Summer Project - Self Portrait

Self Portrait Photos:

Key Elements
• The Distinction between Life and Death.
• Nature
• Concealment
• The use of tones to depict moods.

Expressive and poetic, combining a landscape with a figure,
Colour, bold and clean,
Eye catching quality,
Image gives nothing and everything away,
Swallowed up by this cold landscape,
Powerful idea, frightening even,
Surroundings claiming you,
Surroundings can effect and overpower you, metaphorically and eventually literally,
Pre-Raphaelite painting essence,
Darker twist,
Neutral colours bring out bold colours more effectively,
Simplicity with Complexity,

I found the idea of doing a self-portrait a very difficult concept. I felt that to bare my face completely would be too hard so instead I used concealment. In my research I looked at many photographers who experimented with colour. In all of them the most effective way of portraying an eye catching image is to have one neutral colour which makes up most of the picture and then on piercing bold colour. I wanted to have an image that had this effect, it had to be eye catching. In my research I also looked at my favourite genre of painting which is the Pre-Raphaelite. Its romantic and poetic beauty is something I attempted to capture an essence of in my images. Nature has always been a great interest of mine and over the last couple of years combining it with the figure through photography is a reoccurring theme. So in these images nature is used very much as symbolism. These images are to do with the harmony between life and death. The first two images are representing life at its fullest bloom with the bold colours of nature and the main facial features (eyes and lips). The last two images represent death with neutral tones and nature which has perished. How does this represent me in a self portrait? I am consumed and concealed by the nature. I am exploring my understanding of life and death which is that we are not so different to natural organisms. In my research I identified aspects which influenced me in my final images. As well as this I feel that for a self portrait I can’t really say I see myself as any kind of particular representation. I don’t necessarily identify myself and examine how I am seen or how I am represented so in a way adding nature to conceal my features was because it feels safe.

Extracts from research powerpoint:

• Julia Wang slide – “As  a self-portrait it is very expressive and poetic, combining a landscape with a figure is something I am very interested in.”

• Mara Brioni – “I like how this image uses colour, its bold and clean with an eye catching quality. Using the background’s almost blinding whiteness to contrast and bring out rich tones to their advantage is an interesting perspective. I must keep this in mind when creating my own self portrait. I also like how this image gives nothing and everything away, it draws the viewer in and asks them to question what’s going on, making them use their imagination to come up with a conclusion.”

• Mario Sanches Navado – “Mario Sanches Navado has an incredibly illustrative style, full of dark mystery and emotion. If I were to take anything as an influence from this image it would have to be the way he has made his face look like its being swallowed up by this cold landscape. It’s a powerful idea, frightening even, almost resembling a body being buried into the ground, his surroundings claiming him. This is definetly an idea to think about, how surroundings can effect and overpower you as a person, metaphorically, and eventually in death literally.”

• Danielle Tunstall – “Again the use of bold colours against a monochrome backdrop is essential to create a striking image. I must keep this in mind for when I take my self portraits. As an image it takes on the traditional portrait of having the figure in central position. The thing that’s interesting and mysterious about this image is how the body is almost rising out of the darkness, or being consumed by it. The face then becomes the central point of the image, the eye is drawn to the vibrant tones of the lilies and the brightness of the deathly face staring out at the viewer.”

• Alexandra V. Bach – “This image has so many beautiful factors to it which make it such an interesting photo. First thing that draws the viewer in is the fact that there is a circular frame which focuses on the figure. It’s got essences of pre-Raphaelite paintings but with a darker twist, a grimms fairy tale character being lifted from the books. Again the artist has kept neutral darker tones to bring out certain tones, like the redness of the rose and the flawless skin of the face.”

• Kiyo Murakami – “This image combines nature with the figure, a theme that I constantly refer to. Here the photograph titled ‘Coming of winter’ is full of beauty and has a flawless quality. The figure is becoming the tree or the tree is becoming a part of the figure either way they both balance together in harmony. As mentioned before using the technique of using one bold colour (the berry in her mouth in this case) on top of neutral/one base colour makes this image eye catching and breath taking.”

• Frederico Bebber – “Frederico Bebber’s photography is utterly captivating. It tells a story through silent cries and screams a figure in each being eaten away by something unknown to the viewer. It’s beautiful yet darkly frightening packed with emotion in this silent surreal world.”
“It is the need to express and to vent restlessness that produces these artworks: it is unrest coming from discomfort and speaking through artfulness and nature. The audience is universal. Tones are colourless, from pure white to dark black, through the whole range of greys. The contents are literally ripped out of everyday life, combined and merged with agonising shapes, exposed to a fantastic metamorphosis, within a dream-like and surreal environment. Viewers will stop to listen, as if waiting for some noise, without knowing whether it will be music, words or screaming. Will the viewers be able to the detect the humour hidden behind that unrest?”

• Alexandra Bellissimo – “These portraits are stunningly illustrative as well as having a unique simplicity which is very effective. In a quite literal way Bellissimo combines the landscape and the figure to create a strong captivating image. This is definitely something I should keep in mind when doing my self portrait balancing simplicity with the complexity of an illustrative style.”