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Unit 2 - Identity
Safa Cabdillahi
ELENA OGANESYAN
ELENA OGANESYAN IS A LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHER THAT WAS BORN IN 1979 IN MOSCOW RUSSIA, SHE GRADUATED FROM MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY AND SPECIALIZED IN PUBLISHING . ELENA IS A SELF TAUGHT PHOTOGRAPHER AND LIKES TO EXPRESS HER EMOTIONS THROUGH THIS TECHNIQUE OF LONG EXPOSURE. THIS IS ONE OF HER PHOTOGRAPHS, THE THEME IS QUITE SINISTER AND GHOSTLY DUE TO THE DESATURATED COLOURS DUPLICATING IN A OMINOUS WAY. THE IMAGE IS OF A FACE HOWEVER COVERED WITH POKED HOLES REMINDING ME OF A SKULL. ELENA OGANESYAN HAS REALLY INSPIRED ME TO CREATE PHOTOS IN THE STYLE OF HER WORK AS I REALLY ADMIRE HER CREATIVITY AND THE EMOTIONS SHE LEAVES THE VIEWERS FEELING AFTER SEEING HER WORK.
SOME OF HER IMAGES OR JOYFUL HOWEVER SOME ARE SAD WHICH WAS I REALLY LIKE ABOUT HER. SHE IS ABLE TO CREATE IMAGES IN A RANGE OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO CONVEY HER EMOTIONS. I WOULD DESCRIBE THIS IMAGE AS ; COLD, ISOLATED,DARK : THIS COULD OF HAVE REPRESENTED A DARK TIME IN HER PAST AND SHE THEREFORE DECIDED TO USE A RANGE OF DESATURATED COLOURS SUCH AS, BLACK, GREY, DARK GREEN TO CONVEY THIS. MOST OF HER WORK IS SHOT WITH LONG EXPOSURE; OGANESYAN ONCE SAID,
- This technique fills the whole process of shooting with energy, every second of it. Its feels like catching a moment, being in contact with light and human body, watching them transforming in an incredible way and you are not in control of this transformation. It seems like someone else is there working with you.”
- AS I SAID SHE USES HER WORK TO EXPRESS HERSELF, ELENA BELIEVES HER WORK DOES NOT TELL STORIES AND THAT THEY MOVE THROUGH SENSES AND I CAN UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THIS THROUGH HER WORK. THE PHOTO THAT I HAVE SELECTED IS MY FAVOURITES , FOLLOWED BY MANY OF HER OTHER IMAGES, HOWEVER THEY ALL SHOW A WIDE RANGE OF EMOTIONS IN EACH PHOTO. THE PHOTO THAT I HAVE SELECTED IS MY FAVOURITES , FOLLOWED BY MANY OF HER OTHER IMAGES, HOWEVER THEY ALL SHOW A WIDE RANGE OF EMOTIONS IN EACH PHOTO.
I REALLY ADMIRE ELENA OGANESYANS WORK THE USE OF LONG EXPOSURE AND NOISE IN HER PHOTOS CREATE QUITE A DATED YET EMPATHETIC LOOK AS IT LOOKS AS THOUGH SHE MAY HAVE SHOT ON FILM . OVERALL HER IMAGES ARE REALLY CAPTIVATING AND HOLD ALOT OF CHARACTER.
THIS IS MY SECOND FAVOURITE IMAGE OF HERS AND IT ENCAPSULATES AN EXPRESSION OF HAPPINESS HOWEVER THERE IS A FILTER THAT IS BRIGHT RED WHICH COULD IMPLICATE ANGER, BUT THERE IS ALSO A HINT OF BLUE IN THE BACKGROUND WHICH COULD ASO SYMBOLISE SADNESS. AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE ALL HER IMAGES REPRESENT DIFFERENT EMOTIONS AND ALSO GATHER MOMENTS FROM HER PAST THAT HAVE SHAPED HER. ELENA OGANESYAN REALLY COMPOSITION IN HER WORK AND WHEN I BEGIN MY PHOTOSHOOT I WILL CAPTURE IT IN LONG EXPOSURE BY ADJUSTING THE SHUTTER SPEED AND SLOWLY MOVE MY HEAD AROUND SO MY HEAD IS BARELY VISIBLE. FURTHERMORE I WILL USE DIFFERENT ANGLES THAT ARE ZOOMED IN, PORTRAIT ANGLE. IN ADDITION TO THIS I WILL USE A RANGE OF TECHNIQUES SUCH AS IMAGE BLENDING, DOUBLE EXPOSURE AND JUST RAW 'BLACK AND WHITE' IMAGE THAT ARE HARSHLY CONTRASTED AND JUST A BURNT BACKGROUND BY DECREASING THE CURVE.
THIS IS MY THIRD FAVOURITE IMAGE OF HERS AND I HAVE NOTICED HOW SHE ADJUSTED THE HUES WHEN EDITING HER WORK WHICH IS WHAT I WILL LIKE TO ACHIEVE WHEN I BEGIN MY PHOTOSHOOT. I WOULD DESCRIBE THIS IMAGE AS - ISOLATED, COLD AND LONELY. THIS IS BECAUSE THE WOMAN SHE HAS TAKEN A PHOTO OF IS REALLY PALE POSSIBLY IMPLYING THAT SHE IS MALNOURISHED, THERE ARE HINTS OF BLUE WHICH COULD SYMBOLISE SADNESS. THIRDLY THE LONG EXPOSURE HAS CAPTURED THREE SIDES TO HER FACE WHICH COULD REPRESENT 3 DARK MOMENTS IN HER LIFE. WHAT I HAVE ALSO GATHERED FROM HER WORK IS THAT THEY ARE VERY SYMBOLLIC. IN ADDITION TO THIS ELENA IS ALSO SIMILIAR TO ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER CALLED TATIANA PARCERO , THIS IS BECAUSE THEY BOTH EXPLORE THE BODY QUITE EFFECTIVELY AND LIKE TO USE A RANGE OF COLOURS TO REPRESENT THERE EMOTIONS AND THEIR LIVES.
WHEN I BEGIN MY DEVELOPMENTS I WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS ON COMPOSITION AND COLOURS. FOR MY PREVIOUS ARTISTS MOST OF THEM WERE EDITED WITH VERY DESATURATED COLOURS SUCH AS BLACK , WHITEN , GREY AND WERE VERY DULL HOWEVER WHEN I BEGIN THIS PHOTOSHOOT I WILL REALLY EXPLORE COLOURS THAT WILL REFLECT A TIME IN HER LIFE. I CHOSE ELENA OGANESYAN AS MY ARTIST AS I REALLY ADMIRE HOW DETAILED HER IMAGES ARE, MY PREVIOUS LONG EXPOSURE ARTIST WAS GJON MILI AND IT IS QUITE DIFFICULT TO GET GOOD IMAGES AS YOUR MOVEMENTS HAVE TO SPECIFIC. IN MY PHOTOSHOOT I WILL BE USING CANON TO MAKE SURE I CAPTURE IT IN HD AND THAT IT IS CLEAR AND VIVID FOR THE VIEWERS. FURTHERMORE I WANT MY WORK TO BE UNIQUE , SYMBOLLIC AND CAPTIVATING FOR THE VIEWERS.
PHOTOSHOOT PLAN
CONTACT SHEET
i have completed my first photoshoot in the style of Elena Oganesyan. I have captured this in long exposure by adjusting the shutter speed and moving my head around randomly to create a glitched effect. In addition to this I have used a black background as my low key lighting, this is because when I begin editing I would also like to do simple black and white edit however coloured ones as well by adjusting the hues and making it more vibrant. My developments will be really contrasted as some of them will set a joyous mood compared to some of them will set a more dull mood , this will all reflect Elena's work as she experiments with colours to express her emotions. I zoomed into some of the images as too much of the white wall was visible, when i also start editing i will crop it so its just the black background visible. My face was shown in some of the images however most of them are blurred. I have used a canon camera for this photoshoot to make sure my images came out really clear and i will use photoshop to edit and experiment with different techniques. My favourite image is the first one because i like how my face has two sides In addition to this , I will experiment with techniques such as image blending, simple vibrant images (by adjusting the hues) and black and white images. I will be making 2 redrafts , 2 that are using similar technique and 1 that is a unique method of mine that is more abstract. My most successful image was the first one , because I really admire the double sides to my face; this could represent one difficult time in her life and the other side could be a more joyous moment in her life. The last image was a failure because it was too blurry and nothing is visible and it was white.
DEVELOPMENTS(COLOURED)
DEVELOPMENTS(BLACK AND WHITE)
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS (IMAGE BLENDING)
For my developments, I have made three sections ; simple vibrant, black and white developments and my last gallery is further developments of mirroring. I have used photoshop to edit these images and I really admire how vibrant and similar they look to the artist if Elena Oganesyan. Furthermore the long exposure also makes a glitched effect by adding two sides to my face, this cold represent Elena Oganesyans difficult moments in her past. My favorite gallery are the vibrant ones because I really admire how colourful and vivid they are, this also makes it really captivating for the viewers. In addition to this , I like how I could set different moods by the way I edited the images; the black and white created a very dull and depressing mood and the vibrant ones created a very joyful mood . For all of these images, I have made it really radiant by increasing the contrast and decreasing the curve to burn the background so the images are really enlightened . When I began editing my mirroring images I adjusted the hues and changed the filters to make sure all of the images have different colors and are unique. Some of the images are too dark which could of been improved however when I begin my redraft I will experiment with different techniques such as image blending , double exposure etc. My redraft images will be completely different as I will use my own abstract style of capturing it. Furthermore most of my images are really blurry therefore next time I could make sure the camera is focused and the movements of my face are visible. I used different hues for each mirroring to make it more vibrant however has still a dark mood to it , by decreasing the curve and making sure I increase the contrast.
REDRAFT CONTACT SHEET
This is my redraft contact sheet , I have used full body images of long exposure . Furthermore , I have changed my background colour to white to refine my work and not use similar . I think that I have developed my work because the images came out less blurry compared to the other photoshoot where the photos were not even visible. Furthermore, I have taken full body images as Elena doesn't only capture images of her face. I will be using different techniques to edit these such as; simple black and white, vibrant and image. blending .For my next set of redrafts I would like to zoom in more especially when I have a white background to make it more vivid. Elena Oganesyans style of work is quite similiar to Tatiana Parceros as she really focuses on her body to portray different emotions .When I edit these I will use photoshop to reflect different colours onto it to convey eg hapiness. With Tatiana Parcero she expressed her heritage through her images. In addition to thsis transitioned from a black background to a light background to make my images brighter and more clear.
Firstly I make the image black and white and extend the canvas making sure it is the equal length.
Then I press the keys; CTRL-C , CTRL-V, CTRL-T ,to copy and paste and also rotate the image
Lastly I change the filter of the image to soft light to create this nicely blended image in the style of Elena Oganesyan
BLACK AND WHITE DEVELOPMENTS
This is my black and white gallery of my developments. I have really refined my work by making sure it was not too blurry , and this has made a huge impact on how successful the black and white images are. I made sure it was really burnt by decreasing the curve and also made it vivid by increasing the contrast. I edited a range of my images, some had white background, some had black and I also took full body shots, which was more unique technique. My favourite image is is the first one because I admire how the two faces are really clear and how the black and white makes it seem sinister. For my developments , I made sure I would use a vast range of styles; such as vibrant colours, this is to ensure that I capture the naked eye with different types of techniques. Therefore my next set of developments will be more vibrant and radiant just to shift the colours and adjust the hues. I will also experiment with image blending and mirroring
COLOURED DEVELOPMENTS
This set of my developments more vibrant versions of my raw images. I edited this by adjusting the hues and changing the filters. Some of the images include pink, blue yellow green , images just like Elena Oganesyan and how she experiments with many colours. The texture of the work is quite grainy and I think that the black background really makes it more effective however when I do my redraft i would like to use a white background just to change my style. For my next artist I would like to choose someone with a similiar style. Furthermore i added a deep blue gradient to image blend , so i use a different and technique to develop my work. I thnk that using fifferent colours such as blue, green for my background would be a unique way of refining making my work look more abstract , which woukd seem more captivating for the viewers.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS (IMAGE BLENDING)
This my further developments gallery which includes my images of image blending in the style of Elena Oganesyan. I edited these by quick selecting an image, (on the background layer) pressing CTRL-C . CTRL-V AND CTRL -T to rotate the image , and lastly changing the filter to soft or to hard light and decreasing the opacity to not make it look covered. I used a deep purple / blue gradient to change the style and colours of my image as my last photoshoot was more vibrant and vivid however this is more dark and sinister . This technique is really similiar to double exposure however is less vivid and harsh , this is more subtle however has also got a dark and daunting.
REDRAFT CONTACT SHEET
This is my third photoshoot for my artist I captured full body images in long exposure. I used high key lighting for this photoshoot to really make the images more bright clear. Furthermore when i begin editing these images I will use a range of techniques such as double exposure , image blending however also focus on the formal element of colour and use greens, reds blues and also black and white for the viewers to see how the theme of the images just by the use of colours and what emotions they convey. What i could improve on is possibly doing full body images however alter the background to black to make it clear and bold for viewers ad also explore composition by doing capturing some images more zoomed in. For this particular photoshoot i think i am going to experiment mirroring with more saturated colours to make it more vibrant,
BLACK AND WHITE DEVELOPMENTS:
This is my black and white series of developments, which used photoshop to edit. Capturing these images in long exposure really exaggerated the style of Elena Oganesyans therefore making the images really stand out more. I think I could of have made the image a little darker and to erase any parts that affected the high key lighting (white background). Possible these developments could be more refined if I made them more vibrant and saturated.I would like to change the filters to a ray of colours in order to convey different emotions similar to one of her famous pieces.
COLOURED DEVELOPMENTS
I used adobe photoshop to edit these more vibrant developments by simply using different filters so each image could evoke a different emotions, which Elena successfully conveyed throughout her images. The darker images in my opinion evoke anger whereas the more softer colours like blue and pink evoked happiness and tranquility. I really admire this set of developments as each image is different and unique rather than being repetitive and not encapsulating.
REFINING MY FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS -
DRAWING WITH THE HEALING TOOL
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