Personal Project
For my personal project, I want to follow on from my deconstruction project. I wanted to show loss and grief in this but I was too one dimensional in my approach. When I mummified my subject I realized that what I was doing was trying to unlock something much much deeper.
I was thinking of taking the concept of anguish to madness, yet this felt too sanitized and gimmicky. I was trying to unlock something far deeper and this was still too one dimensional and restrictive.
My inspiration images are hyper-realistic paintings by an Austrian artist called Gottfried Helnwein. He is keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive by publicly exhibiting these and many other works predominately on buildings and not just in galleries. He seeks to explore not just the anguish, pain and suffering but more importantly the loss of humanity before the children were murdered.
I have decided to follow on from my deconstruction project and try to bring Gottfried's paintings to life. I will not be attempting to emulate these great works of art but I will be using them for my inspiration.
This in itself is a real break from my norm as I always try to keep my personal feelings out of my work as I feel that it clouds judgment too easily. I do not like to be subjective and always strive to remain objective, yet I cannot see how it is possible to create such work without a little of myself being in there.
If this works as I hope it does my major project will be a continuation of this but in a different format. I am already looking at ways of evolving this. I have already organized a model, a makeup artist, and a nurse to bandage the model professionally. It will have a more modern feel to it but it will be shot to look as realistic as is possible. I intend to use the Hasselblad to shoot this, so as to create my own hyper-realistic images.
All over the internet, there has been a mental awareness campaign highlighting the hidden suffering that people endure in silence. This has focussed on the hidden side of mental health and unconsciously I realize now that I had fallen under its’ sway.
Everything I was doing up until now was showing mental anguish as an internal force, now I want to show it in a much more physical manifestation. I want people to see without the gimmicks that which lies beneath in a way that cannot be unseen or avoided. A physical manifestation of mental torture in various forms, the cage which has been created for us, the cage we create for others and that which we have created ourselves.
Above is a very quick and basic edit on my image it has a long way to go before it is finished. I have chosen to go with a straight on profile composition as I believe that it is a necessary deviation to show a more gentle portrayal of innocence lost. As this is to be a set of two I want to keep the feeling the same in both my images.
After much consideration, I decided to reshoot the above image. It needed not only the same light but the same negative space as the window shot. It also felt to me that she was not resting on a box but most likely on her bed and as such I needed to do it again. It is much better now and I am glad that I took the time to shoot this again.
My source image I call this one the scream, once again I do not like the perspective. She is small and as such, I believe the viewer should be looking down, even if just a little. Also, I will have to bandage her as this cannot be the first image in my set, I believe that such a powerful emotion should not only come later but should have a little madness in it.
This was a terracotta colour and was not really in use as such, so I have painted this for use in the above image. The first coat was a battleship grey and very flat and perfectly done. The second coat was darkened by adding more black and brown and was haphazardly thrown on and splattered with a brush. The final coat was applied using an old tee-shirt rolled into a ball and smeared all over the plaster. This took me three attempts to get right and a lot of aching arm muscles but planning and preparation are all important and the final result is well worth it.
This is my source image and although it is inspiring it is too flat for my purposes. I will not be shooting this from above as I do not like the perspective, rather I will shoot it from the bottom of the bed from an unseen observers viewpoint.
This has been created by an artist called Shawn Cross and I feel that this style could be an avenue worth exploring to add an extra dimension to my image. I believe that with the correct lighting and a precise model pose that I should be able to create a shadow which looks like a manifestation surrounding or encompassing the model. An unknown presence which surrounds or binds the victim and which would not normally be seen. I like the idea of bringing in a darkness to the image, an evil entity consisting of shadows. A hitherto unseen manifestation destroying the victims inner self or of the evil which surrounds her, perhaps a little of both.
The viewpoint is now from the bottom of the bed.
The artists use of shadow and light could work well for me if I can emulate it.
This kind of feel could work really well as an evolution of the scream source image.
The viewpoint is now above the model as an older persons perspective should be. I used one light on a stand below the model with a reflector above. The reflector gave me the light in my eyes which I desired.
This was extremely hard to find, it took over a week of searching before the perfect ones appeared. Although these are a deviation from the painting I wanted such anyway as this is to be an interpretation and it must have my own ideas upon it.
This is my window light source image, I will update it slightly and show more of the face and clean it up a little. I find this too grubby as I believe she would be in white and I want a warmer feel to the light source.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHOOSE-PREMIUM-CREPE-CONFORMING-COHESIVE-BANDAGE-Medical-First-Aid-Joint-Support/192186672266?hash=item2cbf37e48a:m:mYqVNN90Mt8sBZzI7JZf3BA:rk:2:pf:0
I am going to purchase this type of bandage as I like the texture of these, they feel older and less formed. I believe these would look better than a sharp white bandage.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Conforming-Bandage-Light-Support-Dressing-First-Aid-Compression-Strapping-4m/262372371292?epid=1664981820&hash=item3d169cab5c:m:m7YQXvbLTI-TVCsO8vAMqmA:rk:35:pf:0
I will still buy clean white and fully formed bandages as I want to try both and see which works best. However, I have my reservations about such as I feel that they could overpower the image.
The above image shows a nurse bandaging a patient after betadine treatment. this is a more modern form of iodine and is what is showing in the artists paintings under the unstained bandages.
As I have no intention of covering my model in iodine I shall emulate the look by applying thin strips of very soft brown leather throughout the bandages.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Women-Kawaii-Princess-Japanese-Sweet-Lolita-Girl-Lace-White-Vintage-Dress-Retro/352449738211?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55148%26meid%3D09ef1d671a4f4eeabfb49edf9091200c%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D352449738211&_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226
After consulting with the model we have decided on this dress as it feels quite similar to that which the artist was showing us. It is now on order and en route, in case of delays there is a second dress waiting and ready to go but, as this is not of the same style I can only hope that this is not an option which is needed. It is just unfortunate that in order to get the specific dress it had to be ordered from Japan or China. Either way as this shoot is in at least two parts over a minimum of two days I can reshoot on the second date or just go for two looks. As I have decided to shoot in two distinct styles this would be more fitting anyway.
I have experimented with the light and set before the actual shoot. This is something I normally would do anyway if I am attempting something new but, in this case, it was all the more essential as my inspiration is coming from a painting. This means that the light is not representative of reality and as such, I am having to construct it in more detail. The giant softbox will emulate natural light and the whiteboard to the right of it will bounce light back into the shot so that it feels the same as the painting.
This is the test image straight out of the camera. On the day I shoot the board will be replaced with soft long drop curtains hung from a background stand so they will drop at the correct angle, this is my main deviation from the artists' image.
My lecturer allowed me to use his mac in the studio to try a couple of quick edits to try and get the feel of the painting in my test shots. Here are some really basic white balance and simple yet very effective edits. I probably will not go with the blue pastel in the painting as I prefer my take on this, it feels more modern, more edgy albeit a little too much.
Here I have applied a very subtle softlight fill and it has brought the edginess down but kept the feel.
MY FINAL IMAGES IN SEQUENCE
