Over the last year or so, in photography, I have explored a wide range of different topics, themes and skills such as formal elements, surface and colour, a variety of portraiture, studio photography with different lighting techniques, landscapes, themes such as Anthropocene, identity and community and experimenting with film making and digital images (NFT).
FORMAL ELEMENTS
I really enjoyed the formal elements project where we folded paper in different ways to create different patterns, folds and marks on the paper, the folds helped to create deep shadows to contrast against bright highlights. Two-point lighting was also used to create the 2 images above, there is a contrast between the warm and cool tones of red and green.
HEADSHOTS
One project I particularly liked was headshots. I enjoyed experimenting with lighting e.g. one-point and two-point lighting to create different shadows and highlights. I loved experimenting with coloured lighting, for example on either side of the face, using colours that contrasted with one and other. Lighting is a key factor in creating a successful image. It determines not only brightness and darkness, but also tone, mood and the atmosphere. I also liked layering headshots and changing the opacity.
PORTRAITS
A portrait photograph may be important for historic preservation, personal branding or for personal pleasure, it is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses.
Examining photographic portraits has been a way we practice critical thinking about identities, how images relate to social, historical and cultural contexts and how ideas, feelings and meanings are portrayed through portrait photography and ultimately how they shape our history.
IDENTITY
The distinguishing character or personality of an individual defines identity. Identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world and the characteristics that define you. How we define ourselves is a self-representation of our culture, interests, relationships and efficacy in doing the things that matter to us.
I enjoyed the identity project, particularly the artists I researched and my final images. One artist I looked at was Carolle Benitah, she explores memory, family and the passage of time. Often pairing old family snapshots with handmade accents, such as embroidery, beading and ink drawings, Bénitah seeks to reinterpret her own history as daughter, wife, and mother.
Benitah created a project called ‘Jamais je ne T’oublierai‘ which translates to I Will Never Forget You.
This project of hers was about how families identities change after someone in the family passes away. I recreated her projects with images of my own…
I enjoyed the process of editing these images and how the images have a strong sense of narrative, which was ‘all family members lost their identities when someone significant in the family died’.
Exploring Identity Portraits Further…
What I like most about portraiture is the narrative. The emotions on each individuals face tells a story, but just enough so the viewers mind creates its own story about the individual in the photograph. However, its not just emotion in portraiture that can tell a story about a person, its also their culture, what they wear and how they present themselves that really gives us a sense of who they are.
ANNIMATION + DIGITAL IMAGE – EXPLORING FASHION
Within the NFT project, as a group, I was able to produce a project on the generational difference in fashion trends. When developing my personal study, I would like to explore this fashion topic further and involve the theme of identity and how what we wear and how we look portrays a part of our identity in one simple glance from a stranger, they already begin to get to know us. Fashion plays a large part in who we are and I would like to go further into depth in my personal study with fashion, identity and portraiture.