Constructed Images - continued

My constructed image assignment for my BTEC class is due today. I’ve done the studio shoot and incorporated an image - a least part of an image from the shoot into another - and made up a composite. If you’ve read my previous post of a couple of days ago you’ll notice the composites were comprised of photographs captured on film. Here, the composite comprises all photographs which were captured digitally.

Here is the original background photograph - unprocessed

Here are a couple more - as originally takem - from which elements were extracted -

The location was Leake Street behind Waterloo Station in central London. Elements - the faces - were taken from them, using Photoshop CS4 and added to the background and placed appropriately in separate layers. I had to use the move tool extensivly here, and then change the opacity of each layer. This is most noticeable in the face on the right hand side - check out these image below for work in progress.

Further processing included blending and adjusting the colour balance.

The studio shoot yielded these tomatoes –

I’d originally shot some tins of soup (tomato again) with the idea of making up a Warhol type image, but as I need to hone up my product photography skills (apart from anything else) I wasn’t too happy with results. 

The hooded figure in the centre needed some “eyes”. Given the backround colour temperature, perhaps Tomato Eyes ? 

Some further processing on the eyes of the left hand side face and adjustment of the red colour of the background. I'm stopping there. I had to resist the temptation for further processing, but there is always a danger of overdoing it and using filters just because you can, not because the image demands it..   

Overdone already? Possibly?  Does it work as as image ? 

Hoppé and Kar

I’m getting great value from my membership of the National Portrait Gallery, here in London, so far this year. With this membership you get unlimited entry into exhibitions which you’d otherwise have to pay. So I’ve been a couple of times to the two photographic exhibitions currently on there - “Hoppé Portraits: Society, Studio and Street” and “Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer, 1908-1974”. 

As the title might suggest, the Hoppé Portraits exhibition contains his Street Photography – mainly from the 1930’s – as well as Studio portraits from the 1910’s to 1930’s.  I preferred the Street Photography section, an early form of photojournalism. It’s the type of photography I like to attempt myself. Several photographs from a girl’s Borstal school were on display; beside one, the caption reads that the empty swimming pool would have been cropped out when published. Shame it wasn’t shown as published as well.

I also took the guided tour with the exhibition curator – my 2^nd visit to each – the 1^st was unaccompanied. These tours can be informative, in that you can get some insight in to which (and why) photos are shown. 

The NPG owns the archive of Ida Kar, which includes the negatives, 2 and ¼ square (should that be 6cm square?) or larger. Most of the prints on display are modern prints (some are vintage bromide), made in a darkroom, some with much burning in and dodging (see the photo of Terry Frost, dated 1961, sitting inside a studio, beside an open window.) The portraits looked as if they were made with available light, I couldn’t see much evidence of flash.

I read a review of the Kar Exhibition in both the Observer and Daily Telegraph. Looks like I was at the same exhibition as the reviewer from the Observer. Can’t think where the Daily Telegraph reviewer went to.

This exhibition is in the same Gallery as the recent Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010. Hopefully its entrants and judges spend time in the gallery now – they may learn something about photography and portraits.

Hoppé Portraits: Society, Studio and Street runs from 17 February until 30 May 2011 and Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer, 1908-1974 is on from 10 March - 19 June 2011. Both in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Constructed Images

The latest assignment for my BTEC class is due this coming week. This one combined a studio shoot and some location work. The idea was to was to shoot a studio still life and then combining it someway - either digitally, or even rephotographing - with a completely different background.

An idea proved to be a long time in coming. For inspiration took a look at some of the work by Barbara Kruger, Jerry Uelsmann, Duane Michals and Mari Mahr, all of whom produced composite type images – here are some examples …

I’d seen some images by Jerry Uelsmann previously, and had read that many of them have been produced in a traditional ‘wet’ darkroom.  I don’t have access to a darkroom any more and haven’t had for some time, so my efforts could look forward to some digital processing, ably assisted by Mr Adobe and Photoshop CS4.

Perhaps I should look for a job in that TV show “Blue Peter” …. here are some pictures I prepared earlier, from my pre digital camera days.  I took slides and black & white negatives then and scanned them.

Not so much a composite of 2 or more images, rather the inclusion of text into one image, written for me by a Chinese friend. If you can read the Chinese, I’d appreciate a translation.

 Here are some colour composite, comprised of images originally 35mm slides (Fuji) and scanned using a Canoscan dedicated film scanner. 

Comprised of 3 separate images – the pyramid is in Mexico, the sea in the foreground is the Atlantic coast of Ireland and the background mountains are in Morocco. Three Continents!

Again comprised of parts from 3 images, in multiple layers; the statue, glare and background building and sky are in Toronto, the scene within the statue is downtown New York, and the pattern within the “moon” is from the Centre Point building here in London, with the red colour added via Photoshop.

Will post the assignment in a day or so ....