This shoot is inspired by work by South African photographer David Goldblatt. His series ‘particulars’ focuses on particular parts of the body rather than the full image.
My idea is to do a series of black and white images of different body parts (specifically hands and feet). I don’t want to do this in the studio as I feel that it will make the photos look too clinical. instead I am going to take my photos outside in a grassy, natural area. Due to the current coronavirus situation I am going to be my own model so as to lesson chance of coronavirus infection.
Who
what
when
where
notes
myself
hands, feet
15/02/21
garden
black and white
On Photoshop I used the maximum whiteness filter to achieve a harsh, sterile look. Goldblatt’s photos are a lot softer than mine but I still think mine are decent
When a double exposure is seen in photography it means that photos have been layered on top of each other, often creating strange effects.
Lewis Bush uses multi exposures in his photo ‘trading zones’ in which he layers images of different people working in the finance industry to explore the monotony and lack of individuality in the work place.
Instead of doing this with multiple people I am going to use photos of myself throughout the years in order to see how much I myself have changed as I have grown older. The photos are mainly not taken by me, a lot of the older photos having come directly from my mums facebook page.
Here are my photos cropped and put roughly in chronological order which is the order in which my photos will be layered onto each other.
On photoshop I made each photo the same size, layered them on top of each other and turned down the opacity to 30 % on each photo. By doing this I created my final image.
Overall I like this photo even though it looks so strange. Ideally I would centre the photos I would calibrate the features to match so I had a more human looking end result
This topic is the Landscape project where we will be studying Landscape portraits as well as taking and editing our own.
Landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes.
To begin this topic I am preparing a shoot of an iconic natural landscape in Jersey, The Sand Dunes. I have chosen the sand dunes as they are instantly recognisable to locals and are an important part of Jersey history that helps define the island.
Passports are very basic images that’s sole purpose is a means of identification. In the UK the photos are very simple, a clear head shot with a white background however, in a beauty obsessed country like south korea, passport photos are so heavily edited they no longer look anything like the passport owner.
I am going to create two different pieces, one based one the utilitarian style British passports and another heavily Photoshop-ed to fit strange and unrealistic beauty standards.
SHOOT PLAN
WHEN
WHERE
WHO
NOTES
2:30 03/02/21
Photography classroom
Tiago
Photography studio not available so need to create white backdrop with A3 paper
CONTACT SHEET
A lot of these photos need parts of the background cropped out. This is because the photography studio was not available so I had to create my own white backdrop using white A3 card however the card was not big enough and some of the wall can be seen. Some of the photos are not deadpan or central, with my models head often tilted to the side. These photos will not be used for my final piece.
The photos outlined in red will not be used
I removed a few more of my selected photos as his hair wasn’t fully pictured. These photo are very central and have a consistent deadpan expression which makes them look like passport photos. For my British passport version all i am going to do is slightly crop the photos.
This is my chosen photo as it shows more chest area than the other photos which is often a requirement in passport photos
To create the Korean version I used spot healing tool on Photoshop to remove blemishes and then lightened the images to emulate Korean passports I have seen. I would’ve liked to make more extreme changes to my models facial features however I was limited by my lack of photoshop skills.
Here is my edited photo
To display I copied the same image four times and layed them out in the same format you would get when you had your passport photos taken as I think that it shows the contrast best between the two cultures while also gives a sense of verisimilitude.
Street photography is a common form of candid photography in which photos are taken in a street and the subjects are unaware of the photo being taken which creates a more natural look. These photos can be used to document historic events as well as showcase the differences in cultures as exhibited in Moriyama Daido’s Japanese photography.
SHOOT PLAN
WHERE
WHO
WHY
WHEN
Main street in town
Random people in town
To find interesting features in people walking around
After school 19/11/20
CONTACT SHEET FOR SHOOT
These photos turned out horribly as the street was not busy due to many people avoiding crowded streets because of COVID so I couldn’t get the crowded kind of photos I wanted. I also l felt really uncomfortable taking these photos as I felt very morally dubious taking photos without consent so stopped very early on. With the photos I do have I am going to put in black and white to replicate Moriyama Daido’s.
On Photoshop, I cropped the images to make them focus more on individuals and then made them back and white to thew setting of maximum black. This made the photos look more dramatic and unsettling and I really liked how they turned out.
Here are my two favourite images. I like how the black and white tonal has given the photos a gloominess that effectively conveys the atmosphere at this current time period where not only is the weather cold and grim but also everything else is as coronavirus has shut everything down
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, identity is;
The distinguishing character or personality of an individual
Claude Cahun
Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob was a innovative french photographer who came to jersey to escape growing antisemitism. Cahun was a lesbian who experimented greatly with the idea of gender in her photography. It is suggested that Cahun was transgender which is further supported by her hyper masculine look in her self portraits. Its evident that her ideas on gender and sexuality have greatly inspired her work
MIND MAP OF IDEAS
This project is based on the themes of identity and place. To explore this theme I am basing my project around body image as I feel that unfortunately its an issue that has a profound effect on many peoples identity. Whilst researching this topic I came across “The Epilogue” by Laia Abril which showcases the effects of eating disorders.
Comparing Cahun and Abril
This photo by Cahun depicts her own head inside a glass jar. I’m not entirely sure how this was done but it seems that she has taken a photo of herself and put the physical copy inside a glass dome creating the effect that just her head is inside the dome. This early form of Photoshop sets Cahun apart from other artists of her time and makes her photography instantly recognisable. The head encased in glass give the photo an eerie feel which stays true to her other work. Cahun’s work are often self portraits and this one is no different however instead of picturing herself in a heavily emphasised masculine light she adds feminine touches such as lipstick and fashionably thin drawn on eyebrows. This connotes the idea that women are trapped by the patriarchy furthering her radical views on gender and women as a subordinate group. The glass surrounding her could signify how women are to be put on display and look beautiful but not actually do anything of substance. The lighting is quite natural, probably taken during the day as there is a steady stream of light coming in.
This photo comes from Abrils collection “Femincides” the word used for a sex based hate crime, and documents the sex based murders of 5 women in Reunion island. It is a portrait of a woman’s face cropped so as to focus just on the eyes. It is likely that this was done because of the idea that the eyes are the window to the soul and so by doing this creates an idea of honesty. Like Cahun’s photo, an effort has been made to increase the look of femininity through use of make up with mascara and plucked eyebrows. Like Cahun’s, this photo is in black and white but unlike Cahun’s this was done purposefully to create a more jarring look and to further accentuate the fact that this woman was murdered. The graininess of the photo paired with the black and white is very similar to photos of victims in true crime documentaries
MOODBOARD
The Epilogue mixes together photos of ordinary objects around the house of a victim of bulimia as well as photos of severely underweight bodies. The above photo is of the scales belonging to Cammy Robinson who passed away due to her struggle with bulimia. On seeing this image I decided to base my project on objects that link to body image rather than taking photos of malnourished people as I feel like the image of the scales can be equally harrowing and I am to evoke emotion rather than just shock.
My idea at the moment is to take a head-shot of someone- (preferably a female in late teens as although eating disorders effect all genders they’re most prevalent in teenage girls) and surround the photo with photos of scales with different weights.
MOCK UPS
On Photoshop using stock images from google I made a mock-up of a potential final image
Reflecting on this image I wouldn’t want to include feet in the photo as I think it distracts from the seriousness of the project. I would also make the head-shot more visible either by making the scales around the model more transparent or removing them completely.
I had another go at mocking up an image but this time used the scales used in Laia Abril’s epilogue without feet. The plain backdrop of the white scales makes the image look stark and clinical which is the aesthetic look i am trying to achieve. The white of the scales also make the model more visible compared to my previous mock up. I really like how this image has turned out and I plan to create a similar version with my own photographs.
SHOOT PLAN
WHAT
WHEN
WHERE
WHY
OTHER NOTES
Zuzanna-model for shoot
19/01/21 10:15 am
Photography studio- using white backdrop
Centrepiece of portrait
Reminder to bring tube top to show shoulders
Scales-
21/01/21 4:00pm
At home- diy white backdrop using card
To be multiplied and used as overlay for portrait
Borrowing scales- WHITE to blend in with rest of portrait
CONTACT SHEET
I had this shoot in the photography studio so that I could have a good white backdrop that would be easy to Photoshop with. I used 1 barns-door light to make the images clear but also not have the images look too artificial as the projects focus of body image is very natural. I felt this photo shoot went really well and I left the shoot with some really good photos that I think will work well put into Photoshop. Some of the photos are not as sharp as I wanted and are a tad blurry whilst others I purposefully made excessively blurry as I would like to try layering a sharp image over a blurry image for a dramatic effect. In quite a few of the photos, the models top is visible but I will crop this out in Photoshop when I use them. The photos in red outline are my favorite and will be put into another contact sheet in order to finish my selection process and choose my final image.
third
second
best image
After selecting my favourite images I used photoshop to tidy them up. Using the spot healing brush I removed blemishes from the skin. I also tidied up messy hair by sampling background colour using the eye dropper tool.
My three selected images with blemishes removed
SECOND SHOOT
The second shoot took place at my house. I crafted a white infinity backdrop using white A3 card. I borrowed two different scales, one being a more neutral, traditional scale more like the set of scales featured in Laia Abril’s Epilogue, and the other being more modern and grey toned which I was unsure about using as I didn’t know how well the colour would blend with the more beige toned photos of my model.
The DIY infinity backdrop
Outlined in red is are my chosen images
NEW IDEA
Whilst conducting my second photoshoot I saw an apple in the fruit bowl and had the idea to take a series of shots of the apple on the scales to add a bit of colour to the project. I realised that this would perhaps distract from the focal image of the model as I felt the feet in my first mock up did so I have created an alternative idea. I have decided to do a series of photos in the style of the Kuleshov effect in order to evoke more emotion from the images. To do this I am going to use two of the same portrait images of my model with a photo of the apple between the two.
Outlined in red is my chosen image
MORE EDITING
Clearing hair using eraser tool
To create my final pieces I had two different methods. The first was very similar to my second mock up. I used the quick selection tool to get a rough outline of my model which I then pasted on to a new photoshop document. Because this was done very roughly a lot of the hair that I had previously tidied up had become very messy and choppy again. To fix this I used the eraser tool to smooth the hair out and make it look more natural. After this I opened my best white scale image onto photoshop lowered the opacity so that the model underneath would be visible. I then used the rectangular marquee tool to cut out the scales in a way that kept it looking sharp and clean and pasted it onto the open document that already contained my model. I made multiple copies of the scales to layer over the model and then adjusted brightness, contrast and vibrancy to make the end image look better. After completing my first image I repeated the process but using the grey scales instead of the white. I did this for each of my selected photos with varied sized scales resulting in at least 2 versions per model. Whilst doing this process I accidently duplicated the model instead of just the scales but really liked the effect it made so have kept it as a final image. Creating my Kuleshov tableaus was more difficult as it needed to be much more precise. The first thing I did was open one of my model photos and crop it to a square taking note of the size of the width and length of the photo. I then created a new document using measurements taken from the model photo, the length of the original photo and width three times the width of the original. I dragged the photo I had onto this open document and then dragged on my chosen apple photo. This posed a problem as the apple photo was much smaller than the one of my model. To solve this I used ctrt T bring it up to size making sure to hold shift so as to retain the shape. I then copied and pasted the model to put on the other size. After this I had a small amount of white space that I then cropped out, completing the image. I did this with each model photo.
FINAL IMAGES
This photo has come out well but does have quite a dark dirty feel to it because of the darker set of scales and the pattern to the right. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it does convey the dark feelings around body image. I really like how the scales perfectly frame the models right eye, this was not intentional and although it may seem strange without the balance of the left eye doing the same I think the photo wouldn’t be as powerful if both eyes were framed. To improve I would edit the hair better as it looks quite choppy and unnatural in this photo and would perhaps change the brightness to give a lighter feel more similar to Abril’s work.The tint on this photo is strange with almost green undertones that I don’t think fit the idea very well . The positioning and size of the scales also is not that great as the large gaps make it look disjointed and where the eye was framed nicely in my previous image, this one looks very out of place as too much of the eye is outside of the metal bit. Next time the scales should be smaller to allow for smaller gaps between scales and should be positioned in regards to facial features. The editing of her hair is much better in this photo as it is much smoother so looks more natural.This image looks much too busy. I wouldn’t blame this on the amount of scales in the picture as I think it is the right amount but instead on the darkness of the scales. To rectify this I would lower the opacity of the scales. The positioning of the scales is better than the previous however the hair is once again too choppy. Again, the scales seem too dark which has created that greenish tint again. The positioning of the scales are completely off on this as none of the models features are accentuated by scale placement. This may be my least favourite image.This image really managed to encapsulate the idea I had for this project. The editing is is very natural looking and the placement of scales is my favourite so far. The scales perfectly frame the features of the model without being too busy or favouring one feature over the other. The only thing I would change would be to make the image slightly lighter to be even closure to Abril’s work but other than that I think its perfect.This image has a very similar scale placement as the previous image that I was really happy with however it lacks the symmetry that made the last photo so powerful. Like many of the other images that used the darker scales, this image seems too busy as the dark lines of the scales begin to distract from the model. To improve this I would move around the scales to cover the most important features such as the eyes and also lower the opacity of the scales. This is my favourite image as I feel it manages to emulate Abril best. This image is the same as the last white scale image but with heightened brightness and lowered contrast which creates a much softer and gentler image than the rest. This image was made by accident after accidently connecting the scales and model and pasting the wrong image. Even though it was a mistake it is one of my favourite images as it creates a very bizarre and interesting picture. I interpret it as a way to escape from eating disorders as the model at the bottom of the screen is not as covered by the scales anymore. The only scales covering her are positioned over her head showing how the effects of an eating disorder will never really leave your mind. The models are centrally positioned but not completely straight which I think shows how an eating disorder is never straight forward.Considering this as an example of the Kuleshov effect, it doesn’t really work as the model seems to be showing positive emotion which defeats the purpose of creating meaning through the object displayed.Like the previous series, this one doesn’t work as well as it could due to there already being an expression on the models face. Although compared to the last series the emotion is much more dulled down, you can quite easily find a positive expression on her face.As an example of the Kuleshov effect I think this series works best as the model is expressionless which allows onlookers to crate meaning by themselves.
COMPARISION TO CAHUN
My image uses artificial light to create a light and airy feel whilst Cahun seems to use natural light with a darker tone.
My image uses very light, washed out colours in order to convey the feelings of depression that comes with eating disorders whilst Cahun’s is in black and white. Although this probably wasn’t a conscious decision as the only way photos would get colour back then was through tinting, the black and white suits the photo well, showing the dark undercurrents of the photo.
Both photos are very centrally positioned, using faces as a focal image in order to draw attention to them
Both photos convey a feeling of being trapped. In my photo this is shown through the repetition of the scales which allegorically represent an eating disorder that completely controls and traps victims whilst the glass jar around Cahuns head could represent how the patriarchy has trapped her and forced her to repress herself.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion I feel like I managed to create a good set of images that have strong links to Claude Cahun and Laia Abril while still managing to present my own unique ideas around identity. I hope that the message in my photos is helpful to anyone suffering with an eating disorder and help people without one gain a greater understanding of the topic. I have really enjoyed doing this project as it introduced me to some brilliant photographers and also allowed me to express myself through photography, something I feel I haven’t done before.
We set up the studio with 2 barn door lights set up at 45 degree angles and put a blue colour gel on the key light and red on the backlight. After taking my first set of photos I switched the colour gels around to create an opposite colour effect.
FIRST SHOOT CONTACT SHEET
SECOND SHOOT CONTACT SHEET
Using photoshop I cut out my subject on my favourite photo of him and then superimposed it on top of a similar but accidentally blurred photo of him. Using the eraser tool i got rid of imperfections in the background such as residual blue from the in focus background
In conclusion, this task started off badly as most of my photos came out slightly blurred and out of focus but this ended up adding to the aesthetics of the shoot, making my end result look
The inspiration for this tasks comes from Henri Mullins photography in jersey in the 19th century. His work mainly focused around portraits specifically headshots and his photos were often made into cartes de visite. I am going to attempt to replicate Mullins diamond cameo by photographing different sides of my subjects face.
CONTACT SHEET
From these photos I chose my favourites from each looking direction and then using Photoshop I edited them into a diamond cameo.
After this I copied an image of old paper from google to add texture to my cameo to make it more true to Henri Mullins photography.
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) was a pioneering figure in street photography and known for his candid photography. His book ‘The Decisive Moment’ included 126 candids that quickly received critical acclaim. Cartier-Bresson is quoted as saying about candid photography that “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,”
Cartier-Bresson was one of four pioneering photographer who helped found MAGNUM photos, a photo agency with offices over the world that has taken many culturally and historically significant photos
MOOD BOARD
ANALYSIS OF PHOTO
This photo is taken in natural lighting probably outside in daylight which makes the photo look less staged as you are not being forced to look at anything by use of spotlights. The child in the photo is positioned centrally but due to their posture it doesn’t look forced but you are still drawn to look at them because of where they are situated. The child’s white clothes against the black backdrop of the wall creates contrast which makes the photo more interesting to look at. Even though this photo was likely staged it still maintains a naturalness reminiscent of candid photography.
In comparison is Vivian Maer who’s signature photography is of her reflection often in public places like the street. This blend of self portraits and candid street photography is very interesting and contrasts with Cartier-bressons work that is so focused on other people.
mind map of ideas
I chose to do two different shoots, one doing street photography which was very out of my comfort zone and another in a coffee shop taking candid’s of a friend who gave me permission to take photos which I was much more comfortable with.
First Shoot
I really like the look of these photos as the subject is really nicely framed in the photos and the tonal orange colour is repeated multiple times in the shot through the drink, skirting, background poster and the subjects hair which ties the photo together really well. To emphasise this colour I will adjust saturation and tone on photoshop.
These photos turned out horribly as the street was not busy so I couldn’t get the crowded kind of photos I wanted. I also l felt really uncomfortable taking these photos as I felt very morally dubious taking photos without consent so stopped very early on.
FINALIZING IMAGES
Here are my favourite images. I didn’t select any of my street photography images as i felt they were all
EDITING
On Photoshop I turned up the vibrancy to the max and slightly upped the saturation which gave the photos a warm feeling
FINAL IMAGE
This is my final image. Compared to Henri Cartier-Bresson it is very different. My image is very warm and colourful where his are monotone and cold. The main similarity between our photos are that they are both candid images with slightly contrived undertones. We both used the backgrounds to frame our photos using leading lines which blends the photo well while still maintaining sharpness.
An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings.
Mind Map of Ideas
Plan
My mum does a lot of art and up-cycling and is currently fixing and painting a set of chairs. I plan to take photos of her painting as well as portraits of her in front of projects shes completed to create the effect of an environmental portrait.
I narrowed down the photos by getting rid of the ones where she wasn’t looking at the camera as I felt that they weren’t actually portraits.
Final selection
Conclusion
In conclusion, I feel like the photos fit the subject matter of environmental portraits well as my model uses the kitchen as a workspace for her projects and is surrounded by some of her work. Anyone who saw this photo could easily gain a rough idea of what she does by just glancing at the portraits as the use of overalls and props like the paintbrush and paint on the face directly connote art .
