Developmental Work Photos

First shoot...

I wanted to incorporate the mirror illusion into these images also, so I continued on to use the photo frame and photo shopped the background in to make it appear as though there is something missing or there's something she is trying to hide within herself. For these photos I chose to stay still so that you would be able to clearly see the photo frame and the background through the photo frame. However, I still wanted the haunting, eerie feel to these images, so I enhanced the vibrancy, turned down the saturation and increased the curves to give the image more depth and shadow ,and focus in on the figure. 

I enhanced the colours throughout some of the images to make the background more vibrant, but also it makes the image more crisp and focuses the viewer on the figure as well as the surroundings. The sun coming through these images also adds to the eerie feel, as it adds a warmth to the images making it feel more old and strange to the viewer. 

For these images I ran up and down the stairs, too make it appear as though the figure is either running from something or running from herself, incorporating the element of someone's identity and how someone can mask or hide it back into my photos. As I had turned the shutter speed down, running meant that the images were even more blurred which makes them look more ghost like.

For my first Developmental shoot, I continued to work with movement and to make improvements from my other movement photos I took these shots in a more textured and crowded setting. I used the steps and the archway to create a more eerie feel to the images. I also took some images in a black dress to enhance the theme of identity into my weird and wonderful images. The darker clothes symbolising hiding and someone's fear of themselves, allowing them to cover up their true identity. As there was access to snow I took advantage of it and took some more images out in the same setting. I incorporated the mirror element by using photo frames in the same way I had done before, through the body. I also hung some from the arch and then took photos of different landscapes e.g. wood or forest, and then photo shopped them into the photo frames, creating the feeing of another world beyond the haunting feeling of the figure in the image. When photo shopping these images I did some in black and white and changed the curves of the image to give it more depth and shadow. I also changed some into sepia to give it a more old look and add to the eerie, weird feel.

Second shoot...

For these images, I took photos of the wooded area and then photo shopped the blurred figures over the top of the background. For some of them I took the images actually in the forest as well. By having a more textured background it made the figures look more odd and out of place, and also added to the haunting feel of the images. I took these images in the evening which meant that it looked a lot more eerie and abandoned as no one was here and I was able to enhance to vacant and empty atmosphere within the photo. I edited these images slightly and enhanced the colours of the background image and also change the colour composition to sepia which made it look more old and worn. I incorporated the movement aspect by using my prom dress to make my figure appear blurred. I also used the photo frame to add the mirror illusion to some of these images. I liked the fact that I took the background image separately for some of these photos as I think it adds to the emptiness and vacant nature of the figure and makes the surroundings look more alive and the figure more lonely and distant.

Third Shoot

For this shoot, I wanted to incorporate themes of identity more and I did this by taking something comfortable, safe, and happy in the form of someone's bedroom, and putting a twist on the known environment of someone's room. I took the bedroom scene outside and used an old photo of myself looking happy and smiley and put it in a photo frame to represent how people present themselves to others or what people want others to think they are like, when in actuality the reality is what is in the background of these images. I used myself as the model again, this time I used black clothing to symbolise, absence within someone's identity and personality. Subjectively, the blurred figure in the background of these images is what someone is really like and the person behind that is what other people see and believe to be their true identity. Using the bedroom set up symbolises a safe and happy environment and then the figure represents the reality of that person. I edited these photos and changed the colour composition to sepia to create a more eerie and old looking image that reflects and enhances the mood of the images. 

My overall idea for part of my final outcome,  is to use a model (myself) and use safe and happy environments and incorporate the theme of identity by the use of the blur through a slow shutter speed on the figure, to create the idea of someone masking or hiding behind the 'happy' image or comfortable situation they are in, e.g. bedroom/home environments. Along side the happy situations and environments I will also use comfortable and secure surroundings to further enhance the theme of masking someone's identity. e.g.-playing with my hair, pulling my sleeves to cover my hands, looking down.

4th Shoot... 

For these photos I wanted to portray insecurities and incorporate the theme of a safe place or a safe environment (e.g. pulling sleeves over your hands, fiddling with hair). I used my tripod to take these images, using self timer. I then slightly edited them to take the saturation down and make them appear more empty and lifeless. To link these photos with my movement images I want to portray the feelings through these images and the way I make myself feel comfortable, in relation to the other images of the front you put up to hide your true identity or feelings. Objectively these photos show someone pulling their cardigan down over their hands to cover up, and someone playing with their hair. However, subjectively, these images represent how someone tries to hide themselves from the opinions of other people, and how someone can mask their real personality/identity by hiding behind something else. Whether that be a happy persona or a literal thing such as pulling their sleeves to cover their hands or  distracting someone from their true character by fiddling with their hair. I chose to call this series of images 'My Safe Place'  because it symbolises the safe environment or surroundings someone puts themselves in to hide away from other people or themselves to make them feel comfortable or safe.

Further Developments:

For this set of images I developed the photos I took in the snow, and made the opacity of the images lower so that the dress and the blurred body would appear to be more see-through and therefore create a more ghostly, odd looking figure. I also incorporated the mirror illusion through the photo frame, to link it with my other work as well as the idea of being able to change and hide our real identities with something fake and artificial, or a persona that isn't our true character. I chose to wear a white long dress as I wanted the images to appear slightly more eerie, and ghost like than being a crisp, clear image. Although these images aren't incredibly blurred by the use of movement, because I changed the opacity to be lower it creates the distorted blurring of the figure in a more haunting way.

These images are further developments from my bedroom shoot and arch way shoot. I wanted to create a more natural and realistic surrounding with the bedroom scene so I set it up in a corner and also had some photo frames hanging on the trees so that it incorporated my other artists work as well as Francesca Woodman. For the archway shoot I wanted to make it less blurred and focus more on the crisp surroundings and the photo frames. I increased the vibrancy and turned down the saturation to make it look more eerie and set the mood as haunting rather than fairy tale. With the bedroom shoot I wanted the figure to be more blurred and incorporate the theme of identity throughout the image.