Connecting Essay 4 -
Morgan Redman:
John Stezaker:
The first photograph shown above is my surreal electronic experimentation of portraiture. The technique that I used was a combination of various Photoshop tools that I had learnt from prior techniques posts and tutorials relating specifically to layer masks. My photographic study is combined of two separate layers, one on top of the other, with the original image being a family photograph that I did not take myself. However, the secondary layer is of a subject that I posed to replicate the original image and also captured in a studio set up. The success of this image, being my favourite specifically from shoot eight, is based upon the composition of the model, the clear understanding and execution of how the Photoshop tools work in post-production editing. For example, the subject was posed in a way that mimicked that of the original subject and then the images were scaled to a similar ratio before being combined so that important focal features such as the eyes matched up. Moreover, the editing process was challenging and time consuming and required an understanding of layer masks and how to use them effectively to reveal enough of each photographic layer. My only criticism of this final outcome is that the lighting of my photograph could have been more carefully matched to that of the initial scanned photograph.
The conceptual photographic artwork seen below my individual response is that of John Stezaker who examines the ideas of culture and identity through his readymade photographs drawn from books, magazines and postcards. Stezaker employs an ideology that images, when placed into a collage, will vie for visual dominance and as such the connotations of the image render an idea relating to the identity, balance and the human condition and its flaws. The photograph depicted above is part of the "Marriage" series which involved the compilation of various icons from opposing genders to encourage the audience to witness the conflict between the two and, interestingly as a juxtaposition, their balance. The particular image is titled "Marriage VIII 2006" and is created from two readymade images, as Stezaker calls them, from vintage film stills and head shots of movie stars. Like many other surrealist photographers and artists Stezaker began as a painter before being influenced by the painters Gerard Richter and Sigmar Polke who juxtaposingly encouraged his transition into photographically based conceptual art. Stezaker believes that "images in charity shops are like orphans, they've lost their context or culture, they've gone a little bit out of date. They've been neglected and overlooked for years and people have passed them by, then suddenly here I am, the alternative foster home. But I unfortunately I then inflict terrible abuse down in the basement where I cut them up". It is the idea that images can be rediscovered and found a place within modern context that influenced me to pursue a similar technique.
It is the idea of photographic reclamation that encouraged my eighth shoot which was followed by an extensive editing period using the aid of Photoshop to create a series of juxtapositional images with one being shown above. Similarities between the works include the use of two images to create a
composite and the angular layering of the images. Despite this, there are a number of differences between the images. For instance, the photographs employed by Stezaker are images that he finds and gives a secondary purpose to whilst my sourced images are photographs that apply to my direct history with the base layer of the displayed image being a school portrait of my mother as a teenager. As an exploration of identity and how we are formed by our peers I then photographed a friend and combined her portrait with that of my mother's which I had found and re-purposed from a family photo album. Moreover, Stezaker's "Marriage" series uses mostly black and white or sepia photographs due to their age whilst I used colour within mine to reflect their more modern relevance. Additionally, the layering technique varies in that Stezaker applies one photograph to another whilst I conjoin my images and intertwine them. The process of keeping within the framing of the original photograph and removing the background and more than one section of the image creates a final ouytcome that is more cohesive than Stezaker's. However, Stezaker has inspired my series greatly and is interesting in that his influences such as Gerard Richter is also an inspiration of mine.
