First I opened a picture into Photoshop of an art gallery I found on Google.
I used the Spot Healing Brush Tool to remove the canvases in the picture so I can add my own.
I opened the image I wanted to used and went up to Edit, Transform, Scale and Distort to fit the image correctly onto the wall at the right angle.
Next I wanted to add a shadow to make the gallery look more realistic. To do this I went up to Layers, Layer Style, Drop Shadow.
I adjusted the Distance, Speed and Size of the shadow.
This is the final outcome.
Final Edits
Final images for Printing
I chose the images above for my final prints because I think they are strong edits with a strong narrative. I took photographs of old family photos, the yellow cut-outs are to represent a loss in the family. The top edit is particularly my favourite, the yellow covering their heads is filled with memories we all had with the person we lost. I like how the warm yellow contrasts against the tones in the back and white image, along with the coloured images, they have a variety of warm tones that go well with the yellow which will look good as a series of 3 in my portfolio.
These 2 images I chose because they are fun and have a lot of life to them. They are filled with bright, positive colours and will add vibrancy to my portfolio.
I really liked these images, especially in black and white as there is no colour to distract from the deep shadows and bright highlights within the image. These 2 images fit well together and create a sense of curiosity, the viewer will create a narrative of their own to these images and everyone’s will be different, either positive or negative.
Overall these 3 sets of images contrast against each other and show a variety of my skills within my portfolio, the depth of the black and white images, the bright colours and the edits.
I started my editing process by importing my photos into Lightroom.
Once imported, I went through my images and flagged the ones I wanted to use in my photobook.
Editing process, images inspired by Guy Bourdin
For my first image, I opened it up in Photoshop and cropped and adjusted it to how I wanted. My aim was to change the colour of the shoe to match Bourdin’s images. To do this, I used the Pen Tool and carefully cut out around the shoe.
After I outlined the shoe with the Pen Tool, I went up to the menu, under Window and selected Paths.
Within Paths, I selected Make Selection under the 3 small lines, this converts an outline drawn by the Pen Tool, to a dotted outline.
After this, I then selected Edit, Paste Special, Paste in Place onto a new layer so when I changed the colour of the shoe, the background is not effected.
I then selected Load Selection to select the area I want to edit individually.
Before changing the colour of the shoe, I adjusted the Brightness, Shadows and Highlights to make the shoe lighter so the colour will turn out more pigmented.
To change the colour I adjusted the Colour Balance.
I used the same process for the legs.
I saved my first edit as a PSD so it saves with all the layers so I can go back and change the colour without having to cut out the shoes again.
This next edit I needed 3 legs instead of 2 to match my edit to one of Bourdin’s photographs. To start, I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the leg and I cut and pasted it onto a new layer.
I then positioned it to where I wanted it to be.
I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the background, then adjusted the brightness to make it brighter, but only the background.
Then again I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the leg I wanted to change the colour of. Went up to Image, Adjustments, Colour Balance and changed the colours of all 3 legs.
Finally I used either the Spot Healing Tool or the Clone Stamp to clean up around the shoes.
Final Edits inspired by Bourdin
Analysis
Bourdin explored with a lot of vibrant colours in his work for Charles Jourdan. Jourdan and Bourdin produced a large amount of work on shoe advertisements, I liked the range of bright colours throughout these images and decided to take inspiration and produce a version of my own. Both mine and Bourdin’s images have solid blocks of basic colour instead of pastel or deeper colours for example. The images are eye-catching and don’t require too much thought. They are very positive images but don’t have much narrative, however the 3- legged images to create a sense of curiosity.
Inspiration for the above edits – Guy Bourdin
Bourdin Polariods
Edits Inspired by Bourdin’s Polaroids
Polaroid Editing Process
First I opened up my background image and used the Pen Tool to cut out the telephone box, once the box was cut out I went up to the menu and pressed Select, Inverse so everything but the telephone box was selected and changed the background to black and white and adjusted the brightness and contrast.
I opened up an image I had previously edited and used the Pen Tool to cut out the legs and cut and pasted it onto my background and adjusted them into the position I wanted by using either Edit, Transform, Scale or Edit, Transform, Rotate.
I then opened an image I had taken of a polaroid picture I had at home, I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool to cut out the image within the polaroid, cut and pasted my edited image onto my background, put my edited image on the bottom later and on top placed the polaroid frame.
I then repeated this process again for a second image.
Analysis
What I like most about my polaroid images is the worn/ old fashioned effect they have. The photographs are edited to match Bourdin’s images which are faded with a slight coloured tint on top. I think polaroid photos are more gripping than just an ordinary photograph, they have more texture and character about them.
One of my final images had things in the background that I didn’t want in my image, to remove the canvases on the wall I used both the Spot Healing Tool and the Clone Stamp.
After the canvases had been removed I used the Quick Selection Tool, selected the background and adjusted the brightness to make it brighter.
Final Edits
Analysis
What I love most about black and white photographs is there is no colour to distract you from the structure and depth of the image. Black and white images are a good way of capturing dark shadows and bright highlights. These images have the greatest sense of narrative compared to the others in my photobook, however these images can be interpreted in several ways and have a strong sense of curiosity, for example, the worn dress and heels on the bed, make you wonder where the woman had been that night and did the night end good or badly. The idea that the shoes and dress are both black could be telling us that the night ended badly as black is seen as a fearful, negative shade. The black and white also create deep emotion, the woman on the bed in the first image for example, lays there looking lost, however you can’t see her face so your mind will make up a story about how she may be feeling.
Photobook Process in Lightroom
First I imported my edits into Lightroom.
Selected book
Began adjusting where I wanted my images
Titles
My titles in my photobook are inspired, again, by Charlotte Cotton’s book on Guy Bourdin.
I started by opening a blank white document and selecting the Horizontal Type Tool and deciding on a font and adjusting the colour to a dark beige to match the one used in Cotton’s book.
Front and Back Cover
Cotton’s cover is one image that folds from the front cover around to the back. To start my front and back cover, I opened up a document in photoshop then layered the same brown colour I used for the first and last page in my book and placed it in the middle so it will fold from front to back.
Next I opened the image I wanted to use for my cover and cut out half the image and pasted it onto one side of the brown strip. I then Select, Inverse, Delete so the other half of the image was cut exactly, and pasted it onto the other side of the brown strip.
To add the text onto my front and back covers I used the Horizontal Type Tool.
Main Title
All in Good Taste
When the book is closed, the image will be folded around both pages.
For the first and last page in my book, it will be a solid brown colour like Cotton did.
Comparison
Final Layout
This blog post below includes an artist reference on Guy Bourdin and his impact on the fashion industry and social identities.
Altogether I am happy with the outcome of my personal study. I found the photographers I researched in relation to my study interesting which helped when writing my essay. Guy Bourdin, French artist and fashion photographer, influenced most of my work on the fashion industry and social identities. I found his work gripping and fun which inspired me when it came to taking my own photographs. The layout of my photobook is inspired my Charlotte Cotton’s book on Guy Bourdin, including the layout of the cover and inside pages. What I liked the most about Cotton’s layout is the simplicity of it, I like how the background is a pale white so there is no distraction from the photographs. I found the polaroid images fun to take and edit, as they aren’t an ordinary photo, they have a faded, old-fashioned look about them. Overall, I liked this project the most, mainly because of the freedom to do it on whatever you liked.
How has Vogue changed and influenced the development of fashion and social identities?
“Sensitive people faced with the prospect of a camera portrait put on a face they think is one they would like to show the world. Very often what lies behind the façade is rare and more wonderful than the subject knows and dares to believe.” Penn, I. (1986). Irving Penn’s Cranium Architecture
Fashion is expressive and can be interpreted in numerous ways. Fashion does outline, express, and shape our identity. We wear things because we want ourselves and the people around us to perceive us in a way we wish to be seen. Fashion and clothing are both there as a fundamental tool in which people construct themselves. The way we dress ourselves not only gives the person attired an identity but gives insight to those around us. Sometimes we all want to construct a new identity using fashion and statement pieces, but it is a matter that is often hard to accomplish as we could be drifting away from our comfort level or our perception of our authentic identity. The way we dress is like communicating without words. Whether we like it or not, people will judge us by our appearance. Our sense of style is so greatly affected by our environment, society, and our personality. Unfortunately, society will continue to demonize others who take a unique approach to fashion. Within this essay, I aim to explore how Vogue fashion photographers Guy Bourdin, Irving Penn and Global Editorial Director of Vogue, Anna Winour, impact the fashion industry and how they help people use fashion to explore and present who they really are, without caring about the judgement of others.
History of Vogue
Vogue, influential American fashion, and lifestyle magazine was founded in 1892 as a weekly high-society journal, created by Arthur Baldwin Turnure for New York City’s social elite and covering news of the local social scene, traditions of high society, and social etiquette. Condé Montrose Nast bought Vogue in 1909 and transformed it into a women’s fashion magazine focused on beauty, composure, and etiquette. Vogue soon became known for its distinctive photographs and high editorial quality. Nast hired the best illustrators and photographers of the day, and they produced covers for the magazine that were consistently sophisticated and occasionally revolutionary. In 1932, for example, Vogue became one of the first magazines to print a colour photo on its cover. Photographer Edward Steichen shoots the first color photograph ever printed in Vogue. The July cover by Steichen marked the arrival of fashion photography in Vogue.
First colour cover 1932
In the 1960s the magazine redefined the look of female models, deliberately avoiding shapely figures to highlight thin, gender-neutral physiques. Vogue’s August 1974 cover was the first to picture an African American model. Beverly Johnson becomes the first black woman to cover American Vogue. November 1988: Anna Wintour’s first cover features Israeli model Michaela Bercu. May 1989: Madonna became the first celebrity or non-model to be pictured on the cover of Vogue.
First black woman 1974
In 1988 Anna Wintour became editor of Vogue and immediately transformed Vogue covers by emphasizing the woman’s body, rather than just her face, as well as by frequently featuring Hollywood actresses as opposed to traditional fashion models, thereby sparking an international trend.
Vogue has enjoyed international success, with both standard and special editions published around the globe. One of the world’s most prominent fashion magazines, it has heavily influenced the development of the fashion magazine industry and continues to shape modern fashion trends. In 2009 The New York Times christened Vogue “high fashion’s bible.”
Anna Wintour’s impact on the fashion industry
Anna Wintour is the Global Editorial Director of Vogue. Wintour moved to London and was the editor of British Vogue between 1985 and 1987. A year later, she assumed control of the franchise’s magazine in New York. Her use of the magazine shaped the fashion industry. Anna is known to have changed how the world gets dressed. Her biggest impact has been on the clothes we see on television screens and newspaper front pages. Her personal preferences have changed what we think of as stylish, “Trends,” she once said, “is a dirty word.” Wintour’s fashion advice is “Let it be unique to yourself and yet identifiable to others.” Wintour explains how the way we dress is a form of self-expression, what we chose to wear reveals a hint of who you are. She claims it is important that you are happy in what you wear and to do it for yourself instead of others. However, within this quote she explains how you are “identifiable to others” through fashion, meaning people can get to know you through what you wear and how you dress, fashion is a way of communicating your identity to others without the use of words, which can be easier for many individuals
Anna has learned that in fashion there will be several types of failures that you may face but the most important thing she learned was that sometimes you just need to take the hit and move on. Accept failure because that is how we learn. She taught the fashion industry this and in return, it gave people the confidence to try new things. No matter if they fail or not. Fashion is about getting out of your comfort zone and Anna figured out at an early age that you need to go out and try new things to see what you like and do not like. Trying new things also inspires others to think outside the box. It gives a new perspective to traditional thoughts that need to be broken. Many people are so focused on being like everyone else. Fashion is about being you and is not about wearing the same trends as everyone else. Being different is a strength that a lot of us forget is an actual strength.
Irving Penn
Irving Penn, Vogue, April 1, 1950
Irving Penn has been known to alter our perception of beauty. He spent 66 of his 92 years at Vogue magazine. Penn first appeared in the magazine in 1943 and created an unprecedented 165 covers, more than any other single photographer. These were in addition to his persisting portraits that revealed the hidden selves of the famous sitters, the luminous high-fashion compositions shot in natural light, the portfolios of indigenous people, the flower, and small trades series. Then there were his advertising and personal projects, which ranged from studies of nudes to cigarette butts.
The photographer might be described as a soul catcher as he was able to get to the essence of both people and objects; in addition, he had the rare ability to capture the spirit of things in a graphic way. Maria Morris Hambourg echoed that sentiment, saying that Penn’s “seriously arresting” photographs “get under your skin.”
Penn started at Vogue in 1943. After proving his talent as a still life and portrait photographer, he was eased into fashion work by Alexander Liberman. Penn made his couture debut in 1950, photographing the latest fashion in a rickety studio, furnished with a discarded theatrical curtain. Penn wrote, “the light of Paris as I had imagined it, soft but defining.” Penn made use of this light to interpret couture in photographs that became immediately iconic.
This image by Penn is filled with rich detail, shadow offers reliable contour to subject and the space that surrounds in an infinity of shades in white, grey, and black. The background has vast amounts of texture, contrasting with the solid black dress. Your eyes are drawn to the woman’s face as the light reflects off the high points of her cheeks.
Women’s fashions of the 1950s reflected a complicated mix of conservatism and glamour. An hourglass figure dominated the look of the 1950s, with cinched-in waistlines and accentuated hips and busts. In Penn’s photograph he captures the elegant hourglass figure that dominated the 50’s.
This image, taken in 1950, ventures away from the general stereotype of women during this time. Emerging from the losses of World War II and The Great Depression, most women, if not all, lost their jobs and became housewives, whilst men took back the jobs with dominance after coming back from the war, leaving women with no power or independence of their own, except when it came to fashion. This photograph of the 50s would have empowered women into being more confident and independent through their choice of clothes. The strong dark colour of the dress compared to the lighter background, gives the dress and the woman independent power which is the opposite of what woman had in that day and age, indicating that fashion played a massive role in women’s confidence, independence, and appearance. This led to women wearing trousers and shorts which was the beginning of the end to specific items of clothing being allocated to certain genders.
Guy Bourdin
In 1955, his first fashion photos were featured in Paris Vogue in February, and he continued working for the magazine until 1987. Between 1967 and 1981, Bourdin produced some of his most memorable work under the employment of shoe designer Charles Jourdan, who became his patron. His work for Jourdan employed humanlike compositions, suggestive narratives and explored the realms between the absurd and the divine. His surreal aesthetics were delivered with sharp humour and were always eagerly anticipated by the media. After four years, he refused to accept the award Grand Prix National de la Photographie by the Ministry of Culture, France. Despite this, his name was preserved on the winners list. In the second half of the 1900s, Bourdin was among the most recognized fashion and commercial photographers. His style of photography exceeded the boundaries of traditional advertising – it was daring and had narrative supremacy.
Widely considered to have changed the face of fashion photography forever, French photographer Guy Bourdin’s innovative voice and visionary work is no longer seen solely in the context of commercial photography but is well esteemed in the historical records of contemporary fine art.
Man Ray, one of the greatest visual artists of the day, his multidisciplinary attitude instilled in Bourdin the idea of working without constraints. He turned his back on his formalist training and adopted a rigorous understanding of surrealist principles. Man Ray taught him to use graphic imagery and exaggerated lighting in his photography, and this period of apprenticeship was fundamental in influencing his style for the rest of his career. By 1968, he was continually finding new and exciting ways to challenge perceptions of commercial fashion photography.
For Bourdin, fashion was more than just clothes, his work was very abnormal and extraordinary. His photographs featured vivid colors, partially told stories and strong use of sexual imagery. He is often referred to as one of the most important visual artists of the last century, and his bold, graphic style of imagery continually challenged the long-held traditions of what fashion photography could be. His work strongly influenced the fashion industry, Bourdin thought outside the box when it came to his photographs, they include bright solid colours and were somewhat graphic. He didn’t care when it came to what people thought and that is one of the reasons he became so successful, his carelessness lead him to be highly appreciated within the fashion industry, and this influenced many other fashion photographers to explore what they love, instead of what would be socially acceptable.
What lead his work to being so abnormal was his past. Guy Bourdin was a disturbed and complex man. The leading French photographer was obsessed with death, and always had a difficult relationship with women, he was abandoned as a child by his mother, he often maltreated his models, while at least two of his former lovers committed suicide. Bourdin had enough of seeing a pretty girl in pretty clothes in a pretty environment. Instead, he decided to created obscene and voyeuristic scenes that were at once erotic and subversive, a weird mix of death and desire, and the beauty and the beast. This therefore lead Bourdin in to completely remaking the fashion industry. He taught people how to express themselves through fashion with no limits. His work completely deferred from social norms. Bourdin’s photography was sensational, exotic, sinister, provocative, sensual, and surrealistic. His influences included Edward Weston, Luis Buñuel, Balthus, Magritte and Man Ray. Guy Bourdin has been a great inspiration for young photographers working in the fashion industry.
This is an image of the bottom half of a woman’s body, significant to Bourdin’s style of photography involving his images being overly sexualized. This image suggests a narrative behind this woman as she embeds mystery into the image. Why is she in this position? Was she pushed? Is she looking for something? The two solid colours don’t take the attention away from the woman which makes the sense of mystery even stronger.
Bourdin captures an image that is playful, fresh and bold. It has strong outlines instead of shadows, and bright, vibrant colours instead of dull shadows. This relates to Bourdin’s personality, strong solid colours and objects are straight to the point, like Bourdin, he doesn’t hold back when it comes to his images and fully expresses his personality and creativity when taking his photographs.
Guy Bourdin
Irving Penn
The main resemblance between Bourdin and Penn’s images is the strong sense of mystery, firstly in Bourdin’s image where you question why the woman is in that position, and secondly the expression on the woman’s face in Penn’s photograph where she appears stoic, as if she is on the verge of tears.
Bourdin constantly explores colour throughout his images, compared to Penn’s deep, dark shadows and contrast. Penn’s photographs create a sense of misery for the viewer, with the negative expressions and deep tones of grey. This is in contrast to Bourdin’s fun and vivid images that uplift the viewer.
Women have been taught from a young age that there are certain things we can and cannot wear at different stages of our lives. Bourdin influenced women being more free with what they wear. Bourdin was appreciated during a period of time where woman mainly had to do what men told them to do, this involved fashion and what they wore. Bourdin explores nudity and sexualized women within his images. Although some women may have found this offensive, this will also have been a break-through for most women in expressing themselves through fashion.
The way we dress is like communicating without words. Whether we like it or not, people will judge us by our appearance. While we shouldn’t let our self-confidence be affected by the opinions people have of us, what we receive from people throughout our lives will have a huge impact on shaping our identity. Anna Wintour socially influenced this by telling people to dress how you feel, you will not need to explain yourself as your fashion will make you “identifiable to others”. What we wear constructs an identity of how we want people to view us, Wintour explains how you shouldn’t hold back when deciding what to wear, “let it be unique to yourself”.
Essay question: How has Vogue changed and influenced the development of fashion and social identities?
Opening quote:“Sensitive people faced with the prospect of a camera portrait put on a face they think is one they would like to show the world. Very often what lies behind the façade is rare and more wonderful than the subject knows and dares to believe.” Penn, I. (1986). Irving Penn’s Cranium Architecture
Introduction : Discuss how fashion impacts us as individuals and our social identities, how it can be used as a tool for self expression, I aim to explore how Vogue fashion photographers Guy Bourdin, Irving Penn and Global Editorial Director of Vogue, Anna Wintour, impact the fashion industry and how they help people use fashion to explore and present who they really are, without caring about the judgement of others.
Pg 1:Historical context of Vogue and how its changes the fashion industry and who helped impact that, e.g. Anna Wintour.
Pg 2: Analyse Anna Wintour
Pg 3: Analyse Irving Penn
Pg 4: Analyse Guy Bourdin
Conclusion: Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between Bourdin, Penn and Wintour and that of your own work that you have produced.
Throughout my personal study, I aim to explore how the fashion industry impacts our social identity. I have always been interested in fashion, even from a young age. Fashion does outline, express, and shape our identity. Fashion and clothing are both there as a fundamental tool in which people construct themselves. Sometimes we all want to construct a new identity using fashion, the way we dress is like communicating without words.
An important issue within the fashion world is that most people shy away from statement pieces, or even clothing items that are a little out of their comfort zone as they are afraid of judgement, whether we like it or not, people will judge us by our appearance. The global editor of vogue claims it is important that you are happy in what you wear and to do it for yourself instead of others. However, some people are the opposite. When it comes to the people who aren’t totally sure who they are inside and don’t have the words to explain it, fashion can be one of the best ways of expressing who you are, with one simple glance from a stranger you begin to show a glimpse of your identity.
To develop my project, I will research famous Vogue fashion photographers and create shoots that are similar to their work. The artists I aim to explore in detail and become inspired by are Guy Bourdin and Irving Penn. Bourdin is known to have widely changed the face of fashion photography forever and Irving Penn has been known to alter our perception of beauty. Within my personal study I will also explore Anna Wintour, the Global Editorial Director of Vogue, her use of the magazine shaped the fashion industry and she is known to have changed how the world gets dressed.
My final outcome of this project will be produced in a photobook.
FASHION
VOGUE Photographers
Charles Jourdan & Guy Bourdin
Between 1967 and 1981, Bourdin produced some of his most memorable work under the employment of shoe designer Charles Jourdan, who essentially became his patron. His work for Jourdan employed anthropomorphic compositions, suggestive narratives and explored the realms between the absurd and the sublime. His surreal aesthetics were delivered with sharp humor and were always eagerly anticipated by the media.
Widely considered to have changed the face of fashion photography forever, French photographer Guy Bourdin’s innovative voice and visionary work is no longer seen solely in the context of commercial photography but is well esteemed in the annals of contemporary fine art.
Guy Bourdin created impossible images long before photoshop, Some of Bourdin’s best-known pictures feature mannequin legs sawn off just below the knee. Those legs, says O’Neill, were “so brilliantly placed you can almost see the whole woman – the sense of her was so strong”. Usually the images were created by Bourdin drilling the mannequin’s feet through the ground then positioning them.
He was meticulous in planning his photographs, sketching out the composition and scouting locations in advance, and yet “he made it look so effortless. Today photographers can very easily make a model fly but when they do it it doesn’t have the same charge or aura.”
“An artist whose distinct style is instantly recognizable, Guy Bourdin’s use of color, frame and form is highly unique and utterly surprising.” ─── Torres, R. (January 4, 2021). Guy Bourdin, Independent Photographer.
As such, their work greatly compliments each other, both shooting contorted female bodies, scenarios tinged with a surrealist element, and employing the use of props, harsh lighting, bright colours, and pure melodrama. Bourdin continued to work for Vogue until 1987.
“I have never perceived myself as responsible for my images. They are just accidents. I am not a director, merely an agent of chance” —– Bourdin, G. (1981) Guy Bourdin, The Independent Photographer.
Horst P
Horst P. Horst (1906-99) created images that transcend fashion and time. He was a master of light, composition and atmospheric illusion, who conjured a world of sensual sophistication. In an extraordinary sixty-year career, his photographs graced the pages of Vogue and House and Garden under the one-word photographic byline ‘Horst’. He ranks alongside Irving Penn and Richard Avedon as one of the pre-eminent fashion and portrait photographers of the 20th century. His extraordinary range of work outside the photographic studio conveys a relentless visual curiosity and life-long desire for new challenges.
The 1930s ushered in huge technical advancements in colour photography. Horst adapted quickly to a new visual vocabulary, creating some of Vogue’s most dazzling colour images. Horst’s colour photographs are rarely exhibited because few vintage prints exist. Colour capture took place on a transparency which could be reproduced on the magazine page without the need to create a photographic print.
Annie Leibovitz
Over the last 50 years, Annie Leibovitz’ eye has helped direct, guide and capture the fashion industry’s greatest talents. Leibovitz has been described as an Artist Who Changed Fashion Photography Forever. She is an American portrait photographer best known for her engaging portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses.
In 1999, Vogue sent Annie to Paris to cover the couture collections for the first time and surprised her by casting Sean Combs alongside Kate Moss. The shoot was a cross-cultural straddling of two worlds: rap culture and high fashion.
Across more than 340 photographs, 90 of which have not been seen since their original magazine publication, Leibovitz’ fashion photography for publications such as Rolling Stone, Vogue and Vanity Fair is collated: including Sarah Jessica Parker in front of a mountain of pillows, Natalia Vodianova as Alice and Marc Jacobs as the Caterpillar, and Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole and Lady Gaga as Hansel, Gretel and the Wicked Witch.
Wonderland
“Looking back at my work, I see that fashion has always been there,” says Leibovitz in the preface to Wonderland. “Fashion plays a part in the scheme of everything, but photography always comes first for me. The photograph is the most important part. And photography is so big that it can encompass journalism, portraiture, reportage, family photographs, fashion… My work for Vogue fuelled the fire for a kind of photography that I might not otherwise have explored.”
“This is the way it is in photography. Most celebrities are forgotten but fashion lasts.” —– Danziger, J. (2006) The New York Times
Pictorialists took the medium of photography and reinvented it as an art form, placing beauty, tonality, and composition above creating an accurate visual record. Through their creations, the movement strove to elevate photography to the same level as painting and have it recognized as such by galleries and other artistic institutions. In the 1880s, photographers strived for photography to be art by trying to make pictures that resembled paintings e.g. manipulating images in the darkroom, scratching and marking their prints to imitate the texture of canvas, using soft focus, blurred and fuzzy imagery based on allegorical and spiritual subject matter, including religious scenes.
Influences on Pictorialism: Allegorical painting
Allegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying meaning other than the literal. Allegory communicates it’s message through symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy.
Peter Henry Emerson 1856 -1936
In 1889 Peter Henry Emerson expounded his theory of Naturalistic Photography which the Pictorialist used to promote photography as an art rather than science. Their handcrafted prints were in visual opposition to the sharp black and white contrast of the commercial print. Emerson soon became convinced that photography was a medium of artistic expression superior to all other black-and-white graphic media because it reproduces the light, tones, and textures of nature with unrivalled fidelity. He decreed that a photograph should be direct and simple and show real people in their own environment, not costumed models posed before fake backdrops or other such predetermined formulas.
Hugo Henneberg
Hugo Henneberg was an amateur photographer originally trained in the sciences. Henneberg came to the medium from his study of physics, chemistry, astronomy, and mathematics. His knowledge of the technical aspects of photography served his aesthetic interests particularly well, as he created gum bichromate prints that involved multiple stages of development. The resulting prints possessed a rich, engaging texture that augmented a satisfying spatial sense, as in this landscape-Henneberg’s favourite genre.
Gum Bichromate
Gum bichromate is a 19th-century photographic printing process based on the light sensitivity of dichromats. It is capable of rendering painterly images from photographic negatives. Gum printing is traditionally a multi-layered printing process, but satisfactory results may be obtained from a single pass. Any colour can be used for gum printing, so natural-colour photographs are also possible by using this technique in layers.
Realism / Straight Photography
Realism photography grew up with claims of having a special relationship to reality, and its premise, that the camera’s ability to record objectively the actual world as it appears in front of the lens was unquestioned. This supposed veracity of the photographic image has been challenged by critics as the photographer’s subjectivity (how he or she sees the world and chooses to photograph it) and the implosion of digital technology challenges this notion opening up many new possibilities for both interpretation and manipulation. A belief in the trustworthiness of the photograph is also fostered by the news media who rely on photographs to show the truth of what took place.
Straight Photography were photographers who believed in the intrinsic qualities of the photographic medium and its ability to provide accurate and descriptive records of the visual world. These photographers strove to make pictures that were ‘photographic’ rather than ‘painterly’, they did not want to treat photography as a kind of monochrome painting. They abhorred handwork and soft focus and championed crisp focus with a wide depth of field.
Alfred Stieglitz
In 1907 Stieglitz took this picture, The Steerage and thereby rejected Pictorialism’s aesthetics and became in favour of what Paul Strand called ‘absolute unqualified objectivity’ and ‘straight photographic means’. Stieglitz and Strand was also influenced by European Avant Garde art movements such as Cubism and Fauvism and some of their pictures emphasised underlying abstract geometric forms and structure of their subjects.
Modernism
Modernism led to progress in many spheres of life by changing the approach of mankind towards culture, modernism attempted to free humanity from its historical baggage through the use of philosophy and science.
Early modernity is characterised intellectually by a belief that science could save the world and that a foundation of universal truths could be established. The common trend was to seek answers to fundamental questions about the nature of art and human experience. Modernity imbue all aspects of society and are apparent in its cultural forms including fiction, architecture, painting, popular culture, photography.
By the beginning of the 20th century, with the diffusion of illustrated magazines and newspapers, photography was a mass communication medium. Photojournalism acquired authority and glamour, and document-like photographs were used in advertising as symbols of modernity.
Surrealism
Surrealism was founded in Paris in 1924, by the poet Andre Breton and continued Dadaism’ exploration of everything irrational and subversive in art. Surrealism was more explicitly preoccupied with spiritualism, Freudian psychoanalysis and Marxism. It aimed to create art which was ‘automatic’, meaning that it had emerged directly from the unconscious without being shaped by reason, morality or aesthetic judgements. The Surrealist also explored dream imagery an they were an important art movement within Modernism involving anything from paintings, sculpture, poetry, performance, film and photography.
Rene Magritte (1898-1967)
René Magritte was a Belgian-born artist who was known for his work with surrealism as well as his thought-provoking images. In the 1920s, he began to paint in the surrealist style and became known for his witty images and his use of simple graphics and everyday objects, giving new meanings to familiar things. With a popularity that increased over time, Magritte was able to pursue his art full-time and was celebrated in several international exhibitions. He experimented with numerous styles and forms during his life and was a primary influence on the pop art movement. Magritte’s handiwork is bold and illustrative, it’s playful and mysterious: you’re never left wondering what is pictured, but you are often left wondering why.
Post – Modernism
Postmodernism was a reaction to modernism and was influenced by disenchantment brought on by the second world war. It refers to the state that lacks a central hierarchy and one that is complex, ambiguous and diverse. Grand narratives like freedom, societal progress, scientific progress were criticized by post modernists, who instead emphasized that difference should be celebrated, rather than forced unity. Post modernism represented a loss in faith in human reason, it provides a bleak prognosis of the human condition and offers no real solution.
Postmodernism also explores power and the way economic and social forces exert that power by shaping the identities of individuals and entire cultures. Unlike modernists, postmodernists place little or no faith in the unconscious as a source of creative and personal authenticity. They value art not for universality and timelessness but for being imperfect, low-brow, accessible, disposable, local and temporary. While it questions the nature and extent of our freedom and challenges our acquiescence to authority, Postmodernism has been criticised for its pessimism: it often critiques but equally often fails to provide a positive vision or redefinition of what it attacks.
Jeff Wall
The most famous practitioner of “staged photography”, camera artist Jeff Wall is one of Canada’s greatest photographers of the 20th century. Challenging the notion of photography as a medium that records the “real”, Wall has been producing carefully staged photos since the end of the 1970s. Largely involving everyday scenes conveying an iconographic link to classical painting, they are often presented as large-format back-lit cibachrome photographs. His lens-based tableaux often feature a mixture of natural beauty, urban decay and industrial wasteland as their backdrop.
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.
To start, I pressed Ctrl + I to import my videos from my video data and started with my first clip.
I then cropped the beginning and end off of the clip, leaving me with the part of the video that I needed.
I continued to add each clip to the timeline, cutting and cropping the clips to fit into the animation.
Multiple Clips
I then repeated this process with another 4 clips, layered on top of one and other so each clip plays at the same time.
Changing Speed
To adjust the speed of a clip, right click and select “speed duration”. Then change the percentage to make the clip faster or slower.
Title
Digital Image
To start off, we imported the images we took into Lightroom and flagged the images we wanted to use for our digital image.
Once we decided on our final 4 images, we began editing them, adjusting the lighting, contrast, exposure and highlights.
For the images with a black background, we had to edit around the shoes to make the whole image black. To do this, we opened the images in Photoshop and used the Clone Stamp tool, selected a black area and drew around the feet.
“In 2010 when I was in New York I decided that art was what I wanted to do, and there I started doing some artworks involving embroidery and painting.” – Romussi
From 2010 to 2014 he worked with different subjects such as ballerinas, portraits with embroidered flowers and skulls, and landscapes. Later, Jose started to see and made art in a different way: with a critical eye and a social perspective.
“My work is a constant search to express and represent my ideas. My occurring artworks are a reaction of my inspiration. This starts with an image, that inspires me in a certain way to do an embroidery that changes it into a new one. I am always searching for a new sense of interpretation for my pieces.”
His technique is focused on the use of thread as medium to make merge different times and spaces in the realized pieces. Embroidery technique is used on paper, as well as on photograph, with no fear of breaking the support since it is part of the process too.
“I intervene in images by applying my own perception of beauty to them. Sometimes by giving them a new identity or a different aesthetic concept. It’s the chance to give this image a new emotion, a new life, a new interpretation of beauty through embroidering”.
Process
Step – by – Step Animation
I started with my first image as the background.
I then got each images and copied them over each other in order, lowered the opacity to line up the top image with the one underneath.
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualising a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence.
e.g.
Planning
What
We will film someone walking in front of still images. The image being the same year the outfit if from.
Where
Hautlieu studio.
Who
People in group will help with set up and as models.
Why
We want to show the difference in clothes throughout different generations and that no matter how much technology and the world changes clothes stay the same and come back into fashion.
When
After school.
How
Using a projector onto a white background and have the camera on a tripod. We will take multiple shots with different model and outfits and then edit them to make it look like the models are walking seamlessly as one.
Our Storyboard
70’s
2000’s
2021
future
future
what’s next?
Shot Types
Shot type: Long shot
Location: Hautlieu studio with a projected background of images from archives from different generations.
Props: Different outfits to match the year, old items e.g. flip phone.
People: from our group
Summary
For our 30 second animated film we plan to use a projector to project an image of Jersey in each generation, with a person walking through in an outfit from that period of time to show how fashion trends have changed over the years.
