Final Images

Final Images

Artist Statement

My project is based around the four elements – Fire, Water, Earth and air. Each element has its own speciality, water contains a magnetic property, nurturing and sustaining. Fire holds an electrical and creative property. The co-existence between fire and water is the detaching formation of the air element. Finally the earth element is what binds all of these fundamental forms together in order to allow the configuration of materials with different properties. 

Earth Shoot

Earth Shoot

This is the final image I chose to print as my fourth element. Although there were a few images I really liked this one fitted with the set, compositionally and tonally, it was my strongest image. 

The one thing I would improve would be the way the material has gone. To me the material looked quite cheap and was difficult to style on the model as she was so tall so next time I will buy more material as a contingency plan in case this problem happens again. The one thing I do like about the material would be the way the light has strongly hit it and created sheer shimmers down the fabric. There is definitely a feel of mystery to the subject, they way her right hand is hiding slightly. This I am referencing to 'the day dream' painting, the mystery in the woman who holds the heart of two men; The Husband and The Artist. Her secret compell over these two men is impeccable and the work in my opinion represents that. Therefore I wanted to bring this character through the representation of the earth element, mother nature.  

Here are some other images from the shoot I really liked yet unfortunately they did not link with other three images due to the model being sat down.

When experimenting with the fabric, I wanted to see how I could wrap the string around her body to create a form/shape. It could have done with being pulled tighter. I havn't edited this image below much and I kept the outsides of the backdrop in the frame just to show this was purely experimental.

There is something very delicate about the image below. It is one of my favourites and it's a shame I couldn't have used it. There is something very painting-like about this image and if I put more  time into the post production I could have definitely pushed the aesthetics of this. I would have added more noise and other filters such as gaussian blur to increase the textures of the image and to almost create a canvas texture. 

After going to the print space it made me think about how I would have also printed an image like this one. I would have printed it onto German Etching paper which is inkjet and is more of an art paper.  

Here is a black and white edit which I thought was really stunning.

Earth Research

EARTH RESEARCH

I found this image on pin interest which captured my attention in the way it has been overlayed with imagery in front of the subject. It's made me think about the ways I can use material, by not only placing it on the model but the effects I could get with it if I was to place it in front of the lens. this is something I will experiment with in the studio. Blending is something I have noticed after looking through lots of different examples which are linked to earth. The blending represents the connection to the earth and portrays how much we, as humans rely on this element. Here are some examples below.

Kirsty Mitchell

Shot on location, Kirsty Mitchell has used the surrounding colours and textures to create the most stunningly unique dress that blends into its surroundings in the most beautifully mysterious way. Her work is based around a lot of fantasy ideas, re cereating the stories her mum would tell her as a child. 

The Green Lady

The Day Dream

"The sitter for this painting was Jane Morris, the wife of William Morris, who often posed for Rossetti. At the time this was painted Rossetti was involved in an illicit love affair with Jane. He shows her sitting in the branches of a sycamore tree and holding a sprig of honeysuckle. This sweet-smelling climbing plant symbolised the bonds of love for the Victorians, and Rossetti may have included it here as a subtle reference to the relationship between artist and model. Rossetti was also a poet, and the title relates to his poem of the same name which ends: 

She dreams; till now on her forgotten book
Drops the forgotten blossom from her hand."

It's really interesting how the blending of colours and surrounding has been used here in a way of disguise, rather than a connection to the earth. It made me think about whether it resembles a women's position of power at this period of time. I started researching the 1880's and this was exactly the beginning of "The New Women: the first time, young women left their home for work, not in the traditional pursuit of domestic service, but as a professional."

It's interesting how the woman in this image is actually very much in control of the situation, how she holds the hearts of two men yet she is unseen through the use of blended colours. It's interesting to look into why this technique has been used and what the artist is trying to get across. In relation to my own work, I would like my subject to compel the viewer eye. Her gaze is mysterious yet a subtlety of threat and unpredictability.   

I have found a further example of art in relation to the four elements, this has been very helpful in thinking about compositions. For my earth shoot I would like to experiment with some sitting positions to represent the connection to subject and earth. Earth is such a strong and empowering element that the structure of my model has to be compact rather than a standing position which could easily topple over. 

Eva Hesse - Instillation Idea

Eva Hesse

(http://web.colby.edu/kksulliv/ar-138/favorite-works-and-artists/eva-hesse-2/)

After speaking to Jed he told me to look at Eva Hesse, an American sculptor and painter. Her first exhibition took place in the Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, Germany. The work consisted of 14 papier-mache reliefs which was wrapped in cord-wrapped wires embedded, dangling or projecting from the pieces. 

"In the years before her early death Hesse's sculpture grew in scale and daring from easel-sized reliefs to Expanded Expansion(1969; New York, Guggenheim), whose latex-covered cheesecloth ‘curtains', draped between 16 plexiglass poles (h. 3.1 m), are extendable laterally, and Right After (1969; Milwaukee, WI, A. Mus.), whose light-filled fibreglass strands are suspended irregularly in space, usually up to c. 5 m wide. Her mature sculpture abounds in contradictions: chaos and order, organic and geometric, absurd and tragic. Hesse was one of the first and most influential artists to question the austere, immobile exactitude of serial Minimalism and imbue it with a capacity to move, change and vary from the norm like a living being." - ELLEN H. JOHNSON

I really liked the way her material is placed onto the floor in this image above. Jed suggested to think about how I could incorporate the material I used in my images with the finished images and how I could maybe bring more depth to the overall outcome by attaching the material somehow to the final images. If I wanted to do this I would need to contact a fashion design student to help me layout the material. This is an option for the future when I am able to spend more money on the print size but the idea is there.

The Workshop

The Workshop 

Here are a few images from the work shop we did with the two photographers who came down from London. They are previous students from Nottingham Trent University and kindly helped us with lighting for the fashion look book images. 

This was not only useful for the look book shoots, but for my own knowledge of the studio and how to proffesionally set it up and how to test the lighting. I learnt that the beauty dish is for a more sharp, air brushed finished whereas the light box is for a more daylight, ethereal effect. I also learnt about distances, that make the difference as to whether there is shadow on the back drop or not. We had to measure everything out and write it all down in order to draw a diagram for the way we would need to set out the look book set in order to get the lighting we wanted. It was also interesting that we brought in a clip light from the back, this lit the side of the model. We used a cone filter to have a more direct light. Over all it was a very good experience and I learnt so much from one day. In relation to my own images, I will use this new source of knowledge for when I expand this project further, possibly next term.

Final Outcome - Idea for Exhibition

Final Outcome - Idea For Exhibition

I am currently missing the fourth element (Earth), Which I will be shooting on Friday 28th February, but this is how I would like to display my images as a panel. I would also like to print them large and Possibly use the exhibition boards to create four triangles where I will hang each element on. This will hopefully bring more depth into the work and will be more of an instillation piece.

Yesterday we set up our Primary Studio Space. Primary Studios is an art space located in a disused primary school, mostly for professional artists who will hire out studios. The University has collaborated with Primary, where we had to write a proposal to be awarded one of the limited spaces.  Nine of us have been lucky to get a space and this is what we have been doing so far. I have put this photo up to show an example of the exhibitions boards, which we have also made into triangles here. This is where I came up with the idea for the exhibition.

This is how I laid out my desk at the studio space:

photo shoot 5 - The Fire Element

Photo Shoot 5 - The Fire Element

In post production for this image I changed the colour balance in bridge and sharpened the image. The colour balance added warmth to the image which I then added to further in Photoshop in experimenting with the channel mixer. I increased the reds in the image which added more of a glow to the material and increased the blues to strengthen the colour. I had to clone the bands out on her wrist and some of the red material which stuck out from the sides of the material. Finally I added some curves to the overall image. This is probably the image I will use for my final images on the wall but will re edit the Raw file so when blown up large it shouldn't pixelate.

Below I experimented with the effects I could get through the aesthetics of paintings. I asked Ian to show me how to achieve the canvas type feel to the image. He told me to just play with layers by adding noise, and blurring and sharpening certain areas. We had a browse through YouTube and found this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWv6zWtj7is

This showed you how to manually create the texture separately in Photoshop which is something I will have a look at. Unfortunately when editing my images i soon realised that all the files had converted into JPEGS when they were imported - Iphoto did this automatically. This meaning that I am going to have to go through all three photo shoots and re edit all the images. 

Fortunately for me I only need four images for my final exhibition images, therefore will focus on my four favourites. Tomorrow I am going to Ian Reynolds airbrushing workshop so learn how to properly airbrush the skin, where he said he will show me how to create the glamour glow on the skin. 

Gong Li - Photographed by Paolo Roversi

I wanted to find some work that possesses a painting like quality to it, so I have looked at Paolo Roversi. An Italian photographer working in Paris, who works both in editorial and advertising. Considering his practice which is usually focused on contemporary fashion, instead his work holds a nineteenth century era about it. Mainly focusing on portraiture his work portrays both respectful and tender elements to it, working with large-format polaroid film. I focused on this image to try and decipher how he has created this effect. there is an obvious use of blur and smudge tool in this image and a subtle use of noise to bring in texture. 

Below are some quick and non perfected experiments which I did in photoshop, these images are the ones that will not be used as I had to make quick desisions:

Make up Ideas - Fire Element Shoot

make up Ideas - Fire Element Shoot

I found examples for how I would like the make up to look in terms of colours, shading and shape. I wanted the make up to highlight the models contours to really exaggerate her cheek bones. The smokey-ness quality to the make up creates that sultry, and fierce look to represent the element of fire. 

Joyce Tenneson

Joyce Tenneson

After receiving some very positive and kind feedback off Jed Hoyland, he mentioned to look at several photographers. One of which was Joyce Tennenson which I now see is extremely relevant to my work - the use of material and the painting like quality to the images. There is something very soft, the tonal quality is just beautiful.  

Tenneson is the author of fifteen books, and has received numerous awards. Her work combines mythology and portraiture, and  is interested in analysing the acrchetypes of what it is to be human.

"I want to allow others to reveal and celebrate aspects of themselves that are usually hidden. My camera is a witness. It holds a light up for my subjects to help them feel their own essence, and gives them the courage to collaborate in the recording of these revelations." 

- Joyce Tenneson

Photo Shoot 6 - The Water Element

Photo Shoot 6 - The Water Element 

The first two images were completely experimental. The first was with help from Ian Reynolds again. This was just experimental to see how I could achieve the painting effect from the image. We looked at Joyce Tenneson and Paolo Roversi's work.

 Joyce Tenneson

Photoshop Experiment with Ian Reynolds

This was the experiment which I had help with from Ian Reynolds. It needs a lot more adjusting but I decided I didn't like the effect that was being created. I don't like images that are highly edited in Photoshop, I like to create the art in front of the camera rather than in post production.

My own edits

Before

After

The image above was a very quickly done edit to see what it would have looked like if I filled the floor with the material. This image would look good if I was to try some graphical experiments with it.

Before

After

Here I flipped the image upside down, I did this to resemble a water droplet. I increased the blue tones and added contrast. I felt like it was more of a different take on the image and would give the viewer more reason to look and wonder.

This is one of my favourite images, I love how the material has wrapped around her body along with her beautiful composition, she looks like a statue. One of the most inconvenient parts where I went wrong was to not ask her to take her band off, therefore I had to spend hours editing it out. The above image shows the before and after of where the band was.

These two images above and below are definitely one of the images I will use for my final water element. I absolutely love how the material has turned out. I bought the blue tape from The Playhouse, Nottingham. This place is brilliant from scraps of material and you only have to pay £5 for a year pass. The one thing when speaking to Jed, he mentioned how it would have been nice to have the material come up the right side of her body to match the composition of her arms. If I have time I plan to re shoot.

This is the image I chose to get printed at The Print space in London. It was the most detailed image out of the chosen finals and I loved how the baby oil has reflected the light off her skin. This is something I wish I placed on her from the start of the shoot. I'm really proud of this shot, and if I wasn't planning to print portrait ways, this would have been one of my final images in my exhibition. 

Ekaterina Belinskaya - Underwater Shoot

Ekaterina Belinskaya

Under water shoot Idea - for the water element

model - Elena Mitinskaya
fashion designer - Alisa Gagarina

In reference to my water element shoot I have found this photographer who has taken some stunning under water photographs and video footage. An underwater shoot is something I have always wanted to try but would take a ridiculous amount of planning. I wanted to analyse this to understand how she has lit it. From what I can decipher she has lit it from above - probably with a boom stand - using a large soft box to give that soft, etherial and even glow over her skin and the material. She has also used a very good camera, which has managed to capture even the tiniest bubbles which float off of her body. It is just stunning overall imagery. 

It was interesting watching the moving image as it brought a whole new depth to the work, the movement of the material was really mesmerizing. It made me think about different shapes the material can make through the environment its in. I wanted to experiment in the studio by shooting the material separately.

These have all come out a lot darker than my original edit unfortunately but it was just an experiment to see the shapes I could create with the material. I have purposely included the outside of the set and some of the arms which are in the frame as a personal record of experimentation. 

It was really interesting to see the shapes that were frozen in a moment in time. The elements are all about movement and energy but what happens when you freeze their natural