Double Exposure Portraits

Double or multi exposure is a technique used by photographers that uses layering in order to combine 2 or more photos into 1 to create an almost ghost-like affect. This can be done on film cameras by inserting used film back into the camera and taking photographs over the top of the film, or in Photoshop by layering images and adjusting the opacity.

Double Exposure moodboard

Double exposure inspired photoshop development

Original image
Edited image
Original image
Edited image

To edit these images I layered 3 images over each other and adjusted the opacity in order to fade out the images as they get further from the original image. I also used the monochrome filter on one of the layers to create a ghost-like affect.

Close Ups – Headshots

What is a close up image?

A close up is when the photographer only focus on a part of the face, which fills up most of the image. It draws more attention on their facial features and expressions.

Satoshi Fujiwara – (reference)

Satoshi Fujiwara is a Kobe-born, Berlin-based artist and photographer.

He creates emphasis on facial features and expressions through the focal length.

He mainly uses different people to photograph as it tells a different story and has a different meaning every-time. He creates different angles and composition to make the viewer re think what the subject is feeling.

As you can see, Satoshi Fujiwara uses a low f stop to create high depth of field, as it creates a stronger focal point. In the images all 4 include high detail, where you can see every strand of hair, and detailing in the skin. The subject isn’t looking at the camera, and most of the entire head is in view. The exposure is good, as there is a balance between the shadows and the highlights.

My images – Contact Sheet

I picked out 4-6 images that I felt were the best ones, which I would later pick 1 or 2 as my final images. This really helped decide what images were stronger.

Best Images

These were the best images off of the contact sheet, which I edited in Photoshop.

Final Images (1)

I chose 2 images as i thought they were both equally as good. They both focus on facial features, specifically the eye, like Satoshi Fujiwara work.

The eye is the centre piece in this image, which displays the complexity in the detail.

The blur around the outside of the eye make the eye the focus point, make it seem that the eye is staring at you.

The eye contact with the camera makes it a stronger image as there is more of a direct and emotional atmosphere between the viewer and the image.

Overall, the skin tones are nicely balanced and the composition creates a slight foreground, that contrasts the eye behind it.

Final Images (2)

There is so much detail and intricacy in the eye which makes the image stronger.

Since I used a macro lens I was able to create a shallow depth of field. This made it so the eye and part of the eye lashes were focused, and the rest wasn’t, which draws more attention to the eye itself.

Overall, I like how the eye is in the centre and fills up most of the screen. The colours are strong and provide key details, although I feel like the blue background takes the blue and green eye colour and takes some of the value or significants away.

Therefore, this maybe be considered better, as that blue background is now more dull, as I desaturated it. Which brings more “life” and attention to the eye.

More : Photo-montage

History of Photo-montage (Europe 1910 onwards)

  • 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
Hannah Höch, The Artist Who Wanted 'to show the world today as an ant sees  it and tomorrow as the moon sees it' - Flashbak
Hannah Hoch – art as a form of protest
Raoul Hausmann, ‘The Art Critic’ 1919–20
Raoul Haussman
Adolf Hitler addresses the German people on radio on 31st January, 1933
John Heartfield
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Grete Stern
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El Lissitsky
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Aleksander Rodchenko

Pop Art developments (USA and UK 1950s-)

  • Photomontage was also used to great effect by various Pop Artists in the mid 20th Century
  • Pop art was a reaction to abstract expressionism and was similar to DADA in some ways
  • 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
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Richard Hamilton
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Peter Blake
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Robert Rauschenburg
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Andy 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 del 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
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David Hockney – joiner photographs
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Christian Marclay-Album Covers
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Soviet war art and propaganda
Jesse Draxler: Misophonia – Sacred Bones Records
Jesse Draxler
5 things Martha Rosler taught us about war, women and cooking | Sleek  Magazine
Martha Rosler
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Joachim Schmid
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Jerry Uelsmann

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,”

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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

  1. Create a blog post that includes a clear understanding of the history and background of photo-montage.
  2. Include a moodboard / mindmap
  3. Add examples of Early – late 20th Century Photomontage eg Hannah Hoch

Task 2

  1. Choose a specific photo-montage artist and write/create a CASE STUDY
  2. This must include a detailed analysis of 1 x key image by the artist
  3. Add TECHNICAL -VISUAL-CONCEPTUAL-CONTEXTUAL understanding

Task 3

  1. Create a set of 3-5 photo-montages using a mixture of your own imagery and “found” imagery….(this could be archival imagery) either using Adobe Photoshop methods or traditional cut-n-paste methods
  2. TAKE 100-200 NEW PHOTOS TO CREATE MATERIAL FOR YOUR EXPERIMENTS — based on STEREOTYPES
  3. Show your process clearly…remember to add screen shots etc
  4. Evaluate your process…describe and explain what you have done, why, how etc

KEY COMPONENTS AND DISTINGUISHING FEATURES of PHOTO-MONTAGE

  • A NARRATIVE, CONCEPT OR THEME (A MESSAGE OR A COMMENT)
  • ARCHIVAL / VINTAGE IMAGERY COMBINED WITH OWN IMAGERY
  • SUBVERSION OF MEANING—-POSTMODERNISM

SOURCE MATERIAL YOU CAN USE

  • NEWSPAPERS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ORIGINAL IMAGERY (from studio, tableau, other portraits etc)
  • INTERNET-SOURCED IMAGERY
  • BOOKS

TECHNIQUES

  • MANUAL CUT-N-PASTE (SCISSORS, SCALPEL AND GLUE)
  • PHOTOSHOP –
  • selection tools (to cut and move elements of images)
  • free transform (CTRL T)– to move, re-size and shape elements
  • layers and layer masks
  • opacity tool
  • blending options
  • distortion
  • proportion
  • scale

Ensure you have enough evidence of…

  1. moodboards
  2. mindmaps
  3. case studies (artist references)
  4. action plans
  5. photoshoots + contact sheets (annotated)
  6. appropriate selection and editing techniques
  7. presentation of final ideas and personal responses
  8. analysis and evaluation of process
  9. compare and contrast to a key photographer
  10. critique / review / reflection of your work

Ensure you discuss / describe / explain your images using key words and vocab…

Picture

headshots – diamond cameo

HENRY MULLINS

Henry Mullins started working at 230 Regent Street in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in July 1848, setting up a studio known as the Royal Saloon, at 7 Royal Square. He would photograph the upper class such as doctors and political elites as they were able to afford to visit his studio. He would photograph the upper class such as doctors and political elites as they were able to afford to visit his studio.

File:E16MullinsMulti2.jpg

MY RESPONSE

Before I started working on the diamond cameo, I adjusted the brightness and vibrance by selecting the image tab, then adjustments, then brightness/contrast first, then vibrance. Then I used the Marquee tool in PhotoShop to draw an oval shape around my subject, then I copied and pasted the image onto a plain white background. I repeated this four times, and I also added a black and white filter onto my images.

the decisive moment

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 – 2004) was a French humanist photographer who is considered the master of candid photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography and viewed photography as a decisive moment.

Alongside Robert Capa, George Rodger, and David Seymour, Cartier-Bresson founded Magnum Photos in 1947, which today has approximately 80 members. Magnum Photos is a cooperative wholly owned by its photographer-members. This independence offers a great freedom of choice and treatment of subjects. Magnum photographs are famous for their journalistic and aesthetic qualities. Through its four editorial offices in Paris, New York, London, and Tokyo and a network of fifteen sub-agents, Magnum Photos provides photographs to the press worldwide. At the heart of this activity is a concern to encourage the photographers to carry out their individual projects and to act as sensitive witnesses to world events.

IMAGE ANALYSIS

Henri Cartier – Bresson | 1969

This photograph was captured in Simiane-la-Rotonde, France in 1969. It depicts several people, both children and adults, sat relaxing in what appears to be an old, derelict building. Cartier – Bresson has taken advantage of the bright and harsh natural light in this image, using it to illuminate the foreground of the photograph. This intense lighting also allows the people sat on the wall in the background to be silhouetted against the white, creating numerous contrasting figures. As the lighting in the photograph is so bright, it appears to be over – exposed, creating a more modern feel, even though the image was captured over 50 years ago. Cartier – Bresson has utilised the natural straight lines of the pillars in the background to create an interesting composition; it is an example of the rule of thirds, with the second pillar landing directly in the centre of the photograph, making it the main focal point which instantly draws the viewer’s attention to it. This image has a range of tones varying from bright white, to grey and black. Some of the darkest points of the photograph are the people silhouetted against the bright light in the background, again creating a heavy contrast between the two.

Diamond Cameo

Henry Mullins

Henry Mullins was the first professional photographer to arrive in Jersey and start a portraiture business in the very early days of photography. Henry Mullins started working at 230 Regent Street in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in July 1848, setting up a studio known as the Royal Saloon, at 7 Royal Square. He would photograph the upper class such as doctors and political elites as they were able to afford to visit his studio.

Henry Mullins| Headshot of Philip Baudains

Above is a diamond cameo, created by Mullins, of Constable and Deputy of St Helier Philip Baudains taken in the 1800’s. I wish to recreate this style of photography by capturing the same subject in the same setting, turning their head to different positions, with a monotone facial expression. My plan is to experiment with two-point lighting to produce bright clear images that will be easily seen in the diamond cameo format.

More examples of Henry Mullins’ Work

My Images

Editing Process

To create my diamond cameos, inspired by Henry Mullins, I first produced a photoshoot using two-point lighting. My camera’s white balance was set to daylight (5000K) and I used a fast shutter speed of 1/125 in order to capture bright portraits with limited shadows on the subjects face. When editing my images I slightly heightened the exposure and brightness to further this effect. Next I used the Elliptical Marquee tool in photoshop to draw an oval shape around the subject, I then copied and pasted this circular image onto a white background. I repeated this four times to produce my final diamond cameo portraits, I also experimented with editing a black and white filter onto my cameos to mirror Mullins’ work further.

Final Diamond Cameos

Headshots – diamond cameo / Henry Mullins

Henry Mullins was a Canadian exporter, farmer, and politician. He was the first professional photographer to arrive to jersey to start taking portraiture business in his early years of taking photographs. He mainly focused on taking photos of the upperclassmen including people who were doctors as well as political people.

Henry Mullin’s Photography

I feel as Henry Mullins’s work is very unique to others as he has changed and adapted his work to create diamond Cameos, which adds more details and focus to the portraits in which he has taken. I’m going to try and recreate a Diamond cameo similar yo Henry Mullins’s as I’m inspired by the work in which he created. I’m going to do this by taking several head shots of a model and edit them to black and white through Photoshop. I’m going to use these head shots below to attempt to recreate Henry Mullins work.

Overall I feel that this successfully portrays what Henry Mullins achieved as my work shows very similar aspects to his. I done this by taking head shots of a model and then edited them in Photoshop by desaturating the images. After I done that I used  the Elliptical Marquee tool in Photoshop to draw an oval shape around the subject then I repeated this step another 3 times and added a plain white background layer.

diamonds cameos

Henry Mullins started working at 230 Regent Street in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in July 1848, setting up a studio known as the Royal Saloon, at 7 Royal Square. He would photograph Jersey political elite, mercantile families, military officers and professional classes. He would take multiple portraits of high class people, and narrow his portraits down into a set of 4 images cut into oval shapes, and placed into a diamond formation.

Henry Mullins uses 2-point-lighting in his portrait photographs to gently illuminate the face. He instructs the model to turn themselves at different angles in order to capture multiple perspectives of the face. Mullins uses a white background so that nothing is distracted from the face. 

From these photos I chose my favourites from different angles and then using Photoshop I edited them into diamond cameos by using the elliptical marquee tool.

I then opened an image of old paper from google, opened it in photoshop and copy and pasted my cut-outs onto the background.