1.RESEARCH AND CONTEXT
2. Indoor environmental portraiture. Serious & abstract, with a focus on how we present and prepare ourselves. Taking the pictures in the studio with a dark backdrop and bright lights, playing with contrast, shadow, and concealment through the boundaries of the camera.
3. People (mainly a single person), interacting with culture (products) such as lipstick & handheld makeup mirrors, alone with lights, as the stage is being set / rehearsal. Should be as if there was nobody else in the room.
4. I want to tell a story, but not a concrete one. I want to leave room for interpretation, and above all else I want my images to evoke an emotion, even if the meaning isn’t 100% clear. Playing with light and B&W, I can work with the intensity of the image, literally (light) and emotionally (shadow, things concealed / kept away). My goal is for it to be satisfying to look at, as well. It should be cleanly shot and yet be unique in its angles and way it plays with light.
2. 3 artists/artworks/film/media
1A ) Ashley Connor – director of photography – based in New York – filmmaker / music video creator
1B ) Beach House’s “Dark Spring” video / Angel Olsen’s “Tiniest Seed” & “All Mirrors” videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eBDrE25ec / https://vimeo.com/55315704 / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjt698Zv5jQ
1C) Works in both studio and on location, and when she does work on location she takes advantage of it. Heavy focus on environment.
1D ) Her manipulation of light and shadow is beautiful and creates some extremely powerful imagery. Completely takes advantage of what B&W has to offer. My main inspiration for this project.
2A ) Man Ray – avant-garde artist, most prominent in the 1920’s/30’s – American – 8/27/1890 to 11/18/1976
2B ) “Glass tears” / “Portrait of a Woman” (1940)
2C ) Studio. Creates abstraction with a large attention to detail, so needs a studio setting for his particular work.
2D ) I find his portrait work, as mentioned above, to be really beautiful. For the closer-up shots I’ll get in my project, I’ll be drawing from his portraiture. Works such as “Glass tears” and “Portrait of a Woman” evoke so much emotion with extreme simplicity.
3A ) Cindy Sherman – American – born 1/19/1954, alive (65 years old)
3B ) “Untitled Film Still #03” / “Untitled Film Still #19” / “Untitled Film Still #21” / “Untitled Film Still #47” / “Untitled Film Still #50”
3C ) SUNY Buffalo from 1972 to 1976. Started in the visual arts as a painter and then turned to photography, seeing the “limitations in painting.” Was introduced there to conceptual art and photographers.
3D ) Works on location, such as city streets and roads. Uses makeup / clothing / setting to create character and evoke cinema.
3E ) Her embrace of environment, makeup and clothing to create a scene. Gives vague recollections of cinematic scenes that haven’t exactly happened. Inspiring environmental portraiture that evokes emotion.
3. IDEAS & PROCESSES
A) Interested in environmental portraiture, black and white photography, simplicity, and the manipulation of light and shadow, as well the manipulation of angles.
B ) My main questions are regarding black and white photography and light and shadow, as I’ve never shot in black and white before, which gives a new importance to the manipulation of light. Also, I have never worked in a studio before (except for in the beginning of this semester) so I have questions about lighting and general studio work.
C ) I’m looking forward to learning more about the lights and the coordination required to pull off a successful session. I want to evoke emotion through abstraction, and create something aesthetically pleasing as well (as the aesthetic is how the idea came about).
D ) Will bring props (folding chair, lipstick, makeup mirror, etc.) Will begin by setting up the lights, and might need a bit of time to calibrate and mess with settings to find the look I’m searching for. Will shoot with 30mm and 85mm lenses, so will eventually switch between them. I have sketched most of the planned shots in my notebook, so in the hour I have to shoot this project I won’t be scrambling for inspiration or the right angle; however, I don’t want to overplan and suppress spontaneous creativity.
E ) I will manipulate the boundaries of the camera frame, at times keeping the model in the bottom corner of the frame, giving more focus to the (largely empty) environment and putting more emphasis on the lighting. Will use the long exposure function on the camera to give a unique look to the lights.
F ) As previously mentioned, I have considered some of these shots and have loosely sketched them out. Perhaps while shooting I will want to change something or introduce something new in the moment, and I think that is the beauty of the creative process. A balance between preplanning and spontaneity is what I’m looking to achieve.
E ) I could frame this project with a bigger focus on the subject, just playing with the lighting effects on the face and clothing; I could place the subject in the center and take more pictures of them facing the camera; I think that the way that I plan to shoot it will better fit my goals, though.
IMAGES
Angel Olsen’s “All Mirrors”
Angel Olsen’s “Tiniest Seed”
Beach House’s “Dark Spring”
Beach House’s “Dark Spring”
Man Ray’s “Portrait of a Woman”
Man Ray’s “Glass tears”
Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Still #03”
Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Still #47”
Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Still #50”