Extreme -Theme
Brainstorm
First I brainstormed both 'adventure' and 'extreme' because I was stuck between the two themes, then going over the idea, I thought I could do a lot more with 'extreme'. I looked at extreme differences, like hot and cold, extreme heights, and then obsessions, which are extreme likes of something. Some of the obsessions I wanted to explore were tattoos, anorexia, obesity and general eating disorders, drugs, hoarders, and people obsessed with living a different life, like mermaid people. Then I looked at phobias, which like obsessions occupy your mind, but in more of a fearful way, and not a compulsion like obsessions.
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Here is my brainstorm for 'phobias'. I researched phobias and found that there were a lot more than the ordinary ones people know, for example; numbers, time, injections, ants, insects, drugs, confined spaces, the cold, gaining weight, religion, the number 13, Friday the 13th, Halloween and the fear of being smothered. Then I drew a few ideas for the ideas I planned on using. Firstly I planned on filling the background with the models fear, so a person scared of time would have lots of clocks behind them. Then I thought this would be to easy, so I decided to incorporate the fear into the models face.
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Idea Sheets
So to incorporate the idea into their faces, I had to come up with different ways to represent each fear. Firstly I chose the most interesting phobias that I could show, and I chose 'phobia of being touched', where the face would be covered by hands, and the person looks terrified. A 'phobia of string', where the model would be vomiting string, as well as it coming out of their eyes. Then, a 'phobia of insects', where the persons face will be swelled from insect bites, with insects still crawling on their face or just bees as it might look to busy with different insects, and there is also a 'phobia of bees'. Then, a 'phobia of pins', where the models face would be covered with pins piercing there skin. Also, a 'phobia of confined spaces', and of this one instead of obviously putting the model in a small space, I decided to represent how it would actually feel, which is why the model would have a plastic bag wrapped tightly around their face.
Wes Naman Artist ResearchWes Naman is a photographer known for his 'scotch tape' series, and later done a similar series using rubber bands instead. This idea of these photos was to show how easily you can manipulate and distort the face, and what effect this has on ourselves and how others perceptions can completely change what they think about our character.
Looking through these photos, I like how they are very clearly a set, and all look very similar other then the obvious difference of model and costume. This is the main idea I want to incooperate into my work. I will use the same background as he does, and keep it very simple so that all attention is drawn to the model. I had originally planned on filling the background of the model with their fear, but instead I thought this was too easy, so I tried to incooperate their fear into their actual face, so like these photos the face is the focus. I also like how each face is very different from another, and from the objects in the photos you can tell a bit about the persons character, like the princess with the tiara, and the man with the tattooed arm resting his face on his fist, looking quite tough. Im my photos I don't plan on representing much about their character, but more about just making their phobia very obvious. Also, by using the scotch tape he has distorted the face so much that you probably wouldn't recognise the person without it. This idea I also want to use, for example in the phobia of time piece, I plan on making the person face into an hourglass shape so that the face is heavily manipulated, and looks completely different form the original unedited photo. |
'Scotch Tape' Series |
Both of these portraits link to my idea the most, due to the props their holding. One is a gun and the other is alcohol, and they both look dangerous or unhinged. This idea of danger or being scared is something I want to show in my work, as with phobias obviously people are very scared, and I will show what their phobia is of by using props or making their face somehow resemble their fear, like the face in the shape of a clock showing a fear of time. My models wouldn't be holding their fear, but they will be surrounded by it, and it will be one of the focus's of the image, like in these two. I think these photos are trying to represent the different kinds of people (through the costume and props), and how their character can look extremely different before and after the manipulation, and how they look more similar to each other after the tape is on. This unites all of the photos, which it what I aim to do by showing all of my models scared, bringing them together.
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Besty VanLangen Artist ResearchBetsy VanLangen is a photographer and stylist. She loves fashion, and so she incorporates that into a lot of her photography. Going through her photos, a similar theme between them is that they are all portrait photography where the face has something on it to make it look distorted. I like how some of the portraits backgrounds match the subject. For example, the first image of the slideshow, of the women looking like a pie, the background is a checkered table cloth, which is where you'd expect to find the pie. Also, many of the portraits backgrounds are just plain black or white. I like this idea too, as it makes them look like they are in the middle of nowhere, and almost alienates the model, which is an idea I might try to use in my own work. All of the photos have a very different look about them due to the costume and makeup, but they still look like part of the same set. The different range of looks she uses makes the photos really interesting, and so each photo represents something different. This is another idea I hope to show in my work, making all of the props and makeup I use completely different from another.
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The main idea I will take from these pieces is the use of props or heavy make-up on the models face. In the same way that both of these images have something very obviously covering the face, I would also do this if I showed someone with a phobia of bees, then I would cover their face with bees, or if they were scared of religious symbols, I would cover their face with Christian crosses. Another aspect of these photos that I like it the way that the colour of the makeup or props is reflected through the whole photo. For example, the left photo, the model has black make-up circles on her face, and her skin looks very washed out against the black making the whole photo look the same washed out look. Similarly, in the other image the gold colour of the pins make the whole photo look warmer, and her hair is a lot more golden than in the other image. So in mine, I will try to use the main focus's colours and reflect them through the whole image.
Artist Replication- Betsy VanLangen
For this photoshoot I stuck flower stickers on her face, to look like some extreme fashion or distortion, in the same way Betsy VanLangen has in her photos. I put the stickers just around one eye as I thought by just focusing on her eye it would convey more beauty being able to see her emotions, instead of covering her whole face where it would have looked weird, and inhuman. I tried using river cop lighting to make it look supernatural and weird, like something you wouldn't normally see, and then for the eye close-ups I just light it brightly to see all the different shapes and textures of the flowers.
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For this photoshoot I put stickers on her face, and the photoshopped them to look like part of her actual face. This was to look like her face is distorted, and covered with something unusual like the pins in Betsy VanLangen's photos. The aim was to make her face look distorted and inhuman, or just with something different and obvious to other people. For this I used split lighting, to make her look suspicious and again supernatural, and then just river cop a bit to create the same feel but in a different way.
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This is my favourite piece from the photoshoot, which I've edited on photoshop to make brighter and the colours contrast more. I like the way the eye lid is being pushed down slightly by the paper leaves on the roses, as it makes it look as if the flowers are actually part of her skin. After looking at Betsy VanLangen's photo's, I decided to use these flower stickers because I wanted her to look distorted and slightly inhuman and magical, like in the same way that some of VanLangens photos (the ones with the avocado and pins) whats stuck on their face looks like part of them, and not something thats just stuck on them. In this photo I like the way you can see her eye clearly, making you empathise with her, being an outsider looking different.
These are two other pieces from my Betsy VanLangen replication. For first piece I stuck white circle stickers covering her face, and in the second piece I put white powder on her face, covering the areas of her face as if it had fallen on top of her. For the first piece with the stickers, I decided to use a black background so that the white on her face really stands out. However, for the second piece with the powder, I decided to use a white background to match the powder, making the black of her eyes stand out. For both pieces I wanted to show different textures and ways you could distort how she looks, like Betsy VanLangen did. On both pieces I increased the brightness and contrast slightly, more so on the one with powder, and made the backgrounds either completely white or completely black.
Photoshoots
This is the photoshoot for my final piece of the fear of people touching you. For this photoshoot, I got the model to wear dark red lipstick and eye makeup so that when the hands touch the face you can see wear the make-up has been smudged. I used river-cop lighting because I wanted it to have a dark atmosphere representing her phobia, and how scared she is. I had to other models below her with their hands on her face and pulling her face down and ruining her make-up. Obvioulsy for someone with a fear of being touched this wouldn't happen, but the idea represents how someone might feel when they are even slightly touched.
This photoshoot is the second attempt at the one for 'Phobia of Bees'. After looking back through the first one I knew what to improve in this one. So I used more dramatic lighting, mainly being on one side of her face, like rembrandt lighting. I also had the model wear a black top, so it dosent take attention from the terrified facial expression. I tied her hair up out of her face so that it looks less casual, and used a black background to make the photo look more dark and dramatic. Her mouth is open in some of them because I plan to experiment by filling her mouth with bees on photoshop.
This photoshoot is for the experimentation and practice of the 'Phobia of tight spaces' piece. In this I had my model shirtless and wrapped a plastic bag around his face to look like he can't breathe. I wanted his to pose as if he is pulling the bag of and trying to breathe. I decided to use a plastic bag because you can still slightly see his face through the bag and his expression if he's screaming. For the real piece I will do the same sort of photoshoot but with a slightly thinner bag which you can see more through. Also I might wet his face slightly so that it sticks better to his skin.
This photoshoot is off a toy insect for the fear of bugs piece. I have taken photos of the bugs on white paper because in the exam I will cut them out and stick them on the models face using photoshop. However, for the photoshoot of the model, I may actually try sticking the bugs straight onto her face and putting red marks to look like strings and bites, otherwise in the actual exam it may be a lot easier to edit the bugs if they are already on her face so the shadow looks real, and would make the whole image look more realistic. On the right is an actual bee, which I will use for the final piece as it looks a lot more realistic obviously than the plastic one.
This photoshoot is of a small nail going through blue tac. I done this for the 'Phobia of Pin's' piece. For the experimentation I put the pins going into the models face, but for the final piece the idea is slightly different. Instead of the pins going into her, they are coming out of her skin, as if they were growing inside her. I think this idea shows fear more as it would be harder to get rid of the pins, and is a more terrifying idea. These photos will be used for the bump in the models skin where the pin would come through, and so I would probably overlay this image onto her skin, and make it look as if the pin is piercing through her skin.
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This is the photo shoot I done for the phobia of string for experimentation. I had my model put the rope as far back in his mouth as he could, and he pushed it far back enough that he gagged a lot, which was perfect for what I needed. We done this a few times, and I tried to take as many photos before he had to pull it out. I used river cop lighting, because when I will edit it I want it to look quite dark and scary, representing how a person with a phobia would feel. When I edit it, I will also edit the rope to look like its coming out of his eyes, so that it looks a lot more extreme.
This is the photoshoot for the final piece for 'Phobias of string'. In this photoshoot there is also string in his mouth, looking like he's vomiting it up. This time I had his shirtless so that there as less distraction from his face. Also I used a white background, and black string instead of white which I think looks better. I like the first photo of this photoshoot because his eyes had rolled back so his whole eye is white which looks quite dramatic. I will probably use this in the final piece, and have the string just coming out of his mouth and nose and the eyes look fine as they are, or I may also have string coming out of his eyes. Also, if it were just coming out of his mouth and nose it would make more sense, but the eyes would look more dramatic, so I will just try both and see which looks better.
This photoshoot is the second time I done the photoshoot for the 'Phobia of Tight Spaces' piece. Although I am happy with how the first one came out, I decided to redo the shoot, using a white background and trying to get more expression on the models face showing through the bag. I also tried using a different kind of bag in this photoshoot, although it is not clear. For this photoshoot I had the models face wet so that the bag stuck to his skin better, and you were able to see his expression clearer, showing him terrified. I think this photoshoot came out better then the last one, as he looks more relaxed in the first shoot, and in this one the bag looks tighter wrapped around his face, making him look more panicked.
This was a practice photoshoot for the 'Phobia of Bee's ' piece, just to practice the lighting and facial expressions. Also, I had planned on using this photoshoot for the experimentation but after redoing this shoot I decided to use the other one for the final piece and experimentation as it was a lot better then this photoshoot. For the real photoshoot I will have my model in a black camisole with a black background and no jewellery, so that it looks more proffesional.
This photoshoot is for my 'Phobia of Pins' piece and experimentation. I drew lots of dots on her skin with eye liner to act as the holes were I would place the pins in when I photoshop it. I had her wear a black top and then later just a black camisole, so that it blended in with the background. For the experimentation I will put pins into his skin as if someone has stuck them into her. For the final piece I will make it look like the pins are coming out of her skin, like they're on the inside of her body coming out.
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Experimentation
This is experimentation for the 'Phobia of Bees' piece, where I filled her mouth with bees and had them crawling over her face, stinging her. For this I pasted the photos of the bees onto her face, and burned some of her skin around each of the bees to add shadow to make them look more realistic. Then I added some red and black to make some wounds on her face to show that the bees are stinging her, and that this is her worst nightmare. Filling her mouth with bees I copied the same few bees over and over again and pasted them all into her mouth, positioning all of them so that they looked like they were standing on something and not just floating. This is similar to my final piece idea, but for that she will be in a different pose, and I won't fill her mouth, and maybe cover her actual body in bees, so that you can barely see her face.
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This piece is my experimentation for the 'Phobia of Pins' piece. For this I took photos of pins and then photoshopped them into the black dots on her face which are supposed to be holes. After putting all of the pins in place I added a shadow for all of the pins, to make it look more real. For the real thing I will make the pins be coming out of her skin, as if its breaking through, and the skin will be bumping as the pin comes through so it will look more painful than the does. I also made the background completely black to make it look more professional, and increased the brightness and contrast.
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This is the experimentation for the 'Phobia of String' piece. For this I made my model actually put the string in his mouth and almost gag on it so it looks like he's actually vomiting it up. Then I copied the bit of string from his mouth then put it into his mouth, and then burn his eyes to look like shadows so that his eyes were hollow other than the string. I also added some blood to the string so that it looks like its absorbing the blood and liquids from the insides of his body. The string from his eyes is copied from his mouth, so I had to edit it a bit to make the eyes looks slightly different. In the actual piece I will also have string coming out of his eyes, and maybe nose and ears too so that its coming out of all the possible places it could on his face. Also in the real thing his costume would be just skin, no clothes.
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Final Pieces
'Phobia of String'
This is my 'Phobia of String' piece. For this, again showing the persons fear of string I had to show it in an extreme way to represent their extreme fear. I had originally planned on wrapping the model in string but decided this way was much more extreme. The string in the models mouth was originally there in the photoshoot, but I added the string in his nose on photoshop, to show his vomiting it up with some blood around his nostrils to create a more violent feel. For the eyes I used the burn tool to add some blood to the corners and around the edges to show how unhinged he feels, and also to show that maybe more string would have eventually come out of there too, again showing the irrationality of the fear, so terrifying in their mind that the phobia takes over his whole body, and the string would come from every part of his body. Also the way his eyes are white makes it looks slightly supernatural, almost like a zombie, again representing how the fear takes over his body making him look psychotic and unnatural.
'Phobia of Bees'
This is my 'Phobia of Bees' piece. I wanted to show how scared someone with a phobia of bees feels around bees. I tried to make the damage the bees could do look quite extreme, because the image is meant to reflect how the person feels and show their heightened fear, and in the persons mind this is how they might imagine would happen. For this I took the bee out of the photo of the bee and pasted it in various places on the models body. Then I made a lot of wounds, some more serious than what a normal bee would do, but again to show the persons fear, I had to exaggerate the damage to represent the persons mind slightly irrational caused by the fear and panic, that a phobia would cause. For this I used the burn tool to make wounds, and filled some of the worse ones in with the paint tool to create blood. I also made the background completely black to represent their mind, and hows its dominated by this extreme fear of bees. I also cut out her mouth, made it smaller then put it back over her face, and made it look as if her mouth was closing in on itself, so that the photo would look more distorted and disturbing, and like the bees in her mouth would become part of her.
'Phobia of Tight Spaces'
This is my 'Phobia of Tight Spaces' piece, or claustrophobia. Looking through my photos from the photoshoot, I liked one photo where his hands are slightly out of focus as it shows him panicking and terrified, but I also liked another photo where the bag was more tightly wound around the models head, showing more emotion and his fear. So to use both of these, I cut out the head from one photo and put it in top of the other photo, and then blurred the edges of his head to blend it together. For this piece I used a white background, as I wanted to create a psychotic unhinged feel, as if the model had been hospitalised, and trying to escape as he is from the bag, feeling as if he cannot breathe. I also tried to make it look like he was sweating by putting little droplets on his chest, and adding a glow effect to make him look shiny.
'Phobia of Being Touched'
This is my 'Phobia of Being Touched' piece. I chose to represent this by having two other models standing out of the frame and reaching and pulling the models face from below. I chose to do this as since you can't see the other models it makes it look more inhuman and supernatural, and also represents the idea of damnation, which exaggerates the fear the person feels comparing her fear to going to hell. In photoshop, using the burn tool I darkened some of the smudges from her make-up to show the hands being quite rough on her face, almost trying to pull her down with them. And then added a small wound on the left to again show how rough the hands are, cutting her skin and create a darker more violent feel. I also darkened the edges of the photo not showing the arms of the hands to make them look inhuman and represent her mind, but then decided to not use this as it doesn't fit with the other final pieces. Again, I made the background completely black to show the isolation in her mind, and how this fear dominates her life.
'Phobia of Pins'
This is my 'Phobia of Pins' piece. This piece took the longest to put together, as I had to take many different parts and put them together, making it still look realistic as if it were all one image. For this piece I cut the pin/nail out of each of the three different photos of pins that I used, and placed them each in the black dots I drew on my models face when doing the photoshoot. I drew these dots to know where to place the pins, but also to help me when it comes to editing, it would look like the hole where the pin came through. To make these holes look even more realistic, I used the burn tool and the paint tool to add some blood to each hole, and to show the hole left in her skin, exaggerating the size of each nail/pin. I tried to position each nail/pin in a position in her face so that it looked more realistic. For example, where my models skin bumps, like near her eyebrows, I put pins there to look as if her skin is being pushed, as well as making the skin around each pin sightly red. There is a mixture of pins going into her skin, and coming out of her skin, rather than just going into her skin like my experimentation, this way her fear looks more extreme. As nail/pins going into you body would be scary, but the nails being part of your body pushing out seems more irrational and terrifying. Again, I made the background completely black, to represent the isolation she feels when scared, and how this phobia dominates her mind. I then burned parts of her face, like her eye where a nail was going through, and the side of her face where the skin would be very sore because there was lots of pins. Using the liquify tool, I also bulged the left eye to look like it was swollen from the nail going through it to make it look more disturbing.