Research - Inspirations for 2nd image of subject

Chuck Close

A painter and photographer of 'larger than life' proportions, Chuck made his fame as a photorealist, creating large scale portraits of various subjects, from all walks of life, portraying them in such a way that the viewer has no choice but to be intrigued and trapped my the hypnotic gaze of all of his images.

Chuck's photographs all give the viewer the ability to climb into the minds of the subject and to feel their emotions, almost enough to reach out and touch their minds.

Chuck's images all have a very 'earthy' feel to them, a real exposed and natural aura that reveals everything that is to be or see in the image

Chuck close has inspired my 2nd images as it is my intentions to portray my subjects so bare, open and honest. Through gritted teeth and popping veins i plan to portray my subject in an overpowering intimidating way, like Chuck uses size and incredible details, enabling the viewer to look deep into the subject i intend to create a similar yet intimidating atmosphere in my subject.

Dave Hill

Hill uses extreme photoshopping techniques mixed with incredible shows of role play and heart felt acting from all of his subjects to create wondrously complex portraits, most of which creating a feel of a movie type scene. Dave produced a series of images based on wrestlers, in which they are performing various acts of ferocity and strength, in which the power of the wrestler in the ring can almost be read by the depicted act e.g.

These 3 images depicting 3 various wrestlers is very suggestive to the power and prowess of the subject;

Subject 1 is depicted statically withstanding the impact from a giant truck, while subject 2 is taking the impact of a generic car, alot smaller than the truck, with less force, the subject is also the smallest with less apparent animosity and intimidation. Subject 3, the largest, sporting the most fierce and aggressive look about him, withstanding the most significantly incredible force of the 3 subjects, a train, known to generally travel at incredible speeds and built like a tank, known to cause imminent death at any such impact, yet merely cushioned by the strength and power of such an incredibly strong being.

The inspiration i've derived from Dave, i will incorporate into my 2nd images of my subjects in the form of the animosity, the ferocity of the subject, sporting a crisp, powerful and intimidating appearance of scene and subject. I will use the muscular bulk, alongside the ferocity portrayed by my subject in order to create an intimidating scene of which to intimidate and confuse the viewer.

Shoot's

So far, i have sourced 3 willing subjects to be used for my shoot.

I have acquired the permission of the gym manager to take photographs in the gym facilities and to be able to move equipment into a studio, for a more private, professional environment.

Below is a timetable of the studio's in use on Sundays, this means i have the freedom of studio 2 throughout the entire day. I plan to be commencing my first shoot on Sunday 16th May from 4pm onwards and can secure the use of at least 1 of my subjects on this day.

Studio 2:

As you can see, studio 2 is a large, clean open space that is well lit meaning extra light sources will be minimal and i will be predominantly reliant upon this lighting and a reflector.

This is a model release form, this certifies that i have been granted by the subject permission to take picturesof them. I will assure that a form like this is to be filled out by myself, my subject and a witness prior to shooting them.

Just completed my first shoot with subject, went really well, subject was very cooperative and all went very smoothly. Was not prepared for lack of light as there was a problem with the lighting, and had to resort to tripod work and the pop up flash on my camera, this along with my reflector, i managed to overcome this situation. 

Also did some shots for my subjects personal portfolio as they intend to pursue a career in fitness modeling. Above you can see that a model release form was completed by my subject, entitling me to full capabilities to use the images as i please.

Second shoot, using myself as the subject just completed, composed the shot with camera on a tripod and had my dad compress the shutter, shoot went well, sorted out lighting, very pleased with results.

(After deliberation, i have decided to try and schedule a re-shoot of the images of myself)

Updated Saturday 15th May:
First planned shoot failed to take place due to subject letting me down and not telling me, next shoot with subject number 2 will continue tomorrow and subject number 3 will be on Tuesday, still looking out for more subjects
Update Sunday 16th May: 
Again let down by subject, next shoot planned for Tuesday 18th May at 2pm, dependant on subjects reliability
Lesson learnt:
Paid for models are reliable because there's something in it for them, subjects other than friends or family generally need incentive.
Update Wednesday 26th May: 
Not completely satisfied with images of myself so decided a re shoot. Re shoot unsuccessful, decided against using myself as a model.

Here are some initial shots that i obtained using digital equipment in my first test shoot:

Following this shoot, i decided that a re-shoot was in order as i wasn't satisfied with the images that i acquired:

From these images, i was then able to make my selection for my final images:

During my FMP test shoot:
There were a few problems that i came across;
Lighting, the lack of lighting within the room, i was not prepared for, as many bulbs were out, this meant that a higher ISO was to be used, along with a slower shutter speed and wider aperture, although i could mostly accommodate this unfortunate even with variables within my camera, i still had to overcome the fact that in order to achieve an optimal exposure, without the use of a tripod, i had to use the 'vibration reduction' utility on my lens, this along with positioning myself in the strongest, most sturdy position i could allowed me to achieve optimum results. Along with the situation of lighting, i had only with me a small memory, memory stick, meaning that during the shoot, numerous times i had to unload the pictures i had just taken onto my mac and start again, this became quite an inconvenience as it prolonged the overall time of the shoot, as i was trying to keep it short, sharp and professional so i wouldn't bore my subject.
 I used 2 lenses throughout the shoot, an 18 - 55mm and a 55 - 200mm;
 

I used these lenses as it allowed me to have a vast range of focal lengths in order to work really close and from a distance with my subject, through the shoot i maintained the focal lengths of 50 - 120mm, meaning numerous lens changes were made.

Throughout the shoot, due to my ill instructions, my subject was also very keen on posing in his own manner as he misunderstood my idea, after full briefing and examples of what it was that i wanted, we then decided to plan a re-shoot in which i could achieve my desired shots, my subject was happy with this decision as we had already achieve images that they liked.

During my first FMP final shoot:

After realising various problems from my test shoot, it was then time to realise a means in which i could overcome each of these problems:

Lighting, i brought with me upon the final shoot a Metz Hammerhead flash gun, this is an extremely powerful external flash unit, which i synchronized to my camera, so that upon compression of the shutter on my camera, the flash would also fire. I also brought with me an external sync unit, along with a tripod, this meant that the flash could be positioned meters away from where i was based with my camera and still would fire along with the cameras shutter. Although, now prepared for the eventuality of the lack of lighting, i found myself in no need for the use of this equipment as i had previously reported the lack of lighting and this had been amended, many of the bulbs were replaced.
I brought along with me this time numerous smaller memory cards, i did this, instead of a larger memory single card as it meant i could make quick and easy switches of memory cards when full, allowing for easy separation of the images, meaning that upon uploading and post producing i could see simply and clearly the difference sections of the shoot, with different styles, positions and techniques.
I continued to use the same lenses in the final shoot as i did in the initial test shoot as they are lenses i'm familiar with, meaning that even though numerous lens changes were still made, from my experiences of the test shoot and the adaptations i had made in order for myself to be more prepared i could more easily and smoothly work through the shoot, fully in the knowledge of what it was i had to do to accomplish the shots i required.
My subject, during this shoot, knew exactly what was needed and acted accordingly, obeying my instructions, posing as i willed and i managed to get images that i was looking for and glad to achieve.



Throughout the shoot i was using digital techniques to capture the images, this is due to many factors such as:
This was the most reliable and effective way of recording the images as there is no
When complete, the images could be quickly post - produced and turned around for use.

Health and Safety

As my decided project  is set in a dangerous environment, there are a few precautions that i need to take into caution;
1) Caution for myself will be need as the shoot will involve various pieces of equipment and the need for me to be able to manoeuvre myself around for different shots, in this case i will have to be very wary of my surroundings as to not put myself or my equipment in danger for other peoples and the actions of my subject.

2) The safety of my subject, is of upmost importance, as the shoot entails that my subject is to perform a vigorous exercise, this will mean that they will be use heavy equipment in a high octane, rigorous fashion i.e. bench press, squatting, dead lifting or an olympic lift, as you can see from the pictures above, these various exercises are highly demanding and also highly dangerous. Due to the dangerous aspects of this shoot i will be sure to only 'recruit' experienced subjects for greater chance to avoid injury.

3) Other people present; as the shoot is in a gym, their will be other people present, all of which will be performing their own exercises with need of their own space and safety and will be working around them with patience, care and cooperation.

4) Gym equipment, i will be using various pieces of equipment during the shoot, these being, barbells, dumbells, plates, benches and racks, to avoid injury and annoyance of myself and other people, i will be making sure to place all equipment back once finished with.

What i will do to ensure safety for myself:
- Be wary of myself and what is going on around me, this includes hazard and awareness of other people
- Keeping distance from other people exercising, including my subject (meaning the use of a longer lens will be used ((55-200mm))
-All equipment that i use will be carefully monitored and kept a safe distance from my subject.

What i will do to ensure the safety of my subject:
- Only subjects that are completely competent with the chosen specific exercise to be used.
- Only allow subject to use weights that they have performed the exercise before with (no record attempts or massive overloading)
- Not to rush the subject and allow ample rest between sets/reps.
- Make sure the subject has more than enough surrounding room by choosing a safe spot in the gym and clearing all hazards.
-Due to the massive amount of concentration needed by the subject as to avoid injury, i will try to avoid using a flashgun but will be using a reflector.

What i will do to ensure the safety of others:
- Clear away all equipment once used.
- Not get in the way of other people and to ensure my subject doesn't either

Research - Inspirations for 1st image of subject

 

Andres Serrano was born 15^th August 1950, in New York City; Serrano is from a half Honduran, half Afro-Cuban background. Serrano was raised as strict Roman Catholic. He studied at the Brooklyn Museum and Art School from 1967 to 1969; Serrano currently lives and works in New York.

 Serrano is a conceptual artist, a traditionalist when it comes to photography using film and shoot straight without post production. Unlike many other photographers of this age, Serrano is unique in that he uses no gadgetry or computers, literally pointing, shooting and printing. What you see is also what Serrano saw, this really emphasises his incredibly advanced photographic skills in that he relies solely upon his own skills, that of which with lights, film and his imagination. Serrano purely works on the basis of his imagination surpassing anything that could be achieved with the use of any fancy, high tech equipment. The reason Andres images are so spectacular and without the use of Photoshop is because his effects are real, with minimal or no trickery. Serrano’s subjects are real like his series The Morgue where all the subjects are in fact dead, The Klansmen series, where the Klansmen are in fact KKK members, knowing this, it’s then amazing to think Serrano, so bold and brave enough to approach and relay his ideas and to carry them through with such brilliance, regardless of the thoughts and opinions of other people. Another example of Serrano’s creative brilliance is the image portraying the conjoined twins titled; Lori and Dori, where the conjoined twins, are really conjoined, whereas it is more than likely that any other photographer would have created this kind of image with that of Photoshop and/or darkroom techniques. In the image ‘White Nigger’ Serrano uses a white male subject, painting him black; the image is completely believable that you are looking at a black man, except for the intentional mistake where the black paint finishes, revealing the pale white of the man’s true skin. The fact that Serrano always strives for authenticity in his images it undoubtedly can start to cause some problems a quote from Andres Serrano:

“The trick is not so much coming up with ideas, as how to make them work. When I first tried to photograph my ejaculations, for instance, I kept shooting and missing. After about eight times of getting back black film I realized that I needed a motor drive on my camera. I would start shooting film before I felt myself coming, and was able to shoot a roll of film in seconds. Invariably, there would be one shot, and one shot only, of my ejaculate. In Vagina Dentata (Vagina with Teeth) the teeth-they were shark's teeth-kept falling out. I had to keep pushing them in to keep them from coming out. After a while, they stayed in place. When the shoot was over, I tried to get them out, but they were stuck. I then realized that the glue that kept them in place was dried menstrual blood.”

Quote from: http://www.artnet.com/awc/andres-serrano.html

Serrano’s works have been exhibited all over the world and created such controversy and established an elite following and respect in the photography industry. There are many prestigious galleries his work has been displayed in some of which are: Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre in London in 2001 and in the Collection Lambert Avignon France in 2006. Serrano’s work is primarily displayed in New York and Paris by the Yvon Lambert Gallery where he has established a giant, cult following. Due to the massive controversy that comes with Serrano’s work, it is natural that people will develop distaste for it, this being so, October 5th 2007, several of Serrano’s pieces on exhibition were vandalized at an art gallery in Lund, Sweden. The culprits are believed to be part of a Neo Nazi group opposing Serrano’s works.

Andres Serrano - America

In Andres series America, Serrano makes portraits of a vast array of different people from many different walk of like and depicting them, the way that they are, portraying the jobs, lives, loves and personality in a straight, simple portrait. I have chosen to research this series as it is in the same way/light that i wish to portray my subjects, Serrano's subjects range from: Porn-stars, Hobo's, Pimps, National Treasures, Nuns, Policeman, Freedom Fighters, Racists etc. Serrano shoots all of his portraits in the same way:

In allowing the subjects, freedom of pose/position

Freedom of Attire, they are shot how they are in life, no charades and no costumes, portraying them for themselves.

The main traits that i like about these images is that no matter the subject, Serrano shoots the subject in the same style, same theme and lighting, regardless of the subject i.e; no matter what walk of life the person comes from, be it policeman, racist, hobo, pimp or nun, Serrano will still shoot the image on level with the subject, neither looking upto or down upon them. Serrano uses simplistic, often bright lighting, neither harsh nor soft.

Take home notes:

Like Serrano I;

1) Will use a simplistic portrait style shot, allowing the subject to present themselves how the feel comfortable as long as no aggression is shown.

2) They will be wearing the attire that is what they would normally, giving a natural feel and showing them for themselves.

3) I will neither look up nor down on the subject and make a point of shooting them honestly and in a style no way giving any negative impressions of the subject.


Deadpan Portraiture
Unlike most generic forms of portraiture, in which the subject will be portrayed in a certain way to promote a mood or theme while deadpan portraiture works along the lines of a lack of which, it is portraiture in which the subject holds a completely neutral and emotionless expression. The common themes of deadpan photography will be obvious from all portraits;
• Expressionless, vacant facial features.
• A natural feeling shot e.g. no/minimal props, basic surroundings e.g. park, street, pool, school etc.
• Lack of physical gestures, straight bodied and usually no appearance of movement.

• A very candid, amateur style/feel.


Thesaurus definition:
deadpan
adjective
his deadpan expression: blank, expressionless, inexpressive, impassive, inscrutable, poker-faced, straight-faced; stony, wooden, vacant, fixed, lifeless. ANTONYMS expressive.

 Rineke Dijkstra

Dijkstra's works are generally individual portraits focusing on children, young adults, club goers and soldiers. A lot of Dijkstra's images are made up of series all following the trends and characteristics of deadpan photography, whereas her subjects are generally straight faced and emotionless and showing complete lack of gesture and expression, almost removing all sense of humanity from the subject. Dijkstra subjects are portrayed in black, empty environments, showing minimal details apart from the subject themselves. I have acquired inspiration for my images from Dijkstra's works as the with every portrait she creates, it is nearly impossible to feel what the subject is feeling to relate to them, instead achieving a feeling of looking through them, through their emotions, into the inner, vulnerable self. Her subjects all assume such an open empty appearance, which almost makes the subject, no matter who they are or what they appear, the emotions emitting from them scream insecurity, vulnerability and emptiness. My intentions, in using techniques inspired by Dijkstra is to really portray the lack of aggression, the openness and vulnerability of my subjects, in doing this, i intend to prove that even though these people are intimidating and a lot larger than ourselves, they are human, they have personalities, they have feelings, it doesn't matter how thick the muscle, they are just as vulnerable as anyone else.

My Project proposal

My idea for my final major project, is to involve, 3 different mediums of

photographic techniques;

Documentary

Portraiture

Fine Art

In many circumstances in our life, we are confronted by people that intimidate and make us feel insecure. These circumstances can often occur in passing, at an event, rarely are we intimidated in places of comfort and familiarity, like our homes or the homes of friends and family. Intimidation can be: an overpowering, large person in passing, fierce aggression, confrontation. These intimations will generally be in places you already feel unsafe in like, dark streets, alleyways, clubs, unfamiliar towns. People who could intimidate you usually possess similar

characteristics, some typical ones could be: tall, muscular, a different ethnicity, tattooed, shaven head, hooded/masked, gangs of people and loud 'in your face', confronting people. Although the appearance of the person may reflect of their personality, this is not always the case. For Example:

The film and novel; In 'The Green Mile', the character John Coffey is a giant, hugely muscular black man with a deep, booming voice, sentenced to death for the suspected murder and rape of two young girls, everyone in the prison that hes at (including the guards) are extremely unsure and intimidated by him. The guards continue to act weary around John until they begin to learn his true nature,first we learnt he fact that John is afraid of the dark, he's fond of a small mouse, has incredible powers of healing, which he modestly uses for good and has a gentle generous nature but will still stick up for himself. The story concludes with his death by electric chair, everyone (including the guards) are so stricken and in disbelief but grateful for the massive deeds he has done for them. The story, along with many other morals is that we really cannot jump to conclusions and judge a book by its cover, although he seemed fierce and menacing, his deeds that sentenced him to death also seem so but infact he does not mention his crime, only stating that he "tried to take it back, but it was too late." This long with what we learn is that kindness can be found in anything.

It's not just this situation that kindness and innocence can be found in the most unexpected forms another example:

'Of Mice and Men' another novel, theatre production and film, the story of Lennie and George, 2 migrant field workers, during the great depression who move from town to town working to achieve their dreams of a small house, some crops and rabbits (for Lennie to tend to). George, the intelligence of the duo, it is down to George to make sure Lennie doesn't get into (too much) trouble, Lennie Small is Georges ironically named, immensely strong giant and incredibly dim-whitted companion. The story begins with George and Lennie, moving to a new town, fleeing from their previous after Lennie's misunderstandings, leaving the rest of the town hot on pursuit of them for Lennie's suspected attempted rape of a village girl. The same sort of cir cumstances crop up in the new town as John Coffey experiences in the prison, Lennie, being so huge and strong, leaves ever yone wary of his intimidating strength in which he unknowingly demonstrates through out lifting and outworking everyone else on the ranch in which they sought employment. Another situation in which his strength becomes apparent is in which Curly, the boss's son who seeks to enrage Lennie in an unprovoked attack on him, it is in this situation that Lennie breaks Curly's hand. Another much more dominant side of Lennie is his innocent, child like nature which becomes incredibly apparent, Lennie has a love for all things cute, soft and cuddly that he can pet. Throughout the film Lennie talks of how hes going to one day tend the ra bbits, he also finds mice to call his pets and a one point gets a dog to pet, both the mice and dog all fell victim to the innocently heavy hands of Lennie, ultimately e nding in their demise. This is how the film concludes, with Lennie's unknowingly immense strength in which he accidentally breaks the neck and kills Curly's wife, which concludes with the death of Lennie. Another e xample, very similar to that of John Coffey, through a misunderstanding and innocence of their own strength amounted to their demise, yet their hearts were really the true idea of pure.

My last example of which appearance cannot be taken into account when we talk of the heart that is inside; The BFG; Film and novel by Roald Dahl, the story of a little girl named Sophie kidnapped by a giant, the friendliest giant that ever lived, kidnapped in order for him to show her his world, his life and all its wonders. The giant although feared because of his appearance infact is completely crazy and like an innocent child, infact bullied by the other larger and fierce giants. The story concludes with Sophie and the BFG warning the queen of atrocities that are the other giants who eat children, they are then captured and put in a pit, trapped, saving children

everywhere.






















My idea is to portray people in different lights that can be suggestive in both ways of intimidation and a kind of heart/innocence. I wish to portray this in a gym/workout situation, whereas for example: Mother Theressa, a kind hearted lady, who led a life of selfless deeds, dedicated to the lives of others, imagine her appearance, her face, her clothing and characteristics, now imagine her in a vest, gritted teeth, bulging veins, bench pressing twice her body weight. She could not be portrayed more vastly different to what we expect. My aim is to take a select number of subjects that are: muscular built and large and 'fierce' on all scales, i want to do a documentary style shoot of these subjects in a gym environment, a series of 2 portraits of each subject, the first image will be to portray them as themselves, i want to portray their personality, not the muscular, intimidating exterior but them as a person, the next image i want to create a portrait of them 'working out', exerting an extreme amount of voice on their bodies in order for veins to bulge, skin to turn crimson and teeth to grit. The idea of this is to portray what everyone sees whenthey look at these types of people (fierce, strong and intimidating) and then to show the viewer that these people are only human and that they really shouldn't be judged in the manor of their appearance. I got this idea while seeing myself in the mirror while working out, watching my drastic change in appearance and the split personna that i took on. The series will comprise of around 4 subjects with 2 portraits for each subject. Some examples of the images im trying to achieve:

Ronnie Coleman - 8 time Mr. Olympia, a muscular giant, in the first image, you are seeing the real Ronnie, he appears just as any guy, showing a great deal of care and love to that person and in no way is any sign of intimidation present. In the next we see the 'mask' of Ronnie, the hulking, great giant we expect, would you be intimidated by this? I think the answer would be a definite yes! These are the themes in which my 2 images are going to be related. Image A will be a portrait of a very simplistic style (head shot), portraying innocence or an open honesty that can only be embraced. Image B, the image will be shot in the same style although with a bit more revealed, portraying the subject in the intimidating light that we would feel in an uncomfortable circumstance with them. To create Image B i will have my subject performing a strenuous task (weight lifting) but i don't want the focus to be on what they re doing, so i will leave much of the rest of the body and actions out, i just want to portray their new personna while doing so.

Take Home Notes:
1) I plan on creating a series comprising of a minimum of 4 pairs of images comprising of a minimum of 4 (large and intimidating) subjects, 2 portraits of each subject;
1st image of subject; will be a simplistic, easy, open, honest portrait, showing the person for who they are and not portraying them in the intimidating nature that they might usually be viewed in. This will be a simple 'head shot' style portrait.
2nd image of same subject; will comprise of them exerting a force on the body by which of overloading the body by lifting weights. This will in turn give the effect i'm looking for of gritted teeth, red in the face, sweats and aggression, I will again focus on the subject themselves, taking a 2nd similarly framed head shot while they are exerting the force. I will not focus on what they are doing and just the effect that is achieved from it, in order to acquire an intimidating, other personality of theirs.

I will not be using flash! This is because:
1) I want to keep the images 'nitty and gritty' in the most natural environment to the person.
2) In order to maximize safety, i will avoid as many distractions as possible, a flash gun firing may most likely put them off and may lead to injury.
3)Instead of a flashgun i will be using reflectors and as light is naturally abundant in the studio i will be using, i will be able to easily spread and reflect the light.