DISTORTION WITHIN THE LENS.
Here are a series of self-portrait explorations I have produced by manually adjusting my cameras settings to create the appearance of movement and distortion.
I reduced my shutter speed to one-two seconds and in turn adjusted my aperture to ensure the images light was balanced. I then proceeded to to manually move the camera. As the slower shutter lets in light for a longer period of time I was able to capture the appearance of motion. I shot this series of images using natural lighting, infront of an open window I feel this series of images create an interesting level of distortion to the natural human form. To elaborate on this sub-theme further I will experiment with capturing movement of the full body, along with shooting with more than just one subject. |
I feel this is the most successful image from my series as I was able to capture a replicated form and movement whilst remaining to ensure the shot was in focus. To improve this shot I would similarly wrap myself in white material, as with the images above, as the open door in the shot distracts the viewers attention from the main subject.
Artist Reference
The previous photo set was inspired heavily inspired the work of Francis Bacon, predominantly the piece shown above. This Triptych by Francis Bacon is particularly interesting due to the distortion the artist creates through expressive brush stroke and strong highlights. Through this process Bacon infers a sense of movement and contouring of the human form. I feel my set of images somewhat replicates this triptych as although it uses a different medium, I have created a similar inference of movement and distortion through adjusting my camera's settings.
This triptych by Bacon, along with a large majority of his work, has been produced using photography by John Deakin (a close friend of Bacon's) as source material. The series of photographs to the right are of George Dyer ( whom is the subject of Bacon's triptych) by Deakin and from viewing these it becomes clear how Bacon has manipulated them to create an entirely distorted perception of the human form.
DISTORTION CREATED BY EDITING
To produce this piece I firstly constructed a conventional photo shoot, with my sitter placed directly in front of the camera, in front of a black background. I chose to experiment with lighting in this shoot, and I decided to use purple gels over the two studio lamps. This style of lighting gave the images in a range of cold purple tones. I instructed my model to mimic the poses of the spiritual 'Three Wise Monkeys' and this piece includes the poses 'See No Evil' and 'Speak No Evil'. These poses are interesting as they somewhat hide my model and when placed together in this piece create the appearance of guilt and torment.
To create the distorted overlay, I opened both images on photoshop and then after selecting one image, I added it as a new layer to the other and reduced the opacity. Rather than erasing the signs of the overlay, for example the grey rectangle in the middle of the frame, I chose to keep them as I was the overlay to appear present instead of simply showing my model in two different positions.
To create the distorted overlay, I opened both images on photoshop and then after selecting one image, I added it as a new layer to the other and reduced the opacity. Rather than erasing the signs of the overlay, for example the grey rectangle in the middle of the frame, I chose to keep them as I was the overlay to appear present instead of simply showing my model in two different positions.
Three Wise Monkeys |