Narrative And Sequence
Artist research and Inspiration
in different ways they use mixed media
Abelardo Morell: Is a Cuban American photographer whose work consists of unique perspectives creating projected images of the outside world inside using camera Obscura work. His work creates intimate and surreal dreamlike spaces inside using the projection of the outside world in unique settings. The projections vary from landscapes to iconic landmarks and interesting scenes that juxtapose to the interior it is projected on. I like the use of contrasting the outside world inside and using those to to create a sense of wonder as the environment throws the viewer off having a blend of outside inside.
Susan Derges: British Photographer whose work consists of camera less photography techniques. Her work touches very closely with themes of nature, and change over time. She uses moonlight and a handheld torch to expose photographic paper immersed in water and with natural elements on top capturing beautiful ripple patterns and parts of trees and nature. I like the idea of having a camera less technique. The fact that it is camera less as well makes her work feel even more close to nature as it's a fairly organic process.
Robert Rauschenberg: Is an Avant Garde experimental artist who saved in the military. His work was part of the Neo-Dada and pop art movements. He combines different media including painting, photography, sculpture, collage, and printmaking. The results are visually dynamic thought provoking pieces that pushed the boundaries of art then. His works themes are about chance, interconnectedness, political commentary, consumer culture and much more. I like how how his work covers a broad spectrum of topics and the topics themselves also interest me. His whole ethos seems to be about collaboration of a variety of techniques and topics.
Mood Board
Shoot day
We as a class collaborated with Sybil Studios a clothing brand and shot @ecgbooks at our studio in Ravensbourne. we got to shoot digital and on medium format film.
The lighting below was a flash set up using a large beauty dish
Artist Research Vivian Mock
Vivian mock is a photographer and videographer whose work consists of a soft surreal feminine aesthetic.
She shoots fantasy woodland fine art and portraiture along with boudoir and fashion photography. The softness of her work intrigues me and the consistent faded warm tones help achieve the ethereal effect. Her images are reminiscent of fairytales in story books with her choice of feminine models who often sport long hair or angular bone structures that resemble elven/fairies in fantasy illustrations. I am interested in the blurry effect that seems to be achieved either through post production or on shoot through photographing through material like a think plastic.
Artist Research: ElzvetaPordina
Is a fine art and experimental fashion photographer, she is known for her surrealism and symbolism in her work. She shoots fashion editorials for fashion magazines such vogue, vanity fair, and more. She has shot with high profile celebrities such as Kylie Jenner. She has a very colourful and distinct effect to her images. She also adds a blurred effect to her images that differs more from the other two photographers. It is less polished and blended and is meant to be seen and induces the feeling of motion. She also uses very strong colour pallets in her colour grading as well often tightening the colours in her highlights.
I like the way she portrays her feminine models and the homogenous aesthetic between her backdrops and the clothing and stylising of the models.
Artist Research: Thibault Theodore
There is very little information about Thibault Theodore online as he seems to have no website and only uses instagram and no interviews published about him. His work is very modern and abstract with an undertone of themes along the lines of nightlife voyeurism and grunge. These are similar to the themes of the new wave film posters I researched earlier. Although his colour pallet is more cold toned than those of that poster I like the way he distorts his images using slow shutter speeds and overlaying images. He also has a soft blur that adds a distorted darker dream like effect to his images that I like.
Artist Research: Craig Whitehead
Is a photographer based in Cambridge UK who specialises in fine art street photography. Although the actual substance of his photographs do not excite me I like the overlaying and multi exposure techniques he uses to create an abstract landscape across the image whilst still having an original structure of the background image evident. I also like how he uses pops of colour through out these multi exposures.
Research Movie: In the mood for love, Directed by Wang Kar Wai
I am taking inspiration from "In the mood for love" as the genre of film my images would be about. These still in particular tell a love story that is lonely, Hence the location being in a large tunnel, the contrast between the space and the lone figure evokes the feeling of loneliness and contemplation which is seen by these characters individually and together told by their disconnected body language. The soft lighting by the single lamp and dark environment is similar to Thibault Theodore and Vivian Mocks work. The body language also tells a story of a possible conflict, sadness or darkness in the love story which is why I am choosing the tunnel for its dark and grungy setting, not telling the typical positive and successful love story that are popular with the types of romantic films popular in modern day.
First Workshop with Sibyl Studio
Our class were given the opportunity to shoot with Sibyl Studio a clothing brand and Eloise Chong a professional Model. We shot in our studio at university. The brands aesthetic is very organic and down to earth. The set up was only one light with a beauty dish on flash with a white background and two polly boards. props were a few branches attached to a C stand and scattered dried leaves and flowers. The lighting set up eventually changed for different groups but the above lighting was for my shoot.
Below are my three favourite shots from the shoot. The first two being on film and the third one on digital. I like how the film gave the photograph more texture and how the shadow came out less harsh. I asked Eloise for these poses as they were "feminine", soft, and whimsical. The dress she had on reminded me of a Disney princess from "rags to riches" Like Snow White or cinderella. I liked the third digital image as there was movement and she emulated a Disney princes frolicking through the woods as the tree branches and leaves on the ground suggested. I really liked working with Eloise as she was very adaptable and as a student who may not have been familiar with directing the model she understood very quickly what kind of mood I was going for and would suggest different posing as well as taking direction well.
Workshop 2
Call Sheet
Inspiration
Shoot Experience:
On the day of the shoot since it was the second shoot we have done in collaboration with a brand everyone including myself felt a lot more comfortable and prepared. What was different about this lighting set up then the first shoot was we used continuous lighting which allowed us to clearly see how the shot was going to turn out. We were also able to shoot movement easier without having to wait for the flash to recharge. In comparison I enjoyed using continuous lighting more and this lighting set up as it was flattering on the clothing, and more dynamic then the previous shoot.
Our professional model we were working with for this shoot was Mimi. She has a different look to Eloise which was interesting to see how she carried the same clothing brand as the previous shoot. We had more colour on set to work with but were instructed to edit the images into black and white which I thought was a shame as the turquoise tones in the clothing and background blended beautifully with her hair and skin tone. I liked how the textures and creases of the clothing gave the black and white tones to have more contrast catching harsher shadows and bright intricate highlights. For mimi I wanted to have more shape and angles to her poses and since the clothing was difficult to move in I used her elbows to achieve this. My favourite image is of her with her leg out as it creates an interesting shape and you can see the ribbon on the side of the dress. Mimi was very personable and friendly the day we shot her and was easy to communicate with. I have enjoyed working with the models the most out of these two workshops in working with them to create suitable poses to portray a certain mood.
Movie poster inspiration:
Fallen Angels 1995 Wang Kar Wai
Suzhou River Lou Ye
2046 2020 Wang Kar Wai
Wang Kar Wai: Wang kar Wai started as a screen writer turned Director in Hong Kong. His work is known for its poetic story telling around the themes of longing for love. Born in Shang Hai and raised in Hong Kong his work is inspired by his place of upbringing. Throughout the intense city landscape and bustling atmosphere. He pays homage to his city giving the city a personality and character throughout his films carrying a life of its own. His work is also inspired by Hong Kong Cinema which often integrated east and western culture unlike mainland china.
Aesthetic Inspiration:
His visuals have been influenced by western New Wave Cinema trends such as the French and Italian Neorealism. He was also inspired through collaboration with Australian Cinematographer Christopher Doyle who he worked with on fallen Angeles, 2046, and more. Through the influence of Italian neorealism he used his observation of people and their relationships and the complexity of the human experience.
Shoot Evaluation:
So the shoot was majorly set back due to my model having last minute responsibilities. We didn't end up doing hair and Makeup till she arrived at 5:30pm and didn't leave for location till 7:30pm. Thankfully I didn't need to rely on daylight for this shoot. We arrived on location around 8pm and shot for about 45 minutes.
One of the main difficulties was avoiding other people in the photos as it was a busy hour for commuters using the tunnel. I didn't use any external lighting and was worried that it would affect the quality of the images by needing to use a higher ISO. I liked how the tunnel lights created harsh shadows and a yellow tint as I was satisfied with the new wave film poster aesthetic it achieved.
Digital Editing
Below are the images I used to combine and overlay to achieve the final selection above. I used overlay hard light to merge two images and then adjust the opacity and overlay type to achieve a desired effect. I didn't use any lights only the ones on location. I liked the harsh shadows and due to needing a higher ISO to capture the image there was a grainy effect which is reminiscent of shooting on film which I also liked.
These are the digital images I experimented with overlaying in different ways. I wanted to achieve a similar mood to the posters above. The Green mid tones and yellow tint are very reminiscent of new wave Wang Kar Wai Films. I chose to shoot in this tunnel as the yellow lighting and grime filled walls were suited to a dark and mysterious atmosphere which seemed to be a trend in new wave film posters. One of the inspirations was the film poster of Fallen Angel in the tunnel. It's a dark crime romance film as the trend for Hong Kong new wave films were there they were mostly of dark genre fusions of the directors artistic expressions. The genre of dark romance seems to be a common one hence a female protagonist in the photo. Wondering by herself through the tunnel romanticising the dark environment and looking longingly at the camera. I also cut out and erased sections of images to section out the overlays and make a seamless collage. For the composition I wanted the images to be balanced and have not too much negative space. I used duplicates of the model to create mini vague storylines and suggestions of contemplation and a for longing mood. I used the structure of the tunnel to create a face framing shape of the portrait of the model to create a trapped feeling.
here is a side by side of my inspiration for the aesthetic of my images. The green tinged mid tones and yellow highlights create the grungy underbelly of city night life and the tunnel creates a line leading the eye to the main subject in the image.
Project evaluation:
What went well: I think out of the whole process of this project the outcome was the best result I could have hoped for in terms of what my visualisation and inspiration was. It is very clear where my idea came from and how I achieved it and why I did what I did to achieve it.
what could have gone better: I think I could have made this shoot a test shoot and taken my idea further in stages of development. I really liked this but I felt like it didn't use the briefs idea of incorporating a more complex shoot that requires planning and more components involved in budgeting etc.
What didn't go well: I didn't manage my time well enough and didn't get to do any physical experimentation which I think in hand would have helped take this idea one step further and made it really visually striking and unique.
Over all I am happy with the outcome results as they are what I had envisioned from the start. What I will do differently next time is manage my time better so I can achieved all the things I set out to do in order to complete the project with as many stages of development and experimentation needed to bring my work and grade to the next level.
