Saint-Malo is a small port city in Brittany, in France’s northwest. Tall granite walls surround the old town, which was once a stronghold for privateers (pirates approved by the king). This is where we will be taking photographs.
Mind Map
Photoshoot Plan
Who
The people of St Malo, perhaps some tourists too as we will be visiting a popular tourist spot, in their natural environment.
What
We will be focussing on the streets of St Malo and documenting this with our cameras. In addition, any other interesting buildings or structures.
Where
St Malo, more specifically inside the wall so we can photograph some of the streets and shops, etc.
When
During a school organised day trip on Wednesday 14th June.
Why
To photograph the streets of St Malo (and perhaps any other interesting aspects of the city). This will be influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson and ‘The Decisive Moment’ where you capture a spontaneous event with your camera. These photographs will be used for further work in coursework e.g. zines
I have created a virtual gallery using the website artsteps to display some of my photographs. I used my final outcomes from throughout the portraiture project i.e. lighting techniques, multi-exposure, environmental portraits, etc. I also included some photos I like that I didn’t use as final images.
Majority of my final outcomes I have used are from photoshoots throughout the portraiture project. However, my more recent fruits portraiture project was done to reflect aspects of femininity and masculinity. I collated a group of my friends and then brought in some fruit that I had at home. I explored different ways of photographing the models i.e., different poses. By planning my photoshoots to be taken in the studio, I could control the lighting as well as the backdrop. The plain background allows the attention to be focussed on just the models, more specifically the fruits. Overall, I think the outcome is quite playful and vibrant.
What went well:
I am happy with my final outcomes and believe that I have displayed a range of my work from throughout the photography project i.e., multi-exposure, lighting techniques, environmental portraiture.
What could I improve on:
During my fruits portraiture photoshoot, the band was practising in the studio so I couldn’t turn off the lights. This resulted in the peach photograph appearing slightly dark or dull. If I could do it again, I would try edit all the photos better so that they were all as vibrant as the orange photo.
I could’ve tried to select more images, or been more selective and chosen better outcomes, so that I could reflect more of my work that I have created throughout the project.
Mountingimages:
I like the way I have mounted the images, I think I’ve effectively presented my images in a way which makes them visually appealing.
I have double-mounted these A5 images on foam board in a grid formation. These are images I created in theme of the masculinity vs femininity theme. By creating mood-boards when given this theme, it inspired me to carry out this photoshoot. I enjoyed creating these photographs as they have elements of symbolism and overall they were fun photoshoots.
The apple has been associated with mythological figures and goddesses throughout time, and therefore becoming a symbol of femininity. Another interpretation is the biblical story of the forbidden fruit. This is because the model has eaten the apple, therefore becoming a symbol of Eve.
In my self-portrait of the banana, I am posing with it as if it is my mouth smiling. Bananas have been called the ‘happy’ fruit, therefore symbolising happiness.
The orange is associated with optimism and energy, which is reflected by the colour and vibrancy of the photo as well as the playful pose. Whereas the peach just has playful connotations.
Multi-exposure
I have double-mounted this image on foam board. I printed this image as A3 as a stand-alone image as it is quite effective.
This is my favourite multi-exposure photograph I have taken from when exploring with using lighting in the studio. I like how each exposure is a different colour, and because there is multiple exposures they blend to make a really visually appealing result.
The model has her hand raised, touching her face. I think this adds a small touch to the image, making it less boring by adding an aspect of asymmetry.
Lighting techniques: Rembrandt
I created a window mount to display these A4 images. These are a couple of my final outcomes from a photoshoot I did when exploring lighting techniques. These are evidence of Rembrandt lighting and I think they are my strongest outcomes from the project.
I have edited these images in black and white to dramatize them, but also to reflect the lighting technique. With colour, there is more occurring in the image, and this takes focus away from the lighting technique I have employed.
Environmental portraiture
I mounted these images on foam board, then taped them on some black card to give them a 3D sort of effect. The black background suited these images best due to the dull lighting during the photoshoot as well as the dark colours in the images.
These are some of my photographs from the environmental area of the portraiture project. I photographed a friend in their room in order to reflect parts of their personality. Before the photoshoot, I asked them to dress a certain way and to make their makeup more eccentric in order to exaggerate their everyday appearance.
The image on the far left is A5. In the image, I had asked them to stand in front of a collection they have. I especially like the way this image is framed and that the background is this collection being shown. The middle image is A4, it’s inspired by elements of Lissa Rivera’s identity work and poses she uses, however I have taken my own spin on it in the environmental sense by photographing the subject in their room. The image on the far right is A5 and also included posters and other aspects of my friend’s room, as well as including their dog. I think it is clear that this photograph also reflects some of Lissa Rivera’s work through the posing.
I have edited this photograph in black and white to dramatize it, but also to reflect the lighting technique. With colour, there is more occurring in the image, and this takes focus away from the lighting technique I have employed. This is also done by increasing the contrast and the blacks in the image.
Before – After
Develop settings:
I edited this image with the same intent as the previous, so that the lighting technique I have employed is apparent. However, I have added some vignette to this image to dramatize it further. I also cropped this photograph in order to make it more central.
Before – After
Develop settings:
I cropped this image to make it more central as the excess space takes away from the image. I have edited this image to make it more vibrant and colourful, this was especially for the orange to make it stand out. To do this I used the above settings, as well as increasing the saturation slightly.
Before – After
Develop settings:
I cropped this image to make the subject more central. While I wanted the collection in the background to be apparent and add to the story communicated about the subject, I didn’t want it to take away from the main focus being the person. I also had to make the image brighter as it was quite a gloomy day as well as being quite late in the afternoon.
I increased the whites in the images to make the toys more apparent, and decreased the blacks in the image as the model is wearing a lot of black as well as having black hair and makeup.
This was a casual duo photoshoot I did thinking about the masculinity vs femininity theme. The models were comfortable in front of the camera, and we played around with gender stereotypes. For example, poses which reflect gender roles as well as poses which may reflect aspects of femininity.
This was part of the previous photoshoot, just focussing on a different subject. This model was also comfortable in front of the camera, this was more inspired by the broad theme of ‘Identity’ with aspects of the femininity theme. Some poses reflected this, for example photographs with the model on her phone.
On the other hand, I also captured some photographs of the model partially covering her face. This links to hiding your identity side, as she is evading communicating information about herself.
These are some photographs I did as part of my ‘Identity’ fruits photoshoot. Some of the first photographs I did were of the model on the floor, with all the fruits in her hair as I believed this fit the theme of femininity.
These are photographs I took of all the girls together with the fruits they had chose for a trio shot.
I have decided to put these two portraits together as they are both outcomes from my photoshoot where I explored lighting techniques. These show evidence of Rembrandt lighting and I had edited them both in black and white. I did this to make them appear more dramatic and to emphasise the Rembrandt elements in the lighting. I will be printing them both in A4.
Environmental portraiture
I have selected these portraits from an environmental portraiture photoshoot I did of my friend in their house. I think these reflect their interests and personality as well as being some of my strongest photographs from the project. I will be mounting these as two A5 portraits on either size of the landscape A4.
Identity
These are photographs from a photoshoot I did for evidence of the identity project to do with the masculinity vs femininity theme. I have included a self-portrait to also link into this. I will be mounting them in a grid of A5 photographs.
Multi-exposure
I have selected this image to be printed as A3 to show evidence of my multi-exposure experimentation.
Best known as a self-portraitist, Claude Cahun assumed a variety of performative personae. Cahun’s photography work was considered surrealist, however Cahun was also a sculptor and writer. Cahun incorporated a non-binary perspective into her work which gave her an original take on surrealism.
According to Jersey Heritage, Claude Cahun was a pseudonym Lucy Schwob employed in order to become a gender neutral artist. In her writing she consistently referred to herself as “elle” while also claiming that her actual gender is fluid. Cahun is most well known for her androgynous appearance, which challenged the strict gender roles of her time.
During the 1920s, Cahun produced an astonishing number of self-portraits in various guises such as aviator, dandy, doll, body builder, vamp and vampire, angel, and Japanese puppet.
The photograph itself is in black and white. From first impressions, attention is drawn to the midground where Claude Cahun is. This is due to a number of things, one being her pose. The fact she is in a cupboard raises a number of questions for the audience, while also invoking an emotional response.
Then, there is lots of horizontal lines created from the cupboard as well as corresponding vertical lines which act together as a sort of frame and adds lines of symmetry to the image. There are some objects also placed in the cupboard which aren’t as symmetrical but they are still uniform in the sense that they are horizontal and block shaped. Claude lying in the cupboard contrasts with this symmetry due to her overall body shape as well as how her hand is positioned. Her hand hung down breaks up the vertical lines in the cupboard and emphasises how she is out of place in the setting.
The amount of straight lines in the image creates a sense of uniformity. The way Cahun has position and posed herself communicates a message of being out of place and discomfort.
Identity is our sense of who we are as individuals and as members of social groups.
Mood-board
I wanted to make separate mood boards focussing on aspects of femininity and another for aspects of masculinity. This way I can incorporate more ideas for each side and capture ideas for my own photoshoots.
