With this shoot, I am planning to do a photoshoot to recreate a historical painting. I will be working off a work by John William Waterhouse, and representing a key story from Greek mythology.

This is a painting depicting a scene from a Greek myth; the story of Echo and Narcissus. Echo was a nymph who was cursed to only be able to repeat the last words spoken to her and never speak on her own, so she wandered the woods alone. Narcissus was a handsome young man who got separated from his friends in the woods one day and came across Echo, who immediately fell in love with him but couldn’t say so, because of her curse. Then came a confusing moment where Echo repeated exactly what Narcissus said to her again and again, and eventually he grew annoyed and said he could never love her. She became so upset that she ran into a nearby cave and collapsed, starving herself until she withered away and only her voice was left, repeating the last things said to her. Narcissus was later cursed by the goddess of revenge for refusing Echo’s love and he fell madly in love with his own reflection in a nearby pond, refusing to leave it for even a second. Eventually he also starved to death by the same pond.

what- recreate this image with a modern twist, so the roles are gender-swapped and the setting is modern as well.

who- two friends wiling to pose, gender swapped, so that Narcissus will be played by a girl and Echo by a boy, because I think it will be interesting to see how the overall tone of the scene changes when the gender roles are reversed

where-in an outside environment, maybe a garden of a field

how- will explain the story of Echo and Narcissus to the two “models” so that they understand the roles they will be portraying, then set them up in the pose and start shooting. I might get them to move around naturally in those characters and capture some images in a similar style but with slightly different positions. I will dress them in the same colour schemes but most likely not exactly the same style of clothing, and I will have Narcissus look into a phone instead of a pond’s reflection, to make the image more modern.

other notes- there will be no actual nudity involved

A Tableau Vivant, 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. It thus combines aspects of theatre and the visual arts. The creator of Tableau photography was a French man called Jean-François Chevrier, he used it in relation to a form of art photography. It began in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall is a Tableau photographer who recreates pieces with many plain and bold colours. He is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Wall has been a key figure in Vancouver’s art scene since the early-1970s.

The colours in the photo are very plain consisting of beige, subtle yellows and browns as well as darker, bolder, blue and black tones with very hints of bright, striking colours such as the reds and oranges dotted around the photo adding a contrast which further adds variety to the photo making it an interesting composition.

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“Tableau vivant” is a French phrase, literally meaning a “living picture.” They feature a single or several models/actors who have been staged and posed by the photographer. Often they recreate a famous historical or artistic scene, wearing costumes or holding props. This may be a famous painting, myth, story from the Bible or other religious book, scene from a film, or even a dream.

Tableaux can be used to represent a number of issues in modern society, such as gender roles, the meaning of masculinity, identity, sexism, poverty, political issues or environmental problems. If they do depict a recreation of a scene, there may be some vital changes made such as possible roles being gender-swapped, or more modern issues making an appearance, like pollution or the impacts of war and poverty.

In this way, it essentially combines theatre and photography together, as often the tableaux are shot with dramatic theatrical lighting to properly recreate the effect of the original painting. However tableaux vivants aren’t a modern invention, as it was a popular dinner-party game in the Victorian era to recreate famous Shakespeare scenes or well-known Greek myths in the style of a tableau vivant.

what is tableau vivant?

tableau vivant is a static scene of one or more actors or models, who are silent and stationary. The actors or models are normally in costume and carefully posed, in a dramatic way, to tell a narrative.

mood board of tableau vivant

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Above are the ideas I like for tableau vivant. The photographs I have annotated ‘+’ are from photographers I am interested in as the look at gender roles and lack of identity. I will also look more into these photographers too.

Tableaux vivant is a static photo containing one or more actors. French for ‘living picture’ shows these actors stationary often with props, costume and precise positioning. It is a mixture of theater and visual arts.

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Examples of David LaChapelle’s work

Possible example of a shot I may try to recreate, however i will aim to change the destruction of household items to something more fitting with todays social standards.