Photograph series - experiments

Experiments

 Experiment 1:

I decided to conduct some experiments to see if my initial idea would achieve a good outcome. My idea was to represent lust, love and heartbreak using colours. 

I wanted pink to represent lust, red to represent love and blue to represent heartbreak. 

I decided to play around with some colours and these are some of the outcomes I got.

 

I used very little natural lighting and held up a coloured lamp close to my face so the camera could pick it up.
I really like how these pictures came out as I think the use of colour is strong. Though I still feel like my idea needs a lot more preparation and inspiration.
I plan to continue researching and experimenting until I have a solid idea with a powerful message. 

Experiment 2 

After deciding on a theme for my photographic series and researching further into it I decided to do another experiment to explore further ways of portraying my theme (body dysmorphia). For this I used artificial lighting from my mirror light with the main lights switched off as I wanted to create a dark setting. 

I also had half of my face with makeup and the other side of my face 

Experiment 3

For this idea I used a projector to display the unrealistic beauty standards that are displayed on instagram. Though I really like this idea the pictures I shot didn't come out great as I was working alone in a small room so it was very hard to get the outcome I had hoped for. I'm going to do this idea again in the studio with a model so i can achieve a stronger picture.

Final Shoots

I used a projector to display the constant feeling that suffers of Body Dysmorphia (and other mental illnesses), not feeling "good" enough.

I shot this in a dark room using the projector as the only source of light to make the words more visible. Unfortunately this distorted the colour of the image and gave off a green/yellow tone which I didn't like so I used Photoshop to edit the hue and contrast/brightness to enhance the image. 

This photograph was inspired by the projection work of Tracy Martin.

For this image I used one source of artificial lighting, from my mirror light as I couldn't fit any lighting in the accommodation room I was using due to lack of space. However I don't think this was an issue as the lighting used did a considerably good job. 

This idea was one of my original ideas, inspired by the first artist that I researched, Duane Michal. 

I constructed an experiment a few weeks prior but I didn't gain the outcome I wished to achieved so I shot it again. 

Though originally I didn't want to use photoshop to manipulate my pictures, I decided that I wanted to distort the image in the mirror to better connect it to Body Dysmorphia, which in my opinion worked well. 

When it came down to my final idea I was stuck on what to do for it, as I wanted each picture to be different, instead of a typical photo sequence which often uses the same location and props. I thought this would help me to explore new techniques and also help me to better portray Body Dysmorphia. 

Although gathering a lot of inspiring research I wanted to create something I hadn't seen before. 

I conducted further research on Body Dysmorphia, reading articles about how sufferers of the disorder feel. Negative words they feel about themselves and how they just want to hide away and cover themselves up because of this, which is what I tried to represent by using a bin bag to hide most of my face. 

I used magazines to cut out the negative feelings that sufferers faced daily and stuck them onto a bin bag.  

For this picture I used flash in a dark room, as artificial lighting wasn't giving me the effect I wanted.  I used photoshop to fix the brightness and contrast as there was a slight glare problem due to the use of flash. 

Experimental audio

Experimental audio

These two images are the ones which I am most interested in using





Sounds of screams
chair rocking
ominous sounds
creaking floors
echo
Scratching on wood
white noise
Screeching
Swing sound

- sounds reordered in a large room to enhance echo




This image makes me think of nightmares,
trapped













Chains clanking
wood being sawed
Heavy machinery
Industrial sounds
echoes
- building sites



audition workshops -



research -

Photography series research

Research

Duane Michal 

Duane Michal's, is an American photographer who use's photo sequences in some of his work.
Although I appreciate photography I find photography series much more compelling as they usually give more insight an explanation which helps to convey a stronger narrative.

Duane's work was the first to really help flow my inspiration as I found most of his work incredibly inspiring

These first two photo series were the beginning of my search to find influence. I found them extremely inspiring as they send a powerful message and I quite like the elegant but saddening black and white filter in which is used in his work.

in the way the artist captures different mental health issues, from how I have interpreted it.




Dr Heisenberg's Mirror of Uncertainty - Duane Michal, 1998

 I associate the first sequence of photographs with body dysmorphia from the way in which the image in the mirror is distorted and untrue to the image in real life. However, upon researching this image further it seems that wasn't the intention behind the images and it was in-fact French Vouge who wanted Duane to do an illustrated feature on quantum psychics.

Duane states;

"I thought I could illustrate Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle with the mirror, which transforms everything in front of it. When my model moved it even slightly, her image changed completely. It was strange, liquid-like and very exciting. It seemed as if I was looking at her energy evolving and vibrating right in front of my eyes. Of course, we can't see energy changing state at this level, but to see her distort into all these faces was still marvellous."  

Source

I also discovered upon research that he used a convex mirror (which is a curved mirror) to gain this effect. I am throughly inspired by the simplicity of the idea and how effectively it works to convey a deeper meaning.
I would love to stick to a similar style for my own photograph sequence; using little manipulation through editing, focusing on the lighting and using minimal props that will help me to conduct a powerful message.

Exploring body dysmorphia 

                                                         Bruno Metra and Laurence Jeanson 

The artists took body parts of supermodels and placed them on "ordinary" people.
I found these images to be very inspiring and relevant to the theme I want to explore (body dysmorphia).

working directly with images that come from the media (magazines)
inspired by the pressure of social media

I like the simplistic idea of sticking different features/body parts onto a model and think I could create my own version of this, perhaps in a darker and more surrealistic way. 

                         

Meltem  Isik

'Twice into the stream"

This represents a distorted view of the subjects body, maybe pinpointing the persons insecurity areas. 

This is simply done by having a magnified print of the chosen area of the body, printed on a large canvas sheet and held up against the subject.
I feel like this is quite a positive portrayal of insecurities and makes us feel more normal about our "Flaws", which is very powerful; however it is not the kind of "feel" I desire for my own photographic sequence. 

Christian Sampson

A photographer who captures mental illness in his art, targeting issues such as bi-polar, depression, anorexia, and OCD.

Tracy Martin

This technique done by Tracy Martin using projections is something I want to explore in my photographic series. I would like to project the negative thoughts that someone with body dysmorphia experiences onto my subject as I think this would make a powerful photograph. 

Learning about the disorder