The Diamond Cameo photograph was created around 1864. Four small oval portraits were placed on a carte de visite (a type of small photograph) in the shape of a diamond, each portrait being of the same person photographed in a different position. A special camera made by Dallmeyer was used in which the one glass negative was moved to a new position in the back of camera after each portrait had been taken, and when the paper print had been pasted on the card a special press was used to punch the four portraits up into a convex cameo shape.
An example of a diamond cameo in pop culture is the cover for the album Queen II by Queen. A side by side comparison to a regular diamond cameo photo shows the similarities.
CREATING A DIAMOND CAMEO
I created a diamond cameo on photoshop using the shape tool to cut out a circle. I pasted my photos from my headshots project underneath and used a clipping mask tool to combine the shape and photo so I just adjust it however I wanted.
Experimentation 1
I experimented with different colour palettes and backgrounds to create a diamond cameo – I used a black background on bright colours to create contrast and did the opposite with unedited photos to show simplicity and inspiration towards the standard 1800’s diamond cameos.
these two images have similarity in the sense that they are both presented in black and white. In my opinion, black and white images are much more interesting than images in colour, because it allows you to focus on what is really being photographed, behind the colours which is what usually draws your eyes to something in the first place. Both of there images are portrait headshots, taken in front of a plain background to draw your attention to the subject. Similarly, both images have a neutral facial expression. These images both explore the way in which identity is presented, in my image on the left, identity is show as something that is crumbling due to a society trying to shape people to all be the same, however in Claude Cahun’s self portrait, it seems as if she is representing her personality as something that is forever changing. In my opinion, Cahun’s self portrait is inspired by the queen of hearts, due to the heavy makeup on her face. I think this is supposed to present her identity as someone who is strong and powerful, no matter the gender they identity as. There are a few differences between the images, for example in my image the design on her face is created digitally using photoshop software, this is because I wanted the cracked face effect to look as realistic as possible. In Cahun’s self portrait, she manually paints on a design on her face, I think she does this because she is forever changing the way she looks and wants the image to look as raw as possible, as well as this, when the image was taken, they did not have the resources to digitally edit these photos. Another difference between these images is that one of them is a self portrait, which shows how Claude wanted to portray her own identity, and the other is a portrait taken of a friend by myself, in which I wanted to highlight how someone else’s identity comes across to me.
The image on the left is a self portrait of myself. It is a black and white, head and shoulders shot with a plain background. The image on the right is called “I’m training, don’t kiss me” by Claude Cahun in 1927. It is also a black and white portrait image with a plain background, however this image is a full body shot.
Similarities
Both images are black and white portraits, which helps emphasize the features of the model. They both use a plain background to create a contrast not only in colour but also detail, allowing the model to attract the attention of the viewer. There is also a contrast between the lightest and darkest parts of the image, made clearer by the black and white filters.
Differences
My image uses a male model wearing casual clothing, the image is a head and shoulders shot, allowing the face and hair of the model to take up most of the image. The model is looking away from the camera to the side, however there is no clear message behind the image. There are no props in this image.
This image uses a model who’s gender is not made explicitly clear, they are wearing a costume depicting the male bodybuilding stereotype. The image is a full body shot with the model looking directly at the camera. This image has a clear narrative about gender. with the use of lipstick, props, writing that is meant to be seen as mocking, drawings of hearts, etc…
An example of portrait typologies and deadpan portraiture
A photographic typology is a single photograph or more commonly a body of photographic work, that shares a high level of consistency. This consistency is usually found within the subjects, environment, photographic process, and presentation or direction of the subject. An example of this is passport photos which all follow certain rules which enable every picture to be consistent (seen below)
FACE:
eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no ‘red eye’
facial expression must be neutral (neither frowning nor smiling), with the mouth closed
photos must show both edges of the face clearly
photos must show a full front view of face and shoulders, squared to the camera
the face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; the subject must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting their head to one side or backwards or forwards
there must be no hair across the eyes
hats or head coverings are not permitted except when worn for religious reasons and only if the full facial features are clearly visible
photos with shadows on the face are unacceptable
photos must reflect/represent natural skin tone
BACKGROUND:
Photos must have a background which:
has no shadows
has uniform lighting, with no shadows or flash reflection on the face and head
shows a plain, uniform, light grey or cream background (5% to 10% grey is recommended)
THOMAS RUFF
Thomas Ruff followed these rules for his “Portrait” collection, in his studio between 1981 and 1985, Ruff photographed 60 half-length portraits in the same manner: Passport-like images, with the upper edge of the photographs situated just above the hair, even lighting, the subject between 25 and 35 years old, taken with a 9 × 12 cm negative and, because of the use of a flash, without any motion blur.
The early portraits were black-and-white and small, but Ruff soon switched to colour, using solid backgrounds in different colours; from a stack of coloured card stock the sitter could choose one colour, which then served as the background. The resulting Portraits depict the individual persons – often Ruff’s fellow students – framed as in a passport photo, typically shown with emotionless expressions, sometimes face-on, sometimes in profile, and in front of a plain background.
STUDIO
In the studio we did a small shoot of passport-type images
Some contact sheets from the shoot
My setup in the studio
This is my most successful image from the shoot as it complies with the standards for passport photos the best.
I resized the image so it would seem more fitting for a portrait- with less negative space.
This is my final image, I believe it looks very similar to Thomas Ruff’s work however photos with the deadpan aesthetic often look very similar- especially passport photos as the entire point is to get a clear portrait formally showing someone’s facial features.
My try at typologies
Overall these images look very similar to Thomas Ruff’s portraits photos with the deadpan aesthetic, however I do not have the variation of portraits of different people in a collection. My images are also not edited minus the resizing, this is reinforce the rules of passport photos, where there cannot be any editing however this displays an inconsistent display of portraits where they look slightly different.
he Patent Diamond Cameo photograph was registered by F.R. Window of London in 1864. Four small oval portraits (1″ x 3/4“) were placed on a carte de visite in the shape of a diamond, each portrait being of the same person photographed in a different position. A special camera made by Dallmeyer was used in which the one glass negative was moved to a new position in the back of camera after each portrait had been taken, and when the paper print had been pasted on the card a special press was used to punch the four portraits up into a convex cameo shape. It is unlikely the process became very popular with Adelaide’s photographers, as the failure of just one of the four portraits through movement, poor expression or incorrect exposure meant that the plate had to be rejected and another four portraits made on a new plate. To obtain a carte de visite which had a pleasing overall effect would have involved careful advance planning of the four positions to be taken, as it was only after the negative was developed that the photographer could see if an acceptable negative had been produced.
Example
To make mine I took 4 photos of someone looking straight on, away to either side and down. I put these into a photoshop document, levelled them, cut them out and arranged them in a diamond shape. To also add a more vintage and worn appearance I copied in a photo of an old piece of paper then reduced the opacity to add a more worn out look.
I repeated this process again outside of school in a makeshift studio but with varied facial expressions and actions. I like how this one came out more as it feels more personal and the lighting changed a bit halfway through the shoot because of a malfunctioning reading lamp I was using to cast shadows.
Thomas Ruff is a German photographer born February 10, 1958. He lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.
THE DEADPAN AESTHETIC
According to source the origins of the word “Deadpan” can be traced to 1927 when Vanity Fair Magazine compounded the words dead and pan, a slang word for a face, and used it as a noun. In 1928 the New York Times used it as adjective to describe the work of Buster Keaton.
It is less clear when it was first used to describe the style of photography associated with Edward Ruscha, Alec Soth, Thomas Ruff and many others. Charlotte Cotton devotes a complete chapter to Deadpan in the photography as contemporary art and much that has been written since references that essay.
In summary Deadpan photography is a cool, detached, and unemotional presentation and, when used in a series, usually follows a pre-defined set of compositional and lighting rules.
He decided he would like to mimic a passport photo set up. he used this criteria to make his passport images.
This image meets the critria of a passport photot eyes open, neutral face, whole face in image, face and shoulders centered in image, no hair covering the eyes, no hats, no shadows on the face and natural skin tone.
FACE:
eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no ‘red eye’
facial expression must be neutral (neither frowning nor smiling), with the mouth closed
photos must show both edges of the face clearly
photos must show a full front view of face and shoulders, squared to the camera
the face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; the subject must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting their head to one side or backwards or forwards
there must be no hair across the eyes
hats or head coverings are not permitted except when worn for religious reasons and only if the full facial features are clearly visible
photos with shadows on the face are unacceptable
photos must reflect/represent natural skin tone
BACKGROUND:
Photos must have a background which:
has no shadows
has uniform lighting, with no shadows or flash reflection on the face and head
shows a plain, uniform, light grey or cream background (5% to 10% grey is recommended)
Deadpan
a deadpan image can be described as a photograph that is devoid of emotion the subject is cantered in the image and the camera should be positioned straight on to the subject.
this image is of a stool I chose to use a stool because it would be easier for a stool to not show emotion than a person. the stool is centred in the frame, I positioned myself straight on from the stool to take this photograph.
Both of these images create a sense of confused or lost identity, Soltau can be seen portraying this through her use of a cut out face stitched onto the original, Cahun presents this through the character created in her image ‘I’m training, don’t kiss me’ where she is presenting an alter male ego. Both Soltau’s and Cahun’s image create a feeling of melancholy, i believe this is created through the all around sadness of both images highlighted by facial expression and a lack of colour. while Soltau’s image is a coloured photo, it shares parts of the monochrome theme with Cahun’s image. Both images have emphasis on the lips, Soltau’s work features 2 sets of lips, one on the face and one printed onto the face, similarly, Cahun’s character is captured with obvious red lips placed on a ‘male’ character, perhaps supporting Cahun’s views on sexuality, identity and expression. We can see in Cahun’s image, she has created more of a noticeable narrative, personally, I believe this surrounds Cahun’s views of gender and breaking gender stereotypes of the time.
The lighting in Soltau’s work is very soft, perhaps shot in a white studio accompanied by a flash, Cahun’s work was captured with a much stronger light, accompanied by dark features such as dark walls, dark objects. Cahun’s image creates a huge sense of being watched, through the message on her chest and the sense that her character looks as if they would be in a public environment.
These two images have a few similarities such as they are both displayed in black and white which I believe makes a lot of photos look better. I can identify that in both images there seems to be a mirror with a reflection of a person which could have a meaning of ‘lost identity’ through the way Claude seems to be looking away from herself in the mirror and the fact that in my image the silhouette of the person who is fading away. I feel that the images create a sense of loneliness due to
However, there are many differences between these two images from Claude Cahun and me. One difference I observed is the fact that Claude is showing her full face and in my image there is no facial or body features.
