Album cover
Album cover
Album cover
Emily Lee
Investigating reality
Timescapes
Stephen Wilkes - Day to Night
"Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Day to Night" by Stephen Wilkes - 2015
This image is composed of a series of photographs taken over a day and a night and blended into one seamless landscape. Spending a total of 26 hours in the Serengeti National Park, Stephen Wilkes took approximately 1500 photographs to create this single piece. As part of his "Day to night" project, this image is one of many composites produced by Wilkes involving weeks of editing to compile hundreds of different aspects into a single scene.
Here the night begins on the left, a midnight blue sky speckled with stars gently blending through to a brighter shade, patterned with an intricate sequence of clouds. Slightly t the left of centre, the pink and orange hues of the early morning sun begin to peek over the horizon, helping to make clearer the contrast between the far ends of the images. The transition from night to day here is incredibly well executed, a soft gradient sweeping across the image, creating a perfectly harmonised piece.
Having taken well over a thousand photographs in preparation to produce this one image, Wilkes proceeded to spend countless hours in photoshop, utilising the layer mask feature to erase and colour in tiny fragments of a selection of
images. Using this broad selection of images in combination allowed for the inclusion of an incredibly wide variety of natural life within this single image, thus incorporating a busy atmosphere, though not so overcrowded that the image becomes chaotic. This careful construction produces a scene of a surreal nature, but in a a subtle way. The discretion of the blend of images maintains harmony, yet the fact that this image is a composite makes it surreal as it is a display of a scene that would never be witnessed except in the imagination.
Using the watering hole as a main feature in his image, Wilkes produces a calming atmosphere due to our association of such places with being oases where natural life thrives. Setting up here also allowed for the inclusion of a vast number of different animal species due to their necessity for hydration, thus they will all at some point need to visit a source of water, where Wilkes was able to get a shot of them. Placing the horizon line just slightly above central places further emphasis on the ground based features, showing off Wilkes's prowess in photoshop with his precise use of layer masks.
Wilkes has visited a number of different locations to produce images using this same composition technique. What is particularly impressive is his attention to detail in the inclusion of an incredible number of minute features, especially in the city scenes where there are crowds of hundreds of people at all hours of the day causing a constant overlap. In this image, Wilkes has also blended in longer exposures, showing the light trails left by the taxis travelling through the city. Using the central building as a divider from day to night showing juxtaposing views down either side, Wilkes creates a fantastically surreal image that is utterly entrancing.
Consequently I plan to produce an image of the same ilk, combining - likely fewer than Wilkes's 1500 - images in order to create a gradient spanning the length of a day and a night to produce a surreal piece.
"Flatiron, NYC, Day to Night" by Stephen Wilkes - 2010
Richard Silver - Time slice
"Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy, time slice" by Richard Silver - n.d.
Travelling around the globe to famous structures, Richard Silver shoots a series of images of the course of a sunset and splices the shots together to create one final image. Similarly to Wilkes, Silver produces single images via the combination of many taken over a length of time in order to display the passage of time in a location. Silver however does this by simply cutting sections of each of his images and joining them together to produce the whole scene, unlike Wilkes who uses the process of layer masking certain aspects in or out of the final image to produce a smoother gradient. Silver's work, as it involves the 'slicing' of images, does not produce such a smooth gradient, but there exists a gradient nonetheless.
This technique produces an overall more fragmented image, making the transition from day to night far less subtle and consequently a less complex surrealistic scene. There is also far less attention to detail here, with tiny features in the image being cut in half where they have moved slightly between shots. However, I do rather like this technique as it shows quite beautifully the progression of time from day to night, consequently producing a surreal landscape.
In response to this technique, I intend to produce a 'time slice' of my own. I may perhaps use this technique in a city scene as I feel this would be a far easier was to deal with the complication of having a large number of people in the images.
Response
In response to Silver’s work, I decided to utilise his technique for myself in order to create a composite image displaying the progression of time. I initially scouted a number of spots within the small sea-side town I decided to use for this shoot, finally deciding on a location on the sea front, making use of the row of beach huts as foreground interest and a leading line to the centre of the image where the most part of the town resides.
Beginning my images at around 30 minutes before sunset, I decided to take a couple of photographs every 5 minutes until dark. I proceeded in this manner, upping the ISO slightly with each shot to maintain a good exposure, until 30 minutes past sunset when it became too dark to realistically continue taking photos.
As I chose a winter’s afternoon to take these images, the colours were considerably muted and the sky unfortunately rather grey and cold. To reduce this, boosted the vibrance and saturation in lightroom to make the colours pop more, and also increased the temperature and clarity to make the images seem warmer and more lively.
Furthermore, I used the individual saturation sliders to brighten the colours of the buildings and employed split toning, making the highlights more blue and the shadows more orange, to create a warmer ambience.
Chopping thin, vertical sections of each of my images, I combined them into one to produce a ‘timeslice’ composite image. Unfortunately my attempt did not work quite as well as I had hoped, largely due to the lack of colour in the sky resulting from the thick cloud cover. I chose to photograph the Easterly view in the hope that the setting sun would light up the opposite side of the sky (avoiding the backlighting of the foreground by the bright light behind causing silhoettes), but the light was not strong enough to pierce the thick cloud, and thus there was no colour change. Furthermore the bands of this image are incredibly thick, suggesting that I did not
take enough images. As the change in light level across each band is quite dramatic (especially after the sun had set), I would suggest that I needed to take photographs every 1-2 minutes rather than every 5 in order to attain a smoother gradient.
I hope to re-attempt this technique, with my newfound knowledge that a greater number of images must be taken at an angle facing more toward the sun. I could perhaps attempt to capture a sunrise rather than a sunset which may possibly create a warmer image, thus making it more visually appealing to the viewer.
Attempt 2
Following my initial shoot I decided to re-attempt it, this time taking a greater number of images within the time period so that I would be able to use a greater number of 'slices' in my final image.
I set up my camera on a tripod in the same position as previously in order that I would be able to compare the results of each shoot.
Selecting a total of 29 shots for my final image, I use lightroom to enhance the colours in each in order to disguise the cold winter tones via the increase of the temperature and saturation. I also added some noise reduction in order to diminish the grain produced by the use of increasing ISO with decreasing light levels.
This image is much darker than my previous attempt, largely due to the fact that I did not manage to set up in the right position until 15 minutes before the sunset. Consequently the light level of the first image was much lower than I would have liked, causing my image to show solely the progress of a sunset, rather than from the day into the night.
However I did take images at a considerably higher frequency, thus allowing me to create a smoother
transition from light to dark, thus making the final image more appealing.
Unfortunately though, the high ISO used produces an incredible amount of grain in the image, despite my efforts in post production to reduce it. My aperture was fixed at F20 in order to maintain a large depth of field, however I could have used long shutter speeds towards the end of the shoot to expose the images in order to combat the noise, rather than relying on my ISO.
Overall I feel that this image is a much better attempt than my previous work and thus produces an effective surreal landscape, combining a number of 'slices' of time into a single frame such that we can view them all at once. Such a composition is incredibly out of the ordinary and therefore is mildly baffling to the viewer.
Putting the two images together creates an interesting composition. There's a clear atmosphere of confusion produced by the combination as the viewer's eye flicks back and forth in an attempt to spot-the-difference between the two scenes before coming to the realisation that they are in fact identical. The only difference is in tone between the two images which helps to cause a sense of unease. The fade to darkness in the centre hides the point at which the images combine and therefore make this portion of the image more mysterious suggesting that we could perhaps be looking down the line between two alternate realities.
Composite
Luisa Azevedo
"Flying cactus" by Luisa Azevedo - n.d.
Azevedo is a Lisbon based photographer who specialises in the creation of surrealistic composite photographs. Taking images of everyday items, Azevedo transplants them into alternative situations that create overall surreal compositions.
Here, a photograph of a cactus has been taken and adjusted to fit the size of a hot air balloon. Having substituted the cactus for the balloon, Azevedo eludes to a situation that we know could never possibly arise and thus we are confronted with a surreal image.
The base image of this composite is a mountainous landscape scene, shrouded in mist. This suggests perhaps an early morning shoot, thus engaging a sense of wonderment as we consider mornings in a natural setting as almost magical due to the lack of artificial and material items, allowing us to fully engulf the majesty of our surroundings. The landscape also bears connotations of romanticism with the moody blue tones enhancing the strength and power of the landscape extending as far as the eye can see, up to a ridge of mountains looming in the distance. This sight is reminiscent of Caspar David Freiderich’s “Wanderer above a sea of fog”, the fog winding through the valleys between the rocky outcrops in the typical style now used to express inferiority with regards to awe inspiring surroundings. However in this image the overall power of the landscape is diminished by the fact that it is confined to only the bottom third of the image. The top two thirds belong to the sky and it is hence that the viewer is drawn to the sky instead. Drawing the eye here helps to emphasise the alteration to the image i.e. the cactus as the balloon.
Colour-wise there is additional emphasis on the cactus with its green tones standing out clearly against the moody blues of the landscape behind. However these colours are both slightly muted, amassing an atmosphere of calm, adding a sense of normality to this surreal occurrence. Having also perfectly matched the lighting in both images, Azevedo thus produces a seamlessly blended image that looks almost real, yet our logical brain analyses the elements of the image and deems it an impossibility. Therefore we conclude that the only way such a thing could possibly exist is in the imagination or in the dreams, ergo it is surreal.
Similarly to Azevedo, I plan to utilise ‘ordinary’ objects in ‘ordinary’ scenes in order to produce a composite image that suspends the viewer’s disbelief as their brains use logical analysis to evaluate the mechanics of the situation presented to them. In this way, I hope to produce an image that is both thought provoking and whimsical in order that viewers analyse, but are also amused by my work.
"Wanderer above a sea of fog" by Caspar David Friedrich - c.1818
"Pear Balloon" (Pear, Balloon) by Nancy Fouts - 2010
"Cactus Balloon" (Cactus, Balloon) by Nancy Fouts - n.d.
Nancy Fouts
Similarly to Azevedo, artist Nancy Fouts is an expert in the combing of 'ordinary' objects to produce surreal composites. The only difference being that Fouts's work comprises of real life combinations of objects in sculpture and models where Azevedo's consists of a combination of images.
In her work Fouts tended to take a more satirical approach, often mocking the drollery of modern life. In her work Fouts creates a number of visual oxymorons and contradictions via the bizarre combination of objects in a dadaist/surrealist style. For instance, a walking stick covered in thorns. A walking stick is an object with the sole purpose of supporting the user, yet the addition of thorns results in injury from its use rather than aid. These juxtaposing features make the bizarre concoctions eye catching and thus hold the viewers' attention as they attempt to unpick the function of such items.
"Bicycle wheel" by Marcel Duchamp - 1913
'Walking stick' (Walking stick, Rose thorns) by Nancy Fouts - 2013
Duchamp
In the beginnings of dada, artist Marcel Duchamp, bored by the mere representation of objects in paint, decided to seek an alternative. He began presenting the objects themselves as the works of art, often choosing mass produced, commercial items in protest of the constricting boundaries of "art". Producing a series called "readymades" Duchamp went against the traditional concept of art being meticulously designed and produced individually by artists. In this series Duchamp either simply presented the object as it stood alongside a title pronouncing it as 'art' or he made an entirely useless construction of a combination of items that served absolutely no purpose and therefore must be a work of art. These bizarre concoctions helped to label Duchamp as a pioneer of dadaism, leading the way for conceptual art and surrealism.
We can draw similarities between Duchamp's "Readymades" and the work of more modern artists such as Nancy Fouts in their contradictory nature, presenting juxtaposing ideas of utility and futility to produce an ultimately impossible item.
Nicolas Gaspardel & Pauline Baert - "Yuck"
This series by Nicolas Gaspardel and Pauline Baert - similar to the work of Nancy Fouts - is an investigation into the use of opposites to evoke a reaction. Focusing on food items, Baert and Gaspardel are able to emanate a sense of nausea in response to the compositions. This image in particular creates a feeling of disgust as we can picture the two tastes which we may like individually, yet in combination are appalling to us.
Photographed on a simple, colour block background, any background distractions are removed and the main focus is centred on the bizarre composition. Additionally, the high keyed lighting helps to make clear the content of the photographs in order that they are more easily identified to intensify the shock effect of the composite.
I hope to reproduce a surreal still life in the vein of Baert and Gaspardel’s work, utilising opposites in combination to produce a sense of shock and horror.
From "Yuck" by Nicolas Gaspardel & Pauline Baert - 2019
Response
In response to Gaspardel and Baert's "Yuck" and Fouts' juxtapositions, I decided to create a surrealistic and somewhat grotesque juxtaposition of my own.
Taking inspiration from the "Yuck series, I decided to combine a kidney and a grapefruit into a revolting composite image.
I wanted to use a pop colour background to make the disgusting combination stand out against the cheery atmosphere associated with bright colours. Lighting-wise, I used two soft boxes to the front of the subject and one above to create a high key image to add to the contrasting atmosphere.
Having taken the images of the grapefruit and kidney at a number of different angles, I selected the two images taken from the most similar angles in order to make the image as realistic as possible.
I first cut the face of the grapefruit and pasted it over the kidney, free transforming and puppet warping it to fit the exact shape of the cross section of the kidney. I then used the liquify tool to slightly indent the centre of the grapefruit to give the composite a believable structure and texture. Lastly, I imported the composite into lightroom where I adjusted the saturation of each of the colours in an attempt top make the blues of the background pop more and contrast with the foul subject.
Unfortunately due to the extremely shallow depth of field I was using (to reduce the appearance of the wrinkles in the coloured pillowcase I was using as a backdrop) meant that the focal planes of the kidney and the grapefruit didn't quite match up and consequently I used gaussian blur to blur out the furthest sections of the grapefruit that were in focus outside of the focal plane of the kidney.
I hope to reattempt this shoot, so that I can make the composite as realistic as possible. To do this I will pay closer attention to the small details, such as ensuring that the focal planes of both images are the same (by making sure that both subjects are placed in the exact same spot on the plate) and make certain that the angles of both images are identical (by using a tripod so that the camera does not move between shots.
Portraiture
"Glass tears" by Man Ray - 1932
This image by Man Ray shows a pair of eyes looking up and to the left with eyebrows slightly raised in a look of exasperation. The eyes are heavily emphasised via the use of mascara, lengthening the eyelashes to create a larger body of black around the whites of the eyes to create contrast and draw the viewers attention to this point.
By adding tears, Ray intensifies the sense of sadness and exasperation. Yet the tears are made of glass. They are fake. This therefore makes the image a more satirical representation of emotion rather than a true expression. The idea behind this image was to mock the portrayal of emotions commonly shown in the media. Ray felt that everything that he was seeing was utterly hyperbolised and there was no truth to it at all.
This image is captivating largely due to the angle of the face. The slant of the eyes down to the left makes the image overall more dynamic and hence draws the attention of the viewer.
I hope to produce my own hyperbolic expressions of emotions inspired by Man Ray's "Glass Tears". However I would like to also incorporate a pop art-esque style into my images. I feel this would produce a more effective over-exaggeration with the use of symbolic background colours.
Response
I planned to use coloured paper cut outs for this shoot as the surreal addition to the face to help produce the over exaggerated expressions.
I decided to use expressions that could be quite easily identified so as to make the hyperbole more evident.
ANGER - SADNESS - LOVE - EXCITEMENT
For this shoot, I made use of coloured backdrops in combination with coloured paper cutouts in order to produce a hyperbolic representation of emotion in response to Man Ray's cynicism of reality.
BEFORE
AFTER
After taking my series of images, I wanted to make them 'pop' out at the viewer more. I felts that the colours appeared slightly bleached in my photographs as a result of both the colder winter sun and the more pastel coloured backdrops. I consequently too the images into lightroom and boosted the saturation and vibrance to brighten the colours. I also lifted the shadows and dropped the highlights in an attempt to create a smoother colour gradient. Furthermore, I used high clarity and sharpening to produce an almost hyperrealistic image to complement the exaggerated emotions.
In order to stick my paper cutouts to the model's faces, I used masking tape. Unfortunately the tape used was too thick for the 'angry' cutout and consequently the white of the tape was visible around the black paper. With the female models I also had the dilemma of the off the shoulder shirt being present within my images. To solve this problem, I used the clone stamp tool in photoshop. Cloning sections of skin and placing them over the top of the visible tape to remove it from the image.
My final series from this shoot consists of 4 different sets of exaggerated emotions. I arranged the shots with each person situated on a separate row, the emotions running down each column, to make the series more cohesive and thus more engaging.
I feel that the use of the coloured backdrops in combination with the paper cutouts was effective in the production of a sense of emotion. These colours allowed for the viewer to clearly understand what emotion each image portrays largely due to the common association of specific colours and shapes in media which we are all exposed do on almost a daily basis. We are accustomed to seeing representations in the media and we know that a lot of it is fake, yet how are we to tell what is real and what is fake in
a world of liars? This series - inspired by Man Ray's 'Glass tears' - intends to investigate into emotions through the production of surreally exaggerated portraits. The images each hold incredibly large and obvious visual signals to instigate a sense of either anger, sadness, love, or excitement. We are often privy to such extravagant displays of emotions throughout all forms of media, leading to the question: what is real and what is not? Clearly true emotion is not felt through such excessive contortions of the face, yet this is what we are used to and we are consequently left being swayed by fabricated emotions.
I attempted to take a rather cynical perspective through my surrealistic portraits, which I feel that I have almost accomplished here. The cutouts and backdrops compliment each other to aid the production of emotion, however I feel that I need to better direct my models in order to create more hyperbolic facial expressions that further the sense of fabricated emotion.
Consequently I intend to re-attempt this shoot, perhaps using a number of different emotions that would be more easily expressed.
Digital Morphing
In this series Borsi took portraits of models and, via the use of photoshop's puppet warp and liquify, distorted them to a point of near repugnance. Duplicating features and adding them to the faces of the models, Borsi utilised the dodge and burn tools in order to blend the additional aspects seamlessly into the countenance, producing a realistic 'monster'. Yet as we are all accustomed to the form of the human face these images are shocking to the viewer, the seamless, realistic blend enhancing the uneasy atmosphere. We know that such a sight should not exist, yet we are presented with such a well constructed actualisation which causes the viewer to experience a sense of apprehension.
Borsi's use of a glamour shot, such that we are so used to seeing in advertising, also serves to produce almost a sense of fear at this image. The soft lighting and high clarity image, normally used to enhance the model's beauty, here establishes a juxtaposition, the elegance of the lighting contrasting with the horror of the subject to produce an overall eye-catching image.
Inspired by Borsi's work, I intend to take a series of portraits with 'glamourous' lighting and make use of the puppet warp and liquify tools in photoshop in order to morph the faces of the models to the point of being almost monstrous, thus producing a surrealistic character that creates a sense of unease in the viewer.
Untitled by Flora Borsi - 2015
Response
In response to Borsi's work, I decided to conduct an initial portrait shoot, honing my directing skills to achieve a 'glamourous' model position that would allow me to produce a juxtaposition within my images.
For my lighting I used a strip soft box on either side of the model, with a beauty dish overhead in order to produce soft lighting to smooth the skin of the model and beautify the overall image.
Of all of my shots, I chose six possibilities that I could take into photoshop to play around with. I selected the images with expression in mind, choosing those that were more haughty in nature to further the juxtaposition. In the editing process, I chose to convert my images into black and white, boosting the contrast and clarity in order to produce a more realistic image that would portray high glamour to contrast with the morphing of the face in order to construct a surrealistic portrait.
Using puppet morph I extended the length of the jaw, enough to distort the shape of the face, though still maintaining the approximate form in order to induce an initial sense of unease. I then duplicated the eye and the lips, adding a second version of each onto the face, adjusting their angles and sizes slightly to build on the uncomfortable ambience. Due to the difference in skin tone surrounding the facial features, I had to use the dodge and burn tools in order to match the shade and integrate the new aspects into the original face to make it seem more realistic and consequently cause more of a shock. Next, moving on to the liquify tool, I dragged the corner of the mouth down (mirroring the extension of the chin) and pulled down a section of the centre of the eye to form a tear-like structure falling down from the
eye. This 'tear' being dark in colour gives the impression that the eye itself is melting, rather than having water drip from it. Consequently the portrait is transformed into a monstrous construction, the high glamour and realism of the image juxtaposing the subject and causing discomfort to the viewer.
I feel that this image was successful in the production of a surrealistically morphed image, drawing on the idea of the alteration of fashion shots to make the models seem more attractive and reversing it by instead morphing the models into something hideous. Similarly to the work of Man Ray, this image (and Flora Borsi's series) poke fun at how so many things are staged, it is incredibly difficult nowadays to identify what is real and what is not in a world full of melodrama. This image stands specifically to make a mockery the 'photoshopping' of images to make people appear more attractive via the 'reverse photoshopping' to instead create an unappealing portrait.
Stemming from this initial shoot, I would like to produce a series (in a similar vein to Borsi) and capture a number of shots of several different models.
Attempt 2
In my second attempt I took the model's outfit into greater consideration, opting for a shoulder-less shirt in order to build on the idea of natural appearances to hence further the contrast with the morphing of her face. Also for this shoot I directed the model less, finding that she worked better under her own direction. I encouraged her to engage in fluid movements whilst I shot the images.
Using the same set-up as the previous shoot (two strip light modifiers and a beauty dish) I this time used a much shallower depth of field, thus smoothing the model's skin.
For my second attempt at this shoot, having used a more revealing outfit for the model I was able to build on the haughty expressions to create an overall more pretentious 'beauty shot'. This would therefore help to create a greater juxtaposition with my later editing to produce 'anti-beauty shots'.
I selected my 5 top shots with the best expression and body language and boosted the exposure and clarity to bring them to life, whilst also upping the noise reduction slightly to help smooth the skin and maintain the idea of unrealistic beauty.
In beauty images there is rarely any harsh shadow as a result of the light source being greatly diffused in order to make the skin appear as smooth as possible to enhance the sense of glamour. As we have come to associate a flawless complexion and skin tone with the idea of being beautiful, the presence of any hash shadows within the image would cause it to become 'ugly'. Consequently these images are often very high key with a high contrast applied to nullify the background and highlight the softness of the face. To replicate this style of photography, I used two strip box light modifiers to add diffused, soft light on both sides of the model's face to isolate her from the background. I also used a beauty dish over the model's head on order to fill in light from above and produce a vague shadow under the chin to amplify the jawline. I feel that these shots worked particularly well, exemplifying an effective beauty shot.
For this image, I replicated my previous design of the melted eye via the use of the liquify tool. Though on this occasion, I added extra lines to help further pronounce the irregularity.
This model position is incredibly striking with a slight angle of the face off to camera left, yet the eyes directly address the viewer. The fact that the eyes sit on the top thirds line further emphasises them to make the whole image more authoritative. I also used the liquify tool to alter the share of the eyebrow. The wave shape is surrealistic, yet the arched middle section is reminiscent of a raised eyebrow shedding a disapproving look on the viewer, thus amplifying the sense of authority.
I also added a third eye to the neck of the model which I blurred slightly to fit with the fall off from the focal point. I felt that the lower part of the image was slightly empty - in comparison to the original set - as a result of the bare shoulders. Though the piece is meant to be surreal, I don't feel that the eye fits well here and perhaps the image would look better without.
I prefer this image to my initial attempt largely due to the positioning of the model. Having the model more face-on to the camera allowed me to far more easily manipulate it. Additionally, there is a sense of innocence in the model's pose, with the hand placed lightly on the shoulder and the lips slightly parted as if in an expression of vague surprise. This contrasts well with the distortion of the features, juxtaposing the beauty in the innocence with the ugliness in the warping of the face.
This image is also more appealing to the viewer as it has a nice simplicity to it. There is not too much distortion so the image does not feel hectic, yet a sense of discomfort is still amassed by the warped visage. The subtlety of the drawn out shin and sunken eye make the image seem overall more realistic yet we know it cannot be and therefore are left with an unsettling emotional response to the photograph.
Unfortunately the image is slightly out of focus as a result of the extremely shallow depth of field (F1.8). Using such a low F stop meant that as the model moved slightly between shots, the camera had to re-focus and here it clearly did not quite catch the focus before I took the next shot.
Lola Dupre
Lola Dupre is another artist that specialises in the surrealistic distortion of imagery. In her series "Counting Sheep" Dupre uses a number of images of already slightly bizarre composition (due to the model being clad in a blazer, worn in such a way that we are not accustomed to) and uses multiple print-outs to manually cut and paste together specific portions of the image a great number of times over with minute movements between each placement in order to produce a distortion.
In this particular image Dupre has cut and pasted a multitude of versions of the eye of the model and overlaid it to produce almost a caterpillar-like structure stemming from it and snaking down the face. This alteration has resulted in the additional deformation of the face, extending the chin to make the face slightly longer. The nose and mouth, just visible under the edge of the blazer, have also been moved down slightly so that they bunch together at the chin rather than occupying their usual positions.
Compositionally this image is enticing as the top of the blazer sits nicely on the top thirds line, yet the model's face shows a bold central composition with the model's eye directly in the middle of the image. The eye directly addresses the viewer, amplifying the sense of unease created by the distortion of the visage. The dull, muted colours also help to give a sense of unrest as they are usually associated with mundane, ordinary conditions, yet they are combined here with a wildly abstract subject.
I plan to to produce a response to Dupre's work, building on my previous experiments by trialling the technique manually rather than using digital means.
From "Counting sheep" [collage] by Lola Dupre - n.d.
"Dreams reveal feelings we've hidden or repressed. Dreams are a reflection of our unconscious minds, our emotional truth. The human brain cannot create faces. Every face you've ever seen in a dream, you've seen before, even for just a moment."
- LOLA DUPRE
Response
For this response, I used almost the same set up as my previous beauty shots, but this time added a light on the back drop in addition to the two strip boxes and beauty dish. This allowed me to light the background and produce a vignette effect that isolated my subject.
Using the same set up meant that I would acquire the same smooth, soft lighting on my model's face and therefore the skin tone matching would be far easier for me in the manual cut and paste.
In my edit of these images, I lifted the exposure slightly to keep the images high key, but dropped the highlights so that there was no clipping. I also added clarity and dropped the blacks in order to maintain the contrast and preserve a sense or realness to juxtapose with the distortion.
Of my shoot, I selected a total of 6 possible images that I could take on to the print out stage. I chose images for their quirk in body and hand positioning as well as the expression of the model. I wanted to find an image where there was a clear section of face that I could distort where there was little shadow or small messy sections that would be hard to recombine. I therefore discounted the images where the hair was surrounding the face too closely and was left with two possibles. Of these two I settled on the last as a result of the model's facial expression. I liked the slight parting of the lips, almost in an expression of faint surprise. As the model is directly addressing the camera, the surprise seems to be directed at the viewer, therefore proposing an atmosphere of absurdity. Also in this image, the hand is more in frame and therefore was available to distort.
BEFORE
For my distortion of this image, I decided that I wanted to focus on elongation.Printing a total of 7 copies of the photograph, I began my piece by doing a rough trace of the image onto my paper so that I had a guide to follow. I then set to work initially on the arm and hand, using a number of cuts of the fingers overlaid to prefect my technique before moving on to the face. I matched up the lines and shadows as best as I could to help make the image seem as natural as possible despite the deformation.
Unfortunately, the quality and colours of the image were somewhat lost in the printouts, consequently producing a collage that appears washed out and has little texture within the image itself.
If I were to re- attempt this technique, I would perhaps invest into printing my images onto photographic paper rather than onto normal printer paper.
AFTER
In an attempt to rectify the errors of the printer, I took the scanned collage into lightroom to adjust it. I slightly increased the exposure whilst decreasing the highlights to avoid clipping. I also increased the blacks and the clarity to give the image more depth and prevent it from appearing too washed out. This alteration showed more clearly the lines between each layer of paper on the collage which I actually quite like as an effect. The lines show more evidently that the image is actually a collage, thus making it appear more impressive and also more surreal as the viewer thinks about the technique and the time spent on this image.
Using gels
Alex Garant is a master of the bizarre, specialising in portraits with features multiplied several times over to create almost a double exposure effect on the face. Similarly to Borsi and Dupre, Garant shows a clear sense of distortion in her work, producing images which are far beyond our mundane reality and therefore appear surreal.
This image ('Way up') also includes colour into the surreal mixture to produce an effect reminiscent of a scene through a kaleidoscope. This chaotic assortment of colours and shapes confuses the eye and makes the viewer question their sense of realism.
Inspired by this image, I would like to introduce colour into my studio lighting set ups via the use of gels. I feel that the addition of colour will aid the production of a befuddling atmosphere that will make the images on the whole more surrealistic.
"Way up" by Alex Garant - n.d.
Attempt 1
In my initial shoot, I attempted to introduce colour. I initially created a three light set up, with a key light on the right, fill on the left and a hair light above, before adding a fourth, coloured light. I added a purple light on the right and slightly behind the model to catch the right edge of her body and add a little colour to the image.
In this image, I added a purple gel on the back right in order to highlight the right side of the model with colour. Unfortunately here the light was not nearly diffused enough, causing an area of brightness colour, with very little diffusion across the skin. The light was far too focused.
Here I attempted to add a second colour by placing a gel on the fill light on the left. I chose orange for the front and changed the purple light to a blue to complement the orange. Unfortunately, the orange gel only cast a warm glow onto the model, rather than producing the slight highlight along the edge as I would have liked. The blue complemented the orange nicely, however the light was still not soft enough and therefore cast harsh shadows on the model's face.
Jake Hicks
Jake Hicks
In his work, Hicks utilises gels to add coloured highlights to his images to create more dramatic portraits. Here, Hicks uses a combination of the complimentary orange and blue gelled lights with the blue highlighting more of the head and shoulders of the model and the orange lining the edges of the lower body and arms. The use of complimentary colours helps to draw the eye to the image, the boosted highlights on the slightly lower key image helping to isolate the model from the background.
Taking on the advice of Jake Hicks, I intend to re-shoot my series in order to better specifically highlight sections of the model by using gelled rim lights.
"LEE Filters - Portrait Lighting at Home with Jake Hicks" by LEE Filters - 2018
"Dark desire" by Jake Hicks - n.d.
Attempt 2
In my second attempt, I drew out several lighting plans to try in a far more controlled manner than my previous attempt. I the main aim was to use Jake Hicks' technique of lighting the model fully before adding extra gelled lights. However I also wanted to attempt some fully coloured set ups to compare the effects of the different styles.
I began with two white lights at the front of the model and blue and orange gelled lights behind the model. The gelled lights were initially quite hard, but I then added light modifiers to soften the light and allow it to spread more down the sides of the model to created a coloured highlight. I quite like this set up as the model is well lit so is isolated from the background and the addition of the colours from behind allow for almost a rim lighting effect to produce slim coloured accents.
I next used clamshell lighting (one above and one below the model's face) with my white lights and moved one of the coloured lights around to the front of the model. Switching the colours slightly, I used a blue gel behind and a red gel in front of the model. After taking a few images, I decided to change the red gel to a purple one as I felt that the red didn't work as well with the blue as I would have liked. The purple harmonised much better with the blue than the red, helping to produce an atmosphere of elegance.
Third I swapped out the white light entirely, adding a red gel over the key light and complementing it with a green gel on the fill light.
In my first attempt of recreating Garant's duplicated features, I used a simple portrait with only a slight blue highlight on the left side. Duplicating the face I placed it over the layer below, adjusting the size and position to offset the features slightly whist maintaining a smooth line on the outside of the face.
I feel that this first attempt is not as I would have liked. The offset of the second layer was considerable, consequently making the face far too long and the features too spread out across the face.
The addition of the coloured gel is effective however as it adds a sense of mystery to the image, aiding the creating of a confusing atmosphere.
Here I progressed onto the use of an entirely gelled image, creating more of a challenge for myself in the colour matching of the two layers.
In this edit, I decreased to offset of the two layers to prevent the face from becoming uncharacteristically long so that the juxtaposition of the ordinary body structure and the extraordinary facial structure was preserved. This edit is consequently much more similar to the work of Alex Garant with the almost double exposure effect.
The fully coloured image draws a similarity to images seen through a kaleidoscope and therefore I much prefer this edit to the initial attempt.
Attempt 3
I used this shoot as a final experiment before my final shoot. Building on my previous work, I decided to perfect my technique using gelled rim lights to create coloured highlights wrapping the edges of the models face.
Using a large soft box angled slightly down on the model as my key light, I used a beauty dish above the model on the other side with a reflector below to fill in the shadows.
I used exclusively blue and purple/pink for my gelled highlights as so as not to overcomplicate my set up, allowing me to work on the positioning of the lights and the model to achieve the best shots. I found that having the gelled lights further to the back and pointing more toward the camera created better highlights on the model, though if the white lights were too brights, the colours would be entirely overcome.
I managed to create much stronger coloured rim highlights on the hair, though my fill lighting was not quite enough, thus allowing for the existence of some harsh, dark shadows around the face. In my final shoot, I will ensure that the coloured highlights exist as a complement to a much softer and smoother white light set up.
Final shoot
For my final shoot, I decided to use a number of different models in order to produce a series for my final piece. I used a different colour combination for each model, but used the same lighting set up to maintain a sense of continuity.
As before, I used a large soft box angled slightly down onto my model as my key light with a beauty dish and reflector on the opposite side as fill lights. I then set up my gelled rim lights behind the models for my coloured highlights. However on this shoot, I also added a non-modified flash unit directly behind the model to create a slight white rim light around the head and shoulders to produce further separation from the background.
Attempt 3
Of the images I took in my final shoot, I shortlisted 22 to pick from to take forward to the final edit. My shortlisted images comprise of images with strong coloured highlights in combination with dynamic model positioning (i.e. the inclusion of arms in triangle shapes or slants in the shoulders). This shoot was far more successful than my previous attempts, with the coloured highlights much more prominent in the image. This was largely due to my practice with the lighting set ups allowing me to find the best position and angles for the gelled lights, but also due to the use of baby oil here. One of Hick's secret weapons in his shoots is the use of baby oil on the model. This makes the skin more shiny and therefore the coloured highlights are reflected more on the surface of the skin, creating stronger colours. Dressing the models in little clothing allowed for the exposure of more skin and therefore the greater uptake of light onto the skin, enlarging the area of colour within the images.
When editing these images, I decreased the exposure slightly to make the images slightly lower key to add drama. I also boosted the highlights in order to accentuate the gelled lighting and consequently enhance the sense of mystery produced by the addition of the colours. In order to strengthen the colours, I individually saturated them, using luminance to further bring out the highlights. These images are much softer overall than why previous set, largely due to the slight adjustment of the key light. I moved this light slightly further around in front of the model, therefore lighting a broader area of the face and casting fewer shadows across it.
Where previously I had experimented with a gelled key light, here I stuck solely to gelled highlights. Although I did like the unsettling atmosphere produced by the fully coloured image, I opted for the more subtle use of colours in order that the faces could more easily be distinguished. The clarity of the structure and form of the models therefore would allow a greater juxtaposition of what we accept as 'normal' for a face with the double exposure effect creating an unnatural visage. This larger contrast hence creates a stronger sense of confusion and discomfort.
Final piece
PROSOPAGNOSIA
"The False Mirror" by René Magritte - 1929
"Un Chien Andelou" by Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel - 1929
Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the condition in which the ability to recognise faces becomes impaired. This medical condition is as a result of damage to the fusiform gyrus, a region of the brain that activates specifically in response to faces. These images imitate the effects of prosopagnosia, with the replication of the eyes and mouth misdirecting the viewer's focus. As we normally make eye contact with a face when looking at it, these images are particularly disconcerting as there are two sets of eyes, thus the viewer darts backward and forward between the two sets, unable to settle their gaze on either one.
I created this effect via my use of layer masks in photoshop. I duplicated the layer, moving and free transforming the top layer to align the chin as an extension of the face. I made the entire layer invisible and slowly painted in the features that I wanted, varying the brush opacity and hardness to ensure that the features were blended smoothly into their new positions.
The surrealist manifesto states that surrealistic art denotes the pure functioning of thought, and therefore much of surrealistic art incorporates the eye due to the belief that the eye holds the key to the minds construction (for example, "The False Mirror" by René Magritte). It is believed that the eye is the window to the soul and therefore contains our very existence within its confines. The alteration of such an important feature therefore amasses a sense of confusion and discomfort. Furthermore as the eye is such a prominent feature of the face, which we are so accustomed to seeing, any changes made disturb a deeply set core visual memory. Such distortion shakes the viewer, creating a powerful sense of disorientation, distressing the viewer. This distress is exploited in Dalí and Buñuel's "Un Chien Andelou". The cutting of the eye disturbs the natural formation of the face and therefore cause a great sense of discomfort to the viewer. Similarly in my images the replication of the eyes and lips warp the familiar structure and consequently produce a surrealistic, uncomfortable image.
Having the models pose in an almost seductive manner is reminiscent of the form and positions of fashion models that we are so accustomed to seeing in advertisement and the media. Therefore the modification of their faces in such an unfamiliar way juxtaposes the sense of familiarity to produce an atmosphere of confusion. The coloured highlights on the sides of the models' faces present another alien feature, further amassing the sense of bewilderment.
Overall, I feel that my final series is successful in creating a sense of disquiet. Having undertaken a number of practice shoots, I believe that my final piece includes an informed lighting technique to produce strong coloured highlights that complement the unsettling feeling created by the distortion of the images.