First, I cropped my chosen image in order to focus on the focal point and to make the image more central and even.
I then changed the colour of the image to black and white as Woodman’s work is mostly in black and white. This adds the eerie aesthetic of Woodman’s style of photography.
Lastly, I edited the curves adjustments to achieve the sombre darkness contrasting with the lighter areas.
Firstly, I started out to create an image in the style of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia.
I would use the photographs from Photo Shoot 1. These were the photos that I took that were simplistic, and had a variety of facial expressions. This was because that was one of the key aspects of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s work, other than the warped and manipulated effect.
Overall, I chose the photo where the subject was smiling as most of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s work has their mouth open or semi-open, as the manipulation effect works better.
This is the photo I chose to edit :
Process
In Photoshop I would need to :
– Edit the background black (as all of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s photos have a dark background)
– Add some green/yellow particles into the background (In Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s photos there is always some colouration in the background)
– Add grain/noise (to get the scan effect)
– Experiment with overlays, such as the hands I took in Photo Shoot 3.
After Photoshop I would print out the image and place it on the scanner. Whilst it is scanning i would move the printed photo along, this is how the manipulation effect occurs.
These are all the layers in Photoshop.
Firstly, I selected the object with the quick selection tool, then clicked the select and mask option. This would remove the white background so I could replace it with a black background.
To clean up the edges, I used the refine edge brush in the select and mask screen. This blurs the edges so any white space; cause by the lights, in the hair would get removed. This gave the cut out a clean look. After I outputted it onto a new layer then renamed it “fin”.
I created a black background layer under the “fin” layer, this made the edges of the face stand out too much and created a sharp line, which I didn’t want. To fix this I created a Clipping Mask then used the brush tool (black) with a hardness of 0% and smoothing of 0%. This made it so the brush wasn’t harsh and gave it a “gradient” effect, so it faded into the background.
On the left side of his face I added some “highlights” using the brush tool (white) at 0% hardness, I used a clipping mask then used the brush to create the shine effect, where the light was coming from. I had to turn down the opacity to 65%, otherwise the white was too overpowering.
I added a green tint to a part of the face, the layer named “green”. I used an adjustment layer then changed the hue to green. This made the whole face green, so I used the eraser tool with a hardness of 0% to remove the green from 70% of the face.
To add the background colours I used the brush tool with 0% hardness, the colours I used were green and yellow. I added motion blur to the colours, so they weren’t just block of colour in the background. I also turned down the opacity so the colours weren’t as bright to match the tones Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia used.
I experimented by adding a hand into the photo. I started by removing the background with quick selection and select and mask, which is the same process as the face cut-out. First of all, it seemed out of place as it was really bright, so I added an adjustment layer for brightness and contrast, which I turned down the brightness and turned up the contrast. After I turned down the opacity to make it so that was almost hidden, therefore not contrasting the main focus point.
I printed the image, although it was a bit dark so the increased the brightness and reprinted it.
After, I placed the image on the scanner. As it started to scan I moved the image to manipulate the outcome. I did this about 20 times. I photographed the best 4 so I can take them into photoshop, and refine them. these were the 4 scanner outcomes:
I took these 4 images into Photoshop. Firstly I, found my base layer, which was the one in the top row far left in the selection above.
Then, I removed the background of the tall image with the eraser, then added it on top of the base layer. I used the eraser tool with a hardness of 0% to create a gentle gradient into the base layer.
Next, I only masked out the lips from the tall face, and made duplicate copies of it. I used the warp tool to change the aspect ratio of it to match the image so it would look like it is being stretched and pulled between the faces. After, I added motion blur to smoothen it out.
After it all matched, I added another face as Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia normally uses 3 faces. I removed the background then uses the eraser tool again to fade it into the base layer (middle face).
After, I masked out the right eye from the new face then used the warp tool the connect it to the middle faces eye. I would need to use the eraser tool to get rid of the sharp edges.#
Once I had finished the composition of the image, I renamed all of the layers, then fattened the image. I added adjustment layers to make it more in the style of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia.
I used a hue/saturation where I added the green effect that Schmitz-Garcia uses in here final images.
The brightness/contrast adjustment is a normal adjustment where I brightened the images and made the blacks more dark.
Finally I added a camera-RAW filter to touch up the final image. I started off by changing the tint, highlights, shadows, blacks, and the white. (right image).
Secondly, I changed the individual colours, but mostly the greens, yellows, and oranges. The greens I increased the most as it was one of the more distinguishable colours. The yellows and oranges I also increased to counter the green. As it was too strong in some areas.
After, I realised that the background was too shiny as I took the images of the paper with a camera. So, I decided to go over the background with the black brush tool and made opacity 75%. It fixed the problem and removed the lighter areas.
That is how I edited my image in the style of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia.
Final Image
Evaluation
Reviewing my image, I like how it turned out, and I feel that there is a strong connection between my image and Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s image.
The main reason she displayed her images in her style was to capture people with multiple personality disorder. I feel that the manipulation in my image shows that perfectly as there is no sharp interrupting lines between images, instead it looks like it is all one image.
The colours mostly match. I feel that the camera raw filter really helped me achieve this look.
The scanner produced lines on the my images similar to Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia image. This is because I actually used a scanner and was a good idea even though it was risky, and I didn’t think it would work.
This is my image side by side with Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s image that I based mine off, and inspired me.
As you can see they are fairly equal. Overall i think it turned out well.
Critique
Looking back it all went smoothly, except from when I went to print it and it turned out really dark. This is an easy fix, I could of printed it on higher quality paper or better printer. I fixed it by making the image really bright before printing, so when it printed it would be how it was on the screen.
Also if the printer saved a digital copy of the scan I wouldn’t need to take photos of the manipulated results, therefore getting a clearer version. Although, it did add more texture to the image, so it turned out better.
Originally, I was going the use the liquify filter in Photoshop to create the result. In the end I didn’t use it at all. Instead, I used the photocopier, which was a good idea.
As I was using old family photos for this final piece, I wanted to incorporate my own photography into these images. Therefore, I took simple headshots of my mum, dad, and myself at different angles in order to show comparison between the past and present. I used softer lighting for these portraits as I was going to cut them out and wanted to avoid harsh shadows.
I believe the images highlighted in red are my least successful images as they don’t capture the blurry movement that Francesca Woodman displays in her work. Also, the rain on the lens covers the majority of the model in these images, which makes them more difficult to comprehend in terms of the idea that I wanted to achieve.
The photographs highlighted in green are my most successful images, in my opinion, because they share the similar ominous affect that in common in Woodman’s work. Although the raindrops on the lens were not intentional, I think in these images they add to the hazy aesthetic of which Woodman achieves in her work.
Photo Shoot 1 – Simple Photos
I plan to merge these photos together in Photoshop, create a hole in the head, or use a scanner to disfigure them in the style of Evilsabeth Schmitz-Garcia’s work.
Photo Shoot 2 – Colour / Blur Photos
I use different colour lights to experiment which produces better tonal values and highlights.
Photo Shoot 3 – Hands
I plan to edit the background out in Photoshop, then add it to another photo.
Photo Shoot 4 – Leaves And Cables
I looked for leaves and cables that would be a material to edit coming out of the face when I edit it in Photoshop in the style of Birthe Piontek.
Birthe Piontek is a Vancouver-based photographer is most widely recognised for her intimate, narrative-driven portraits.
Most of her work has a straightforward approach. In her recent series “Mimesis” she’s uses images that have a meaning and background to create collages which displays her personal portraits with an investigation into the complexity of human identity.
Piontek searches for found images on Ebay, in thrift stores and flea markets. She primarily looks for images like studio portraits and other non-candid scenarios in which the subject has direct eye contact with the camera.
She knows little about the people in the photographs, she uses them as source material to create her own fictions about their identities, she said, “I usually spend quite a bit of time with the image, looking at it and familiarising myself with it.”
Once she likes the outcome of a photograph, Piontek scans it, then reproduces the image, in many cases working from its copy. She begins manipulating the copy, sometimes cutting into it and incorporating other materials like glass, paint, foil and fabric to give the image an entirely new form.
I would like to experiment in Photoshop in the style of Birthe Piontek. I would like my final outcome to be like the first image in this post, where the face out of the head.
My idea for my second shoot is to explore the theme of gender identity. In order to portray this theme effectively, my plan is to use a handheld projector to project different images onto my subject’s face and body. After I have printed these images out, I will use a needle and various colours of thread to sew around different parts of the photograph. I think that this will be a successful way to show the concept of gender identity because I will be able to portray how people can choose to hide behind their presumed ‘identity’ in order to conceal who they really are. Additionally, it will also be able to show how members of society can sometimes project their views and opinions on others.
For this shoot I used a handheld projector against a plain white background, which helped to create my desired three dimensional effect. I chose and downloaded different images from the internet to project onto my subject because I wanted a range of dark and light tones. Additionally, the different images create contrasting moods and feelings. In order to ensure that my images are the best quality possible, I will edit and adjust some of the colouring on PhotoShop, as well as the sharpness and shadows.
To start with, I adjusted the brightness and contrast on all of my base images until I got an end result that I was happy with. I did this by selecting the image tab at the top of the screen and clicking adjustments, then brightness/contrast. For my second and fourth images, I brought the brightness most of the way down so that the shadows across my subject’s face would be more noticeable. Next, I decided to adjust the vibrance of my images, by selecting the image tab, then adjustments, then vibrance. I did this because I wanted all the colours in my photographs to be brighter. Then, I adjusted the saturation by selecting the image tab, then adjustments, then hue/saturation. I increased the saturation the most in my fourth image, as I wanted the viewer to be able to see the orange-toned colours more clearly. After that, I wanted to change the colour balance of my images. I did this by selecting the image tab, then adjustments, then colour balance. I slid my mouse across all three of the different colour scales until I was happy with the result, and the right colours had been emphasised.
After I had made all the adjustments to my base images, I selected the one which I liked the most to use for my final image. I chose my second image and opened it in PhotoShop. I decided I wanted to duplicate my subject and have three of her all next to one another. To do this I selected the layer on the right hand side of my screen and duplicated it by pressing control c. Now that I had two layers I selected the new one and used the object selection tool to pick out my subject. I then copied the area outlined by the object selection tool and pasted it onto my background layer. I did this once more to get three subjects, and I then moved and adjusted them until I got an end result that I was happy with.
After I had finished duplicating my subject and arranged them into the position I wanted, I decided to add something else to my image so that it wouldn’t just be plain. I selected the brush tool and changed the size and hardness using the corresponding scales at the top of my screen. I then selected the soft round brush from the different options. I used the eyedropper tool to sample one of the colours from my image; I chose a pale blue colour which is as close to white as I could find. I began to trace the outline of my subjects with the brush, making small horizontal dashes which were close together. To finish, I adjusted the sharpness of the photograph by selecting the filter tab, then sharpen.
My idea for this first shoot is to explore the concept of identity loss. In order to portray this theme effectively, my plan is to create a collage of my subject’s face using different materials such as old photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and paint. I think that this will be a successful way of showing identity loss as the end result will be an accumulation of many different factors, but it will also show how confusing identity can sometimes be, and that it is not just made up of one thing. Additionally, it will allow me to present various creative skills and ideas.
For this shoot I took some normal headshots which I will use as the base / background for my collage. I took these using different colour plastic sheets over an L.E.D light so that I would have a variety of images to work with. I then photographed close up images of my subject’s face, which I will cut out and arrange in different shapes, patterns, and orders over the base to create the look that I am aiming for. I will edit some of the photographs on PhotoShop into a black and white effect so each collage has a unique look and feel.
Firstly, I printed out some of the various close-up images I took of my subject’s face, and cut them up into squares and rectangles. I then printed out the pre-selected three black and white base photos. I experimented with placing and layering the close-up images on the bases, using a mixture of black and white, normal, and the two different colour options. I did this for about half an hour before I decided to try another idea, as I didn’t feel that it was going to plan. I looked through different newspapers to try and find different buzzwords which could relate to identity loss. The words that I found were; ‘nightmares, prisoners, shallow, change, madness, crisis, online, oddity, scrutiny, fraudster, images, judging‘. I then ripped out pages of the newspaper which were covered in text to use to mask my subject’s face. I experimented with the placement of the newspaper, originally deciding to cover their whole face, but after trying several different options, I decided to only cover the bottom half and a little bit on the right hand side, leaving their eyes completely exposed. After I had glued down the newspaper, I arranged the cut out words around my subject’s face and tested different angles and placements until I was happy with the final result. I then cut out a piece of plain black card which I used to back my piece.
photoshoot 2 plan-
who- I took photos of my friend as I wanted a student or a young individual in my photos. when and where– in the studio using normal lighting as I’m going to edit my photos anyways so I’m not depending on the light. why- I want my friend to cover her face with her hands to make her identity and I can link it to my chosen photographer.
contact sheet;
I used one big main light when taking these photographs I didn’t need to use any flash heads or extremely artificial lighting as when I’m editing my images the lighting is going to change completely anyways. I photographed my friend from a direct point of view and in line with her view point. I took some images from a much lower angle to make it look like the viewer is looking up towards her and it helped when I got to editing as I had different angles. I got her to use her hands as a way to hide her face(identity) because Jack Davison-my chosen photographer , presents lack of identity through that way. My last photo shoot was very based on editing and hiding the identity digitally whereas for my second shoot I wanted to use hands and make it more natural.
editing my images-
my 3 favourite images turned into black and white and that I’ll be working with to edit further.
I changed my images into black and white as that’s the style I want throughout this theme and I made sure the brightness was decreased by a lot as well as the contrast to create a variety of different black and white tones which all contrast well together. I cropped all my images down completely to get rid of most of the background as it wasn’t needed. By doing this is made her the focus of all images as the composition of the image changed – making her face in the direct center which draws attention.
using liquify tool to disguise the identity-
I used the ‘liquify tool‘ once again to smudge the eyes in the first image and then smudged all of her face in the 2nd and 3rd photo. I really like using this tool as it gets rid of her facial features in a very abstract way as well as erasing her identity. It creates a mysterious atmosphere as you cant tell what she looks like and I wanted to make the viewer question what he’s looking at.
cut outs-
With the ‘quick selection tool’ I selected specific areas of her face that I wanted to cut out and drag out further across the image. I like how these edited images turned out because I think that by using the quick selection tool it completely gets rid of who she is whereas when I used the ‘liquify’ option you could still see something on her face but it was smudged around whereas on these images its just an empty face with nothing to look at. I left the cut out white as it stands out the most because the photo is in black and white. When you first look at the images the first thing you’re drawn to will be where I cut the face out as the white colour stands out so much in contrast. I wanted the edges to be slightly ragged and not perfect when selecting the shape of it because I wanted it to look as if the face was ripped out of the image rather than just perfectly circled out.
final images , analysis and personal response-
I selected 3 images once again for a final image. I wanted to pick 3 as I think it gives the viewer more to look at and analyse themselves. I also wanted to use 3 images because I knew that when I print them out they will look more clean and presentable rather than just one big image. Overall I think I achieved my ‘lack of identity’ idea very successfully and edited them in the way I wanted to. I changed them all into black and white which was inspired from my chosen photographer, Jack Davison, and I edited them in my own way with some inspiration from his work too. I wanted to use many different ways of editing my images so that I can select my favourite technique and make sure I have many different styles to pick out my favourite ones. I liked all the techniques I used but my least favourite were the cut out out ones which is why I didn’t use it for my final 3 , compared to my ones I liquified.
comparison-
At the top is two photographs taken from Jack Davsion’s work, who was my chosen photographer, and at the bottom is one of my final photos. We both took our photos in black and white to create this contrast between the different tones, however Jack’s photos are more black and white whereas my images have a lot more grey tones and mid tones. This is because Jack’s models are wearing black clothing with a white background and I took my images in front of a black background which doesn’t achieve the same effect and the two tones can’ contrast as sharply. I took inspiration from his work by making my model cover her face with her hands too but I think my editing is a lot more advanced than what he did to his image which was just slightly distorting the face but still making it very easy to make out what the man looks like and I completely distorted my friends face.
Plan- As I’m looking at the theme of lack of identity I wanted my first photo shoot to be simple head shots and photographs with a lot of editing. I want to cut out the face of the model and blur it out to introduce ‘lack of identity’ through that way. I’m going to photograph my friend in the studio with very light and bright lighting in the studio.
contact sheet–
I picked out my best photos and wanted to edit them on Photoshop by turning them mostly black and white inspired by the artist I chose to study. I also overlayed my images with different watercolour backgrounds to disguise the face and I cut out each image and layered them on top of each other. I later edited the final edits and digitally drew a line over the eyes as it’s the way I wanted to present lack of identity which is the theme I chose.
different editing to help select my final image;
The first type of editing I wanted to try out is just simple drawing over the face by simply picking out my 3 favourite photos an draw red over the eyes with the ‘pencil tool’ to disguise the identity.
The second option for editing my images I wanted to try out is using the ‘liquify’ tool. I changed the brush to a small size and dragged the face face around till it created this swirl that looked right and completely changed her identity, if not erased it. I was happy with how my editing with this tool turned out because it got rid o her identity.
I wanted to combine the two for my last editing time. I used the ‘liquify’ tool again but this time I only selected and dragged her eyes which is similar to the first edit but dragging her eyes instead of drawing over them.
I used the quick selection tool and selected my friends face completely. I then used the ctrl+t option to select that part and I dragged it out of frame to create this lack of identity idea. I really like how these turned out as doing it digitally was quicker than printing my images out and cutting her face out. This makes the viewer think about what kind of face was there previously and why isn’t it there anymore. I wanted to present lack or loss of identity through loads of editing because as students it can be so hard to figure out who you are or who you want to be in the future as we’re still so young and have so much to yet experience and figure out about ourselves.
Final image and analysis+personal response
I used one-point lighting for these images and edited them in black and white as the photographer I chose (Jack Davison) to link my ideas to photographer their images in black and white. I feel like it makes it the photos look more dull and mysterious which fits perfectly with my idea of lack of identity. I tried to edit it in a way that shows different tones and shades of dark . My friends face is directly composted in the middle of the photo as I wanted her to be in the center and the main eye-catching subject. No distractions in the background helps with making her the only focus. I wanted to use 3 images lined next to each other as I think it gives you more to look at instead of just one image. By using 3 images I wanted to show that everyone has a view different personalities or even identities and it fits into my idea of lack of identity as people try to discover what they’re actually like and why we act different around others.
I like how I used the’ liquify tool’ because it links back to my chosen photographers work. I used more editing in my images whereas he uses more props such as hands and flowers to cover the face already. I only dragged the eyes out as I still wanted some of the face to be revealed, by erasing her eyes it took a big part of her identity away as you can’t really make out what she looks like anymore. I want the meaning behind it to be that sometimes we can be blind towards who we actually are and as young people or students we haven’t yet truly discovered our identity or who we yet will be.
I achieved what I wanted to do and I presented my idea of lack of identity very well through the way I edited my images. I think I linked my work back to my chosen photographer well, as Jack Davison also blurs his models faces out and cuts out parts of the faces into weird shapes. I cropped most of my images down so it’s just very focused on the face instead of the whole body and a background as it’s the style the photographer works with too.