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Diamond Cameo

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Henry Mullins

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

Henry Mullins| Headshot of Philip Baudains

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

More examples of Henry Mullins’ Work

My Images

Editing Process

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

Final Diamond Cameos

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Photo Montage

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What is a photo montage?

A photo montage is when you copy and paste parts of different images of different peoples faces, and put them into one image.

Brno Del Zou

Brno Del Zou is a French born artist in 1963. He uses fragmentation of the body in order to better understand it.
The body and the faces are revisited and their volumes are highlighted in order to create installations of multiple scales.
These “photo montages” suggest a clear aesthetic preference which does not hide the chaotic and “messy” side of our minds.

How I made mine?

I started by taking images of my friends. They looked into the camera with no expression, this was because it would be easier to match their faces together in Photoshop

Contact sheet:

This were the 3 images I chose to use.

I made layers of shapes in Photoshop to create clipping masks so the image overlays the background image to create a “cut-out” section which would be another person face.

I moved the layers around to see what looked best then saved it.

Final Images

I experimented with different compositions as used circles and rectangles to show the different faces. Overall, I thought that all 3 looked good, but 1 stood out better.

Best Image

I like this image as it worked out well. The shapes that contained the other images contrasted the background image, I think it made it more clear so that you can see the edges. Therefore creating a better outcome. I lined the others images up with the background image so that it looks more natural.

Critique

I don’t really like the harsh lines, so I could of used the eraser tool the fade the image together, although I think that it would take the photo montage aspect away.

Independent, Task

environmental portraits photoshoot

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Photoshoot Plan

Environmental Portraits inspired photoshoot

The photographs highlighted in red are what I believe to be my least successful images. This is because these are out of focus, the worker’s eyes are closed or the image doesn’t focus on the aspect I want to highlight.

My most successful images are highlighted in green. I think these are my most successful photographs because they represent the worker in their environment, therefore they represent the theme of environmental portraits the best. These images are taken at various angles in order to achieve different perspectives. Also, the use of the essential worker’s uniform notifies the audience the role the worker plays, which was the key signifier for this project.

Photoshop development

Original image
Edited image

To edit this image, I used the monochromatic filter and adjusted both curve levels and contrast in order to make the photograph more dramatic. The mask creates a focal point as it is a point of extreme contrast against the darker tones.

Independent, Task

Diamond Cameos

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Henry Mullins

“Edward Joseph Bellew, 2nd Baron Bellew” – Henry Mullins (circa 1862)

Henry Mullins moved from London to Jersey in 1848. He set up his studio knows as the “Royal Saloon” at 7 Royal Square, where he worked in partnership with Mr Millward for a year. He then worked alone in the same studio for another 26 years. He would take multiple portraits of high class people such as police officers and the Royal Militia, and narrow his portraits down into a set of 4 images cut into oval shapes, and placed into a diamond formation.

Analysis of Diamond Cameo images

Headshot of Philip Baudins – Henry Mullins (circa 1850)

Henry Mullins uses 2-point-lighting in his portrait photographs to gently illuminate the face. The soft lighting subtly highlights the high points of the face without creating harsh shadows. However, some of Henry Mullins photographs can be seen as over-exposed as not a lot of detail of the face is captured, and the photos tend towards lightness although the clothing creates a strong contrast between light and dark.

He instructs the model to turn themselves at different angles in order to capture multiple perspectives of the face. Mullins uses a white background so that nothing is distracted from the face. He would usually take photographs of the models entire body and cut down the selection of images to create headshots

Once Henry Mullins takes the images, he cuts them down into a card which was commonly traded amongst both friends and visitors around the island.

Photoshoot Plan

Diamond Cameos inspired photoshoot

For this photoshoot, I used two-point lighting with soft box lighting to gently alluminate the face without creating harsh shadows. I took photos of the face at different angles and used a tripod in order to keep the camera still and prevent the photos from blurring.

Photoshop Development

Original Image
Original Image
Original Image
Edited Image
Edited Images

To edit these images into the diamond cameo style similar to the technique used by Henry Mullins, I used the elliptical marquee tool and cut oval shapes over the face of the model. I then copied and pasted these onto a new page on Photoshop and arranged them into a diamond configuration. For one of my diamond cameos, I used the monochrome filter to achieve the same effect that Mullins does in his images, however I tried a more vintage look on my second diamond portrait to give it a more modern look without discarding the aged appearance of the photographs.

Independent, Task

STudio Portraits

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The use of artificial lighting offers many creative possibilities such as chiaroscuro, Rembrandt, hard and soft lighting. This can be done through the use of 1 and 2 point lighting. One point lighting is a type of studio portrait, in which only one light source is used to illuminate the subject, resulting in often dark and moody images. On the other hand, two point lighting is a type of studio portrait, in which two light sources are used to illuminate the subject, causing the images to often look clear, professional and shadow-less.

One Point Lighting and Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term literally meaning ‘light and dark’, and also is a method of lighting in which the use of contrast and shading is used to produce a composition. This type of lighting was originally showcased and developed to its full potential by artist Leonardo Da Vinci. Artist or photographers often use this technique in order to achieve a dramatic or impactful final image.

Analysis

Peter Lindbergh

Peter Lindbergh was a German fashion photographer, born in 1944, known best for his cinematic photography and being one of the most influential contemporary photographers. Lindbergh first started off his creative career by studying painting at the College of Art in Krefeld. After graduating Lindbergh turned to the medium of photography, later working for Stern Magazine.

Lindbergh was said to set himself apart from other photographers by redefining beauty standards in fashion photography. He did this by not defining the subject in the photographs by their age, and excessively retouching the images to conceal it. Lindbergh believed that photographers should “free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection”.

Lupita Nyong’o, photographed by Peter Lindbergh for the 2017 Pirelli calendar.

This black and white image taken by Peter Lindbergh displays a head shot of actress Lupita Nyong’o in one point lighting. By using this method Lindbergh has illuminated the left side of her face while casing a dark shadow on the other. In addition, it can be said that Lindbergh’s use of black and white, instead of colour, accentuates this chiaroscuro lighting and the contrast between light and dark. These contrasting tones also create various angular lines around the image, such as the sharp diagonal shadow line on her neck, which can be said to lead the viewer’s eye towards the focal point of her face. Here Lindbergh has centred Nyong’o in the centre of the image, which allows for almost an even amount of empty space either side of her and the main focus to be on the headshot itself.

Focusing on the technical aspects of this photograph, you can see that Lindbergh has used a fast shutter speed to capture this image, due to the fact that there is little to no blur and it was taken in a dark setting. Furthermore, he has also used a medium to large aperture, as you can see that the background has been given less focus than Nyong’o herself, allowing for a small depth of field. The one point studio lighting for this photograph also means that Lindbergh must have used a high ISO, so that the camera would be more responsive to the little amount of light in the room.

Photo-shoot

Plan

Contact sheets

Edited Images

While editing these images I focused mainly on adjusting the exposure and contrast, so that my use of one point lighting would be best displayed. To do this I made sure my images were not too under or over exposed, allowing for a clear and sharp portrait. To further the effects of this type of lighting I increased the contrast on all of my images, in order to get a more dramatic chiaroscuro photograph. I also reduced some of the noise in the background of the images, due to low light.

Final Image

I believe that this is my best image from my studio one point lighting photoshoot, due to the fact that I think it best showcases the technique of chiaroscuro and the contrast between light and dark. In addition, it is also one of my sharpest images and is well centred with a basic background, allowing for the viewers attention to be drawn to the focal point of the subject in the image.

Independent, Task

Diamond Cameo

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This work is inspired by Henry Mullins, a photographer from Jersey who photographed nearly 9000 people between 21 years.(1852-1873)

His portrait were printed on a carte de visite as a small albumen print, (the first commercial photographic print produced using egg whites to bind the photographic chemicals to the paper) which was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card.

Set Up of the studio

Contact sheet

Diamond Cameo

I went into Photoshop and used the elliptical marquee tool which cropped my images into ovals which meant all I needed to do was drag each image and put them into a diamond formation.

I put one of the images in black and white so that it would look like Mullins’ pictures as there was no colour photography during that time.

Independent, Reading, Task

Headshots / Diamond Cameo / Multi-Exposure

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What are headshots?

The purpose of a head shot is to get a professional image of the persons head, where the focus is only of them. They are often used to convey professionalism.

They are mainly used for politics and people of status, or more commonly Instagram and the social media profile pictures.

Henry Mullins

Henry Mullins is one of the most famous photographers represented in the Societe Jersiase Photo-Archive, producing over 9,000 portraits of islanders from 1852 to 1873 at a time when the population was around 55.000.

Mullins was famous for his “Diamond Cameo” he would print a Diamond shape cameo on his Carte de visite to show four different angles of a person, with almost one different card.

My Diamond Cameo

In photoshop I made 4 ovals and put them into the form of a diamond. then I dragged the 4 images on top of the ovals, then made them a clipping mask so that they went into the oval. Then a found a vintage background on Google and made it the background and also put a copy on top. The copy on top I changed the layer style and made the opacity 50 so that the pattern would be on top of the images as well.

Double / Muti Exposures

Double or multiple exposures are an illusion created by layering images (or parts of images) over the top of each other. This can be achieved in the camera settings, or on Adobe Photoshop by creating layers and then using blending options and opacity control. Artist have used these techniques to explore unique ideas and evoke dream-like imagery, or imagery that explores time / time lapse.

Alexander Rodchenko

Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and Graphic Designer.

He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design; he was married to the artist Varvara Stepanova.

This is his work in the style of double exposure. He used 2 photos the create the effect. the layer on top is slightly transparent so that you can see the layer behind it.

My Attempt

I edited this image with Photoshop, and used several photo which I took in the studio.

I used multiple photos and layered them over each other making the eyes the main point where I aligned them, this made a blur effect for everything else.

This worked out well, and is in the style of Alexander Rodchenko, it created a unique effect where it messes with the viewers perception of the image as there isn’t a plain, simple face, unless you squint your eyes.

Left Image:

I love how the colours mix giving off a haze of lighter tones in the background.

It uses 2 different images, both use 2 point lighting, using a red light and a white light to create a half and half coloured image.

I used one of the eyes to line them up and put the top image on a 50% opacity to see through to the background image.

Overall, i think that the white light, create a nice highlight which bring out the details on the face. This is also where the main overlay is, so it put a bigger emphasis on the multi-exposure aspect.

Right

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Studio Portraits

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Why is studio lighting important?

Studio lighting is an essential addition to most photographers’ arsenal. It allows us to create natural lighting effects in a variety of situations, and is far more controllable than a flash. It also adds mood and atmosphere.

3-Point Lighting

It is used in photography, cinematography, and 3D visualizations, it is used to properly illuminate a subject in an effective and pleasing way by simply using three separate lights.

Fill Light

It is a supplementary light mainly used to lighten shadows in an image. Fill light is often used in portrait photography to create a contrast between the image subject and image background giving the scene a sense of depth

Chiaroscuro

technical term used by artists to describe their drawings or paintings that showed bold contrast and distinct areas of light and darkness.

Lighting Test

Because I was at home and had no one the photograph I used Blender and the lights in that program to experiment with lights.

Natural Light

Natural light is anything that produces light by itself. Natural sources of light include the sun, stars, fire, and electricity in storms.

Light intensity refers to the strength or amount of light produced by a specific lamp source.

The direction of the lamp determines the shadows and highlights

Light temperature, determines if the image has a blue tint or a orange tint. If it is balanced then it will appear normal and the white tones will appear white.

Golden hour is the first hour after sunrise and the last hour of light before sunset that produces a warm natural light. That window of time is determined by where you are geographically, as well as the season.

A reflector is a tool that helps a photographer to manipulate the light by providing another surface for the light to bounce off of.

My Photos

Final Photo 1

I like this photo as there is not direct eye contact in the photo, although it is still set up. I used 1 light to get the face highlighted and the background darker, this make it so that you focus more on the face. The background is also plain which attracts more attention to the subject. To edit it, I boosted the contrast and the saturation the add more pink to the face.

Experimenting with colours

I used some coloured filters on the lights, which created a coloured glow.

It made unique contrasts and clashes between the light different lights.

Final Images

I like this image as the white light is softly projected on the face, which highlights his facial features. The red draws attention to the image, and draws anyone in that looks at it. Also, the subject is centered, which is a nice touch.

I like how the images appears to merge out of the darkness, with the red glow, which gives off an evil glow.

Independent, Task

Street Photography And Candid Portraits

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Inspiration – Brassai

Brassai (1899-1984) was a Hungarian-French photographer who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He is widely celebrated for his signature photographs of Parisian night life and his book ‘Paris By Night.’ Brassai wanted to ‘immobilize movement’ rather than capturing the hustle of the city, he took his images in unfamiliar places to capture the overlooked and forgotten. Brassai stated “most of the time, I was inspired by my everyday life. I believe it is the most sincere and humble depiction of reality, of the most trivial, that leads to the fantastic.” I really enjoy how Brassai captures his street photography in darkness as it creates a mysterious and eerie atmosphere in his images. I also like how he only photographs a minimal amount of subjects in the images as I believe this adds to the desolate, abandoned settings where he captures his photos.

Photoshoot Plan

Who – My aim is to photograph a range strangers with different ethnicities, clothing styles and moods. I hope to capture people with mid-shots, long-shots and some from behind to mirror Brassai’s street photography work.

What – I hope to capture people walking around town with shopping bags, phones, handbags and any other items that could tell the observer more about their personality and life.

Where – I am going to do this photoshoot in St Helier, in the main high-street in town, due to the fact that many people will be walking around there so I will have a range of different people to capture images of.

When – My plan is to complete this photoshoot on Saturday 21st and Thursday 26th of November as during Saturday afternoon’s many people are usually in town and on Thursday night its the beginning of ‘late night shopping’ so I will be able to take night-time photos similar to Brassai.

Why – I aim to take photos of people in their natural state with no posing or pre-discussed settings, I am doing this in order to capture raw moments in time and be aware of my surroundings.

How – I plan on walking through town with my camera in different positions to capture people from abstract angles. Additionally, I am going to act as though I’m taking photos of the Christmas lights, so not to draw attention and make people act differently being on camera.

Contact Sheets

Final Edited Images

Final Images

I have chosen these two images as my final selection as I believe they successfully mirror Brassai’s work while also linking to each other in terms of connotations and meaning. Firstly, I edited my images with a black & white filter to create a mysterious dull atmosphere. This monochrome filter also allows the observer to make judgments on the images without the influence of specific colours symbolising different meanings. Additionally, both photos have a high contrast of highlights and shadows; image one has the dominant tone of white whereas image two has more dark shadows surrounding the subject. In addition, the composition of my images reflect each other greatly as both subjects are stood facing side-on, away from the camera, in the foreground of the photographs. Furthermore, my final images have quite a shallow depth of field as limited landscape and space can be seen in the background. Nevertheless, the minimal space I have captured in the background of my images vastly helps allude to their meaning. In both photographs you can see an elderly man in the foreground and some sort of connotation to youth in the background- image one with a pram and image two with athletic modern clothing. This creates an impression of growth and memory as it shows the juxtaposition of young and old.