I am going to present the two portrait images together as they are the same sort of style, in A4 and using the window mount method. I am going to present the landscape image in A3 and mount it on a foam board. The to set of images will showcase how my project had multiple influences and how I carried them out.
I like the colour scheme of this image and how the background uses the same image as the subject in the foreground’s clothing, which makes this image cohesive and nice to look at. Her position is casual and relaxed yet the way she maintains eye contact directly down the camera lens adds a sense of power to the whole image and present her as being comfortable in her home environment. I believed I executed the flag border well which helps to carry how I am intending to represent cultural identity here,
I also like the subject’s (me) position here as the leg extended in the foreground leads the eye deeper into the picture. The colours all work together and the pink colour of the dress and headband is reflected in the flowers scattered on the ground and in the red repeated in the flags in the border. The flags also stick with my ideas for this project, representing how people’s cultural identity is mixed with their ethnicity and where they live currently, and is not a singular and fixed thing.
This third image is not following the style of Hassan Hajjaj, but more Diana Markosian (my second case study artist), hence the lack of flag-border. I like it because the colours are all cohesive as well as the composition making the subject in the best possible position, against a white background with two blue accent walls against her either side, reflecting her clothing.
As can be seen above, I was inspired by several elements from these two photographers and combined them together along with my own personal style in order to create the finished products. I employed Hajjaj’s use of a vibrant colour palette throughout each image and using clothing to represent the subject’s personality, as well as Markosian’s style of photographing the subject in their home environment in a natural pose.
These are my contact sheets that I have organised from 3 separate photo shoots. My aim was to explore like Markosian, geographical identity taking photos of my best mate who was Jersey born and bred. I aimed to show his lifestyle on the small island of Jersey, his hobbies and thoughts of living on such a small island through my photos, and raise questions such as… “is Jersey a claustrophobic’s nightmare” or “how does Jersey’s youth make the most of what little space there is?” and so on.
During the shoots I decided to take on a similar mindset such as Markosian which is to “get as far away from the photo herd as possible. Go your own way.” By embracing this mentality and after extensively looking at their work, their images all have a similarity, which is the focus on environmental portrait photography. These are my final chosen images that i am going to display for my identity project. I think they are all the most effective at showing all the little details of each shoot and look most similar to Markosian’s work.
I like this photo as it highlights a young mind’s desire to be free, spread their wings and discover more. This is a common topic among teenagers, especially so in Jersey, a small and arguably overpopulated island with arguably too little to do. The photo pictures Dylan, a “Jersey Boy”, where he is about to ride his motorcycle in an attempt to spread his wings and escape the day-to-day boredom that many claim the island brings.
Like Markosian, I have told a brief story that relates to the geography of the area I have photographed and how it affects the people living there, with the theme of realism in mind. I’ve tried as best I could to imitate her style of work, noticing how she likes to use lots of contrast in her photos, which i have replicated here by increasing contrast and simultaneously lowering the exposure. Furthermore, too add detail in the foreground, I altered the levels/tones and tweaked about with the ‘curves’ feature on Photoshop. I additionally used the blur tool to blur the background as I have seen in some of Marksoian’s work, but also to help emphasize the foreground and give the photo some depth, as the mirror didn’t pop, but rather blended in with the cluttered background in the original photo. Lastly, I sharpened the photo as well as using the lighten tool to help lighten the centre with the mirror and the subject in order to highlight the main aim of the photo. I especially like the composition of this photo as it is centred well, and symmetrical, thus appealing to the viewer as well as the photo generally being good quality/resolution and in focus.
Here, unlike Markosian, I decided to experiment by adding noise in order to add a distinct vintage vibe to the photo as an attempt of experimentation out of pure curiosity. I thought the photo looked really good, thus decided to post it on here as an edit.
In this photo, I positioned myself behind Dylan as he departed the garage about to embark on his ride. Yet again, I tried imitate her previous work, using high contrasts and low exposures to best bring out the theme of realism. I changed the levels and curves slightly to emphasize the shadows more, and help distinguish a clear subject in the middle. To finish it off, I increased the colours and slightly altered the saturation in the image using Photoshop’s “vibrance” tool in order to separate the background from the dark tones in the foreground and add a bit of colour to spice up the image. The image is similar to some of Markosian’s work in respect to the fact that the subject isn’t facing the camera and is minding his own business, an example of candid photography with the theme of realism in mind, often explored by photographers such as Markosian.
All the techniques as mentioned in the previous images were also used in my third final outcome as seen above. This photo incorporates similar meanings as with the others, still including the theme of realism and exploring the inquisitive and adventurous minds of young people, and how they source the knowledge and life experience on this small island.
First, I edited the levels of black and white in the image to increase the contrast and bring more attention to the stripes in the subject’s top and deepen the black of the rest of her clothes.
Then I changed the brightness and contrast in the ‘Adjustments’ tab in order to reduce how overpoweringly bright the overcast sky in the background was, to make the person the main focal point of the image.
I then adjusted the vibrancy and saturation levels to make the colours of her clothing stand out more, and also the colours of the background, such as the green grass.
I went into the ‘Selective Colour’ tab and made the blue in her jacket much more saturated and vibrant, which also had the effect of bringing out the blue in the sky in the background.
I used the ‘Spot Healing’ tool to edit out any imperfections in the subjects, as well as any stray hairs and loose threads on her clothing, and distracting leaves or patches on the grass, to make the whole image cohesive and keep the person as the main focal point.
I then added some JPGs of the flag of her nationalities around the edge of the image, resizing them so that they are all the same and keeping them in a repeated pattern, like Hassan Hajjaj does.
I quite like how the subject’s foot is pointing forwards and is more in the foreground of the image as it draws the onlooker’s eye into her. I also like how the blue in her jacket is reflected in the sky and contrasted by the grass, but how the black and white adds some contrast and stops the image from being entirely a clash of colours, reflecting her own personal style as well.
To begin with I increased the brightness of the image as it was a little dark.
Then I adjusted the levels to increase the contrast of the black and white of her whole outfit and make the image more cohesive. At this point I also went in with the spot healing tool and removed any marks in the wall and door behind her, as well as loose hairs, threads or stray leaves that may distract they eye from her.
I then went into the ‘Selective Colour’ tab in ‘Adjustments’ to increase the blue, as I positioned her purposely in front of the white wall adjacent to the blue one in order to provide some contrast and mirroring of the two colours, as this whole image has the same colour palette, being almost entirely comprised of black, white and blue.
I then repeated what I did before with the flags to create the same border around this image as well.
I really like this image as her position against the white wall helped to highlight her outfit (and personality as a result), and the blue tint of the whole image stands out nicely.
I increased the brightness of this image as well, as it was also a little too dark, as well as using the spot healing tool on my subject’s face slightly.
Here I used the ‘Vibrancy and Saturation’ sliders to make the blue wall and jacket more colourful and add a cooler tint to the whole image.
Here I used the spot healing tool to remove any stray leaves, threads or marks in the wall and floor to make the image more cohesive. I also used ‘Curves’ in order to balance out the white and black contrast and make the image look better.
I repeated the same process as before to create this border of flags once again.
This image was taken from a slight canted angle, which I quite like, as it adds a dramatic tone and slightly dynamic feel to the whole photo. I also like the contrast between the black and white strips and the rest of the outfit (and background as well). Her position and expression is also note-worthy because it has a feeling of power, as the image was taken from below and she is on a stage, and her head tilt suggests that she is comfortable in her environment as it is her home.
Firstly, I changed the contrast and brightness using levels to make the subject the main focal point of the image.
Then I adjusted the blue shades in the photo using the ‘Selective Colour’ tab in ‘Adjustments’ to increase that colour tone over the whole image and emphasise her jacket and how the blue walls behind her mirror her outfit.
Then I also used the spot healing tool to remove any loose threads, hairs, marks on the floors and walls and the dirt on her shoes.
I really like this final image as she is positioned in front of the white wall, which adds relief to her blue jacket, which is also reflected in the blue walls on either side of her. Her position, with her leg one step higher than another, adds a more dynamic tone to the image and makes it less stiff or posed, as does her head being tilted slightly to the side.
Firstly I added a red filter to the image to bring out the colour of my dress and the flowers on the floor, I took this image here for the specific reason of the flowers, as they mirror the colour of my dress and make the image cohesive and carefully considered, not just random.
Then I adjusted the black and white levels to bring the image back to more of its natural colour, as the red filter has distorted the colours of the background a little. This also had the effect of adding contrast throughout.
Then I went further and readjusted the magenta tones of the image in the ‘Selective Colour’ tab to make the dress and flowers stand out even more.
I used the ‘Spot Healing’ tool to fix some of the blemishes on my face and shoes, as well as the flowers, some of which were a little damaged, so I fixed them, and I filled in some of the patches in the bush behind me as well.
Then I added in different flags, all of the same sizes, of my own nationalities and cultural background, to recreate Hassan Hajjaj’s style and keep with the same ideas throughout these shoots.
I liked how all the flags have the same colour scheme and how the red in all of the flags brings out the pink dress, flowers and headband even more, as well as how my position looks casual and not overly posed, as in Hassan Hajjaj’s work and Diana Markosian’s as well.
Initially, I increased the brightness of this image as, due to the time of day, the natural light available was reducing.
Then, I added another red filter to increase the colour saturation of the dress, flowers and my headband also.
I used the Levels tab to manage the contrast in the image. I also used the spot healing tool at this point to fix any damaged flowers, blemishes, and unnecessary leaves on the floor which distracted from the main focal point of the image.
Then I repeated the previous process and added in a border of flags, keeping them them neat and ordered.
I really like this image as I feel that it is cohesive and the colour tones are well managed, the background well chosen and that my position, with a single leg drawn out further than the other, draws the eye in and adds a sense of foreground and background to the whole thing.
I took these images over two separate shoots, one with a friend as my subject, and the second with myself where I had set up a tripod and self timer so that I am still in control of my images. They were both taken at Howard Davis Park, a central spot in Jersey’s town centre, where many people pass through every single day. It had a range of spots that I could use to take pictures, so we moved about, trying a couple of different places. My goal was to reflect how my subject’s personality and clothing was different to the environment she lives in and how this represents the multicultural nature of Jersey nowadays.
KEY- red= no, orange=possible, green=definitely
I chose these images because they are all centred on the subject as the main focal point of the image, like my reference artist Hassan Hajjaj’s work, they all have a cohesive colour palette according the the clothes each person is wearing and their background, and they all have the subject in a natural pose that reflects how they are at home in their environment, even if it does not reflect their identity completely, as I intended to do from the beginning.
Now, to edit these images I am going to make them brighter and bring out all the colours, as well as create a frame around each image representing their cultural identity.