JOSPEH BARRETT - THE MALE GAZE
The image to the right is from, " The Male Gaze" series by Joseph Barret, in which he captures highly detailed and raw images of his friends. This image makes me feel compelled and intrigued, but also thoughtful and aware. I can see a man posing for a picture, staring intently at the lens. I can see every detail on his face and hand and the backdrop beautifully holds a similar shade to that of his eyes. I would describe this photo as raw, natural, and genuine. I would also describe this photo as organic. All the colours here are muted and subdued, lines are soft and curved. In "The Male Gaze", Barrett aimed to "document a variety of individuals who varied in characteristics but were all shown in the same positive light". I want to implement this into my own project by capturing all the small details and imperfections on one's face to emphasise the idea that we should encourage others to see people (especially men in this instance) for who they are and what makes them unique, rather than sexualizing them like we often see in modern male photography. I also want to capture a more sensensitive side to a male model, challenging gender stereotypes and what a man 'should look like'. In Barrett's words, "Modern masculinity no longer just means chiseled bodies and strong jaw lines." I intend to use a male friend as a subject, he will stand in front of white wall or light backdrop. I will capture similar close-ups and ask him to do things like drop his shoulders - reinforcing this notion of stripping away any pre-conceived notions of what it means to be a man.
MORE WORK BY JOSEPH BARRETT
CONTACT SHEET - UNEDITED PHOTOS
My intentions for this shoot were to photograph a male friend in response to the work and themes of Joseph Barrett. In Barrett's work, his models are captured in simple, yet beautiful ways where their unique features are displayed as the focal point of the image. Barrett uses a muted coloured backdrop, I could not find a backdrop with a colour like that so I had to resort to just a white wall. While it was not my preferred background, I tried to make up for it through other areas of Barrett's work. I took these images mostly to capture my friend's face and the details on his face in order to link to this notion that we should see men for what makes them special, masculinity doesn't have to be washboard abs and jutting jawlines. One successful element of this photoshoot in my opinion is the poses of the model. I think that the positions utilised the space nicely whilst still maintaining these minimalist poses that display his facial features. I think that they relate to Barrett's work nicely and share a similar effect. Moreover, while I think the amount of lighting works well here, I think the unsuccessful element of this photoshoot is that there is only one light. When taking these images, I only had one small soft box light. I experimented with positioning it to my left and then my right. I found that the light looked best behind me, however, in order to have enough space to photograph the model, I had to position the light slightly higher, this caused a slight down shadow. While this is not the worst thing that could have occurred, I think this shoot would have been much more successful if I had two lights that pointed towards the centre, eliminating any harsh shadows (shadows are not a particularly prominent theme in the style of Joseph Barrett), also giving me the added benefit of having more mobility when capturing the images. I believe that I have all the shots that I need going forwards.
EDITS - EXPERIMENTING WITH LIGHTING AND CONTRAST
Here I have edited some of the images that I took in my recent Joseph Barrett photoshoot in his style. I did this to create images that were simple yet effective and compelling. It was important to me when editing that I brought out the details in his face and his unique features. I chose to edit my photos like this because it relates to the style of Joseph Barrett and allows the images to come to life. This fits in with my project more conceptually as it relates to the themes of gender that I have looked at previously. One aspect that I like about these edits is the use of the blur tool. I had forgotten to set my camera to a wide aperture when photographing, so I made up for this by drawing on the edges of the model with the blur tool. I especially tried to blur the edges of his hair. I think that this works well in mimicking a wide aperture which draws attention to his face and also makes the imagery look more professional and effective. Another thing that I like about these images is the colours. Whilst editing, I noticed a certain ochre hue in the images, this did not look good as the model has cooler undertones to his skin and blue eyes. I used the colour balance to add more blue to the image and immediately the images looked more suitable. I did not realise this at first and therefore not al the images have the same colours. This is one unsuccessful element of the photos as they are cohesive. Another reason these images are not cohesive is that some are more contrasted that others. Lastly, one thing that I have noticed in retrospect is that most images almost have the effect of a polaroid. While this is not relevant to the work of Barrett, I like this style and I find it effective. It is undecided whether I will go forth with this or aim to stick more to the style of Barrett. Going forwards, I would like to develop these image by possibly experimenting more with colour but also, I would like to add a subtle vignette as this was an element of Barrett's work that I had forgotten to add. I think I have successful portray a sensitive, more subtle representation of a 'male model'. The use of the white t-shirt creates and soft and gentle contrast (simply in texture) to that of the background. The high lighting links to that of Barrett's work and again, create a more gentle portray of a man.
HIGHLIGHTING SUCCESS
I think that this image is one of the more successful out of my previous edits for a few reasons. Firstly, I think the colours work well here because I have increased the blues, but not exaggerated them. This is more appealing as the cool tones are not over powering yet they contribute to the overall appearance. Secondly, I think that the blur tool has been used correctly because I drew on the edges which makes the face the focal point of the image. Lastly, the pose he has made works well because it is engaging but also utilises the space nicely by leaving symmetry amounts of negative space.