Creative Portraits are what types of things will surround the photograph and its only a single shot.
Double/Multi-Exposures
Double/Multi-Exposures is creating an illusion by layering images (Section of images), which are over the top of each other. This may be achieved by using the correct camera settings ,or using Adobe Photoshop also by creating layers and then using BLENDING OPTIONS and opacity control, by getting rid parts of layers to then reveal other parts of the image.
Examples of DOUBLE/MULTI-EXPOSURE PHOTOS
Above there are some examples of double/multi-exposure photos , these photos were taken from many different artists.
Artist Reference
A famous Man Ray Photo
Technical- The lighting in this image is a natural lighting due to no lights reflecting on the photo. The aperture was likely quite large with a low f/stop number. This is because the man is in focus but the background isn’t in focus . Moreover the shutter speed was most likely quite quick, I can tell this because there is not a lot of motion blur and the man is in focus, I think it is something like 1/120 or 1/250. The ISO is most probably low, something like 100 or 200. Due to no visual noise and it doesn’t have a degrading quality.
Visual- There is no colour due to it being black and white, however its quite a light tone due to the bright and natural lighting. The man has rough, old skin which brings a large amount of texture to this photo and furthermore because of the multi- exposure due to two face being reflected in the photo. This image appears 3D. The rule of thirds is followed in this image, this is apparent because his eyes and head are in the centre and most of his body is not present in the image.
Man Ray
Man Ray was a visual artist and he spent most of his time in Paris, France. He was an important contributor to the Dada and the surrealist moments. He was also a painter. He was Born: August 27, 1890, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ,United States and Died: November 18, 1976 (age 86 years),6th arrondissement of Paris.
Examples Of His Work
My Double Exposure Photos
Contact Sheet
This my contact sheet for my double exposure photographs.
Image Selection
Above you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out my worst ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good.
My Double Exposure Photos
This photo didn’t need to be cropped on the sides due to equal negative space on each side this will create a balanced photo. On the top and the bottom it needed to be cropped due to having unequal negative space. To complete this photo three layers very needed to complete the background. In two of the layers I have reduced the opacity to make a shadow of the portrait. By reducing the opacity it removes most of the photo, so it will become a shadow. That is what has happened in my photo. This is a part of Man Ray’s work which adds opacity, shadows and lots of double exposure.
By being cropped, there is equal negative space on the top and the bottom of the photo.
This photo used has used six layers. If less layers were used I don’t think this photo would work out. I have reduced the opacity to 32 percent, this is why the photo has a blurred effect in the foreground. This photo has gave me inspiration from Man Ray, I love the way he gave a distorted effect to his photos.
In the background, I have some stars that you can slightly see. To make the stars in the background I have made a slight shadow so these stars can be clear.
This is the same photo as above, I have cropped it due to both sides having to much negative space ,which will create an unbalanced photo. I have also cropped the photo because I want the subject to be centred in the foreground of the photo.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is placing two images together to show contrast or similarities. An example of a Juxtaposition is matching colours of your clothing to something out in the wilderness an example of an artist doing this is Nikita Pirtogov.
Artist Reference
Nikita Pirtogov
Nikita Pirogov is a photographer, artist and a poet who was born in Leningrad, USSR, in 1989. He studied in RGISI (Saint-Petersburg, Russia) and has got an MFA from IED Madrid (Madrid, Spain). His works were exhibited in Russia, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, Slovakia, Portugal, USA, Brazil, China, Cambodia, Fiji and South Korea and are in the collections of State Russian Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Russia and Gallery Image in Aarhus, Denmark.
Examples of Nikita Portogov’s work
These photos are an example of juxtaposition due to the photographer matching colours with the subjects clothing, hair and the background. These photos are opposites of each other.
My Juxtaposition Photos
Lightened Black
These photos where edited in Lightroom using the filters BW11 and 05,this is how I achieved these final images.
Photo-Montage
Photo-montage is the process and the result of making composite photograph by cutting , gluing, rearranging and overlapping images to create new images.
Artist Reference
John Stezaker
Is a British artist who is thrilled by the amount of images. Taking classic movie stills, vintage postcards and book illustrations, Stezaker makes collages to give ancient images a original meaning. By adjusting, inverting and taking-apart separate pictures together to create unique new works of art, Stezaker explores the subversive force of found images. Stezaker’s famous Mask series fuses the profiles of glamorous sitters with caves, hamlets, or waterfalls, making for images of dark beauty.
This photo is one of John Stezaker’s most famous photos .It is called Mask XIV and it was created in 2006.This work follows a simple format: Stezaker covers an old and ancient publicity portrait of a film star with a postcard. The postcard is becoming the mask over the face, It opens a window into another space. This images will give different interpretations of people faces. The scene in the postcard could is reflecting the peace and tranquillity of the setting.
Above, His ‘Dark Star’ series is popular publicly portraits into cut-out silhouettes, creating an important presence in the place of the absent celebrity. Stezaker’s way of giving old images a modern place in life it will reach its height in the found images of hisThird Person Archive: the artist has removed elegant , haunting figures from the margins of out-of-date travel illustrations. Presented as images on their own, they now take the centre stage of our attention.
Examples of John Stezaker’s Work
My Photomontage Photos
Contact sheet
This is my contact sheet for my Photomontage Images.
Image Selection
Above you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out my worst ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow
This is the original photo without being cropped. Below is the same photo but cropped. To complete and finalise this photo four layers were needed for this in the background , otherwise it wouldn’t be as effective because less layers would make an empty photo. In all four layers I have kept the opacity the same. I have had some inspiration from John Stezaker because I love the way he uses photomontage in his photos.
This is the same photo as above, I have cropped it due to both sides having to much negative space ,which will create an unbalanced photo. I have also cropped the photo because I want the subject to be centred in the foreground of the photo.
This photo above gave me inspiration from John Stezakars work. I have done this photo in light instead of dark. The original photo done by John Stezakar’s was done in the dark. My favourite photo of his is called Mask XIV, which was photographed in 2006. I love this photo because it includes the beautiful beach in the foreground then a portrait in the background of the photo. This work follows a simple format with a portrait and a photo of a beach. The picture becomes a mask over the face. Alternatively, by replacing eyes with a beach creates tranquillity and peace. This photo will need to be cropped due to negative space on either side.
This is the cropped photo. By cropping it the subject is much more centred than it was before.
El Lissitsky
EL Lissitsky was a Jewish-Russian artist and photographer , active as a printmaker, painter, illustrator, designer, photographer, and architect. He was Born: November 23, 1890 Pochinok, Russia. He died December 30, 1941 (age 51 years), Moscow, Russia. He is known for using Geomertic shapes and negative space.
An Example Of One Of His Photos
Suprematism is famous art movement, focused on basic geometric forms, such as circles, squares, lines, and rectangles, painted in a limited range of colors. It was founded by Kazimir Malevich in Russia, around 1913, and announced in Malevich’s 1915 exhibition, The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10, in St. Petersburg, where he, alongside 13 other artists, exhibited 36 works in a similar style. The term suprematism refers to an abstract art based upon “the supremacy of pure artistic feeling” rather than on visual depiction of objects.
My Process For My Photo
This is the process I had to go through to create my photo below. In total I had to make 7 layers to create this photo.
I also used this bar to see how dark I wanted my photo .You can pick many different filters till you pick one that matches your theme.
My Final Photo
I added a target on the shoulder in the photo because it got inspiration from El Lissitsky and it makes the photo more interesting and it adds more detail to his photo.
Double/multi exposure is a technique that combines two different exposures or images that are layered on top of each other; the image overlaid is less than full opacity so a bit of both images can be seen, producing an almost ghost-like image. Double/multi exposure can be created in-camera with certain settings or with editing programs like Photoshop/Lightroom using layers.
Double exposure can be used to make abstract, creative images that explore themes such as time, memory, and identity. By combining multiple elements and layering them into a single image, double exposure allows us to create new interpretations of reality and dream-like imagery.
One of the most renowned multi exposure photographers was Man Ray, an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He contributed significantly to the Dada and Surrealist movements, and produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He is most famous for his surreal dream-like multi exposure portraits, and is credited with increasing the popularity of this style of photography.
Above are two example double exposure images from Man Ray, where a person has been photographed twice in two different positions and/or expressions – these two photos have then been layered on top of each other as well as being made black and white to which results in a creative, surreal portrait with somewhat gloomy undertones.
Deeper Image Analysis – Man Ray
Technical – The lighting in the image appears to be natural light coming from the window to behind the man, creating light on the forehead of one layer and the side of the head on the second layer which consequently leads to shadows cast on the other half of his face. Furthermore, a low f/stop was likely used as the background is less in focus with more details and texture highlighted on the subject, contributing to the surreal atmosphere the image is creating. Finally, the ISO was likely low such as 100 or 200 since there is little to none visual noise apparent in the background which adds to the emptiness of the background and therefore the dream-like mood the image presents.
Visual – The image is presented in black and white, which when combined with the clash of light and dark tones between the two layers strengthens the contrast in shadows and lighting and adds more to the surreal aspect of the photography. This is also reinforced further with the lack of texture in the background in contrast with the texture present on the man’s face in form of wrinkles, making it seem like the subject photographed has been presented in a dreamy environment. Furthermore, there is clear use of form and 3D elements seen with the two different layers which combines with the other visual techniques mentioned creates a very captivating and intriguing surreal environment.
Conceptual – Being part of the surrealist movement, the reasoning behind this image was to spin a creative twist on the traditional portrait using multi exposure and an abstract background to create a dream-like effect which creates interest.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is having two photos presented side by side to show contrast or highlight similarities. This can tell a story about a person and a place/person/memory associated with them, for example juxtaposing a builder with the construction site they are working in allowing the viewer to make a clear connection between the two images.
LIBERATION / OCCUPATION newspaper 25 April 2020
In the example image above, a portrait of an old man with a visibly distant and sad expression looking down from the camera has been juxtaposed alongside a picture of what seems to be a living room, with a mirror alongside a clock and some old pictures. From the man’s expression, a connection can be made between the two pictures as we can assume it is his room and the mirror represents reflection, with the clock and old pictures suggesting that the man is reflecting on his youth and past memories and seems to regret or miss them due to the lack of eye contact between him and the camera and his dull, depressed expression.
Photomontage
Photomontage is the process of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image.
Photomontage is often used as a means of expressing political dissent. It was first used as a technique by the Dadaists in 1915 in their protests against the First World War, and one of the most famous examples of photomontages is Aleksander Rodchenko’s work during the Russian Constructivism – an artistic and architectural theory that originated in Russia at the beginning of 1913 by Vladimir Tatlin. This was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art by constructing it, and the movement supported art as a practice for social objectives.
Rodchenko was a highly adaptable artist who played a significant role in the constructivist and productivist movements following the Russian Revolution. Initially, he focused on painting and graphic design, but later shifted his attention to photomontage and photography. His photographic work was deeply connected to social issues, breaking new ground in style, and rejecting traditional painting techniques. He believed in the importance of analytical and documentary photography, often capturing his subjects from unusual perspectives – either from high above or low below – to surprise the audience and delay their understanding. He wrote: “One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again.”
His photomontages often had the subjects presented in black and white with text and different images such as hands or other faces layered on top of/around the subject, creating unique and intriguing images.
My Multi Exposure Work
To replicate the multi exposure effect, I took two of my studio portrait images to import into Photoshop.
My two chosen images
After I had chosen my two images, I then layered them on top of each other as seen below.
I then experimented with the different options available to see which one I liked most.
Darken
Vivid light
Multiply
Subtract
After deciding to use the subtract setting, I then tried changing the opacity to different levels and editing each layer separately (e.g. making the main one black and white while keeping the other one in colour) to see how this would affect the final outcome of my image.
I think this image turned out really well since the dull black and white colours as well as the hunched over pose of the first layer create a melancholic mood which clearly contrasts with the more intriguing atmosphere from the second layer due to the more vibrant colours and upright pose.
More Multi Exposure Experiments:
I then tried using images which were different to each other (e.g. some were headshots whereas some were half-body and some had Finn gazing directly at the camera whereas some had the gaze off to the side) and tried layering these images with each other and adjusting opacity to see what effect it would give my images. I found the most effective image was the last one, where I took I picture of Finn staring straight at the camera with a Rembrandt effect and put it in the foreground combined with a black and white, slightly motion blurred side profile shot in the background which clearly contrasts with the foreground and creates a dull and melancholic mood.
My Juxtaposition Work
For my juxtaposition experiments, I tried contrasting two images which were very clearly different to each other (e.g. one looking left and one looking right) and if needed editing one of the images to further highlight contrast.
For this juxtaposition, I took two portraits where Finn was looking in different directions and placed them side by side to contrast this difference. I thought this wouldn’t be enough so I took the right image where his face was slightly darker due to the lighting and made it black and white to amplify these shadows as well as further contrast from the left portrait, and finally added some motion blur which works really effectively to make the two portraits stand out from each other even more.
I then tried a similar idea, taking two portraits with contrasting positions and making one different from the other to highlight contrast. With the image on the left, I felt the subject’s body language and position had dull undertones to it so I made it black and white and copy and pasted the image while stacking it on top of it but moving it slightly to the left and right which created a blur/distortion effect. I found this worked really well since there is a clear difference in colour, lighting, composition and body language in both images which I was able to highlight using juxtaposition.
My Photomontage Work
The portrait I used for my photomontage
For my photomontage, I decided to try and replicate the Russian Constructivism style of photomontages used by Rodchenko.
I first got my background and got the head of my subject from the portrait before adjusting the threshold and placing it above my background, and then changing the blending.
I then added a crosshair on the eye and some text alongside it to better achieve the photomontage effect, as well as an outstretched hand.
Photomontage – Compare vs Reference
I think I replicated a photomontage in the style of Rodchenko effectively since I have layered multiple images and text over each other, including a main subject with a hand layered on it. The only difference is mine has been done in colour since I like the contrast created between the black and white layers and the red crosshair with red text, and I think the crosshair fits nicely into the photomontage as an additional layer as well as bringing focus back to the subject’s eye in the dark half of his face.
Creative portraiture usually means photos that are more than just a single shot taken with a camera. It often mixes different images and elements to create a final piece, which is also called a composite image. This method can include pictures that have been heavily edited, while other styles might stick to what the camera originally captured. Before digital photography became popular, techniques in the darkroom like dodging, burning, and masking allowed photographers to get really creative with their images. Nowadays, when people talk about creatively changing an image, they often use the term “photoshopped.” This refers to images that have been altered in some way, often making them look different from reality, using software like Adobe Photoshop.
Examples
Double/ Multi-exposure
What is it?
Double or multiple exposures are a cool trick that happens when you stack images on top of one another. You can do this directly with your camera settings, or you can use Adobe Photoshop by making layers and adjusting the blending options and opacity. Another way to create this effect is by erasing parts of the layers to show different sections of the other images underneath.
Examples
Artist Analysis
Man Ray
Man Ray, originally named Emmanuel Radnitzky, was born on August 27, 1890, and passed away on November 18, 1976. He was an influential American artist who spent a large part of his life in Paris. While he played an important role in the Dada and Surrealist movements, his connections to these movements were more casual than formal. Man Ray created significant pieces across various art forms but primarily identified as a painter. He gained fame for his innovative photography and was well-known for his work in fashion and portrait photography. Additionally, he is recognized for his unique photograms, which he referred to as “rayographs” as a nod to his own name.
Examples of his work
These are some of Man Rays most famous multi-exposure photos.
Image Analysis
Technical- The lighting in this image is most likely nature lighting. This is because he appears to be looking out of a window which is bringing in some nature light. The aperture was likely quite large with a low f/stop number. This is because the man is in focus but the background is completely out of focus. Moreover the shutter speed was most likely quite quick, I can tell this because there is little motion blur and the man is in focus, I think it is something like 1/120 or 1/250. The ISO is most probably low, something like 100 or 200. Due to this photo being black and white, it appears cold with little warmth or saturation.
Visual- There is little colour due to it being black and white, however its quite a light tone due to the bright natural lighting. The man has rough, old skin which brings a large amount of texture to this photo and furthermore because of the multi- exposure the photo is given a lot of depth and makes it seem really 3D. The rule of thirds is followed in this image, this is apparent because his eyes and head are in the centre and most of his body is cropped out of the image.
My attempt at Multi-exposure
I used these two photos to create multi-exposure.
“Overlay”
More attempts
“Difference”
“Lighten”
Juxtapoisition
What is it?
Juxtaposition is when you put two contrasting things next to each other. This technique is usually used to highlight their similarities or differences, making it easier to compare and contrast them.
Examples
My Juxtaposition edits
Photoshop
Further Manipulating
“Lighten”
“Luminosity”
Russian Constructivism and Photomontage
What is it ?
Constructivism is an art movement that started in the early 1900s, specifically in 1915, thanks to artists Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko. This style is known for being abstract and minimalistic, focusing on representing the modern industrial world and urban environments. Instead of using decorative elements, constructivist artists preferred to work with industrial materials and assemblages. They believed in using art for social and propaganda purposes, aligning themselves with Soviet socialism, the Bolsheviks, and the Russian avant-garde. The impact of constructivist art and architecture was significant, shaping many modern art movements throughout the 20th century. It played a crucial role in influencing important styles like Bauhaus and De Stijl. Its reach extended across various fields, affecting architecture, sculpture, graphic design, industrial design, theater, film, dance, fashion, and even music to a certain degree.
Examples
Artist Analysis
Aleksander Rodchenko
Who is he ?
Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (December 5, 1891 – December 3, 1956) was a prominent Russian and Soviet artist, sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer. He played a key role in founding constructivism and Russian design and was married to fellow artist Varvara Stepanova. Rodchenko was a highly versatile artist who emerged as a leading figure in constructivism and productivism after the Russian Revolution. Initially, he worked as a painter and graphic designer, but later shifted his focus to photomontage and photography. His photographic work was socially conscious, innovative in form, and rejected traditional painterly styles. He often captured his subjects from unusual angles—either from above or below—to create a sense of surprise and delay the viewer’s understanding.
Aleksander Rodchenko
His Photos
My photo in his Style
This is the photo I’m going to use and edit
I tried a couple of designs to see which ones I liked the best.
My final Design
I then added a crosshair for more detail and to closer relate it to Rodchenko.
Mon 20th January Group 12B MVT / JAC Photography Room
Tues 21st January Group 12E MVT / JAC / LJS Photography Room
Print Folder Deadline Wed 22nd January
We have included a mini-unit to help you explore creative opportunities with portraiture in photography based around themes of femininity and masculinity. We will spend time looking closely at this and discussing ideas for you to produce a number of potential outcomes that will be the culmination of your module on portraiture. We are expecting that you will continue to develop your portraiture skills and use lighting creatively both in the studio and on location outside or inside relevant to your ideas.
Binary opposition
The themes of ‘FEMININITY and MASCULINITY’ are a binary opposite – a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.
Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory in Linquistics (scientific study of language) According to Ferdinand de Saussure, binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. Using binary opposites can often be very helpful in generating ideas for a photographic project as it provides a framework – a set of boundaries to work within.
Watch this film and discuss the way in which artists tackle identity…
Blog Posts to make :
Blog Post 1: Define ‘identity’, “femininity” and “masculinity” and explain how identity can be influenced by “place”, or belonging, your environment or upbringing with reference to gender identity / cultural identity / social identity / geographical identity / political identity / lack of / loss of identity / stereotypes / prejudices etc.
Blog Post 3: Optional PHOTO-ASSIGNMENT 1: Clare Rae
Blog Post 4: MINDMAP/ MOODBOARD: Add a mind-map and mood-board of ideas and associated visual stimulus. This is very important for this project, because it will steer your individual photoshoots…. E.g:
Blog Post 5: Artist reference 2 (Student Led) – Choose from a range of photographers that you feel explore themes of femininity, masculinity in relation to gender, identity or ‘self’. Include a detailed analysis and interpretation. This artist/s should influence your final outcome. Click here for a library of artists / photographers…. When choosing your artist/s… think about why / what / how – consider how you want to convey identity through photography.
Blog Post 6: PHOTO-SHOOTS: focused photoshoots exploring your ideas
Blog Post 7: EXPERIMENTATION: development of a number of final ideas
Blog Post 8: FINAL PHOTOS: Virtual gallery and evaluation
EXTENSION >THEORY/ CONTEXT: (If you complete this extension, back date it to make it an earlier blog post that comes at the start of the project). Make a blog post and write 300-500 words expressing: – What is identity politics – Make reference to culture wars. – Describe some of the positive aspects of groups harnessing their shared identity and political views – as well some of the dangers of tribalism dividing communities. – Provide examples both for and against identity politics and include images. – Try and frame the debate both within a global and local perspective.
1. THEORY > CONTEXT
What is identity politics?
IDENTITY POLITICS is a term that describes a political approach wherein people of a particular religion, race, social background, class or other identifying factor form exclusive socio-political alliances. It emphasizes the distinct experiences and challenges faced by these groups and advocates for policies and practices that address their specific needs and rights.
The term was coined by the Combahee River Collective in 1977. It took on widespread usage in the early 1980s, and in the ensuing decades has been employed in myriad cases with radically different connotations dependent upon the term’s context.
CULTURE WARS are cultural conflicts between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal values is seen.
A “culture war” signals much more than disagreement. It describes a sense of conflict between two irreconcilable worldviews in what is “fundamentally right and wrong about the world we live in” (1991).
What are some of the positives associated with Identity politics?
Identity Politics is responsible for raising concerns areound things like racism, gay rights, gender identity rights, and so on. With some progress made on these issues in the past few years…
Tribalism
How can tribalism contribute to a negative example of Identity Politics?
Tribalism A tribe is defined as “a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.” When we hear the word tribe, we may think of Native Americans, but in modern usage the term can also refer to people who share common ideas and allegiances. Tribalism is defined as “behavior and attitudes that stem from strong loyalty to one’s own tribe or social group.”
Tribalism can have very negative consequences when it is used to exclude individuals or groups or to take away their rights, status, and/or independence. These negative aspects of tribalism are often fueled by competition and the perception of a common threat. They promote fear, anxiety, and prejudice, all of which make us more susceptible to fake news, propaganda, and conflict. Tribalism can take many forms in our modern society. One prominent example of tribalism is individuals’ strong affiliations with sports teams. These affiliations are often built on regional identities and promoted through the use of symbols. We frequently see deep bonding between fans of a particular team who identify strongly with each other and against fans of opposing teams.
What other examples of tribalism can you find?
Mindmap and moodboard: -What does Identity mean to you?
Grayson Perry:
Grayson Perry’s: Big American Road Trip. Artist and social commentator Grayson Perry crosses the US, exploring its biggest fault lines, from race to class and identity, making art as he goes along. Click here to watch Episode 3 where he travels to the Midwest and finds folk bitterly divided over identity politics and hot issues like abortion and vaccination. What causes such ‘culture wars’ and how can they be overcome?
Grayson Perry. The American Dream. 2019
This map of the US reflects a battle-torn landscape where nuance, compromise and empathy are casualties in the culture war
Read article here in the Financial Times, that uses the recent debate around the removal of Winston Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square as an example of wider discussion on Britain’s colonial past and the current government’s handling of racial inequality.
The issues above should also be viewed within a much broader historical frame work on racism and colonialism.
ARTISTS:
Claude Cahun
CASE STUDY: Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob
(born October 25, 1894, Nantes, France—died December 8, 1954, St. Helier, Jersey) was a French photographer, sculptor, and writer. She is best known for her self-portraits in which she assumes a variety of personas, including dandy, weight lifter, aviator, and doll. The Jersey Heritage Trust collection represents the largest repository of the artistic work of Cahun who moved to the Jersey in 1937 with her stepsister and lover Marcel Moore. She was imprisoned and sentenced to death in 1944 for activities in the resistance during the Occupation. However, Cahun survived and she was almost forgotten until the late 1980s, and much of her and Moore’s work was destroyed by the Nazis, who requisitioned their home. CaHun died in 1954 of ill health (some contribute this to her time in German captivity) and Moore killed herself in 1972. They are both buried together in St Brelade’s churchyard.
Look at Gillian Wearing – Clare Rae – Cindy Sherman
In this image, Cahun has shaved her head and is dressed in men’s clothing. She once explained: “Under this mask, another mask; I will never finish removing all these faces.”1 (Claude Cahun, Disavowals, London 2007, p.183)
Cahun was friends with many Surrealist artists and writers; André Breton once called her “one of the most curious spirits of our time.”
While many male Surrealists depicted women as objects of male desire, Cahun staged images of herself that challenge the idea of the politics of gender. Cahun was championing the idea of gender fluidity way before the hashtags of today. She was exploring her identity, not defining it. Her self-portraits often interrogates space, such as domestic interiors and Jersey landscapes using rock crevasses and granite gate
READ articles here in The Guardian and the BBC to learn more and use these texts for your essay. Link to Jersey Heritage which houses the largest collection of her work and an article written by Louise Downie in response to an exhibition in 2005, Acting Out: Claude Cahun and Marvel Moore at Jersey Museum.
In 2017 the National Portrait Gallery in London staged a major exhibition Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the Mask, Another Mask showing their work together for the first time. Slipping between genders and personae in their photographic self-images, Wearing and Cahun become others while inventing themselves. “We were born in different times, we have different concerns, and we come from different backgrounds. She didn’t know me, yet I know her,” Wearing says, paying homage to Cahun and acknowledging her presence. The bigger question the exhibition might ask is less how we construct identities for ourselves than what is this thing called presence?
Claude CahunGillian Wearing
In Behind The Mask, Wearing is being Cahun. Previously she has re-enacted photographs of Andy Warhol in drag, the young Diane Arbus with a camera, Robert Mapplethorpe with a skull-topped cane, hard-bitten New York crime photographer Weegee wreathed in cigar-smoke. Among these doubles, you know Wearing is in the frame somewhere, under the silicon mask and the prosthetics, the wigs and makeup and the lighting. Going through her own family albums, she has become her own mother and her father. It is a surprise she has never got lost in this hall of time-slipping mirrors, among her own self-images and the faces she has adopted. Wearing has got others to play her game, too – substituting their own adult voices with those of a child, putting on disguises while confessing their secrets on video.
Read articles in relation to exhibition here
Read articles here in Aperture and The Guardian in relation to the exhibition. Cahun has been described as a Cindy Sherman before her time. Wearing’s art undoubtedly owes something to Sherman – just as Sherman herself is indebted to artist Suzy Lake. Looking back at Cahun, Wearing is both tracing artistic influence, and paying homage to it, teasing out threads in a web of relationships crossing .
Clare Rae
Clare Rae, an artist from Melbourne, Australia who produces photographs and moving image works that interrogate representations of the female body via an exploration of the physical environment. Rae visited Jersey as part of the Archisle international artist-in-residence programme in 2017. She was researching the Claude Cahun archive, shooting new photography and film in Jersey, as well as running workshops.
From her research she produced a new body of work, Entre Nous (between us): Claude Cahun and Clare Rae that was exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne Australia 22 March – 6 May 2018, and subsequently at CCA Galleries in Jersey, UK, 7–28 September 2018.
In her series, Never standing on two feet, Rae considers Cahun’s engagement with the physical and cultural landscapes of Jersey, an aspect of her work that has received little analysis to date. Rae writes:
Like Cahun’s, my photographs depict my body in relation to place; in these instances sites of coastal geography and Jersey’s Neolithic ritual monuments. I enact a visual dialogue between the body and these environments, and test how their photographic histories impact upon contemporary engagements. Cahun used self-portraiture to subvert the dominance of the male gaze in photographic depictions of the female body in the landscape. My practice is invested in the feminist act of self-representation and I draw parallels between my performances of an expanding vocabulary of gesture and Cahun’s overtly performative images of the body expressing a multiplicity of identity. In this series, I tease out the interpretations inherent in landscape photography. I utilise gesture and the performing body to contrast and unsettle traditional representations of the female figure in the landscape.
See this blog post Photography, Performance and the Body for more details and context of the above artists work
Clare gave a artist talk contextualising her practice, covering recent projects that have engaged with notions of architecture and the body, and the role of performative photography in her work. Clare will discuss her research on these areas, specifically her interest in artists such as Claude Cahun, Francesca Woodman and Australian performance artist Jill Orr. Clare also discussed her photographic methodologies and practices, providing an analysis of her image making techniques, and final outcomes.
PHOTO-ASSIGNMENT 1: Homework
Here is the task that Clare Rae asked participants to respond to in a workshop she delivered while in Jersey in 2017.
3. Produce a photograph that engages the body with the physical environment. Think of architecture, light, texture, and composition to create your image..
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman, A selection of images from her film stills
Cindy Sherman works play with female stereotypes. Masquerading as a myriad of characters, Cindy Sherman (American, born 1954) invents personas and tableaus that examine the construction of identity, the nature of representation, and the artifice of photography. To create her images, she assumes the multiple roles of photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser, and stylist. Whether portraying a career girl, a blond bombshell, a fashion victim, a clown, or a society lady of a certain age, for over thirty-five years this relentlessly adventurous artist has created an eloquent and provocative body of work that resonates deeply in our visual culture.
For an overview of Sherman’s incredible oeuvre see Museum Of Modern Art’s dedicated site made at a major survey exhibition of her work in 2012…
This exhibition surveys Sherman’s career, from her early experiments as a student in Buffalo in the mid-1970s to a recent large-scale photographic mural, presented here for the first time in the United States. Included are some of the artist’s groundbreaking works—the complete “Untitled Film Stills” (1977–80) and centerfolds (1981), plus the celebrated history portraits (1988–90)—and examples from her most important series, from her fashion work of the early 1980s to the break-through sex pictures of 1992 to her monumental 2008 society portraits.
Some of her latest images using digital montages
Sherman works in series, and each of her bodies of work is self-contained and internally coherent; yet there are themes that have recurred throughout her career. The exhibition showcases the artist’s individual series and also presents works grouped thematically around such common threads as cinema and performance; horror and the grotesque; myth, carnival, and fairy tales; and gender and class identity.
Sherman’s ground-breaking photographs have interrogated themes around representation and identity in contemporary media for over four decades. Since the early 2000s, Sherman has constructed personae with digital manipulation, capturing the fractured sense of self in modern society—a concern the artist has uniquely encapsulated from the outset of her career. As critic and curator Gabriele Schor writes on her process, ‘Sherman’s complex analysis of her face and her subtle employment of expression indicates that the working method of making up and costuming the self enables two processes: an intuitive and fluid process motivated by curiosity, and an intended process whose stimulus is conceptual and which has a ‘subject matter’.’
See and read about Cindy Sherman’s latest work here
1910’s – The Suffragette1920’s – The Flapper1930’s – The Wall Street Wife1940’s – The Riveter1950’s – The Movie Star1960’s – The Super Model1970’s – The Hippie1980’s – The Business Woman1990’s – The New Wave Feminist
Here is link to Shannon’s blog showing all her research, analysis, recordings, experimentation and evaluations
Students response ^
Cindy Sherman’s photo ^
Here is link to Shannon’s blog showing all her research, analysis, recordings, experimentation and evaluations.
Since her A-level studies Shannon has continued her passion for photography and has recently completed her BA (Hons) degree in Documentary Photography at University of South Wales. During her 3-year degree she developed a number of projects based around gender identities and constructions.
Here is a link to her website, a short biography below and examples of key works:
I am an artist born in Jersey, Channel Islands. Currently based in Cardiff, Wales my practice explores themes around the gendered experience with a focus on femininity and masculinity as gendered traits. Through deep research and a sociological approach my work explores the self and identity.
My fascination lies with questioning society and challenging traditional views of gender through my work. My work is informed by my personal experience and through interviewing specific demographics to help gage a sociological understanding of how gender is viewed or challenged within mainstream society.
Gender is being re-conceptualised. Our experience of gender is changing, transforming from being solely male and female, opening to a multitude of subcategories including; gender queer, non-binary, transgender and gender fluid. As we unpick the complicated narrative of gender and the generalisations that it encapsulates, we are forced to re-imagine what it is that makes us who we are and what we want or can identify as. The beginning of change starts with the self.
That’s Not The Way The River Flows (2019) is a photographic series that playfully explores masculinity and femininity through self-portraits. The work comes from stills taken from moving image of the photographer performing scenes in front of the camera. This project aims to show the inner conflicts that the photographer has with identity and the gendered experience. It reveals the pressures, stereotypes and difficulties faced with growing up in a heavily, yet subtly, gendered society and how that has impacted the acceptance and exploration of the self.
A Short Film: That’s Not The Way The River Flows A visual poem with word by me surrounding the claustrophobia of gender identity, while visuals poke fun at ideas of masculinity and femininity (2019).
Susan’s Sleep
Susan’s Sleep (2018) is a short film that, when creating, became a form of therapy for me. It helped me to understand that I had a lot of unresolved trauma and for that reason and for my family I will not release the full short film but instead leave you with a trailer.
This body of work explores the traumatic experience that my family and I went through beginning on the 25th December 2016 and well into the new year. My mother was ill and on Christmas day was taken in an ambulance to the hospital as she could no longer breathe for herself. On the 27th December she was put into a medically induced coma after fighting with the NIV (Non Invasive Ventilation System). Here we spent our days by my mothers bedside in an isolated room on ICU (Intensive Care Unit). This short film is about that time in limbo, waiting each day for bad news, or any news.
By Your Beside
By Your Bedside (2018) is a series of images that I created to compliment my short film, Susan’s Sleep. The images are quite, to reflect my own experience during the time my mother was in a coma. I went mute during this time, isolated myself and kept my emotions inside. The only time that I felt able to express myself was when I was sat by my mother’s bedside. These images convey the surreal movie-like experience I felt while waiting for my mum to wake up.
Casa Susanna
Casa Susanna: A series of polaroid portraits found at a jumble sale about 20 years after the images were originally taken in the 1960s. This was a place where men who enjoyed female dress and transgender women were able to fully be themselves without judgement. It was a kind of holiday place but with an extremely strong community that cared for one another surrounding it.
Lissa Rivera.
Lissa Rivera. In Beautiful Boy (a chaptered series) the photographer makes images of her effeminate male partner, they have an interesting story on how he had felt so free during his time in college to dress and act as he felt confident but in the greater outside world he has reverted to sticking to the status quo and blending in as felt that he wouldn’t be accepted otherwise.
Walter Pfeiffer – Carlo Joh.
Walter Pfeiffer – Carlo Joh. A collaboration between photographer and the subject where the subject brought in their own props and was involved in the creative process of how they wanted to be represented..
Francesca Woodman
Another site of influence to Clare Rae is Francesca Woodman. At the age of thirteen Francesca Woodman took her first self-portrait. From then, up until her untimely death in 1981, aged just 22, she produced an extraordinary body of work. Comprising some 800 photographs, Woodman’s oeuvre is acclaimed for its singularity of style and range of innovative techniques. From the beginning, her body was both the subject and object in her work.
The very first photograph taken by Woodman, Self-portrait at Thirteen, 1972, shows the artist sitting at the end of a sofa in an un-indentified space, wearing an oversized jumper and jeans, arm loosely hanging on the armrest, her face obscured by a curtain of hair and the foreground blurred by sudden movement, one hand holding a cable linked to the camera. In this first image the main characteristics at the core of Woodman’s short career are clearly visible, her focus on the relationship with her body as both the object of the gaze and the acting subject behind the camera.
Woodman tested the boundaries of bodily experience in her work and her work often suggests a sense of self-displacement. Often nude except for individual body parts covered with props, sometimes wearing vintage clothing, the artist is typically sited in empty or sparsely furnished, dilapidated rooms, characterised by rough surfaces, shattered mirrors and old furniture. In some images Woodman quite literally becomes one with her surroundings, with the contours of her form blurred by movement, or blending into the background, wallpaper or floor, revealing the lack of distinction of both – between figure and ground, self and world. In others she uses her physical body literally as a framework in which to create and alter her material identity. For instance, holding a sheet of glass against her flesh, squeezing her body parts against the glass and smashing her face, breasts, hips, buttocks and stomach onto the surface from various angles, Woodman distorts her physical features making them appear grotesque.
Through fragmenting her body by hiding behind furniture, using reflective surfaces such as mirrors to conceal herself, or by simply cropping the image, she dissects the human figure emphasising isolated body parts. In her photographs Woodman reveals the body simultaneously as insistently there, yet somehow absent. This game of presence and absence argues for a kind of work that values disappearance as its very condition.
Since 1986, Woodman’s work has been exhibited widely and has been the subject of extensive critical study in the United States and Europe. Woodman is often situated alongside her contemporaries of the late 1970s such as Ana Mendieta and Hannah Wilke, yet her work also foreshadows artists such as Cindy Sherman, Sarah Lucas, Nan Goldin and Karen Finley in their subsequent dialogues with the self and reinterpretations of the female body.
MASCULINITIES: LIBERATION THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY Through the medium of film and photography, this major exhibition considers how masculinity has been coded, performed, and socially constructed from the 1960s to the present day. Examining depictions of masculinity from behind the lens, the exhibition brings together over 300 works by over 50 pioneering international artists, photographers and filmmakers such as Richard Avedon, Peter Hujar, Isaac Julien, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annette Messager and Catherine Opie to show how photography and film have been central to the way masculinities are imagined and understood in contemporary culture. The show also highlightslesser-known and younger artists – some of whom have never exhibited in the UK – including Cassils, Sam Contis, George Dureau, Elle Pérez, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Hank Willis Thomas, Karlheinz Weinberger and Marianne Wex amongst many others. Masculinities: Liberation through Photography is part of the Barbican’s 2020 season, Inside Out, which explores the relationship between our inner lives and creativity.
In the wake of #MeToo the image of masculinity has come into sharper focus, with ideas of toxic and fragile masculinity permeating today’s society. This exhibition charts the often complex and sometimes contradictory representations of masculinities, and how they have developed and evolved over time. Touching on themes including power, patriarchy, queer identity, female perceptions of men, hypermasculine stereotypes, tenderness and the family, the exhibition shows how central photography and film have been to the way masculinities are imagined and understood in contemporary culture.
Here is a downloadable teaching resource that includes information, activities and tasks that will help you develop ideas.
Key Focus Areas and questions in relation to the exhibition and the concept: MASCULINITIES
1. What does it mean to be male?
2. What overarching themes do you associate with the words masculine, masculinities or male? What would you classify as hegemonic (ruling) masculine values or traits, particularly historically – e.g. power, leadership, strength, dominance?
3. What would you say are the assumed norms of masculinity today? Think of examples of what breaks or subverts these norms and find examples in the exhibition.
4. Compare expectations and perceptions of masculinity through time, society and place – where are we now and where have we come from? Look at the variety of masculine identities encompassed, often complex or even contradictory, shaped by culture and society. In addition, you could consider the word femininities in just the same way and compare commonalities or differences.
5. How much are we conditioned by the society or culture in which we live, in terms of our gender identities? Consider gender expectations from birth onwards – what messages do we receive about who we are or are supposed to be and accompanying notions of equality? Do you feel there is still pressure put on young boys to be a certain way or to conform to some perceived gender norm?
6. Consider too, the word liberation in the context of the title – how and if photography is a liberating force for the subjects of the camera’s gaze
7. Do you think photography such as that seen in the exhibition can help to pave the way for new attitudes and choices? Discuss using examples you find in the exhibition.
In 2018 the Barbican staged another ground breaking exhibition; ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE: PHOTOGRAPHY ON THE MARGINS. Touching on themes of countercultures, subcultures and minorities of all kinds, the show featured 20 photographers from the 1950s to present day, reflecting a more diverse complex view of the world.
Another Kind of Life followed the lives of individuals & communities on the fringes of society from America to India, Chile to Nigeria. Driven by personal and political motivations, many of the photographers sought to provide an authentic representation of the disenfranchised communities with whom they spent months, years or even decades with, often conspiring with them to construct their own identity through the camera lens.
Featuring communities of sexual experimenters, romantic rebels, outlaws, survivalists, the economically dispossessed and those who openly flout social convention, the works present the outsider as an agent of change. From street photography to portraiture, vernacular albums to documentary reportage, the show includes the Casa Susanna Collection, Paz Errazuriz, Pieter Hugo, Mary Ellen Mark, Dayanita Singh, Teresa Margolles, Katy Grannan, Phillipe Chancel, Daido Moriyama, Seiji Kurata, Igor Palmin and many others.
Narrative photography, also referred to as Tableaux photography often have an element of performing for the camera. See artists such as, Duane Michaels, Tom Hunter, Anna Gaskell, Jeff Wall, Gregory Crewdson, Philip- Lorca diCorcia, Sam Taylor Johnson (former Sam Taylor-Wood), Hannah Starkey, Tracy Moffatt, Vibeke Tandberg. Read also page 26 in exam booklet that lists other artists, Sandy Skoglund, Carrie Mae Weems, Deana Lawson and Laurie Simmons who are using photography to create complex narratives using staged events and artificial set ups. The historical context of this type of photography is Pictorialism – make sure you reference this in your research and provide examples from this period of photographic history and experimentation.
Duane Michaels: photo-stories eg. The Bogeyman, The Spirit Leaves the Body. A self-taught photographer, Duane Michals broke away from established traditions of the medium during the 1960s. His messages and poems inscribed on the photographs, and his visual stories created through multiple images, defied the principles of the reigning practitioners of the form. Indeed, Michals considers himself as much a storyteller as a photographer.
Tom Hunter: Headlines, Life and Death in Hackney Since 1997, Tom Hunter has turned his camera on his surrounding neighbourhood of Hackney, showing empathy without being polemic. He is known for a remarkable blend of political commentary, history of art and the technicalities of photography. Working to create photographs that are the result of an exaggerated link between newspaper headlines, paintings from The National Gallery’s permanent collection and Hackney lifestyle, Hunter often seems to ask more questions than he can answer visually.
Read more here about Tom Hunter’s work in The Guardian
Anna Gaskell crafts foreboding photographic tableaux of preadolescent girls that reference children’s games, literature, and psychology. She is interested in isolating dramatic moments from larger plots such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, visible in two series: Wonder (1996–97) and Override (1997). In Gaskell’s style of “narrative photography,” of which Cindy Sherman is a pioneer, the image is carefully planned and staged; the scene presented is “artificial” in that it exists only to be photographed. While this may be similar to the process of filmmaking, there is an important difference. Gaskell’s photographs are not tied together by a linear thread; it is as though their events all take place simultaneously, in an ever-present. Each image’s “before” and “after” are lost, allowing possible interpretations to multiply. In untitled #9of the wonder series, a wet bar of soap has been dragged along a wooden floor. In untitled #17 it appears again, forced into a girl’s mouth, with no explanation of how or why. This suspension of time and causality lends Gaskell’s images a remarkable ambiguity that she uses to evoke a vivid and dreamlike world.
Anna Gaskell
Jeff Wall
Gregory Crewdson
Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Sam Taylor-Johnson
Tracy Moffat
Untitled – May 1997 1997 Hannah Starkey born 1971
Vibeke Tandberg
PHOTO-ASSIGNMENT 2: Selfie Experiments
Choose 3-5 of these ideas below to explore and produce a range of outcomes. Remember to create blog posts that clearly show your process and where the ideas come from…
Other possibilities
Luis Cobelo
Hans Peter Feldmann – identity, status and gender
John Coplans Self Portraits 1984
Alicja Brodowicz
Hassan Hajjaj -culture clash- Moroccan Pop ArtKensuke Koike – reconstituting found portraits to create new / possible identities
Dino Kuznik shares how he shoots through household materials like grease and broken glass...See what transparent materials or objects you have lying around and see if you can use them to throw light and create a visually compelling creative self-portrait.
Dino Kuznik
Always explore, describe and explain :
who (is in the photo / took the photo)
what (is the photo about?)
why (has the image been made / displayed / connected to other images or text)
where (was the photo taken)
how was the photo taken (technical attributes)
when (was the photo taken)
LINKS to high scoring A GRADE exemplar EXAM PROJECTS
The daily grind can be a test of endurance. In Tokyo Compression, Michael Wolf recorded the extreme discomfort of Japanese commuters pressed up against windows dripping with condensation on their journeys to and from work.
In Harlem Trolley Bus, Robert Frank showed the divisions within American society in the mid-20th century. Dryden Goodwin took pictures of exhausted travellers on London night buses and wove a protective cocoon of blood capillaries around them.
Connections with film making…
The idea for this project comes from Luke Fowler‘s series of half-frame photographs recently published in the book ‘Two-Frame Films‘. The project is intended to encourage students to concentrate on the editorial aspect of photography, the selection and juxtaposition of photographic images and how this might affect the ways in which a viewer engages with the work. Fowler is better known for his work in film but has used a half-frame camera as part of his practice. This work explores the relationship between two juxtaposed images. A half frame camera exposes two shots on each 35mm frame. A roll of 36 exposures therefore produces 72 images in pairs. The resulting diptychs are still images but reference the theory of montage, first articulated by Russian film makers in the 1920s, specifically Sergei Eisenstein
An example of two frames from Sergei Eisenstein’s film ‘Battleship Potemkin’, 1925
Thinking sculpturally / 3-D options
Sculptural images – using print-outs – student example
MOCK EXAM PREPARATION: Final prints must be added to the print folder !!!
We expect see a selection of final outcomes from various portrait tasks and assignments. Ensure that your final images are a direct response to your chosen photographer(s) and show a clear visual link
1-2 environmental portraits
3-4 studio portraits showing different lighting techniques etc.
1-2 self-portraits from Masculinity/ Femininity
Add your images to the print folder here:
CONTROLLED CONDITIONS : Essentials
You will have one full day = 5 hours to complete this unit so make sure you use it productively
Complete and publish relevant blog posts as per Checklist above/ Go4School Tracking sheet and comments from teacher. BLOG SIZE images = 1000 pixels on SHORT EDGE
Produce mock versions of your final prints and describe how you wish to present them
later on…
Complete mounting all final prints and include label and velcro
Produce a virtual gallery and write an evaluation, comment on:
– How successful was your final outcomes? – Did you realise your intentions? – What references did you make to artists references – comment on technical, visual, contextual, conceptual? – Is there anything you would do differently/ change etc?
PREPARE AND SAVE IMAGES FOR PRINTING:
File Handling and printing...
Remember when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to 1000 pixels on the Short edge for “blog-friendly” images (JPEGS)
BUT…for editing and printing when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to Short edge for “high resolution” images (JPEGS) like this…
A5 Short Edge = 14.8 cm
A4 Short Edge = 21.0 cm
A3 Short Edge =29.7 cm
This will ensure you have the correct ASPECT RATIO
Ensure you label and save your file in you M :Drive and then copy across to the PRINT FOLDER / IMAGE TRANSFER
For a combination of images, or square format images you use the ADOBE PHOTOSHOP > NEW DOCUMENT + PRINT PRESETS on to help arrange images on the correct size page (A3, A4, A5)
You can do this using Photoshop, Set up the page sizes as templates and import images into each template, then you can see for themselves how well they fit… but remember to add an extra 6mm for bleed (3mm on each side of the page) to the original templates. i.e. A4 = 297mm x 210 but the template size for this would be 303mm x 216mm.
Making a Virtual Gallery in Photoshop
Download an empty gallery file…then insert your images and palce them on the walls. Adjust the persepctive, size and shape using CTRL T (free transform) You can also add things like a drop shadow to make the image look more realistic…
For the 5 x weeks leading up to the Year 12 PHOTOGRAPHYCONTROLLED CONDITIONS you will need to refer to this resource pack for ideas and inspiration… “SELF -PORTRAIT and IDENTITY JAC PDF” (to find it just copy and paste the link below into the top bar of the folder icon on your screen) M:DepartmentsPhotographyStudentsResourcesPortraitureTO DO
Follow the 10 Step Process and create multiple blog posts for each unit to ensure you tackle all Assessment Objectives thoroughly :
Mood-board, definition and introduction (AO1)
Mind-map of ideas (AO1)
Artist References / Case Studies (must include image analysis) (AO1)
Photo-shoot Action Plan (AO3)
Multiple Photoshoots + contact sheets (AO3)
Image Selection, sub selection, review and refine ideas (AO2)
DOUBLE/ MULTI-EXPOSURE: layer or merge two or three images into one portrait.
MONTAGE: Select an appropriate set of portraits and create a montage of layered images in Photoshop as an A3 document.
Double or multiple exposures are an illusion created by layering images (or portions 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, but also by erasing through parts of layers to reveal parts of other images.
Artist Reference
Man Ray
Man Ray, originally named Emmanuel Radnitzky, was born on August 27, 1890, and passed away on November 18, 1976. He was an influential American artist who spent a large part of his life in Paris. While he played an important role in the Dada and Surrealist movements, his connections to these movements were more casual than formal. Man Ray created significant pieces across various art forms but primarily identified as a painter. He gained fame for his innovative photography and was well-known for his work in fashion and portrait photography. Additionally, he is recognized for his unique photograms, which he referred to as “rayographs” as a nod to his own name.
Multi-Exposure
Multi-exposure in photography is a technique where multiple exposures are combined into a single image, creating a composite that captures different moments, subjects, or perspectives in one frame. This technique can be achieved either in-camera or through post-processing.
In-Camera Multi-Exposure:
Many modern cameras have a multi-exposure mode, where you can take multiple shots and have them automatically merged into one frame. For instance, you might take two exposures, and the camera blends them into a single image.
This can be used to create a layered effect, where the elements of each exposure blend together, often in artistic and creative ways. It’s useful for capturing motion, combining portraits with landscapes, or adding surreal effects.
Post-Processing Multi-Exposure:
In post-processing, you can manually combine several exposures using software like Adobe Photoshop. You might take several photos, each with a different subject or lighting, and layer them into one image, adjusting opacity, blending modes, and masking.
This method allows for much greater control over the final result, such as selectively blending certain parts of each exposure.
Creative Uses:
Motion and time: Capturing a subject in multiple positions over time, such as a person walking, leaves blowing, or a bird flying.
Double Exposure: A specific form of multi-exposure where two different images (e.g., a portrait and a landscape) are merged in a way that they overlap and interact.
Surreal Effects: Combining unrelated elements or scenes to create dream-like or abstract compositions.
Key Tips:
Exposure Control: Each exposure in a multi-exposure sequence should be carefully managed to avoid overexposure or unwanted artefacts.
Composition: Consider how the subjects or elements will interact, as the layering effect can sometimes cause confusion or distraction if not thoughtfully arranged.
Multi-exposure offers creative flexibility, allowing photographers to produce imaginative and unconventional results.
Photo Montage
Montage in photography is a technique that involves combining multiple photos or elements to create a single, unified image. This can be done by digitally blending different photographs or physically assembling pieces of images, often by cutting and pasting. Montage allows photographers to create complex, layered compositions that can convey a range of ideas or emotions, often in an abstract or surreal way.
Historically, montage gained prominence in the early 20th century, particularly within the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Artists like Hannah Höch and Raoul Hausmann used photomontage as a form of political expression or to critique societal norms. The technique also played a significant role in Soviet cinema, where filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein used montage to build powerful narratives and emotions.
In photography, montage can serve a variety of creative purposes. It allows for storytelling by combining images that represent different moments or ideas. It also gives room for symbolism, where contrasting images are brought together to create a deeper meaning or message. A photographer might use montage to form visual metaphors, such as blending a portrait with nature or cityscapes to explore themes like identity or societal pressure. Juxtaposing seemingly unrelated images can create striking contrasts or harmonious compositions, depending on the artist’s intent.
To achieve a successful montage, a photographer must pay careful attention to the technical aspects of blending images. This includes adjusting lighting, colour, and shadows so that the combined elements appear cohesive. The composition also plays a crucial role in ensuring the image is balanced and that the viewer’s attention is guided through the visual elements in a meaningful way.
Overall, montage is a versatile and creative technique in photography, enabling the photographer to build new realities or present complex ideas in a single frame.
Here are some of my creative images
Photomontage is often used as a means of expressing political dissent.
It was first used as a technique by the Dadaists in 1915 in their protests against the First World War. It was later adopted by the surrealists who exploited the possibilities photomontage offered by using free association to bring together widely disparate images, to reflect the workings of the unconscious mind.
In 1923 the Russian constructivist Aleksander Rodchenko began experimenting with photomontage as a way of creating striking socially engaged imagery concerned with the placement and movement of objects in space.
Coloured Gels
Coloured Gels is a transparent coloured material that is attached on to the red-head lights which can modify the temperature and the feel of the image which is useful if you want to find a type of lighting to suit the subject your taking a picture of or if you want to make your picture look unique or standout more.
It is used for multiple different purposes such as to colour light and for colour correction and it is used in not only just photography but in videography and theatre as well.
Studio lighting is the art of using special lights in a studio to manipulate the camera into catching exactly what you want. There are two types of light – static and flash. There is lots of different ways you can use this to make your photo look, such as Rembrandt lighting and split lighting.
Studio Lighting Experiment
This is my contact sheet of photos when we were just experimenting with lighting before trying a set style like Rembrandt or butterfly lighting.This photo is my favourite of this shoot – it has a high amount of contrast and a spotlight effect, in my opinion it looks very professional. It works well as a single image, I really like the high amount of contrast on the creases of the clothes and creates a very cool, split lighting effect on my face because of the light being to the left of the subject.
The three photos above are quite a nice set, they are all edited the same way with similar crops and contrast and the same black and white filter.
Rembrandt Lighting
Rembrandt Lighting is using one light at a 45 degree angle from the front of the subjects face, and a reflector on the other side – this creates a beautiful effect that fully illuminates one side of the subjects face, and the other side is dark aside from a triangle of light underneath their eye.
Rembrandt lighting became popular in the
Contact sheet
Successful Images
ISO 100 – 43mm – f/10 – 1/125/secISO 100 – 32mm – f/10 – 1/125/sec To edit these photos I first had to turn down the highlights because we overexposed the right hand side. This could have been improved at the time by moving away, turning any of the settings down, or reducing the power of the flash on the lighting system – unfortunately we didn’t notice at the time. I then used a black and white filter, turned up the contrast, clarity and texture on both images as well.
Two Point Lighting
Two point lighting is when you use two lights on either side of the subjects face in order to fully illuminate as much of their face as possible – it creates a realistic effect that looks much more than real like than other types of lighting that might make the photo look more artistic.
This is my contact sheet of unedited, selected photos. I used adobe lightroom classic to select and flag the images as picks.ISO 100 – 32mm – f/10 – 1/125/sec.
This photo worked because there was very little shadow on her face and she is well illuminated – but at the same time the lighting seems to reflect the moody look of the model in a way. To edit this I turned up the contrast and the texture, and also added a silvertone black and white filter. She is slightly off centre which is a deliberate crop which helps add layers of depth to the ragged and moody look of the image.
Black and white version of the image above.
BUTTERFLY LIGHTING
Butterfly lighting is also known as paramount lighting – which is when the only light source is coming from above the persons head, in front of them and angled sharply down.
These are three edited photos – I used a lightroom preset to give them an edgy effect which makes the white more blue and everything else a bit yellower.
There is a dark shadow under the chin and a bit of a shadow on the cheek bones which is evident of butterfly lighting.
COLOURED LIGHTING
Coloured light is the method of using thin, coloured gels inbetween your subject and the light source in order to create an effect of whatever colour you want. It is a style of creative portraiture and allows for quite a lot of fun experimentation.
Studio lighting is about using artificial lights in a controlled space, like a photography studio, to light up a subject in a way that looks good on camera. The main goal is to create the right mood, highlight details, and make sure the subject is well-lit. The key light is the main light that shines on the subject, usually placed at an angle to create depth and highlight features. A fill light is used to soften the shadows created by the key light, while a back light is placed behind the subject to help separate them from the background and make them stand out.
1-Point Lighting:
This is the simplest setup, using a single light source to illuminate the subject. It’s typically placed in front of the subject, usually slightly off to the side to create some shadows and depth. It’s great for creating dramatic, high-contrast images where the subject has strong shadows. However, it can make the image look flat or harsh, so it’s often used for more moody, artistic shots or when you want a very minimalist look.
2-Point Lighting:
This setup uses two lights – typically a key light (the main light) and a fill light (to soften the shadows). The key light is placed at an angle to the subject, while the fill light is positioned opposite to lighten up the shadows created by the key light. It provides a more balanced lighting setup compared to 1-point lighting by reducing harsh shadows. It works well for general portraits, making the subject look natural and evenly lit, while still keeping some dimension.
3-Point Lighting:
This setup uses three lights: the key light, fill light, and a backlight (or rim light). The key light is the main source of light, the fill light softens shadows, and the backlight is placed behind the subject to separate them from the background, giving more depth and highlighting the subject’s outline. It solves the problem of flatness and separation from the background, making the subject look more three-dimensional. The backlight helps create depth by adding a highlight around the subject, giving them definition against the background. This is a versatile and classic lighting setup used for most professional portrait photography, video interviews, and more.
What is Rembrandt lighting, Butterfly lighting, Chiarascuro?
Rembrandt Lighting:
Rembrandt lighting is a technique where the light is placed at a 45-degree angle above and to the side of the subject’s face. This creates a small triangle of light on the cheek opposite the light, while the rest of the face is shadowed. It’s a classic, dramatic look that adds depth and highlights facial features like the cheekbones. This lighting style is often used in portrait photography for a moody, professional feel.
Butterfly Lighting:
Butterfly lighting is when the light is positioned directly above and in front of the subject’s face. This setup creates a butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose, with the rest of the face receiving soft, even light. It’s a very flattering style, making the face look smooth and symmetrical. It’s commonly used in beauty and fashion photography, especially for subjects with high cheekbones.
Chiaroscuro:
Chiaroscuro is an artistic technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create depth and drama. The light is usually focused on one part of the subject, while the rest is in shadow. This technique originated in painting but is also used in photography to create a dramatic, almost theatrical look. The emphasis is on depth, with light and shadow working together to highlight the subject’s form.
What is fill lighting?
Fill lighting is a type of light used to soften or fill in the shadows created by the main light in a lighting setup. Its purpose is to reduce the contrast between light and dark areas on the subject, creating a more even and natural look. Fill light is typically softer and less intense than the key light, so it doesn’t overpower the main light but helps to soften the shadows and add detail to areas that would otherwise be too dark. It’s often placed opposite the key light to balance the lighting and prevent the subject from appearing too harsh or overly dramatic.
Studio portrait experiments:
Editing:
Before:
I think this is one of my best photos because it really captures the feel of chiaroscuro lighting. The way the light and shadows play off each other gives the photo a lot of depth and makes it stand out.
After:
For editing, I aimed to create a more distinctive look by incorporating chiaroscuro lighting to emphasize dramatic contrasts between light and shadow. To enhance this effect, I adjusted the texture and clarity, focusing on amplifying the fine details and sharpness. This approach added depth and dimension to the image, making the lighting contrasts more pronounced and visually striking.
Before:
This one really has that Rembrandt lighting vibe, especially with the triangle of light on the cheek. It’s just like the way rembrandt lit his subjects, with one side of the face lit up and the other in shadow, giving it a cool depth.
After:
Before:
In this photo, I used the technique of butterfly lighting, which I believe resembles the lighting effect the most. Butterfly lighting, is a portrait lighting setup that creates a distinctive shadow under the subject’s nose, resembling a butterfly shape. This look is achieved by placing the light source directly above and slightly in front of the subject, typically at a 45-degree angle.
After:
Before:
In this photo, the lighting looks like it’s using gels, which are colored filters placed over lights. This is a common trick in photography to create cool color effects. In this case, you can see the contrast between the reddish light on one side of the face and the blueish light on the other. The warm red and cool blue lights are coming from different light sources with colored gels on them, creating a sharp difference that makes the face stand out more.
After:
Artist reference:
John Rankin
John Rankin Waddell, known as Rankin, is a British photographer and director who has made a name for himself with his distinctive, often bold, style. He’s famous for his striking portraits of some of the world’s biggest celebrities, including Kate Moss, Madonna, David Bowie, and even Queen Elizabeth II. Rankin’s photography is known for its raw, edgy feel. He doesn’t just take a picture, he creates a moment that feels powerful and full of emotion. Whether he’s capturing a fashion model or a global icon, Rankin’s portraits often reveal something deeper about his subjects. He’s not afraid to push boundaries, using intense lighting and dramatic angles to create images that feel fresh and unexpected.
In this image, you can see how the hand reaching toward the camera helps create a sense of depth. The hand in the front is big and draws your attention, making it feel like it’s right there in front of you. This makes the rest of the scene, like the person and the background, seem farther away. The way the hand is positioned gives the photo a sense of space. It feels like there’s more to the scene than just a flat image. The hand being close to the camera creates a kind of depth, while the person and the background fade into the distance.
Environmental portraiture is a photographic style that captures subjects within their natural surroundings, often blending the person’s environment with their identity. Unlike traditional studio portraits, which focus primarily on the subject, environmental portraits reveal more about a person’s lifestyle, personality, and mood, depending on the location, camera angles, what’s in the frame, and what they are doing.
August Sander and Typologies
One of the first photographic typological studies was by the German photographer August Sander, whose project ‘People of the 20th Century’ produced volumes of portraits entitled ‘The Face of Our Time’ in 1929. Sander categorised his portraits according to their profession and social class.
August Sander
August Sander was a German photographer whose work documented the society he lived in. Lauded as one the most-important portrait photographers of the early 20th century, Sander focused his gaze on bricklayers, farmers, bakers, and other members of the community.
“Nothing seemed to me more appropriate than to project an image of our time with absolute fidelity to nature by means of photography,” he once declared. “Let me speak the truth in all honesty about our age and the people of our age.”
Born in Herdorf, Germany on November 17, 1876, Sander learned photography during his military service in the city of Trier. By 1910, he had moved to a suburb of Cologne, spending his days biking along the roads to find people to photograph. By the time the Nazi regime rose to power in the 1930s, Sander was considered an authority on photography and recognized for his book Face of Our Time (1929)
Image Analysis
Technical: Natural lighting (clouded daylight), shallow depth of field Visual: Warm b&w, a mostly dark image – highlights on the subjects Contextual: Working class men – late 19th and early 20th century Conceptual: Typologies – multiple variants of the same thing – in terms of August Sander it’s his portraits
Typologies
What are Typologies?
Typology is the study of various traits and types, or the systematic classification of the types of something according to their common characteristics.
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.
Lighting is a key factor when creating a successful image. Lighting not only determines brightness and darkness but also tone, mood, and atmosphere. Therefore it is necessary to control and manipulate light correctly to get the best, vibrancy of colour, luminosity of your object and texture. For example Side light evokes feelings of nostalgia and romance, whereas under lighting creates a sense of fear.
Under lighting ( Not my Picture) Side lighting ( not my picture)
Studio Lighting
(not my pictures)
WHAT IS STUDIO LIGHTING ?
studio lighting in photography happens when a photographer uses an artificial light source to either add to the light or to completely light their photograph. However there are two types of studio lighting them being continues lighting and strobe lighting.
CONTINUES LIGHTING:
Continues lighting is a artificial light that its always illuminating your subject as long as your turn it on. They don’t flash on and off as you take your pictures, instead they remain bright throughout the shoot
STROBE LIGHTING:
Strobe Lighting is used to create a short burst of light. The light created is much brighter and more powerful and the burst much shorter than the king found when using traditional flash.
___________________________________________________________________1-2-3 LIGHT SET UPS
1 POINT LIGHT SETUP
KEY LIGHT- If you only have one light available then that light will become your key light. Thus is the most important light in the photoshoot as it illuminates your subject within your shot.
It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on how your picture will turn out. It is placed to one side of the camera/ subject so that this side will be well illuminated and the other side with some shadow.
2 POINT LIGHT SETUP
FILL LIGHT – If you have two light available the second one will become your fill light.
The fill light is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less brighter than the key. To achieve this softer look you can move the light further away from the camera and the subject or change the intensity setting on your light if you have that possibility.
3 POINT LIGHT SETUP
BACK LIGHT- the third light will become the back light.
The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from rear. The back light is the light that makes your shoot stand out. Rather than providing direct lighting ( like the key and fill ) its purpose is to give definition and subtle highlights around the subject. If setup correctly there should be a subtle rim of light. This effect helps to separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.
Rembrandt lighting is a photographic lighting technique that creates a district triangle of light on one side of the subjects face. This triangle is formed by a small, defined patch of light on the cheek, with the rest of the face in shadow. This technique is named after the Dutch painter, Rembrandt, who often used t=this lighting style in his paintings. The effect is achieved by placing a light source at a 45- degree angle to the subject, slightly above eye level. Rembrandt lighting is often used in portrait photography to create a dramatic and moody effect, adding depth and dimension to the subjects face .
BUTTERFLY LIGHTING
Butterfly lighting is a lighting patter used in portrait photography where the key light is placed above and pointing down on the subject’s face. This creates an interesting shadow between the nose and the chin. Butterfly lighting is one of the most flattering lighting techniques for sculpting facial features.
CHIAROSCURO LIGHTING
Chiaroscuro is an Italian term used to describe the technique of using light and dark in artwork, particularly a painting. This lighting creates highlights and shadows to draw attention to the subject. It originally comes from Re naissance art movement, and combines the Italian words ” chiaro” meaning ” clear” or “bright”, and “oscuro” meaning “obscure” or “dark”. It refers to dramatic effect experience when using contrasting areas of light and dark in a visual piece.
studio lighting is artificial lighting that photographers use to add to the light already there
Why do we use studio lighting?
Many photographers prefer to use studio lighting so they can have complete control over where the shadows go and can also control the temperature of the light.
One Point lighting
One point lighting portraits are used to capture images where one side of the models face is more exposed than the other. (one side has the light on it and the other side is dark) However they aren’t as harsh as split light photo there are more natural where one side is darker but you are still able to see the other side of their face.
Photoshoot 1 – one point lighting
edited images
I really like this image as I think the contrast with the black background. As well as it is a good example of split lighting (when half the face is illuminated and the other is dark) Another part of this image that I like is the light parts on the jacket also make good contrast compared to the otherwise dark image.
Something I like about this image is that the darkness of the right side of his face and neck against the bright chrome of the background. As well as how one side of the background looks as if it has warm lighting, then the other side has cool tone lighting.
Analysis of my Image
This is image is taken using a digital camera and the genre of this photography is portraiture.
The mise-en-scene presents the portrait photo of a boy sat on a chair. The tone of this image is pretty dark, However you could also argue that the tone of the image also quite bright ad there is sort of a half and half going on in this image. The use of light in this image is very harsh, cold artificial lighting as we were in the studio with specific lighting set up. The focus distance is short as it is a close up photo and the depth of field is large as everything is in focus. The leading lines of the images would be the lightness of his face and side of his jacket against the black background.
I believe the ISO is 100 as everything is in focus and not grainy. I believe that the shutter speed is 1000 as everything is clear.
Rembrandt lighting
Rembrandt lighting is a commonly used technique in studio photography to contrast Butterfly lighting. All you need is one or two lights and one reflector. It became popular due to producing natural looking images with minimal equipment.
To create this lighting the “main light” is placed high and and to the side, roughly 45 degrees to the side of the model. T he reflector is placed on the other side of the model at half height facing it at an angle to the camera, which helps illuminate the opposite side of the face.
An easy way to identify if an image has Rembrandt lighting is on the darker side of the face there will be a triangle sort of shape illuminated on their cheek
image from Google
Examples of Rembrandt lighting
images from Google
Why use Rembrandt Lighting?
When using Rembrandt lighting you are able to instantly create contrast and depth in an image, as well as added a bit of moody drama and psychological depth.
It is a very effective way of lighting as it is used as a device to draw the viewer to the eye of the subject. As when doing portraits the eyes and usually always the main focus of the image. The triangle of light underneath the eye draws the viewers eyes to meet the focal point of the image and highlights the significance of the eyes in the portrait.
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born July 15 1606, was a Golden Age Dutch painter, printmaker and draughtsmen, and is generally considered one of the best visual artists of history Western art. Over his time Rembrandt created an estimated 300 paintings and 2000 etchings.
Rembrandt’s 17th century work depicted many different genres, such as portraits, self portraits, landscapes, biblical and mythological themes and historical scenes.
At the end of 1631, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, a city rapidly expanding as the business and trade capital. He began to practice as a professional portraitist for the first time in which he had great success. During 1634 Rembrandt became a citizen of Amsterdam and a member of the local guild of painters as well as acquiring a number of students.
photoshoot
edited images
ISO 100, 32mm, F/10, 1/125sec
I decided to make these images monochrome as I thought it would make them more dramatic. I think this is one of the best images from the bunch as the triangle under the eye is very clear. Something I like about this image is the darkness from the hood of his jumper compared to the slightly over exposed side of his face.
these are all the things on light room classic that I changed to edit this image.
Analysis of my image
This is image is taken using a digital camera and the genre of this photography is portraiture.
The mise-en-scene presents the portrait photo of a boy sat on a chair. The tone of this image is fairly light, However you could also argue that the tone of the image can be a bit dark based on all the shadows on the left side of his face. The use of light in this image is very soft, cold artificial lighting as we were in the studio with specific lighting set up. The focus distance is short as it is a close up photo and the depth of field is large as everything is in focus. The leading lines of the images would be the darkness of his face and side of his jacket against the light background.
I believe the ISO is 100 as everything is in focus and not grainy. I believe that the shutter speed is 1000 as everything is clear.
Butterfly lighting
Butterfly lighting in used in a studio setting, and is when the main light is set up in front and above the model you are photographing. The name refers to the “butterfly”-shaped shadow seen under the nose, although in a lot of images the shadow is not strongly defined, it just depends on the strength and intensity of the light.
Example of a butterfly lighting with the “Butterfly” shadow defined.
Butterfly lighting tends to be a popular lighting set up due to the fact it is usually face slimming as shadows are created on both sides of the face which emphasizes the facial features such as the cheekbones and nose in a photogenic way.
Why use butterfly lighting?
Reasons to pick this lighting pattern are that it is versatile, is easy to set up, doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment, and creates a natural look
Examples of butterfly lighting
photoshoot
edited images
I think this image is a good example to butterfly lighting as you can see the butterfly shape under the nose and the shadows on the side of the face, and especially under the chin which shows the directional light from above.
To edit this image I decided it looked better monochrome, I tried to edit it to emphasize the shadows that were being created by the lighting Here’s everything I changed on light room classic to edit this image
photoshop experimentation
To create this image in photoshop firstly I selected the girl in the image and copy and pasted her and then clicked Ctrl T on my new layer with the copied girl and turned down the opacity and the interpolation tool to flip the image.
This is what I used to flip the image
Two-point lighting
Two-point lighting is when two different light sources are used to illuminate the model. They’re often at an angle from the model and either side of the camera.
Two-point lighting enhances the visual appeal of interviews by using two light sources that create depth and dimension on the models face. Using two lights allows the photographer to have more flexibility and creativity compared to one light.
There is many different lighting techniques you can do with two-point lighting such as soft side lighting and fill which looks like this
Example of soft side lighting and fill – using 2-point lighting
For this you will need two lights with reflectors positioned either side of the model, the light reflects off the walls of the studio creating softer light.
soft side lighting and fill lighting set up.
Another type of 2 point lighting you can use is the deep umbrella technique which looks a little something like this:
To create this lighting you need two lights with the key light being a focus umbrella, which produces a very versatile like used especially in beauty work and fashion photography.
Example of deep umbrella lighting set up
examples of 2 point lighting
Images from google
These are good examples of basic two-point lighting, as the model is looking straight through the camera and you can see that most if not all of the face is illuminated, with just a few shadows on the side of their face.
photoshoot + coloured gels
edited images2 point lighting
ISO 100, 27mm, f/10, 1/250sec
To edit this image I changed things such as the temperature and the tint of the image as I wanted it to have a slightly more of warmer temperature and green sort of tint, Something I think I could have done a bit better whilst editing this image perhaps crop it a bit as there is rather a lot of blank space of the background.
Here is the image cropped:
Overall, I think this photoshoot was fairly successful, as many of the photos displayed two-point lighting well as you can clearly see hat both sides of the face are illuminated, However I would enjoy experimenting with the other types of two-point lighting that I said in the above.
edited images coloured gels
Personally, I really enjoyed using the coloured gels in the photoshoot as it a simple was to introduce a pop of colour into a what could be called “traditional portrait” A reason I particularly like them is that I really enjoy ‘traditional’ photographer however I do love involving colour where I can and this was a good blend of the two for me. I would love to do this again.
This image is one of my favourites from the shoot as the colours from the lights split almost perfectly down the middle of his face. As well as I think the blue light really compliments the tone of his face.
