableau and staged reality photography – Cindy Sherman
Tableau photography is a static scene containing one or more models or actors. They are usually in costume and are planned out carefully to create a certain scene.
Cindy Sherman is a postmodern photographer who started work in the 1970s and is still working today. She’s been important in the areas of “studies of the de-centered self, the mass media’s reconstruction of reality, the inescapably of the male gaze, the seductions of abjection, and any number of related philosophical issues.” She uses herself as the subject in almost all of her photographs except only a few. These are staged photographs that she takes in her studio. It’s important that they’re staged because we know that this is some sort of message embedded in them that she is trying to get across to us.
In this image, Sherman is shown to pose in the kitchen, in front of the sink with an apron on. This is clearly making a statement on the gender stereotype of women’s place in the house, which was typically in the kitchen. This looks more of like a 1950-60’s setting, where the role of women were pretty fixed within society, and they were berated for being anything else otherwise. Sherman may have been fighting against these stereotypes and making the voices of women louder when it came to their rights and how society saw them, and going against the tainted norms to make a change.
In this image, a woman is shown standing by a dirty door, in typical house wife clothes of the 1970’s. Like many of her works, and the one I mentioned above, this portrays the stereotypical view of women and their duty to the house hold.