LIGHTING TECHNIQUES
Over the course of a few week I worked on my understanding of lighting techniques in the studio, i primarily focused on butterfly lighting ( significant in Hollywood for enhancing the appearance of the model and the signature butterfly shadow under the nose) , chiaroscuro lighting ( significant for creating dramatic appeal in a photo and half the face being harshly lit ) and Rembrandt ( known for dark photos illuminating only half the face excluding the triangle highpoint under the eye.
i produced many photos in these styles but these are the ones I find represent the style the best
Rembrandt:
butterfly:
chiaroscuro:
Environmental portraiture
my next miniature protect was environmental portraits, taking pictures of people in a place they are comfortable enough to be described as their ‘environment’ can be a challenging thing, especially in a situation where your model doesn’t have complete trust in you in a person environment.
factoring this in is why for my next collection of favourite photos were of either my mother or my grandmother, using family connections to my advantage in this scenario will provide me with a calm and trusting model to photograph.
during the photoshoot i took over 100 photos, primarily focussing the shoot in areas both women spend a lot of time in ( eg. at he sewing machine, in the garden or in the lounge )
I have chosen three photos from this photoshoot that I believe tell the story I want them too, I wanted them to convey i sense of nostalgia and comfort.
with this style of photography I kept the editing very simple, opting to just focus on enhancing the images instead of distracting from the simplicit beauty of the photographs
Femininity
Bellow is just a fraction of the contact sheets I have acquired over this project , as this has been far more editorial than my projects before this I made sure to give myself as many options as possible when I came down to photos to pick from.
In these I have used head shots as well as more obscure close up shots the the body, face and objects relating ( perfume bottles etc. ) I had a very specific idea in mind for this project and I feel as if for the most part I have accomplished it.
Above is a duology of photos inspired by early feministic absurdist art, when creating these images i had in mind the imagery of collaged magazines that relates back to the over sexualisation of women and the unrealistic expectations that have come about now plastic surgery is popularised giving young girls the ability to ‘cut and stick ‘ themselves.
the images above in reference to beauty add ( advertising perfume / lipstick ) and the beautiful exterior compared to the not so beautiful reality’s ( eg. the dragging of the lipstick down the chin )
the halo of perfumes was a goal of mine from the beginning of this project and i am very glad i was able to execute it the way i was, the idea was a mix of my own ideas and inspired by early absurdist art like Ana Mendieta in its slightly scandalous nature .
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