“The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” – Andy Warhol
Statement of intent- What is your aim? I aim to produce a Portfolio of work showing my ideas, creativity and structure based on my theme of Portraits. At the end of this, I will choose my best photographs and select them so that they can be viewed within a gallery.
What is your initial research? For my initial research, I will start by looking at fashion photographers. At the moment, I have two in mind. I have chosen Henri Cartier-Bresson and Helen Levitt.I chose Henri Cartier-Bresson because he has taken photos of old buildings and made them look older then they actually are. I also, chose Helen Levitt because her photos are of groups of people against old buildings to make the people stand out. However, I chose street photography because it looks interesting and there are many ways and themes to do this. I am also aiming to look at the work by Alex Webb as his photos are in colour and are taken of a wide range of themes. I feel that colour is a contemporary aspect in today's society as colour photography was not around in the early 1900's so it is a big change. However, I would like to try and capture within my work a mixture of the black and white photos and colour to explore my theme and to develop my skills.
How are you going to choose your theme? When I chose my Portrait theme, my initial thoughts were the people, space and the background that I might be able to use. After thinking about the project, I realized that there are still many items and props I could also use, for example, transport, signs, reflections and unusual angels to help make the photos more interesting and unique How are you going to show process? To show process throughout my work, I will start by taking photos step-by-step to show the process that I have been making. I will develop these images further by taking more ideas from them and editing them in Photoshop so they look improved. I then hope to undertake a series of photographs within Manchester Town Centre and Wrexham Town Centre.This will give me a range of locations to make my work more personal to me. How are you going to experiment? I would like to experiment with a wide range of techniques within my work such as using different apertures, composition techniques and rule of thirds. I would also, like to experiment with props and the people first to see how it turns out for my first shoot. I will then also try to push myself to be more creative within Photoshop and learn how I can develop my skills within that. Some of the tools I would like to explore in Photoshop are the lasso tool, layers, cropping and saturation tool.
Time Line? I have 2-3 months to produce this portfolio of work towards the production for my final piece. I aim to complete this initial research within the 1st week and 2 days at least so that, I can them aim to start photographing by the 2nd week in order to give me the time that I need to show progress. I will them have a couple of hours for my practical exam for my final photos.
What will you do as your work progresses?
As my project progresses I will use annotations throughout my Portfolio by labelling the pictures with numbers and writing when I need to improve next time so that I know what I need to improve. This will also, help me to improve on other pieces of work that I will produce. I will manly use all this advice from my peers and others that are not seen in my photos, so that I can get honest opinions. After the creation of my final piece, I will write a final evaluation on the project as a whole, reflecting on what went well and what I need/needed to improve on or I need to change.
Mind Map
Mood Board
I have chosen these images because they look bright and interesting. They show a strong contrast between flowers and different colours. In my opinion these images have been created in Photoshop. The impact is that this makes the people stand out because of the contrast of Photoshop images against a pastel background. I may use the inspiration from these images to help me to create ideas when I make my own final outcomes.
Colour:
I have chosen these images because they are bright colors and stand out. They are showing a strong contrast between the light and dark colors.This might inspire me to use these colours as they are festive and joyful colours.
Contrasts:
These backgrounds makes the purple,pinks and blues stand out. They are showing that colours can be mixed together to present different patterns.This might inspire me to use these as it is unusual to see these. These colours shine out as you can see the people in the background to look like there fading away.
Photography Research The 5c's
Dorothea Lange
Composition-
Content
It is an old photo from when the war was happening. I can tell because the children are looking away as if their hometown/country has just been taken away from them.It is in a black and white colour to show the power between poverty and conflict. I think this photo is set in the 1960's in San Francisco as it is after the war so therefore, their home could have been destroyed.This photo is made from a black and white filming tape. In the background of this photo is a dirty old wall.
Connection
This theme is in war, when all of the building and people properties were destroyed because of the war. In my opinion, this photo is in black and white to show how they didn't have much and that they wanted clean clothes and a nice walk home to live in with food and water and lovely warm clothes and to keep clean and wash.
Comment
I don't like this photo as it is in black and white, also I don't like that she is homeless and has 3 children.This photo makes me feel really annoyed as the mother has 3 children with her out on the street. In my opinion, they are really hungry,cold,thirsty and want a lovely warm home to live. The black and white colour of the photo is a colour film and it makes it look worse. Their clothes are really dirty and their home is now dusty. In my opinion, the mother has no idea what to do as she now has no way of going places,eating,drinking,washing or looking after the children. The mother looks really traumatized as her home country has just been crumbled down into piles of rust and dirt. The children are looking over their mum's shoulder so they don't have to see what is happening. I think that their mother lived in the country when she was younger as she looks really traumatized and worried. The eye level is eye-to-eye. The sweet spot is her eyes. In my opinion, her eyes look like they are going to burst out into tears.
Context:
Magdiel Lopez was born in Havana Cuba. Magdiel Lopez spent most of his childhood years inspired by the colour culture that surrounded him. Naturally, such upbringing played an integral part in forming Lopez’s keen sense of style, art and design, which can be realized in his works today. Magdiel Lopez is best known as a Multimedia Artist. Cuban artist known for his work in a variety of mediums including digital and print work. He is also known for working as a creative director and has contributed to brand identity, conceptual advertisements, and is recognized for his ongoing series A poster Every Day. He was born on August 28, 1989 in Cuba. He has created digital portraits of several famous celebrities including Millie Bobby Brown and David Lynch. He first started his professional career as an artist in 2006. He gained attention when he started working with clients such as Apple, Nike, Braze, and Warner Bros.
Composition:
Strong leading line of the horizon right in the middle of the image, highlighted by the difference in the 2 background colours. Rule of thirds used, the woman's face is in the top half, this makes it stand out, especially with the bright pink background colours showing the woman's face stand out the most in that section. Use of Photoshop to enhance the image of a mountain coming out off her face and her actual face floating in the sky. Studio setup initially of a side profile and then enhanced, modeled the hair and make-up to make it stand out even more than it already is. Very clear image, so fast shutter speed against a natural background so it could be manipulated easily in Photoshop and make it more fake/not-natural. Probably a studio shot with lightning set-up to highlight the face and hair. Tripod used to help the photos be more still and not blurred.
Context:
In this image I can see the profile of a woman's face, a mountain, clouds and the head of the woman, floating in the sky. In my opinion, I think that the image has a Japanese style to it, this is suggested by the graphic effect that reminds me of a Japanese print. His Photoshop images are quite minimal in context, with a strong graphic element and simple style that makes them stand out.
Connection:
I didn't use these colours as the theme that I have gone for is dark colours. Yes, I did use a tutorial to produce my final outcomes. Yes I did use similar photoshop tools I created a horror book cover.
Plan for the shoot:
This photo is my inspiration as it's amazing Magdiel Lopez also, made this photo. Magdiel Lopez is focusing on Photo-shopped images. I really like the way that she uses Photoshop as she make the images stand out. I am going to start by trying little things and seeing what else I could do.
The equipment I am going to use is canon DSLR camera and I will need to blur the background. For this I will need to use a medium depth of field on my camera. I will need a white colour background drop. As I will manipulate the background I want using Photo-shop. I will need
Below are the studio set-ups that I hope to use when taking my own images :
Shoot with makeup:
These are some photos which were taken of the makeup that I had brought in. I used tis makeup to get my model ready for the shoot.
Shoot one with makeup and outfit:
Best Photo:
This is the best photo because it is in focus and Emily is looking at the camera.
Worst Photo:
This is the worst photo because it is really blurry and Emily isn't looking at the camera.
Shoot Two:
Photoshopped Image:
Shoot Three: Photoshopped Image:
Photoshopped Image:
Shoot Four:
Refining my ideas:
I have been exploring different lighting effects on my Portrait images and I would like to develop my work further by creating different outcomes. I had thought about Magazine covers but to make it more personal, I have decided to design Gothic Book covers. I think this will suit the images I have been working with.
Photoshopped Image:
Shoot four:
Photoshop 1:
Photoshop 2:
Shoot five:
Photoshoppeed Image:
History Brush:
You can use the History Brush to apply an image area from a different state or snapshot to your current state. Use this tool to restore a portion of an image to an earlier state, while leaving the rest of the modified image alone.
Paragraph:
The theme of the pictures are sunsets. I chosen this theme because I thought that it would look nice and as I haven't done this theme before. I am going to do animals, food, makeup and plants as my next themes.
Final Gallery:
Evaluation:
The project theme that we did was Portrait. At first, I didn't think much of it because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. However, when we started to do more and more shoots with our own ideas e.g clothes and makeup it became more fun and became creative. I most enjoyed getting ready to take the photos by doing the makeup looks which was chosen, creating the set ups for the shoots and getting the correct equipment when it was needed but also taking the photos was enjoyable too. This is because I was able to use my own ideas and take the photos how I wanted too. I experienced new techniques when using photoshop/ photopea when creating my final outcome of 'Do You Dare'. I would love to develop their skills further by creating more outcomes of horror/ gothic book theme covers. The photographer I researched was Magdiel Lopez. Magdiel has amazing skills when using photoshop/ photopea. Magdiel Lopez influenced me as she used photoshop to create her outcome and so did I. Magdiel also used blocked colours which I did with mine but I went down the dark side not the bright side like her. The technique I enjoyed the most was making sure everything was in the correct place at the correct time. I feel as if the photos of the makeup were the most successful part of this project as not only are there photos of the makeup used, there are photos of it on the model and in the clothes we had planned for. I encountered a problem at the start of the project which was when nothing seemed to be working out, this was when the photos I had taken were blurry and the camera wasn't set up in the correct settings for when I was taking them. I learned how to do it properly when I took more photos of the model. I fiddled about with the exposure, lighting and zoomed in and out because I needed it to be perfect for the photos I was taking. I experimented with aperture, creating a smaller depth of field to focus on the model's face. If I was given the chance to complete the portrait project again then I would. This is because I now have new and improved ideas of how and when I can do the shoots. I know what I would have to do in what time space and when would be the appropriate day to do the shoots and when the weather is perfect.