Evaluation

For this unit I have photographed portraits and used physical manipulation to make new images. These images will be used as postcards which act as the souvenirs of my project. It is a study as to how a portrait can be used in different ways and still be distinguished as a photograph.

At first I simply wanted to use black and white images and use ink or paint to colour the image. After a visit from Luke Waller I thought that monoprinting was the method to take because I really liked the style of his image. However after giving monoprinting a go I realised that it wasn't the right method to use. It was then that I was recommended to use screen printing just like Andy Warhol.

I have used a lot of equipment to complete this project. To just take the images I used an Olympus trip 35 and Bronica ETRS; the lighting was a bowens ceiling mounted lighting set with soft boxes. Since as I was using black and white film; I was using the developer, stop and fix for black and white film. To create the mono prints I had to use a board, roller and ink. Finally to make the screen print I used the printers to print and copy onto acetate, the screen, light sensitive emulsion, the light box, paint scraper and the paint.

I think the main difficulty of this unit was the time scale I had when I was actually able to start producing physical prints with the mono printing. I don't think I had enough time to experiment with screen printing, however this is something that I will continue.

One practitioner that influenced a lot of my work is Andy Warhol. The style of image production and composition is highly influential. However I have switched the colours and the black and white the opposite way around. I have also used a similar idea to how he displays his images by using multiple images in an organised shape. Another influence is Karl Lagerfeld who uses simplistic portraits, these simplistic images allows me to work with and add colour very easily. 

I am very pleased with the outcome considering the little experimentation I was able to have with screen printing. I feel that I have created a set of very strong images and researched relevant practitioners for the techniques and style in which I have photographed.

Final Images

Due to the deadline only being a couple of days away and I dont have enough time or resources to create more screen prints I have had to try and think of a way of creating the target of ten final images.

Andy Warhol often uses the same image multiple times to create a small collection of pieces with different colours. I am considering doing a similar thing with my screen print. Instead of using full images I will only use one image that will be split up into several segments. this creates a little 'game' for the viewer and makes the souvenir that is a postcard into a collectable piece of a small set of images.

This is the complete final image that I have created which will be submitted as a final piece

These images are collected to look like this.

Third Shoot

35mm

 Here are the best images from this roll with only simply edits like crop and levels in an adjustment layer.

Medium format

All of these images show strong contrast and a lot of detail. However sometimes the shirt is blending in with the background due to being the same tone. I think if I have time to shoot again I am going to use a dark backdrop which will define the model better.

Experimentation 3

Using the black and white screen print that I made I am going to colour in specific areas of the image similar to that of the Marilyn Monroe image by Andy Warhol.

This shows how the colouring is similar however due to the style of the screen print I feel that it isn't adequate for this type of colouring. This may be unsuccessful if I was to actually screen print the colours this way.

Experimentation 2

Changing colours of my screen printing:

Using the Hue and Saturation adjustment layer I was able to change the colours of the multi coloured screen print that I produced.

I selected each colour individually and changed the saturation and hue for that one colour specifically. This allowed me to make the images have more contrast however the quality deteriorates as the colours are adjusted more. This is because the orange has very distinct strong areas and weak areas of saturation.

The purples and pinks on the face are ghastly; almost blinding which is why I dislike this image. I also adjusted the saturation down however is quickly becomes a strange grey, very boring.

The same applies to this image. The colours of the face are so intense that it is almost impossible to work with this print digitally so I am going to stick with the original colours as they look natural to the image.

Screen Printing

Screen printing is a method of print making. Using paints and a screen which a pattern has been exposed on to, you can slide paint across the top and through to create the image.

First I printed my image onto an A4 sheet of paper, postcard size in black and white.

This is the original template which will be flipped in the next step of the process.

 I then photo copied that image onto a piece of acetate which was then given to a technician at my college who helped my with the making of the screen. Similar to creating a photogram we used a light sensitive liquid and the acetate, the dark areas of the acetate meant that light didn't get through to the paint so it could be washed off at a later time with water.

I can now use this screen multiple times to create multiple prints with different colours on any flat surface. First create a line of paint above the image and using the slider; slide the paint down over the image, lift the slider, spin it around and slide it back over the image to the starting point. You can then lift the screen and the print will be on the surface.

I am going to start simply by using black paint and the whole template.

 Some detail is lost using this method however it has a very rough look and I can still tell what the image is meant to be of. I am going to jump straight into blocking of certain areas of the screen now in order to create a style similar to that of Andy Warhol.

First I started with the purple of the shirt which was very effective considering the original darkness of the shirt. I then moved on to the orange of the face. I covered the hair so it wouldn't get coloured; however I forgot to cover the shirt. Not realising this till afterwards I only dragged the paint half way across the image which is enough for just the face, which explains the curved line across the middle. However I think this works really well, especially as they don't match up completely and there is an orange outline. Everything but the hair was then covered and I finished it with the blue paint.

I was also offered a piece of semi transparent paper by a tutor to try it on.

The image is of similar quality to the normal paper that I have used; however the paint seems to be a lot thicker. This might be because of the papers plastic feel which prevents some of the paint being absorbed. I was going to try another print over the top of the image although I think that due to the density of the paints it would simply cover the pink, hiding it.

Second Shoot

I wanted to try the same style again however I want to see how it would work if the model wore a lighter or even white shirt.

 

None of these images met my expectations. This is because I forgot to set the aperture correctly on Olympus Trip 35,  instead of being on f16 it was still on auto. Therefore the images are all too dark and there is a minimal amount of contrast; making the images look very flat. I will have to try this again however I think I may also shoot medium format film as well to see if I can get any better results.