Practical Brief.
Fashion photographs which challenges the preconceptions of what a fashion image should be.
Strand one
Dissertation Response- Heroin Chic/ Reality.
Corinne Day, 1990's fashion photography.
Corrine Day's work with Kate Moss is iconic due to the simple and understated content yet each photograph is so powerful due to the use of lighting. Her work is a perfect example of how fashion portraiture does not need to be over complicated (like LaChapelles, for example) for it to be successful. Day's photos focus purely on the beauty and personality (shown in the photo on the right) of Kate Moss and almost strips down the whole concept of the supermodel, capturing her in a very raw, simplistic manor. By taking the pictures in a studio with the white background, Corrine Day effectively does this, allowing there to be little distracting us from Kate herself and her expressions. To recreate Corrine Day's pictures, I too used a well lit studio set up with a blank backdrop to focus purely on the models features. The shoot was very easy due to the natural state of the model, for example I did not ask her to pose, I just captured unforced movement. Once edited, each picture is placed together in a 3x3 format. The amount of pictures in the overall photo is ideal due the fact the too many would possibly distract from the qualities in the individual photo and too little would take away from the personality aspect myself and Corrine Day are trying to perceive through the photo.
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Response.
Tyler Sheilds.
Reality and photographing issues.
Reality and photographing issues.
After playing around with basic fashion techniques, I decided I wanted to experiment with unconventional fashion photography that I had researched in my dissertation. For example photographers like David LaChapelle, Steven Meisel and Oliviero Toscani. I took the basic idea of Tyler Shield's domestic abuse series and attempted to play around with the stereotypical route of a photograph of a beaten girl. Unlike Sheild's, I took my set in a natural environment of a house, to highlight the domestic aspect. Instead of photographing my model with a bruise, I played around with colour make up to create the look. I feel in some ways these pictures address the fact that in today's society we tend to joke about abuse and make it "colourful" through song lyrics and jokes. For the other pictures, I used paint to make hand prints, a concept that I have not seen done before. Again I feel that the handprints symbols the pain that the women went through and how it always stays with her.
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Link to unconventional fashion photography.
My practical brief is about challenging the stereotypical idea of fashion photography. This is what I tried to achieve in my domestic abuse Tyler Sheilds response. After visiting Tim Walker's "Storyteller" exhibition at somerset house (found in personal study section), I was inspired to work with the illusion and reality idea. I thought about the pressures we are all under from society to look a certain way, this triggered me to what to capture people in a doll like manor like he did. I looked further into the perfection concept and found photographers Hayden Wood and Dina Goldstein and really love the idea of making my models into perfect barbie dolls. Once I have experimented with this idea through make up and photoshop, I'd like to combine the two ideas or Tyler Sheild's issues images and the barbie ideal, similar to the one on the left. This concept is also present in Dina Goldstein's work, combining the perfect illusuion with sense of reality. |
Strand two.
Illusion.
Hayden Wood.
Dina Goldstein.
I researched possible further ideas I try for my barbie concept and found photographers Hayden Wood and Dina Goldstein. I was instantly attracted to both artist's work by just how doll like each model looked. In Hayden Wood's set, this is done by the model's skin having been photoshopped to look so flawless and plastic. The clothing used also highlights the barbie doll look. However, Dina Goldstein's work really brings the dolls to life by the use of the backdrop. By putting Barbie and Ken in a pink dollhouse, she creates a type of narrative to her pictures and we witness what goes on behind closed doors between two people we expect to be "perfect". This adds to the illusion and reality concept. The pink backdrop in both photographers works highlight the illusion aspect that these are dolls that belong to young girls, and adds to the make believe, story feel. The real life issues explored in Dina Goldstein's work almost creates a sense of irony because of these, that we expect Barbie and Ken to have an ideal life as they are children's toys who have not expericanced life yet. There are certain aspects of Dina Goldstein's work that makes the motive to recognizable that when I respond, I feel will be key to interpret into my work. For example, Barbie's perfect platinum blonde hair is key and the fact that it looks so fake and plastic makes it even more effective. As well as this, both Barbie and Ken have visible lines where there limbs meet their joints, again I wouldn't have thought about this yet it makes the models look even more doll like and is so simple. The models I use must be positioned as if they are dolls, meaning there arms and legs bend only in a certain way and their eyes must look very distant. I feel the pink, girly background with pink props is very important in making the photographs look realistically Barbie-doll like.
Barbie Experiment.
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The purpose of my first set was primarily to experiment with photoshop and how I can make my model look as close to a doll as I could. This involved airbrushing and blurring her skin and limbs. I also whitened the whites of her eyes and enhanced the colour of her eyes, lips and teeth. As with Hayden Wood and Dina Goldstein's work I used the liquidfy tool, So I could manipulate the size of not only her eyes, nose and mouth, but her body to barbie like proportions.To further enhance this set, I would add a pink back drop to add to the doll like feel as well as possibly experimenting further with manipulation techniques as I feel like for a first attempt, this set was successful, but I could be further improved.
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Further response.
As a further response to the Barbie images, I played around with the manipulation techniques further. I also added a "Ken" to the images and attempted to recreate the image below to the best of my ability. Again, as with the last set, I experimented with blurring out any imperfections on my models skin using the blur tool, and using the liquify tool I could reshape facial features. I also enhanced the colour of the models eyes, teeth and lips while also adding make up in PhotoShop. I found that adding a pink backdrop really enhanced the feel of the images as it brought out the Barbie theme a lot more. Whilst I am happy with this set in comparison to my first attempt, I am not overly inspired to take them any further. If I was to however, I could add a natural backdrop, playing my model in doll-like scenes such as in a kitchen or in a car. |
Strand three.
Altering an Image.
Maurizio Anzeri.
Dazed and Confused. As another branch off my unconventional fashion photography brief, I decided to research artists such as Maurizo Anzeri, who work into there photographs with varying medias. This fits perfectly into my brief as we are not used to seeing fashion editorials that have been manually altered with. To produce a set of typical fashion images that have been altered by being sew int or painted on, for example, would go against our preconceived ideas of what a fashion photograph should be. I like Anzeri's images as I feel they really play with the emotions and feelings of the models, while at the same time playing with and incorporating the models facial expressions. I feel that the photographs in themselves push boundaries through the combination of both very straight lines, and messy groups of colored thread. This almost gives offs a two sided impression to the model in the photograph, as if the individual is battling with two sides of their personality. I think the way the photo itself is black and white is really effective against the colour of the thread, making it stand out more. In my opinion, I like to think that the thread acts as a type of magic surrounding the subject. I found Rebecca Chew's work to be as effective. Her work compared to Anzeri's is different as she works onto and in between the outline of the subject. I peticually like the middle image below, as she works with the different shades of colour within the image. It also makes the image as a whole look sewn. Lastly, Bec Wonders plays with a similar concept as the two other artists, however in hers, the media used is different. I think who the image looks as if another image below is ripping out from within the model is effective, again like Anzeri's adds a sense of personality to the subject photographed.
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As a combined response to Rebecca Chew, Bec Wonders and Maurizio Anzeri's work, I took a series of simple portraits taken in the studio. In Photoshop, I then converted them into black and white so that when I manually added colour, the colour would truly stand out against the black and white, allowing it to be obviously altered and drawn on. I started off by simply drawing and colouring patterns such as stripes in the back ground, then I attempted to alter the foreground by adding patternes such as butterflies and adding colour to the model themselves. Whilst I feel this was to an extent effective, I felt as if the image could be taken to the next level. Therefore, I used inspiration from pop art artists and added colour to the hair and clothing while placing heavy focus on the shadows and features to enhance the cartoon-like feel. From there, I added a speach bubble to add to the fun, cartoon feel as this is oftern how pop art is set up.
Digitally altering Images.
Francesco Brunotti. "Where's your head at?" To further develop my fourth strand, I decided to reverse the concept I had been previously experimenting with and instead of adding to my images, I would like to take away elements from them. Francesco Brunotti's work fits perfectly within my brief of unconventional fashion photography. Whilst his images do not primarily explore high fashion or editorial work, they are a perfect example of someone going beyond what is expected in an image featuring clothing. Brunotti has several sets of images all following the same concept as the ones below do, yet in each group the background and objects/ clothing change due to the weather reflecting the seasons. While the concept of digitally removing body parts isn't peculiarly revolutionary, his images have a rather lighthearted and positive feel to them, which is why I was initially attracted to them. I also heavily influence by the focus on the clothing in the photographs. In someways, we rely on peoples faces to tell us all about what kinda of person they are, when we remove this however, we are left looking for the next best thing to give us this insight. In this case, we look at the props, actions and environment around the person, but most importantly for my brief, their clothing. The manipulation effects used here are fairly straight forward and easily achievable, the image is taken twice, once with the person and once without, the camera must not move, to ensure the backdrop is capture exactly behind the persons head. When we then layer the two images in Photoshop and digitally erase the head, the layer behind should match up perfectly with the layer in front. I would like to attempt to recreate Brunotti's images, using the same method. Once I have experimented with the method, I will alter the feel of the images by adding more of a high fashion influence to them through the clothing and location. This relates to my brief as these are not the type of images we are used to seeing in high fashion magazines, as the face of the model is such an important aspect. It will be interesting to see what happeneds when I take away such a key part of the image. |
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Nacho Ormaechea
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While Francesco Brunotti focuses on the clothing worn in his images, I was inspired by Nacho Ormaechea's work due to the way he experiments with a completely opposing concept. Ormaechea's work can be interpretative in a number of different ways, for me, I feel a huge emphasis is put on the shape and form on the individual compared to what they are wearing. Whilst Ormaechea's work is not predominately fashion based, this concept is rarely seen through fashion photography and would be a great twist on the typical fashion image. This way, less focus would be place on the item of clothing the model is wearing, a more on the surroundings that influence this clothing choice. This idea would fit in excellently with my unconventional fashion photography brief. On the other hand, I could use Ormaechea's work as a way to place attention on the pattern and texture of the clothing. Therefore within the cut out figure through Photoshop, I could place different patterns and textures of material. To further extent this idea, I could play around with unconventional textures such as grass, flowers, brick and even food, relfecting the nature of the environment they are currently in. I feel Ormaechea's work is an great extension of Brunotti's and Anzeri's due to the heavy altering of an image. |
Strand four.
Symmetry and Pattern, Artist response.
Ujin Lee
Fitzpleasure - alt-J video. |
My final strand for the unconventianal fashion photography breif is "Symmetry and Pattern". I was inspired by photographers such as Ujin Lee, who's fashion based portraits are highly effective in conveying a different and intresting approach to fashion photographs. I like the way the form of Lee's models looks when reflected in the vertical and the shapes created by the model's body are highly effective next to the plain studio background. Ulitimatly, I would like to attempt to play around with this tecnique as I feel there are many more ways I could take the concept through adding colour, props, pattern and even fabric. Furthermore, band "Alt-J"'s video "Fitzpleasure", is highly effective in taking this reflection tecnique to the next level through the use of moving image. I love the way the by splitting the screen and adding a mirror tecnique, the models appear to be moving into and out of each other. This looks almost supernatural and slightly out of body. I think the plain, black background is also highly effective in isolating the models movement and allows the audiance to focus purely of the movement of the models. Firstly, I will attempt to take a series of images based on the reflection concept demonstrated in Ujin Lee's work using a simple studio set up to insure that I get the tecnique correct. Once I have experimented with this, I would like to further develop the set and then possibly attempt to experiment with the same tecnique using film.
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Further response to symmetry.
Experimenting with texture.
Experimenting with texture.
I found "Dynamic Blooms", a film by Nick Knight, Luke White and Remi Weekes. The video inspired me due to the amount of texture used and the interesting shapes created in and around the fabric. I also love the idea of making a short film clip, as here we feel so involved in the texture and feel of the material used. At 0:22, the image appears as if it is shot underwater, with a light directly above looking down. I really love the effect given off here, and it has further inspired me to look into underwater photography further. Another artist who explores the way material moves underwater is Zena Holloway. Going back to the tell no one film, I also feel the slowed down effect of the movement is effective and even though a large amount of the movement (for example 0:40) is animated, its still looks quite magic.
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As a starting point to my personal study into fashion photography I took a basic concept of symmetry and pattern that I had seen in magazines, on blogs etc. I used the studio set up in each of my experiments to keep focus on the model and believed it would be easier when I came to photo shopping the reflection. I feel the pictures that work best are the ones that meet perfectly in the center and create an interesting shape through out the rest of the photograph. I later reflected the photograph on the flip side to create a mirrored effect in photo shop simply by copying the image and rotating. Once I was happy with my first set of experiments, I was inspired by Alexander McQueen's runway concept of using light material so I added a sheer sheet for some texture and shape. This turned out very successful especially were ripples and lines in the sheet met and created a whole new shape.To improve this strand further, I'd add pattern to either the model, background or prop, as other successful symmetry images often work with floral or geometric patterns and work well in creating an busy, dream like scene.
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Zena Holloway. Zana Holloway is an underwater photographer who has photographed campaigns for Dazed & Confused, Tatler, Nike and Herbal Essences, to name a few. Although she doesn't explore symmetry in her pictures, the textures present would work well if mirrored. I think Holloway's images reflect my brief of unconventional fashion photography and have inspired me to shoot underwater using flowey fabric. I also like how mysterious and almost dark her images (to the right) look, I think if these were to be reflected like my previous experiments, then they would look very effective as the human form would almost loose its shape completely that we can only see the fabric. The way the background and surroundings in Holloway's shots really add to the dark mysterious atmosphere. I would like to respond to Zena Holloway's images through the use of my underwater camera and incorporating the material into the picture. Hopefully the fabric will make some really nice shapes underwater like Holloway's do, and when reflected, this will look really magical. |
To further develop my symmetry set of photos, I took a set underwater using the same sheet of material that I used in the studio previously. When underwater, this was very effective as interesting shapes and textures were created which when I went to reflect in photoshop, was very successful. I then went on to further edit my pictures, creating a type of kaleidoscope pattern. This set is effective due to the fact that from a far, we almost cannot recognise the person within the image, just a pattern. Then at a closer look, we can make out the floating figure which creates an almost magical feel. Another successful aspect about the pictures is how at a number of different points within the image, shapes are made through the reflection of an image four ways. To develop my images further, I would use heavily patterned fabric, costume or background, similar to Joshua Jordan's below, as this really enhances the kaleidoscope feel. Although the underwater set were successful, the image quality were poor due to the camera used and insufficient lighting underwater.
Other reflections research.
Reflecting buildings.
Panos Papanagiotou
Geir Magne Satre. |
I found greek photographer, Panos Papanagiotou's work, and really liked the abstract effect that came with such a simple concept. The way he has mirrored the buildings gives off the effect that the structures are hovering in mid air, which I think looks almost sci-fi like. The sky acting as negative space around the building works well as we are instantly drawn to the subject. It also gives the impression that that the photographer has taken them from below, creating an interesting angle as opposed to just straight on. Even though Panos Papanagiotou's photography isn't predominantly fashion based, his work is a good example of just how much a subject can change its form when reflected. I also like how there is no land in the pictures, and the pictures have lost all sense of being buildings. This concept would be effective when photographing people, as if I reflect the subject in a certain way, then the human form could look completely distributed. This is shown in Joshua Jordan's work "Kaleidoscope", below. I also found Geir Magne Satre's work to be very interesting and held great relevance to the mirror and symmetry concept.
Hannes Caspar. |
My response.
Joshua Jordan, Kaleidoscope.
Joshua Jordan's set "Kaleidoscope" really inspired me to create different types of patterns within my reflection images. Here, I cropped my original images into a triangle shape using the cookie cutter tool on photoshop. I then pieced each shape together in pentagon shapes, each triangle fit perfectly into the next one. The way her arms create shapes between each image is effective in enhancing the illusion of a kaleidoscope by making shapes within each shape.
Further Development of symmetry and pattern.
I further refined my underwater mirror set that reflected several times, yet this time I returned to my original set up in the studio. The quality of the photographs here are much higher as they are taken above water with my better quality camera. Once I had taken the photographs in the studio, I edited them in photoshop, reflecting the image vertically and horizontally then repeating several times. I really like the ones that are repeated several times as i feel these look like patterns even more, plus I feel the shapes created when the images meet is effective when there are lots of them. I also asked my model to jump and create as much movement as possible this time to create interesting ripples in the fabric which when reflected, make shapes and lines in the picture. Once I was happy with how these turned out I attempted to layer my pictures, before editing them, in photoshop then reflect them. I think these were so effective as it heightened the kaleidoscope effect, creating even more shapes within each layer. To improve these further, I would like to add more colour as this would make them look even more kaleidoscope-like. However, in the studio this is hard due to the plain black or white background as well as the sheet being plain. For my next set, I will take my subject to an outside environment with the sheets of fabric, still sticking to the idea of the reflection and movement within the fabric, yet this time the texture from leaves and trees will add to the pattern effect.
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Further experimenting with symmetry.
Reflecting faces and features.
As a further extention of my symemetry experiments, I decided to look at the symmetry within the face. I took basic portraits in a studio set up and then fliped and mirrored the image within photoshop to create patterns within the models hair and facial features. I found the way that a basic image can be turned into a almost abnormal and alien-like form to be quite basic and like the way that if I took this set further, the face could be transformed into an unrecognisable image. The basic black backdrop is really effective in isolating the face and the main subject that is reflected, however if I added a patterned backdrop, these images could be further improved and would create intresting shapes and patterns where the lines meet. I could also use this concept with my other symmetry set where I use a model and fabric to create patterns. If I then went on to add a highly detailed background, even more patterns and intresting shapes will appear. I could use a background such as trees, flowers, bricks or highly detailed fabric such as lace.
Symmetry and Pattern.
Refinement.
To further develop my symmetry and pattern images, I added a complex backdrop and increased the amount of movement within the fabric and the model. Unlike my previous photographs, I have added a back drop to increase the intensity level of repetition in each one. I feel like the trees and shapes in the background highlight and heighten the geometric effect of the in each image, making them appear more like a pattern than just a repetition of the image in the foreground. I followed the same manipulation techniques in Photoshop as my other reflection images, yet this time I had to be extra cautious due to the number of shapes and lines, each one had to be lined up perfectly to the next image. I used the standard process in photoshop to adjust my image (levels, saturation), then copied my image and reflected it separately, then placing the flipped image next to the original one. I repeated this method several times until I had achieved a substantial pattern. One I was happy with the positioning of all the images, I had to make sure I flattened all the layers to make one image. |
Final piece.
My coursework final piece will be printed out on large paper, as if resembling wall paper as the pattern is highly repeated and complex. This way, from a far the image will look almost like a snake skin print, in some ways adding to the fashion theme. Then at a closer look, the person viewing the image will discover the model holding the sheer sheet of fabric, the effect I was aiming for. Although I would have preferred the image to be bright and colorful, there is a somewhat dark and mysterious feel that comes with the black and white image, combined with the forest background. If I had more time to develop my final piece further, I would take this into consideration and add colour from the fabric or the model's clothing. I could also look into adding colour into the background which would create more shapes and lines. I would also like to further attempt to manipulate these images further.