12. Experimenting with Portrait Photographs

Experimenting with Portrait Photographs

Inspired by Igor Morski, I decided to begin experimenting with real life photography and faces.

I captured the natural states of some of my friends, one day, without warning. Most of them were without makeup, and had placed no effort into their appearance, which I thought worked perfectly in displaying their organic personalities.

Organic forms, figures and personalities fit perfectly with my organic shapes and flowers.

I took one picture of myself showing emotion (smiling) but I closed my eyes to allow viewers to focus on one feature of my face. (the smile)

Rhiannon

I used photoshop to overlay images overtop one another, using different layer effects to give different visual effects.

Using these digital affects allowed me to incorporate the flowers with the face and hair in different ways. It is reminiscent of Igor Morski's work in the way that the flowers blend seamlessly with the human form.

Removing the colour from the original photograph allowed the colours of the flowers to stand out over all else, distracting the eye and creating a focal point.

I presented the piece above to my peers and received feedback.

"The pose is classy and traditional, like a renaissance portrait."

"Reminiscent of Victorian portraiture photography - Victorian photographs were often tinted."

"Reminiscent of pre-Raphaelite paintings with flowing hair, women and nature."

"Combination of ancient themes (Pre-Raphaelite, Victorian, Renaissance) and the modern digital age." I would like to experiment with this, further. Perhaps by using found portraiture from years ago, and making them digital.

"The fact that it is perfectly square is reminiscent of a Profile Picture, social media related, digital. Expressive of personality."

"It is like you can see through the person's hair and skin to see their personality on the inside."

"There is conflict between the figure, and the flowers." I agree with this, because the flowers and the figure are equally fighting for the viewer's eye. The colours of the flowers are dominant, but the eyes of the face are gripping because they are familiar, and real.

"Look at Leonara Carrington."

The rest of the pieces I made were equally as effective, in my opinion - but they all held different auras. The image above is darker, and the focus of flowers are more in the skin of the figure, than the hair. Like camouflage, or makeup.

I enjoy this piece because of the wild spectrum of colours that give the piece many, many layers for the eye to explore. There is a stark contrast between muted, earthy colours, and stark unnatural ones. This makes the piece surreal.

I enjoy the piece above for similar reasons, although it is much more busy, much more vibrant, and much more surreal.

This piece is slightly less effective, although it enables the viewer to focus on the FACE first, then look deeper into the hair to see the flowers.



I experimented with the same layer affects, using different subjects.

Kiera

I found that Kiera's photographs allowed viewers to focus on her face more than anything else, because her hair is thin and straight, and does not distract from her features.

Rhiannon's hair has much more volume and texture, so there is more balance between dark and light - but Kiera's hair is much thinner, so there is more white space.

Another reason that I removed the colour from the original images, is because of the image above. This is flowers overlaid on the original, coloured image. The layer affect makes Kiera's skin appear burnt and red, which is not appealing. It is unnerving and uncanny, which is interesting but not what I'm going for.

Kiera's eyes on the camera catch the viewer's attention immediately, because they are real and intense.

Even in the image below, where the background is much busier.

The colour scheme is surreal, and almost makes Kiera appear alien because of the colours and textures on her skin.

Surreal.

The image below is my favourite of my creations, so far, because of the wide spectrum of colours that blend perfectly with Kiera's natural skintone, making the piece appear natural, soft, and warming... But still surreal.

The dark, blue, moody colours make the piece very eerie and surreal. Alien like.

This piece is possibly my favourite of the ones I have shown. I decided not to crop it, which creates a solid boundary between what is real and what is not.

I presented this piece for review from peers:

"Reminds me of Giuseppe Arcimboldo." I did not make this connection, although I am a great fan of Arcimboldo's use of natural forms to create personalities.

"No shadow is unsettling."

"There is tension between the flowers, and the person. She doesn't look happy, but the flowers do."

"It's very clear that it has been manipulated."

"Reminiscent of Frida Kahlo's use of bright colours and flowers."

"It's like she's trapped behind a screen."

"Bizarre - the flowers dip in and out of her features."

"The colours are very effective and complimentary."

"I'd like to see it cropped to JUST the face, like previous pieces."

I found this feedback interesting, because I was unsure whether leaving parts "unedited" would be successful, or not. My feedback suggests that the piece would be better liked, cropped, like below.

I think that both pieces have their strengths. I enjoy the contrast between the FULL piece, where reality and non-reality are very visibly contrasting - BUT, the piece without any inclination of real life is far more surreal, and forces the viewer to look deeper into the flowers.

Christine

The pieces below are interesting because of the girl's hood, which is artificial, but looks like natural fur. The organic, fluffy texture responds uniquely to the flowers.

Using a slightly "older" subject was interesting due to the life experience it brings to the piece. The flowers could be seen as a representation of youth. Internal youth, if not external.

A view of the person's personality, from the outside in.

Myself

I experimented with KEEPING the colour in my images, due to the vivid colour of my hair. It is unnatural, but it compliments the vivid reds of the flowers.

This piece is successful because of the small window that shows my eye, through the flowers. The rest of my features are concealed, but you can tell a lot about a person through their eyes alone.

I experimented with removing the eyes from the image altogether, instead focusing on expression.

For most of these smiling images, I found that they came across as cliche. Apart from the ones below, which I think show tension between my expression and the flowers.

The girl is smiling, but she is being overcome by flowers, as if she is drowning. It's like she has accepted her fate. Uncanny.

The piece above is strange because of the way that the flower petals overlay the teeth. Teeth are usually pearly white and pristine, so it is surreal to see them patterned and blue.

THOUGHTS:

These pieces were enjoyable to create, and it was interesting to be able to use digital effects to distort the faces of my subjects in different ways.

Questions:

How did I display these images to my peers?: I projected them on a large white wall in a dark room.

What feedback did I find valuable?: I found it interesting how my pieces were related to Victorian / Pre-Raphaelite / Renaissance portraiture. I would like to explore this, further, because I like the idea of blurring the lines between old and new (traditional and digital). 

Also, mentions of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Frida Kahlo and Leonara Carrington gave me more perspectives to explore and relate to. I will be looking at these artists.

Why am I using girls specifically?: Because I want to highlight femininity, and play with the idea of feminine power in nature (Mother Nature, Gaia).

Long flowing hair gives me organic patterns to play with, and female features are generally softer, rounder, and more expressive.

Girls compliment the softness of the flowers, where I think that men would contrast against the flowers both in appearance and metaphorically (men are generally not associated with flowers).

What do I think of this imagery?:

I think that it is a large step up from what I began with, which was silhouettes. I didn't intend to move forward using photography, but after receiving feedback and experimenting, I find that photography and photomanipulation are tools that I enjoy using. They give me the capability to create pieces of art that confuse and intrigue the viewer, which is what I like to do. Using real imagery helps me to blur the lines between what is real, and what is not.