My attempts at using Coloured gels in the studio.
I used coloured gels and strategic lighting to emphasize contrasts and create a sense of mood and depth in the portraits. Here’s how I approached the process:
Lighting Setup
I placed coloured gels over two types of lights to achieve this effect:
- Spotlight: Used to direct focused light on the subject’s face or create striking highlights. The gels added bold, saturated colours, like red and blue, which helped shape the mood of the image.
- Honeycomb Light Modifier: This was key to controlling the spread of light. By narrowing the light beam, I could focus on specific areas of the subject while preventing unwanted spill into the background, allowing for sharp contrasts between light and shadow.
Creative Process
- Colour Selection: I chose complementary colours (e.g., red and blue) to create visual tension and contrast in the portraits. These colours helped highlight the contours of the face and added a dynamic energy to the shots.
- A red gel on the side light created a strong outline of the subject.
- A blue gel from the opposite side added cool highlights.
Camera Settings
- ISO 100: I selected a low ISO to ensure the cleanest possible image with minimal noise. Studio lighting provides ample light, so a higher ISO wasn’t necessary.
- Shutter Speed 1/125: Studio flashes have a sync speed limit, and exceeding this (e.g., going faster than 1/125) could result in a partially exposed frame, as the camera shutter might not fully open during the flash. Keeping it at 1/125 allowed me to properly sync with the studio lights without losing any of the exposure.
- Aperture (f-stop): I set the aperture based on the intensity of the studio lights and the desired depth of field. A moderate aperture (e.g., f/8) helped maintain focus on the subject while keeping the lighting balanced across the face
Shooting Process
- Flash Syncing: The studio flash provided consistent light bursts, so I ensured my settings were in sync with the flash duration for even illumination.
- Colour Gels: The gels absorbed some light, so I occasionally adjusted the aperture to compensate and maintain the correct exposure.
Creative Portraits
Creative Montages
Montages in photography, often referred to as photomontages, are a creative technique where multiple photographs or visual elements are combined to create a single composite image. This approach allows photographers and artists to transcend the boundaries of traditional photography, crafting narratives, exploring symbolism, or simply creating visually striking compositions. Here’s a deeper look into photomontages:
History and Origins
Photomontage originated in early 20th-century Dadaism, where artists like Hannah Höch and Raoul Hausmann used it to critique political, social, and cultural norms. Höch’s works, in particular, challenged gender roles and societal hypocrisies through cut-outs from mass media. Beyond Dadaism, photomontage became a powerful tool for propaganda and political critique, using juxtaposed images to deliver subversive messages.
Techniques
Photomontage techniques include the traditional cut-and-paste method, where photographs or printed materials are physically assembled on a canvas for depth. Modern digital tools like Adobe Photoshop have transformed the process, using layers, masks, and blending modes for seamless integration. Adding textures or frames enhances the montage by providing richness, depth, and a tactile or vintage feel.
Aesthetic and Conceptual Elements
Photomontages can evoke surreal, dreamlike imagery by combining unrelated elements, a technique often associated with artists like Max Ernst. They also carry symbolic meaning, with juxtapositions like a human hand and machinery exploring themes such as labour or technology. Additionally, montages can craft narratives by blending details and scenes that wouldn’t naturally coexist in a single image.
Applications in Modern Photography
Photomontages are widely used in fine art to create thought-provoking or abstract pieces for gallery displays. In advertising and media, they craft visually engaging content by blending lifestyle imagery with product shots. For personal projects, photographers use montages to explore conceptual ideas or enhance storytelling.
Examples of Artists
- Hannah Höch: Pioneer of photomontage, known for her feminist and political critiques during the Weimar Republic era.
- John Heartfield: Another Dadaist, whose montages were explicitly anti-fascist, criticizing the Nazi regime through powerful imagery.
- Jerry Uelsmann: A modern pioneer of surreal photomontages, Uelsmann used analogue darkroom techniques to combine multiple negatives into seamless compositions long before digital tools existed.
El Lissitzky
El Lissitzky (1890–1941) was a Russian artist and designer, a key figure in the avant-garde movements like Constructivism and Suprematism. His work spanned painting, graphic design, and architecture, and he sought to reflect the social and political changes in post-Revolutionary Russia.
Lissitzky is especially known for his photomontages—artworks that combine photographs with other graphic elements like typography and abstract shapes. These montages often carried political messages, supporting the Bolshevik Revolution and promoting socialist ideals. His style was bold and geometric, blending dynamic visuals to capture the energy of modern, industrial society.
One of his most famous works, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919), used a simple red wedge to symbolize the victory of the Bolsheviks over their enemies. Lissitzky’s innovative use of space, color, and form extended beyond montages, influencing architecture and design.
Lissitzky contributions to modern art continue to inspire graphic design, typography, and architecture, and he remains a crucial figure in the history of 20th-century art.
Here is my attempt at recreating some of his work.
My Attempt at recreating his work.
-John Heartfield
(1891–1968), born Helmut Herzfeld, was a German artist and pioneer of political photomontage, renowned for his sharp critiques of fascism and social injustice. A member of the Berlin Dada movement, he used innovative cut-and-paste techniques to create bold, satirical works that exposed Nazi propaganda, such as Adolf, the Superman: Swallows Gold and Spouts Junk and Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle! His photomontages, often published in leftist magazines like AIZ, combined visual allegory and typography to advocate for socialist ideals and workers’ rights. Forced to flee Germany in 1933 due to his anti-Nazi stance, Heartfield lived in exile before returning to East Germany after World War II. His legacy as an artist-activist continues to inspire contemporary visual and political art.
