Unit 2: The Externally Set Task
My STARTING POINT: DISGUISE
I am interested in disguise because I haven't really done anything like it before but I have looked at some work of Saul Steinberg and it's influenced me to study and experiment with the theme of disguise. I like the way you can take a normal family portrait but with out knowing who is actually in the photo is mysterious. I think it's creative and unusual. I'm looking forward to taking photos and adapting them and using props for my project. I like the idea of masks but I also like other props like paint makeup and mounting images on to one another.
Research
I used Pinterest to help me research the way that a variety of artists and photographers have approached the subject of Disguise.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard: The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater
|
Ralph Eugene Meatyard.. was an American photographer, from Normal, Illinos Here are a kind of family album... But everyone in the pictures is wearing a scary Halloween type mask. They look like normal pictures. People are wearing normal clothes and standing in typical family picture style poses but then you notice the masks and the mood of the picture completely changes. I wondered if I could do something a bit like this for my first set of pictures. |
SET #1: Masks
I collaborated with friends in class to create this first set of images. We borrowed masks used in drama and took portraits of each other wearing them around the school building. They look kind of funny because we are wearing our school uniforms and posing for the camera. We even got a couple of members of staff to take part. But they are also a bit scary because you don't know if the people wearing the masks are happy or sad or angry. A mask disguises the way you feel.
My Favourite Image
W.W.W.
I think that this photo worked really well, not only the way its been taken in a studio but the way the head is angled to the side and its got the lighting shining right in front of the mask. The light gives it the effect catches the audience's eyes. We might begin to wonder where the subject is looking and how they might be feeling. Does the mask reflect how they feel or is the person underneath
seT #2: Damaged Portraits
I started this idea by taking a series of pictures of my friend using the studio and lights in the photography room. I then decided to damage the pictures using various techniques. I tried burning the photos, punching holes in the photos, folding the facial parts up so the face looks different ways but at the same time it is unknown. I have splattered paint over the pictures to mix the face up. I have slit the pictures, but the ones I mainly liked were the burning ones and putting two pictures on top of each other and scanning them so they have a good mixed expression.
Experimenting
I have tried various ways of treating these images in order to damage and disrupt the faces. I scanned them on top of one another to see what this would look like. Here's an example of one of my experiments.
In the end I decided that combining the images was the best way to go. Here are several different combinations.
Edited Images
I thought the scanned images looked a bit washed out and I wanted to make some of the much bigger for display so I decided to edit them in an application called Camerabag. This allowed me to choose various filters to get the look I needed. The final images are desaturated and more contrasty. I think they are vary effective and dramatic.
I have decided to print them out at A3 size and mount them on board. I am also going to frame the original layered images and include them in my display so the viewer can see how the images were made. |
Final Evaluation
The theme i chose for Unit;2 was Disguise. I chose disguise not only because i liked what the artists were producing, but because they were very enthusiastic, and very interesting to look out, so i thought i would take there idea forward, and expand there art work broader wider and do different types of experiments with there work.
During unit 2 i searched through many different artists that based there work on disguise and i found 2 very good artists that i did like, who expressed there art work in a very valuable way. The first artist i looked at was Claire Pestaille. She is a famous artist who creates collages, distorts faces and experiments with loads of different ways to disguise the images she takes. The second artist i looked at was Ralph Eugene Meatyard But as i said further up this page " I collaborated with friends in class to create this first set of images. We borrowed masks used in drama and took portraits of each other wearing them around the school building. They look kind of funny because we are wearing our school uniforms and posing for the camera. We even got a couple of members of staff to take part. But they are also a bit scary because you don't know if the people wearing the masks are happy or sad or angry. A mask disguises the way you feel."
During Unit 2 i experimented with various different ways of disguising photos, but was only happy with a couple of the ways I tried, which the first one was mask's just like Ralph Eugene Meatyard, And the second experiment was destroying them by hand by burning the photos, ripping them, folding them, punching holes in them, painting over there faces, and pasting a photo under another photo that ha dholes in it, so it looked like there was extra facial parts on the picture infront. I carried this experiment out just like Claire Pestaille, who folded all her pictures, and ripped them and made them very effective, and attractive for the audiences to look at.
I have evidence to show that I have tried various different ways of attempting disguise. I have recorded them on my website, and have images and written pieces of text to show that I have tried and how my images have progressed over the time we have been working on this unit.
I chose disguise as my theme.. I have enjoyed working on disguising photos, I have made a few fixable errors and it made me realise where I went wrong and I then fixed it and didn't do it again. I created many different types of pictures, I took a few and kept printing them of and editing them in all different types of ways. The best way i thought looked good and what i was most confident at repeating was over lapping the images that have bee burnt and put different parts of facial features in different places to make the picture look attractive.
I was very happy with the outcome of my work, I did not think it would turn out the way it did. I tried my best to find the best suitable theme and piece of art to work on because I knew I would be more confident in repeating and analysing it, and I knew I would enjoy it, and when I enjoy something I wont stop working I will carry on till I am satisfied with my work.
Before I started this unit, I wasn't so confident in myself at making photos and showing them of, but this unit has made myself and my art work change, I felt the need to be more passionate about it and show people what I am really capable of. The overall outcome was very sucessfull.