Photographer Research

Arnulf Rainer

Rainers images couldn't better suit the purpose of being desolate, the idea of a portrait of a person,  (a very simplistic portrait, flat, frontal lighting, and a white background)  just to have their features harshly removed, with that of pen, paints and charcoal, destroying their true identity. In this, it is usual for Rainer to remove features that make a  human face distinguishable like eyes, mouths, noses and any other distinctive features of a subject, to be replaced by block colour of mostly blacks, blobs and harsh, carelessly drawn lines, incinerating any form of humanity from the subject. In any portrait excluding eyes and prominent features the subject suddenly can become, personality-less, emotion-less, even portraying the subject almost monster like, portraying them in a light alien to anything the viewer has ever seen before. Rainer uses this to his advantage in any of his work, ranging from portraiture to landscape, with the common trait of post processed vandalism. Even in Rainer's landscapes, a beautiful landscape could be depicted, but with a horrific Rainer style graffiti approach, like an arrow through the heart of an angel, destroying the portrayed hope of a rising sun, by blotting it out with black. To look at Rainers images is both intriguing, but at the same time, often can make the viewer uncomfortable, the thought of such an empty, emotionless, dreamless portrayal of the human form or a beautiful scene, so carelessly but passionately destroyed. Unlike the generic theme of portraiture, Rainer chooses the subject because of their ability to be portrayed, quite simply, as the human form, added to the cocktail of these horrors, a grimace or physically distorted face is mixed in, maybe making the image comical or even just to decapitate any possibility of a shred of hope to be portrayed.

Ed Busiaks images all have recognisable traits to them, where subjects are mostly lacking faces, leaving very little to be said or read from the image, but still portraying a particular scene . In this image, Busiak portrays the image of a man, maybe sitting across from someone or sitting alone at the table, because Busiaks decision to move the face, this makes a quite busy scene (filled with books and posters on the walls) instantly extremely empty, achieving a sense of loss and desolation within the image. Busiak's style in his images means that whatever scene portrayed, the viewer is instantly overcome with this sense of loss and desolation, due to the simple fact that the subject is without a face.

Henning Christoph

Christophs imagery follows a very precise trend in which always the viewer is 'thrown' into his images, helpless not to feel engulfed and distraught by the lack life, the emptiness of the surroundings, the deep, dark grey of the sky really ladles out heaps of despair to the viewer, instantly darkening the spirit of all who's eyes lie upon it. The stark, harsh contrasts and tones, mixed with the smashed brick structures, uneven ground and derelict house and landscape, creates the undesired emptiness, creating the true meaning of desolate for the viewer.

Mark Rothko

Not only are Rothko's images awe - inspiring to behold, the power of each and every image, the brush strokes, the colours, the sheer size, everything so precisely compiled. With every image there is always a single purpose, always to evoke specific emotions within the viewer. Rothko's abstract paintings are unlike any other painter of any generation, with the boldness of his work incomparable to that of anyone else, with such careful precision to be used on such a large scale, with huge block colours but still great time and precsion taken into account for every piece that Rothko created, making each one of his images feel unique and one of a kind and in no way churned out.

With every Rothko image there are always many factors to take into account;

Scale of Rothkos images;

The overwhelming size of Rothko's images becomes completely overpowering to the viewer, making them extremely uneasy like in the presence of a giant, empty and lifeless mass, looming over the viewer, threatening to completely engulf them into such a vast, hopeless state of vulnerability and despair.

The blending of colours;

Carefully considered graduations of colour are used to blend one colour into the next, for the, different style brushes are used for a desired effects.

Colour; Rothko use of colours create many different themes, ideas and feeling like bright colours for hope, joy and wonder and then contrasting to dark, deep colours to portray sadness, despair and desolation. 

Rothkos images are extremely desolate in the form of making the viewer, in whatever atmosphere or location feel completely alone.

Joel Peter-Witkin

A surreal portrait photographer, unlike any other;

Witkins imagery focuses on the odd and unusual, from recreating visions and scenes to creating a freakshow. Witkins ideas are without boundary, creating a recipe of confusion and a weird sense of awe in the viewer. All of Witkins images have a meaning to them, an purpose in which the image has been composed, to portray the not always so obvious, riddled with hidden meanings and concepts.

Story from a book, 1991

Witkin's inspiration for this image of a corpses head with apples on top is more than just what it seems;

The representation, desired by Witkin is that of the fruits of the mind, so bountiful, even delectable, like the contents of a book, a source of adventure and imagination and of knowledge.

It is the idealism of the 'mind', the single, fabrication of the contents of the book 'escaped of its pages', blindly looking forward onto boundaries of which we do not know (pages that have not been reached) and the magic is yet to unfold. To the viewer, there is the mysterious and curious sense of awe, confusion in which the viewer can be overwhelmed with what they are seeing, trying to decipher what exactly it is our mind really sees.

These harsh and controversial ideas given birth by Witkin, creating dark, contrasting, harsh images where the subject is either dead, disfigured or dressed to shock, it is in these techniques that Witkin creates a huge sense of desolation, making the viewer and subject feel very much alone, physically and with thoughts riddled with confusion, becoming uncomfortable at the 'freak' that they are looking at. The viewer creates a sense of sorrow for the subject, the viewers mind is then in turmoil. Witkin usually uses a single subject, in dark, dank rooms and corners, as if they're worth no more, devaluing their human rights as they are different.

Technologies, Materials and Processes Used For Final Shoots

During my production of my desolate final images i used various technologies and processes in order to create the look that i was intending some of these were:

Cameras;

  Lomo: I experimented with loom photography in order to sample an array of different process i had available to me and different ways in which i could captured various moments of a sequence.

  

35mm:I experimented with 35mm as in all my images, i was intending to produce a harsh, grainy appearance, i found that in order for complete success, i needed to make the next stage to the post production a lot quicker and simpler.

  

Digital: I used digital processes for my imagery as i found i had the reliability and ease of use for both capturing the images, post production and with the ability to twist and tweak the image exactly as i wanted.

Lenses:

  18 - 55mm: I found this lens to be the most suitable to use through my shoot as i wanted my images to fill most of the frame, yet i was working on a small scale, close up to the image, the wider focal length allowed my to crop in really close and tight, while till maintaining the whole image.

  55 - 200mm: I did not use this lens much as i discovered the the focal length was too much and that proved ineffective as i often could not gain focus at such a close distance and often could not get the whole image to fit into the frame.

Mac: My mac was used for the sake of making life easier and post production faster and more effect. I used my mac in order to easily, accommodate the files and begin the finishing touches as soon i had completed shooting them, i could also bring all the images together, in order to fully preview what it was i had created.

Photoshop: I used photoshop in order to add the finishing touches and adjustments to my images, this enabled me to, even though most of the modifications were physically made to a scene, i could then adjust contrasts, vibrance, saturation and other variables within the images as well as mirroring them to create the image i was striving for.

Materials;

Mask: I used a hawaiian mask for the composing of one of my images, this was in order for me to manipulate the surroundings around the mask to keep to the portrayal of a human face. I used the mask to keep the correlation between the 2 sides of the image, as a basis like i used my face to mould the tin foil, i used the mask to mould the layers of the face

Tinfoil: I used the tin foil in order to create my second mask to be used within my image, i moulded the mask to my face in order to obtain the human features. This worked well as it was an exact copy of my face which i had imprinted to it from behind.

Food colouring: I used the food colouring to emulate blood in my images, this worked well as it had the consistency of blood and the colour to match.

Water: The water worked in well when i poured in the food colouring as it gave the food colouring the ability to swirl, change and deform through the water, leaving an interesting and intriguing effect.

Pickled Onions: I used these for the eyes of my hawaiian mask image as they full, freakily emulated, sadistic, sickly eyes, glaring through the viewer.

Hair: I used my own hair to place around the mask of one of my images. This gave a good effect, along with the numerous eyes (pickled onions) of a beast, a monster.

Sink: I used the sink to situate my masks, this served me well for 2 purposes, not only did it contain the mess i was making but it also served as an interesting surrounding in which i could also use a lot of liquid, to control, distort and manipulate each scene.

Project Proposal

For my project, in order to portray the them of desolate, my intentions are to create 2 mini series of images portraying desolation in the form of portraiture and fine art imagery. I would like to create these portraits, portraying that of the human form, but without an actual human form in the image or even present in any stage of the image production. To achieve this i intend in using a variation of materials, techniques and processes to create the look, giving the idea to the viewer that they are looking at a face of human characteristics but in fact the image could not be further from it. The reasons to my intentions is that, in order to create a feeling of desolation, not only is a mass of skill involved with the photographer and the possible 'acting' skills of the subject but to fully achieve a desolate look upon a person, it will never be completely believable until it is real. When a face can be manipulated, fully by the photographer, then the photographer can assume full control over the characteristics and features of the portrait. I intend on creating these 'fake', lifeless portraits using different materials with a mixture of natural occurring events, like that of the natural mixing of 2 substances like 2 different colour liquids. I will document this and then during post production techniques, i will the completely turn the image around, achieving, to its full potential the very meaning of desolate from a portrait so desolate that it holds no emotion, void of life, thoughts and feelings, completely making the image desolate of any human characteristics, holding only to basic human features i.e. nose, mouth, eyes etc. The 4 final images will comprise of 2 sets of 2 images, each set will derive from a single image, meaning that the 4 images will have originated from merely 2 original shots. Although i will be deriving my 4 images from a mere to, i will be sure to adapt techniques to create each piece, unique and not remotely alike from the last. In order to achieve this, due to the fact that all of my images use natural occurring events to comprise them, each and every angle of the image will be different, my intentions is to break each image vertically through the centre, separating the image and mirroring each side to the next so the right hand side will be mirrored so that both sides comprise of the right and then another image whereas both sides will have originated from the left, i will use this technique for all my final images, proving that in every image, there are many stories.

Final images, Materials, Techniques, Processes and Evaluation

Desolate Final Images

For my desolate final pieces, i chose to use techniques in which i am familiar with, this being portraiture, i chose to compose portraits of materials, instead of real people, i chose this idea in order to create a true sense of desolation in a form completely void of life, emotion, merely only portraying the image of a face as opposed to actually being one. For each image, i selected a material and adapted that to the techniques and processes that i would be using for all of the images, the materials i used were basic and minimal, i selected materials i selected all had variables and would easily adapt and form to their surroundings. the techniques that i was using was to naturally let the image form, i would lay the foundations and let the image form, i then photographed the image as the intended image formed naturally before my eyes, i achieved this by using naturally adjusting variables, like my first set of images in which i poured food colouring into water, allowing the food colour to naturally mix itself with the water, while i photographed this taking place. The process that i used throughout was the use of post production techniques in photoshop in which many alterations were made upon each image, some of these were: A harsh use of contrast adjustment, deepening the image, pushing the image into an 'in your face' state. I then adjusted the vibrance of the colours, making the reds bolder, the colours starker and harsher on the eyes, the last common process i used was to select each of the images, dividing them through their vertical middle and mirroring each side, for example the left hand side of the image will then be mirrored onto the right, creating a single new image, the right hand side would then be mirrored to the left of the image, creating another single image. The process of mirroring each side of the image, not only creates 4 images out of only 2 to start with, but with the use of repetition and an emphasis on each side singularly the viewer can really look 'inside' the image, realising that in every image there is not just always 1 image that they are looking at but all images can actually be broken down further, seeing more than just this single story image, but numerous pictures can infect be formed, creating numerous stories, holding numerous styles, techniques and characteristics.

Initially i did some test shots using an olympus trip film camera, after numerous tests and experiments with film based techniques, i decided to use digital techniques and processes to obtain the image i was looking for.

I then shot for the first pair of final images using digital techniques, the equipment i used for the whole project was a Nikon D5000 and 18-55mm lens, once the images were obtained, i uploaded them onto my computer and selected the images i desired for use.

For my 1st set of images, i used a sheet of tin foil which i moulded to my face to form a mask, i then, after numerous experiments with film and other processes and techniques, found myself reverting to digital techniques and setting studio in the sink in my bathroom, i submerged the tin foil mask below the surface of the water and documented this. Once the tin foil had settled and i moved it into my desired position, i then, gradually poured red food colouring into the water, whilst doing so documenting the process with my camera.

Throughout my documentation of what was happening, i witnessed the mixing, blending and conforming of the food colouring with the water, this created an unusual and intriguing, harsh, stark bleeding effect, creating patterns and shadows. Following this, i uploaded the images to my computer and experimented with different effects and techniques, changing and transforming the image and then dissecting and mirroring each half of the image in order to create the desired image i was looking for. For the shooting of the image, i used an 18 - 55mm lens at its longest focal length of 55mm as it gave me the ability (as i was shooting down to my image in the sink) to not only being able to get directly above the image from where i was, but also being the optimal focal length for the use of portraiture shots, this was because focal lengths of 50mm and up do not allow for deformities of the subject within the image.




My 2nd set of images:

Above are the original images that i produced, both of which are severely underexposed, i produced them in this style, so that in post production, upon lightening the image and adjusting the contrast, i feel the effect would be so overpowering and strong, with harsher, more emphasised colours and contrasts

For the 2nd set of 2 images i approached a different means of techniques in order to obtain my desired image, like the first set of images, i used photoshop for post production techniques in order to mirror each side of the image, like the first to create 2 completely unique and original images from each other, from the first image. Each image includes the use of numerous variables of materials, the first image; A hawaiian tribal mask, coated in a  harsh, stark blood like concoction i made from: soy sauce, mustard, honey and red food colouring which i splattered carelessly coating the mask, i then used pickled eggs for the use of eyes as they best emulate an evil aura, emanating from this supposedly lifeless mask, bring about it a satanic light, intimidating and overpowering. Once the first half of the mask had been completed, it was then time to use my imagination to create a vastly different spectacle, following similar trends as the first in order to have the ability to mirror the image and to still create a sadistic feel and aura. The materials i used for the 2nd image was: Hair, knotted and mangled dreadlocked hair that i had previously shaved off my head, i positioned the hair around the mask, keeping to the shapes and contours of the mask, i then, like the other side added pickled eggs for eyes. After obtaining the initial image of 2 opposing sides of the mask, i then uploaded the images, selected the image that suited my needs and repeated the same processes as that of my first image.

Before i had decided on the use of digital techniques and processes in order to create my images as i desired, i used various other process and means in order to decipher the look of which i was going for. First of all i used 35mm film in the form of lomo style photography in which the camera i was using is made up of 4 shutters in which ( 35mm film camera pictured above), when the shutter is compressed, the cameras shutters simultaneously take exposures with 125th of a second in between each shot ensuring that i achieve numerous variations of a similar shot but in many different stages. A lomography camera like this is useful for the documenting of moving scenes and capturing shots that a multiple exposures or a motor drive would not be fast enough to be capable of.  I tried this technique in order to document portraits of a changing, harsh and repetitive nature while portraying the theme of desolation.

Below is a contact sheet printed using analogue printing and developing techniques of the shots i acquired from the lomo camera which i scanned into the computer.

After concluding that the look i was going for could not be accomplished with the styles of portraiture that i performed with the lomo camera i then, still using the lomo camera, attempted a new style of portraiture. The test strip below is a new portrait that i produced with the lomo camera, this time i was looking at the portrayal of desolate portraiture in the blurring, diminishing of features, making the face desolate and void of human features.

Inspired by this image on an album cover:

 

After printing this and performing various tests with it, i concluded that in order for it to be truly successful, the shutter speeds used would have to be considerably slower, allowing for complete blurring and distorting of the face. I performed some tests in this fashion using digital techniques but then concluded that it was not the look that i was looking for.

Intended Audience For My Images

With all my works i maintain a style throughout, commonly following the styles of fine art photography mixed with that of portraiture, mostly following the trends of being head shot style images and more often than not, like these images, portrayed with human characteristics and without the use of human form.

My intentions for my images is for them to be used for the purpose of exhibitional display, to be viewed by the public that are interested in the stylings and works of trends such as portraiture and fine art. I believe my images are most suited for exhibitional works, over that of many other forms of imagery as the techniques and stylings that ive used are individual and specialised to fine art and portraiture imagery. They would not be used for advertising, as nothing is being sold or advertised, they are inappropriate for fashion as the essence of beauty is completely lacking and void from all imagery and lastly they are unsuitable for landscape photography as no landscape is being portrayed.