PORTRAIT AND IDENTITY- FIRST PHOTOSHOOT

I decided to change my final images into black and white to make them look more professional.

We used an artificial light and flash in the studio, with a diverse setup of lighting which we experimented with.

USE OF COLOURED LIGHT

I really like the use of coloured light as it makes the images look dream-like and hazy.

I am planning to use these images when making my double/multi-exposure images as they remind me of Ira Cohen’s work.

INSPIRATIONS

MARK COHEN

Mark Cohen is an American photographer best known for his innovative close-up street photography. Cohen’s major books of photography are Grim Street, True Colour, and Mexico

Mark Cohen brought a literal and innovative closeness that came from his style of holding the camera at arm’s length without looking through the viewfinder while using an unusually wide angle lens.

I would really like to create a juxtaposition in the style of Mark Cohen.

IRA COHEN

Ira Cohen was an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker. Cohen lived in Morocco and in New York City in the 1960s, he was in Kathmandu in the 1970s and travelled the world in the 1980s, before returning to New York, where he spent the rest of his life. Cohen died of kidney failure on April 25, 2011.

Ira Cohen made phantasmagorical films that became cult classics. He developed a way of taking photographs in mesmerizing, twisting colours, including a famous one of Jimi Hendrix. He published works by authors like William Burroughs and the poet Gregory Corso. He wrote thousands of poems himself. He wrote “The Hashish Cookbook” under the name Panama Rose. He called himself “the conscience of Planet Earth.”

I would really like to create a double/multi-exposure in the style of Ira Cohen.

PENNIE SMITH

Pennie Smith (born in London) is an English photographer, known for her photography of the rock music industry. She specialises in black-and-white photography.

Pennie Smith photographed the iconic album cover for The Clash’s “London Calling”, her photographs display music icons such as Siouxsie Sioux, Sid Vicious as well as The Clash, Bob Marley, The Slits, Amy Winehouse and The Pet Shop Boys alongside the punk scene in the 1970s, with portraits of random concert goers being a common occurrence.

I’m planning to make a photo montage in the style of Pennie Smith’s photography in the same black and white highly contrasted punk style.

WHAT IS PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical.

USE OF STUDIO LIGHTING

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which literally means ‘light-dark’. In photographs the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted. Artists who are famed for the use of chiaroscuro include Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio.

Rembrandt lighting is a standard lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography and cinematography. It can be achieved using one light and a reflector, or two lights, and is popular because it is capable of producing images which appear both natural and compelling with a minimum of equipment. It’s common characteristics include a triangle of light beneath one eye and a shadow beneath the nose.

OLIVER DORAN

Oliver Doran is a portrait and advertising photographer who works in Jersey, London, Paris and Dubai. Doran loves cinematic and theatrical imagery mainly of humans but also, as any professional photographer, I delve into other areas of the photographic world including; product, food, interiors and architecture. Oliver came into our studio to teach us about lighting techniques.

Oliver Doran Biography- I endeavour to shoot timeless images that work today and in a 100 years and avoid using fad techniques that date the images. One can only guess where technology will lead us but the art in the humanity will never change. Our eyes on a piece of art, a portrait and the emotion we derive should remain as relevant today as well as in 100 years time or even a 1000 years time.

ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS

I chose this image because I really like the yellow tones in the image and how the majority of the image is blurry with the exception of the reflection of the subject, I think this creates a really unusual contrast as -in the portrait- attention to drawn to the side where you cannot actually see the main subjects face which is unusual for portrait photography, it also really reminded me of Larry Clark‘s photographic style.

I chose this image because it really reminds me of Michelle Sank‘s photography, although the composition of the image is plain I really like how attention is drawn to the subject as they are the only interesting thing in the image- making the viewer “judge” the subject.

I have decided to print the two images above as a set as I really like the contrast between the skaters actually in the skatepark versus the almost commercial image of the torn skate shoes which implies the reality of skating: clothes getting torn, injuries and wrecked shoes.

HAMPTONNE EXTERIORS/INTERIORS

I chose this image because I really like the contrast of the shadow between the two buildings and how the two building almost look attached due to the perspective the photo was taken from. I also really like the wide variety of tones in the image and the texture of the Jersey granite (an important part of Jersey’s heritage) on the buildings as it creates interesting textures.

This is one of my favourite images so I tried to do the most minimal editing for this image because I really like how the walls and light almost frame the chair in the middle. I also really like how simple the composition is, with the empty chair in the middle- almost looking lonely.

In this image I really liked how the doorframe framed the bed and made it the centre subject. I also really like the shadows and light in the image so I tried to make the shadows more visible.

I decided to make the two images above a set as the similar compositions create a set of images that look almost abandoned and empty- possibly bringing in the theme of heritage as Hamptonne is no longer a used farm yet these rooms did once have people living in them.

HAMPTONNE PORTRAITS

I have decided to print this image because I really like the natural lighting on the model’s face and how the light hits the apple. I also believe the composition of the image is unusual, with the subject in the bottom right corner surrounded by empty space- displaying a sense of isolation.

PRODUCT TABLE

I included this image of a tool taken on a product table because it is obvious of -my inspiration- Walker Evans’ photographic style in ‘Beauties of the Common Tool’. I also really like how you can see every detail on the tool, especially the rusty colour.

Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final image may appear as a seamless physical print

MAX-O-MATIC

Max-o-matic (Máximo Tuja). Buenos Aires, 1975. Artist and image maker. Since 2002 he lives and works in Barcelona, creating an imaginary world from torn pieces of the real one.

His work has been exhibited in galleries in Barcelona, London, Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Rome, Lima or México DF, to name just some. He has worked with brands such as Nike, Wired Magazine, Spotify, Newsweek, New York Times, Electronic Arts or Universal Pictures making his signature collage work for commercial and editorial projects.

MY ATTEMPTS AT PHOTOMONTAGE

I especially struggled with photomontage and found it very difficult to create a clean image that I liked- I was massively inspired by Max-O-Matic but overall it is not obvious in my attempts.

My favourite of the three is the last one as the colour scheme and small details in natural of the photos I used reminded me of various paintings by Gustav Klimt. I also really enjoyed playing around with religious imagery such as the stained glass window images alongside nature such as flowers as I believe it created an interesting juxtaposition.

TOM KENNEDY

Tom Kennedy is a local photographer, who is influenced by the Dutch Masters paintings of the 17th century, including Rembrandt and Vermeer. His photos with living history characters focuses on using natural lighting to stay within the time periods of the characters.

I believe my images below really make use of the natural lighting and are clearly influenced by Tom Kennedy’s work.

MY HAMPTONNE PORTRAITS

PLAN/FINAL OUTCOMES

I wanted my environmental portrait images to portray youth culture in Jersey so I decided to take photos of my friends where we usually hang out- specifically being Curiosity Coffee Shop, my house/roof and St Johns skatepark.

FIRST SHOOT

MULTIPLE PEOPLE- ON ROOF/IN CURI

For my first photoshoot, I have selected to photograph my friends in a coffee shop/on my roof. Above I have selected some of my best photographs to create a mini gallery to illustrate my images. Furthermore, I photographed them during the mid afternoon to attempt to get the best lighting despite it being an overcast day. I believe the bottom middle and the top right images have the potential to be the best after being edited in Lightroom Classic.

FINAL EDITED IMAGES

SECOND SHOOT

OUTSIDE-IN THE SKATEPARK

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For my second photoshoot, I have photographed my friend Bella skating. I photographed Bella just before sunset to get the best lighting. Some images are overexposed as my shutter speed and IOS was too high but I hope to fix these flaws in Lightroom.

FINAL EDITED IMAGES

THIRD SHOOT

INSIDE- IN HOUSE/ROOF/STAIRWELL/LIFT

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My third and final photoshoot includes images of Bella in my kitchen, sitting in my stairwell and in the lift. In my kitchen and the stairwell the lighting was mostly natural but in the lift the lighting was artificial, leading to a yellow ambient glow. My favourite images include the first two on the second row as I believe they look most inspired by Larry Clark (click here for blog post describing inspirations).

FINAL EDITED PICTURES

HAMPTONNNE FARM BUILDINGS