Why Chosen:
I chose the photographer Tim Walker due to his portfolio incorporating professional and more personal examples of work. Walker works in fashion but also incorporates surreal ideas and other interesting subjects such as fairytales, nursery rhymes and film. Another reason this photographer is important to my investigation is his use of colour and landscape based portraiture; these ideas are what I would like to incorporate in my photographic study due to the implicit subtle combinations of fashion and surrealism.
Examples of Work:
(Storyteller)
Denotation: The style is portraiture with the subject in the central third of the compositional grid. The eye is taken on a journey trough the angular diagonal lines implemented through the layout of the arms.The colours are muted and almost mono tonal in the use of the shade white. Also, the red of the hat appears significant to the image due to its colour compared to the rest of the less highly saturated image.
Connotation: This image could imply the control of the fashion industry over models and the masses. The people are the puppets to the mechanical control of the fashion industry, we are mimes silently accepting what we are told to wear and how to behave to fit our society. Although, it could simply be explicit in showcasing the clothes within the image.
Context: This was created in cohesion with the the release of the book "Storyteller" released in 2012.
https://www.nowness.com/story/tim-walker-story-teller
(Tim Burton)
Denotation: The two subjects are the centre of the shared portrait image with the colours highly saturated to contrast to the subjects of the portraits. The colour red is again a recurring theme for the photographs. The subjects are characters from the Tim Burton style films with the person on the right as Edward Scissorhands.
Connotation: The possible connotations of this image could be the idea of rejecting beauty standards within society. For instance, one of he characters featured in the photograph, Edward Scissorhands, is renowned for his inability to conform as he was made in a way that a rejected the norms and values. The flowers in the background appear to be
Context: This image is titled "Shutterbugs and Scissorhands" and it a collaboration piece between Tim Burton and Tim Walker for Bazaar magazine as part of the 'Tricks & Treats" photoshoot.
(Alice in Wonderland)
Denotation: The denotation of this image is that there are two subjects creating irregular shapes with their bodies. The lighting is deliberately overexposed and appears to have included minor HDR, high dynamic range, adjustments. The composition is unusual in that the framing is not conforming to systems such as the rule of three grid or the fibonacci spiral but instead creates a jumpy image that the eye erratically follows due to the framing of the window, the subjects and the messied foreground.
Connotation: The connotation of this image could be the dream quality of life. The rabbit is a symbol of following the unusual path and could therefore in itself imply that people should create a world in which they are happy, much like Alice and the world of Wonderland, by following their own path whether it is relating to fashion or another contextual factor. The colourisation of the image being faded and light hues of colours could again reiterate the ideas of the dream world.
Context: This image was featured in Italian Vogue fashion magazine and is said to be a combination of Alice in Wonderland and aesthetic appeals of Marie Antoinette.
(Tim Burton/ Vogue)
Denotation: The explicit ideas of this image include composition; the rule of thirds is conformed to in this image in that the skeleton prop's arms are in line with the vertical lines whilst the head of the female model intersects the horizontal line in the grid. Furthermore, the colour red is again a recurring theme for Tim Walker; this may be due to this image featuring as part of a series in a magazine so the images have to work together in a cohesive nature.
Connotation: The flowers in the field behind are various types but marigolds are employed. Marigolds are used in certain cultures within festivals of the dead, for instance Dia De Los Muertos, to encourage and guide the spirits of the deceased to come back and visit at the altars during the celebrations due to their bright colours. The bold colours of the image also imply the vibrant nature of the festival through the sugar skull baked good gifted to others or the spirits, La Calavera Catrina known as the elegant skull figures and vibrant face paint and masks of calacas which is a colloquial term used for skulls in the festival. The elegant skull as part of the culture could also have been an inspiration for Tim Burton himself in his construction of the character "The Corpse Bride" who was an upper-class elegant woman with flowers in her hair as is often the modern representation of the figures in the culture and thus this could have influenced Tim Walker, working in cohesion with Tim Burton, to use the prop of a skeleton.
Context: This image, much like the one previously mentioned, was featured in a magazine this one being Bazaar. This is part of the Tim Burton collaboration in preparation for a showcase of his work at the Museum of Modern Art. The image is entitled "Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?". Other images in the series relate to Tim Burton's films "The Corpse Bride", "Edward Scissorhands" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
(Storyteller)
Denotation: The style is portraiture with the subject in the central third of the compositional grid. The eye is taken on a journey trough the angular diagonal lines implemented through the layout of the arms.The colours are muted and almost mono tonal in the use of the shade white. Also, the red of the hat appears significant to the image due to its colour compared to the rest of the less highly saturated image.
Connotation: This image could imply the control of the fashion industry over models and the masses. The people are the puppets to the mechanical control of the fashion industry, we are mimes silently accepting what we are told to wear and how to behave to fit our society. Although, it could simply be explicit in showcasing the clothes within the image.
Context: This was created in cohesion with the the release of the book "Storyteller" released in 2012.
https://www.nowness.com/story/tim-walker-story-teller
(Tim Burton)
Denotation: The two subjects are the centre of the shared portrait image with the colours highly saturated to contrast to the subjects of the portraits. The colour red is again a recurring theme for the photographs. The subjects are characters from the Tim Burton style films with the person on the right as Edward Scissorhands.
Connotation: The possible connotations of this image could be the idea of rejecting beauty standards within society. For instance, one of he characters featured in the photograph, Edward Scissorhands, is renowned for his inability to conform as he was made in a way that a rejected the norms and values. The flowers in the background appear to be
Context: This image is titled "Shutterbugs and Scissorhands" and it a collaboration piece between Tim Burton and Tim Walker for Bazaar magazine as part of the 'Tricks & Treats" photoshoot.
(Alice in Wonderland)
Denotation: The denotation of this image is that there are two subjects creating irregular shapes with their bodies. The lighting is deliberately overexposed and appears to have included minor HDR, high dynamic range, adjustments. The composition is unusual in that the framing is not conforming to systems such as the rule of three grid or the fibonacci spiral but instead creates a jumpy image that the eye erratically follows due to the framing of the window, the subjects and the messied foreground.
Connotation: The connotation of this image could be the dream quality of life. The rabbit is a symbol of following the unusual path and could therefore in itself imply that people should create a world in which they are happy, much like Alice and the world of Wonderland, by following their own path whether it is relating to fashion or another contextual factor. The colourisation of the image being faded and light hues of colours could again reiterate the ideas of the dream world.
Context: This image was featured in Italian Vogue fashion magazine and is said to be a combination of Alice in Wonderland and aesthetic appeals of Marie Antoinette.
(Tim Burton/ Vogue)
Denotation: The explicit ideas of this image include composition; the rule of thirds is conformed to in this image in that the skeleton prop's arms are in line with the vertical lines whilst the head of the female model intersects the horizontal line in the grid. Furthermore, the colour red is again a recurring theme for Tim Walker; this may be due to this image featuring as part of a series in a magazine so the images have to work together in a cohesive nature.
Connotation: The flowers in the field behind are various types but marigolds are employed. Marigolds are used in certain cultures within festivals of the dead, for instance Dia De Los Muertos, to encourage and guide the spirits of the deceased to come back and visit at the altars during the celebrations due to their bright colours. The bold colours of the image also imply the vibrant nature of the festival through the sugar skull baked good gifted to others or the spirits, La Calavera Catrina known as the elegant skull figures and vibrant face paint and masks of calacas which is a colloquial term used for skulls in the festival. The elegant skull as part of the culture could also have been an inspiration for Tim Burton himself in his construction of the character "The Corpse Bride" who was an upper-class elegant woman with flowers in her hair as is often the modern representation of the figures in the culture and thus this could have influenced Tim Walker, working in cohesion with Tim Burton, to use the prop of a skeleton.
Context: This image, much like the one previously mentioned, was featured in a magazine this one being Bazaar. This is part of the Tim Burton collaboration in preparation for a showcase of his work at the Museum of Modern Art. The image is entitled "Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?". Other images in the series relate to Tim Burton's films "The Corpse Bride", "Edward Scissorhands" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
a good analysis again, however one image evaluation was incomplete as follows "Connotation: The possible connotations of this image could be the idea of rejecting beauty standards within society. For instance, one of he characters featured in the photograph, Edward Scissorhands, is renowned for his inability to conform as he was made in a way that a rejected the norms and values. The flowers in the background appear to be"
ReplyDelete