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.

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.

Experimentation

I wanted to add colour to the original image that I created so I initially started with digital manipulation on Photoshop.

Using the brush shape I thought that it might look very rough and bright at the same time however as shown it simply looks desaturated and contradicting to the focus that the image has.

Therefor I am not going to continue with this method.

First Photoshoot

I am going to be shooting in black and white in a studio using a white back drop and flash units. Bowens Flash units with ceiling mounting to reduce tripping hazards of wires.

I have placed a flash unit with soft boxes on either side of the models face creating a shadow down the centre of the models face. The dark shirt creates a large contrast between the model and the very clean white background.

I am very pleased with this image. There is a lot of contrast and slightly diffrent angles of the body to face creates a very appealing aesthetic to the image.