FINAL PIECE PLAN
MOST SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENTS FROM EACH ARTIST
PETRA COLLINS
My aims when recreating the work of Petra Collins was to capture a truly deeper meaning behind a series of photographs, key element being the use of lights. The main concept was to shine a light on Petra Collin's purpose behind her photography which was the idea that women are too sensitive or overly. The stereotype that women are seen as the weaker link in society. Capturing emotion was imperative throughout this photoshoot, whether it was
a tear falling or micro expressions that conveyed the sadness and dejection of the person in the image. The series and flow of the images was also a crucial factor as I wanted it to be similar to a story telling. The steps that lead up to the crack in the woman's emotions and hard exterior. This was my sole focus when studying and recreating her photography, especially the element of using varied colours of light. The use of light was a main component because it would reflect the emotions being expressed throughout the photoshoot, the colours begin quite warm and inviting, so do her expressions. However, as it progresses, her emotions become more downcast and the colours of the images transition into a cold purple/blue colour. Mirroring her defeated emotions. Petra Collins was the first photographer I looked at that used light consistently throughout their photography, however after studying her, there are key elements that I have carried through out my portfolio.
PIPILOTTI RIST
My focus for Pipilotti Rist was her projected imagery and contortion of the face. I believe that her work is quite psychedelic and eccentric, so I wanted to translate that into my own recreations. The use of light from Petra Collins is something that I kept in mind when executing the photoshoot for Pipilotti Rist. I began by capturing images of flowers in different compositions and editing them into bizarre photographs. I projected these images onto
a someone's face while it was pressed up against a sheet of glass, mirroring Pipilotti Rist's peculiar style of photography which consisted of warping faces. I believe this photoshoot captured Pipilotti Rist's work perfectly because it combined both of her photography styles into one photoshoot, projected imagery and faces. To further develop these, I used double exposure to layer the pictures of the flowers onto the images of the faces and projection, this distorted the images perfectly and created a final layer of images that reflected the work of Pipilotti Rist. The key component from Pipilotti Rist's work is the use of glass and using it in future photoshoots. These specific photos, I believe translated Pipilotti Rist's work the best and accurately represented her style and techniques.
PETER FISCHLI AND DAVID WEISS
For my recreation of Peter Fischli and David Weiss, I focused primarily on their imagery with flowers. I was really drawn in by their work due to the nature of the images, it looks really psychedelic and relates nicely to my work with Pipilotti Rist as they both combine the use of flowers. When taking the photos of the flowers, it was not difficult as I mainly had to capture images of flowers in
various compositions, so keeping the photoshoot simple was important so the flowers were able to be the main center of attention. I ensured I used bright and vibrant colours for the flowers because it is a main component in Peter Fischli and David Weiss's work. The buoyancy of the flowers correlates well with my past artists. I paid attention to the combination of flowers used so the pictures were not repetitive. When working on these specific artists, I felt that the editing process was the most crucial step because it is where I was able to transform my work into something completely different and accurately recreate the work of Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The double exposure created a projected look which I find made the images above much more interesting and it made a nice translation to the projection used in my work with Pipilotti Rist.
TAMARA LICHTENSTEIN
For my final artist, Tamara Lichtenstein, I believe it combines my work with the clear glass and flowers that I used when studying Pipilotti Rist and Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The aim for this photoshoot was to make the images look as if they were under water. I wanted it to look like as if the person was drowning and the flowers represent the beauty of nature. It was important to play around with the compositions of both flowers and the face
to create a sense of free flowing and fluid motions of the photograph. It is crucial that the compositions and the lay out of the props that you're using make sense with the series of images. If I had left the person and flowers in one single pose and position in would create a stiff series of photos, contradicting the flowing nature of the photoshoot. Whist editing, I ensured that I experimented with both warm tones and cool ones, however, I personally feel that the cooler tones in the images above suit the nature of its contents much better than the warm shades. Tamara Lichtenstein's work also primarily consists of colder and neutral tones as opposed to the inviting, summer tones. The colouring of these specific images manipulates the atmosphere and overall feeling of the photos and what message is conveyed to the viewer, this is an element that I would like to use in the future.
FINAL PIECE IDEAS
EXPERIMENTING WIHT FRAMES
As I work towards my final piece and deciding which ideas work best with my images, I have chosen to experiment with frames and placing my desired images in black picture frames. I used Photoshop to create a rough development of what that may look like. I was originally hesitant with using black frames as I thought it may diminish the appearance of the images, however I quite like how it gives the photographs an overall sleek and professional look.
EXPERIMENTING WITH MATERIALS
PLASTIC
When creating my Pipilotti Rist images, I used a plastic sheet to create the trapped look and the distorted face. I feel that the plastic is very versatile and great for create imagery in the style of Pipilotti Rist, it is easily maneuvered when pressing the face against it without being too harsh. Plastic is something that I am willing to include for my final piece.
GLASS
When working on Tamara Lichtenstein I incorporated the use of a glass dish and some antibacterial sanitiser to create an underwater look. I believe using glass was a great success as it almost distorted the image but in a way that does not take away the overall quality of the photograph. I do like using glass and the way it makes the images look
CONTACT SHEET
When selecting the images I wanted, I had to keep in mind the focus of the camera, the lighting, the style and pose, and if the image was blurry. Due to the amount of photos there were, there were a lot of possibilities to choose from. For the photoshoot, I wanted to incorporate the styles form my previous photographers; this includes Pipilotti Rist, Tamara Lichtenstein and David Fischli and Peter Weiss. When looking back over the images, I realised that I had not included the use of coloured light as shown throughout Petra Collins work. I will be using this in my redraft. I ensured that the background was not distracting so I used a solid white wall to take the images in front of. I brought flowers and experimented with different compositions around the face and the sheet of plastic. I wanted to keep quite a pink aesthetic when purchasing the flowers, so the flowers are primarily pink. I am really proud with the outcome of this photoshoot, the poses are really similar to Pipilotti Rist and capture her style of art perfectly.
DEVELOPMENTS
For this set of developments, I have captured images in the style of my previous artists which consists of Pipilotti Rist, Tamara Lichtenstein and David Fischli and Peter Weiss. I have incorporated the use of a plastic sheet that was used in my Pipilotti Rist photoshoot to create the distorted and peculiar faces, as well as the use of flowers that I captured in my work for David Fischli and Peter Weiss and Tamara Lichtenstein.
The editing software use was Photoshop. My am for the editing was to keep it simple and minimalistic, I didn't wish to over edit the photographs because I believe that the image itself holds a lot of beautiful qualities. I opened up the image that I had selected in my contact sheet so I could begin the editing process. I started by adjusting the brightness and contrast of the image due to the shadows that were quite prominent throughout the image. I wanted to diminish the brightness as it became distracting. The contrast simply gave way to make the photograph more concise and clear. I then used the curve tool to do a final adjustment and ensure that the lighting is the best it can be. I then went onto the colour balance tool to fix up the colouring of the photo. This means that if I felt that the pink of the flowers or the redness of the face were not as bright as they could be, I would adjust it using the colour balance tool. Alternatively, it could be used to bring down certain tones of the image. If I feel that the image may seem slightly blue tinted , I can reduce this to receive a much more balanced photograph. The overall tools and steps made to achieve these developments was significantly toned down in comparison to my work on previous artists and photographers. I am pleased with the outcome of the images as they allow multiple aspects and elements of the image to shine without one muting or distracting the other. To improve, I would like to integrate the use of projected imagery onto the face while it is in the same style and position as the photos above. This would mean that I am experimenting with the use of bright coloured lights that was used in my study of Petra Collins. This set of images is something that I would like to consider using as my final piece imagery.
PROCESS LOG
This is the process log for my developments, which shows a closer looks at the exact steps used to create the images above. As discussed earlier, I have begun the editing process by adjusting the brightness and contrast as this allows me to see if it is necessary for me to use the curve tool for my next step. Depending on the lighting of the image, I would then use the curve tool to retouch and focus the light on specific parts of the face. I then move onto the colour balance tool to even the colouring of the image to ensure an overall aesthetically pleasing photograph. If there were areas of the image that I believe I need to rejuvenate and bring back some colour to. I am also able to set the overall tone for the photograph in a sense that I can dictate whether I would like this image to be more on the warmer side or to have more cooler tones.
REDRAFT CONTACT SHEET
For this photoshoot, I have incorporated the use of coloured lights and flowers. I have attempted to involve the styles form my previous artists. This ranges from Petra Collins' use of light, Pipilotti Rist's contortion of faces by pressing them against a surface, Peter Fischli and David Weiss' use of flowers, and Tamara Lichtenstein's use of double exposure with flowers. I am pleased with the range of the photos and how versatile they are, this will play a large role when it come sot editing the images.
REDRAFT DEVELOPMENTS
For this set of developments, the main focus was to incorporate the use of projected imagery and coloured lights. This would result in the inclusion of all my artists for my final piece. I used photoshop for my edits. I opened up my image and began my adjusting the brightness and contrast. The images were initially quite dark making the face and flowers not visible. By increasing the brightness, it reveals more aspects and features of the photograph that were concealed. Certain images were not as clear and sharp as they could be due to movement of the camera whilst the photo was taken. So adjusting the contrast was important for the overall conciseness of the image. To give the image a slightly more rejuvenated look, I used the curve tool to brighten the image more and make the coloured lights more vivid. I use the curve tool for all of my developments as it gives the images what is required and adds the final touch. The next step was to adjust the vibrancy, which is a step that I do not use that often as I feel there are other tools that give me similar results. However, I found hat doing this step aided the overall look of the photograph significantly. I ensured that I did not increase the vibrancy or contrast too much as it would result in an overly edited and saturated edit. So to soften the sharpness of the image, I went back to the curve tool and decrease it to create a softer look. Another step I took was to use the colour balance tool. This step for me was quite useful due to the nature of the photographs. The images are primarily coloured so using the colour balance tool balanced out the various colours, I was able to make certain colours more vivid to create the same atmosphere as Petra Collins.
PROCESS LOG
The process log above illustrates the more specific details of the the editing tools used. As I described above, I used the brightness and contrast tool, I adjusted them to what made sense or looked right with my specific image. When adjusting the contrast, it had the same principle as the brightness, I made sure I didn't increase it too much to the point where it disrupted the image or it became overly saturated. On the other hand, I made sure that I didn't decrease the contrast too much as it would make the image look washed over. All steps taken had to have the nature of the image taken into consideration as each image differs from the other. The next step was to adjust the curve to give the image a final touch up of light, through this step I was able to decrease the lighting to create a more low key atmosphere or increase the curve to create fewer shadows and make different aspects of the face more visible.
FINAL PIECE PHOTOSHOOT: IDEA 1
FINAL PIECE PHOTOSHOOT: IDEA 2
FINAL PIECE PHOTOSHOOT: FINAL IDEA 3
