Myra Greene
Discuss the series, Character Recognition, by Myra Greene. Your analysis should consider:
- The context for the work- does it relate to wider issues (eg. Hurricane Katrina, the slave trade)?
- What are Greene's intentions? Why this process, why the small scale etc.?
- The process- how does this support / contribute to the meaning behind the work?
My Response
Darkroom Edits
The images below are film developed in the darkroom using photographic paper placed under sandwich prints of the digital feature portraits that were printed in acetate. The images show all the texture on skin far more than would be depicted on a digital camera. When creating my test strips I decided that the photos with longer exposures (and darker images) were more successful because then the light and shadows of the face came up clearer as shown in Myra Greene's images. When trying to imitate Myra Greene's character recognition I wanted to choose stand out features of each person. I thought that lips would be very successful developed in film because there is so much detail and texture one wouldn't normally notice at a first glance.
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I think this image is my most successful of the three. The focus and exposure was just right to capture the texture and tone of the eye. I think because the eye is not looking directly at the camera it gives the image a solum tone.
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I like this image because of the texture and feeling of life that is reflected. Although the corner of the mouth becomes unfocused at the end I think it gives the image a sense of depth which gives it life. However I think in the developing process the paper was not left in the developer liquid for long enough to the image did not come up fully in focus and crisp
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I think that this image is successful because of the contrast of the whites of the eyes to the pupils creates a daunting affect. However it could be improved if both eyes were fully in shot. The photographic paper could not fit both eyes fully under the enlarger so the image does not depict the affect of being watched I intentded.
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Next I experimented with masking tape so partially obscure the portraits. To complete this you must put masking tape on the photographic paper and place it under the tracing sheet covering what you wish to be obscured. I then put the image through the developer, stop and fix before roving the masking tape. This creates a crackled affect over the image
The images below are painted with developer. The sandwich print would still be places under the enlarger as normal but instead of developing the picture fully I got a paintbrush and let the developer spill down to the part of the image that I wanted exposed. Then I put the image through the stop and fix as normal. I decided to use this affect with the image of the eyes so it would create a teardrop effect.
Valerie Kabiss
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To mimic the work of Valerie Kabiss I wanted a black background as she makes the face look gauntly and mysterious by having a large contrast of the white of the face to the background. I used both bright stage lights that were placed on one side of the face to cast a shadow and obscure some of the face, I also used phone torches held under and by the sides of the face so there would be lighter shadows creating shapes across the face.
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My edits:
In photoshop I edited most pictures to black and white as Valerie Kabiss does, however I found that the red of her hair also made the images interesting and the shadows look dramatic. I turned up the contrast and edited levels so that there was bright white and dark black and any time there was a bit of detail of face or hair where it should be shadow I blacked it out. I think these images are successful because the shadows work well at creating shapes.
Lighting experiments
Stage Lighting
Tungsten lighting
A tungsten light is an artificial light usually found in an orange or yellow hue. It can be found in ovens or lights bulbs with visible filaments. I used this light because showing faces in different coloured lights can highlight different features. Initially I just used a tungsten light but then I used coloured plastic held over the light to create a contrast of colours.
Portraiture Assessment
Some good images especially in your Myra Greene section. The images show strong composition and have good contrast. (A03) The photoshop work is good and clearly builds on your previous knowledge learnt at GCSE. Your lighting workshop is visually good and again you show a strong understanding of camera technique(A02). However there are descriptions of processes that are missing; these need to be done in full clearly stating what your intentions are for the tasks. Your artist analysis is also missing (A01); these sections have to be done alongside the other set tasks sections you are missing.