Digital Manipulation: Idea Development

The end of the course is getting sphincter tighteningly close now, so obviously the sensible thing to do is to pick something easy to do within the available time frame. Being sensible however, is not something I can ever be accused of. I have therefore decided to abandon all the manipulation ideas I've previously discussed, and go for something completely different. Whilst doing research for the manipulation part of the course I was looking through the list of artists Marie gave us, and one's work in particular caught my eye...Faye Heller!

Heller specialises in producing photo montages:

Swiss, By Faye Heller

She often uses architectural straight lines, such as the modernist/brutalist architecture of the building above, or a staircase (below), as a counterpoint to the organic lines of the female form.

Start Of Fiction, By Faye Heller

To produce her montages Heller often takes photographs from her own archive, she then separates the photographs in to segments, which she lays out in various ways before settling on the final configuration. Once she's created a montage she likes, she then photographs the resulting picture to create the final image. It's a tad easier for me to produce my images. All I'll have to do is use the marquee selection tool in photoshop to highlight the sections of the photographs I want to use, then separate them using either the cut, or copy command, before placing them in to the new picture with the paste command. I'll then be able to fine tune the position and size of the selection with the move tool and the transform options.

I'm not sure yet whether my images will be colour photographs or black and white, but if I do decide to go with the B&W option it will just be a case of desaturating the images.

I know this isn't very detailed, but I only decided to do this a few hours ago, so I'll update this post as more information becomes available.

Idea Development

If you've read my last post, you'll remember my promise to be a bit more consistent in my blog posting. Well, here's my second post in as many days.

Look At All The Pretty Colours

Having decided that black and white pictures with colour accents wouldn't cut the mustard, I started looking round for further inspiration. It wasn't hard to find, and it came in two forms: John Rankin Waddell, better known as Rankin, and as already stated, Edward Steichen. Both have an amazing ability to make a feature of colour. That's exactly what I want to do. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about making a colour picture, but making a picture of colour (does that make sense?) What I mean is, I want the colour to be as integral a part of the picture as the subject posing. I'm not sure if that's the right attitude to have when doing a specialist certificate in people, but there you go.

Photograph by Rankin

Take for example the picture above. Without Rankin's liberal use of pigment, it would just be a standard picture, well composed and exposed, but a standard picture none the less. It's the strong contrast between the models pale skin, and the vivid colour, that really makes the picture stand out. The effect is further heightened, by the use of a plain white background and a strong light source.

Clearly I can't go around throwing art supplies in people faces (they tend to be funny about that sort of thing), I can however, use assorted other methods to add a sense of vibrancy to my pictures.

Backgrounds

It goes without saying (but I'm going to say it anyway), that choosing the right background, is one of the most important aspects of producing a well composed photo. Although the college studio has a selection of  background boards I could use, I'm probably going to bring in my own. I've been looking around, and have found a number of different fabrics that I think would work well as backdrops. I haven't decided yet whether I'll use a single block of strong colour, or try a patterned/striped background.

Photograph By Rankin

I'm going to be producing a mixture of different  photographs: head shots, partial body shots, full body shots. That means I'm going to need a wide selection of material sizes. I think a 1x1 metre section should be fine for the head shots, but for the rest, I'm going to have to consult Marie.

As I explained with the first picture, a simple white background can also work well, but it does mean you're relying on the subject, or props, to add the impact to the photo. In order to achieve a pure white background, you have to correctly use my next subject: lighting.

Lighting

For the pictures with a pure white background, I'm going to try and create a high key effect. What's high key you ask? Good question. High key photography, involves using overly bright lights to remove the majority of the shadows from the picture, and thereby reduce the level of contrast in the image. When used with bright colours, It gives the picture a real sense of life and vibrancy.

With the coloured background pictures, I'm going to try a couple of different lighting options, then see which I prefer. I'll try a high key look with some of them, but for others I'm going to try to add a little variety. I've seen a look in a few photos which I'd like to replicate. It involves allowing the colour to gradually darken as it reaches the edge of the frame, giving the subject a sort of halo.

I'm not sure yet if I'll try to achieve this practically or not. I could probably create the look fairly easily in the studio. I'd just have to use a snoot as the light source for the background, rather than the usual softboxes. If I decide to create the look in post processing, I'll just add a vignette in photoshop. Oh well, another question for Marie.

Props

I can't really go in to too much detail about which props I'm going to use, because I'm still trying to finalise my plans.  In most of the pictures, any use of props will be minimal, but I've got one idea that calls for a number of different pieces. I'll try to explain more in a future post.

There you go. Under a thousand words.

Research: Edward Steichen

“A portrait is not made in the camera, but on either side of it.” Edward Steichen

I'd like to pretend, I have an encyclopedic knowledge of photographers, that when pressed, I could instantly rattle off a list of the most important and influential photographers of all time. Sadly, this isn't the case. I could probably bluff my way through a conversation with the casual enthusiast (dropping an Ansel Adams here, or a David Bailey there), but, if confronted by a genuine student of photography, I would probably only succeed, in embarrassing myself. So, having made this admission, I'd like, if I may, to introduce you to Mr Edward Steichen.

Edward J Steichen by Nickolas Muray

If I'm being perfectly honest (and that would appear to be the case), I've never heard of Edward Steichen...correction, I hadn't heard of Edward Steichen. That is, until about a week ago. Whilst looking at Marie's blog, I came across a link to: Steichen in Color. This is a book discussing Steichen's experiments with the different methods of creating colour photographs, in the early part of the 20^th century. Always eager to expand my knowledge, I quickly ordered a copy, and simply had to wait for it to arrive. When it did, I wasn't disappointed. My eyes have since been opened, not only to a highly accomplished photographer, but to the great contributions he made to photographic art. As a result, I've decided to change the theme of my main assignment, and include more colour, than I'd originally intended.

Frances Farmer, September 21, 1937 by Edward Steichen

I really like this portrait, the wistful look on her face and subtle catchlights in her eyes, encourage an emotional connection with the subject. You find yourself wondering what she's thinking about while she poses. I think the texture and colour of the backdrop, combined with the muted nature of her clothes, also gives the picture an interesting tonal quality. Produced as a 33.5 x 25cm colour print,  Steichen used a complicated process known as dye imbibition. I won't pretend I understand the process, but it involved the production of three negatives, each of which would then have been turned in to dye absorbing gelatine matrix (no, me either.) these matrices would then have been placed on a piece of paper, and the absorbed dyes would have been secreted on to the paper, creating a colour image.

Charlotte Spaulding Albright 1908: Autochrome By Edward Steichen

Before taking up photography, Steichen trained as a painter. When you look at his work, you can easily see how this has influenced his approach to photographs. His portraits are often highly stylised, with the models formally posed and containing traditional props, such as a bouquet of flowers. I think this traditional approach was also the result of his desire that photography be considered a proper art form. A good example of this, is his picture of Charlotte Spaulding Albright. It reminds me of Gustav Klimt's painting Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Klimt's painting was completed in 1907, only a year before Steichen's autochrome. Looking at them, they both successfully convey the regal nature of the subject, and the texture of Miss Spaulding Albright's clothes, closely echoes the complex patterns present in the picture.

Adele Bloch Bauer I, by Gustav Klimt

Although I could never hope to replicate the complex methods Steichen used. If possible, I'm going to try and include a pose, or object in some of my pictures that will act as subtle reference to his work.