This is the Arnolfini Portrait, a painting created by Jan van Eyck in 1434. Now, when you think of love and romantic depictions, a portrait like this is typically not what immediately comes to mind. Both subjects look stone cold and the distance between the man and wife conveys a sense of discomfort. I chose this Renaissance painting to attempt turning it into a humorous wedding photo of a famous couple.
The celebrity couple I chose to showcase in this portrait were John Krasinski and Emily Blunt because they are notorious for their comedic relief. They are clearly happier than the original subjects and so the uncomfortable distance between them now appears to be a purposeful pose. I changed the color of their clothing to be complimentary (blue and orange), but in the original painting the background had a lot of warmer colors. The existing background didn't allow John and Emily to stand out, so I chose to filter it to black and white. This change truly made them stand out, so much so that they almost look out of place. But the scenario in my mind has John and Emily recreating their wedding photos with a Renaissance flair. Dressing up in Renaissance fashion and taking photos in front of a backdrop, something truly extravagant and entertaining.
In the world of entertainment, there will always be (for better or for worse) paparazzi and gossip networks. To make the photos more exciting, I chose to place them in an Instagram setting under the E! News account. I simply took a screenshot of one of their recent posts and edited it to enhance my photo. As you can see, "thereal_jan_vaneyck" liked the photo and E! News simply reposted what John Krasinski had shared. The three images above show the same post, but as if someone scrolled through several of the photos. Because the original image is a bit distant, I wanted the next two to be close ups for more detail. In the image below, I placed the phone in a realistic setting with someone who appears to have stumbled across the post. Overall, I think all the changes transformed the original painting into a comical photo within a modern setting.
