Contact sheets
Straight images
AO1: Develop ideas through sustained investigations informed by research and other sources
The photographer I have researched and influenced my work on is called Alana Dee Haynes. Haynes was born and raised in New York City. Her style of photography is very art-based. She photographs her subject, usually a person, then she 'doodles' on the printout. She draws patterns and symbols, most of which are not simple drawings. Her influences came from her upbringing, such that her school was very supporting of art so she was creative from a young age.
Haynes' work isn't specified to juxtaposition, but I found that her work is creative and shows the difference between the person being real and the drawings not. The drawings aren't there when she photographs the models, but by adding the drawings, it changes the way people view the images. The meaning of the image differs with the drawings as though it is a layer added to the original image. For example, there could be an image of a person smiling, but the drawings could prove to be negative, such as drawing tears on their face or a frown. The image on its own would have positive connotations because of the smile, but the image as a whole would say differently as it could be a mix of different emotions.
My intentions for portraying juxtaposition using this shoot is to print out several of the straight images, then use a black marker pen to draw patterns and shapes on the page in the style of Haynes. I will then be scanning the images into the computer and further edit them using Photoshop. I wish to do it in this order, rather than edit using Photoshop before hand, as I think this will be best to draw on the raw image. Also, if I make a mistake whilst drawing, such as drawing a line somewhere I didn't want to draw it, there is a chance I will be able to fix this using Photoshop, else, I will just have to reprint the image and start again.
AO2:
While doing this shoot, I asked the models to make different postures with their bodies, hand, and also different facial expressions. I wanted a series of images that had a variety of images that stand out to be different. The location for this shoot was a studio. I chose to do my shoot here as I would be able to get the best lighting by using soft boxes. I took a light meter reading from the place where the model would be standing. I then read the meter and adjusted my camera to the suggested settings. The values that I set my camera to were 200 for the ISO, f8 for the aperture and 1/125 for the shutter speed. I also used a tripod as to avoid gaining blurry images.
My plan for editing the images from this shoot had to change due to having insufficient equipment, so I refined my work differently to what was planned. Instead of printing out the images and drawing on them, I opened the images on Photoshop and used tools to draw on them. I experimented with different shapes and patterns that I could make using lines and circles.
I used different patterns and techniques for all of the images from this shoot, so I have provided example screen captures of just one image edit, as follows.
I opened the image in Photoshop and used only one tool, which was the brush tool. Firstly, I set the brush size to 17 and carefully drew a line around the model. I left a gap between the line and the model and tried to make it as even as possible. I also used the technique of holding down on the shift key while I drew the line. Doing this creates a straight line from one spot to another, so I would click one place on the screen and closely click another place to get the line. I would click places more close together if I needed to create a curve.I used this technique for the other images.
I then started to draw the lines from the bottom and changed the brush size to 14. I decided to add ruler lines to the page. I did this by selecting 'cmd'+'r' on the keyboard. I then used the lines as guides for keeping my lines straight. The above screen capture shows these lines (blue lines). I would align them in the correct place with roughly the same space between each line. I would then click on the spot where the blue line meets the outline of the model, hold down on the shift key, and drag towards off the page. I did this to ensure that the lines were straight. After doing about a quarter of the page, I decided to make the gaps slightly bigger as it got towards the top of the page so it would look as though it got gradually bigger.
I then changed the image to black and white. I did this by selecting 'black and white' from the adjustment panel.
The reason that I decided to do this was because most of Haynes' images are produced like this so I became influenced to do the same.
I then selected 'curves' from the adjustment panel to change the levels of black and white. I experimented with the curve levels and adjusted it to what I thought was best for the final image.
AO3: Reflect critically on your work and progress
With reference to Straight Images (also final pieces)
The second image is one that I used for my final edits. The main focus of this image is the item that the model is holding and staring at, which is a mobile phone. I selected this image as I thought that it had quite a lot of negative space which I could use to add patterns to. Most of Haynes' work shows drawings only on the subject, but some of her images focus on other sections, such as the background, which I decided to so for this image. There aren't any images by Haynes that do this pattern that I did, but I thought that it looked to be the same style that Haynes does. The final edit for this image was what I had expected from my initial intention as I had produced an image with drawings similar to those that Haynes produces. However, it isn't exactly how I imagined it would turn out to be. This is because I had planned to hand draw the patterns rather than using a computer, but I could not do this because as I've said, I wasn't able to due to lack of equipment. I think that if I had been able to hand draw the patterns, it would be less simple as just lines, therefore the image might have been visually better if I could have done this. It would be easier to draw more complex patterns by hand than to draw just straight lines using the computer. This image took the least time to edit as it is the most simple of the series I have produced.
The fourth image is another that I edited for my final pieces. I selected this image because of the simple posture that the model is doing and the negative facial expression. The facial expression is important as it adds towards the juxtaposition. She looks rather sad, but the patterns on her and around her change the way people interpret the facial expression. For this image, I was inspired by one of Haynes' images in particular (fourth from research section). The parts of the image that I drew on were half of the models face, half of their upper body and half of the background. I did this in the same way that Haynes' image did, such as drawing on the same half of the person but then the opposing half of the background. I made the facial pattern very similar by drawing only dots, just as Haynes had done. The other patterns were of my own creation that I came up with on the spot. I decided to make these edits for this image because the outfit of my model was ideal to do this (white long sleeve jumper). I think that the image that I have produced looks very similar to that of Haynes' style of photography/art. I initially thought I'd use this image to draw on only the skin, but decided to influence my decision more on one of Haynes' images. I was rather pleased with the outcome, considering I was only able to use Photoshop to do the patterns. However, this edit alone took me quite a lot of time as it is fairly complex. I would have saved time by printing it out and drawing on it.
I used and edited the sixth image in the style of Haynes' work. I selected this image as it shows the most skin out of all of the images that I captured. With this, I would be able to draw on the skin only. I drew on the model's face, neck, arms and legs, leaving no skin bare. I outlined the model's skin such as her legs and face. I outlined more on the model's face, such as lips, eyebrows, etc. to reduce the complexity of the image as I didn't want to add the pattern to the face. For the pattern on the rest of the model's body, I started by drawing a pattern on one part of the model, then copy and pasting it to all over the model's skin. I changed the sizes of the pattern and the angles they were at because I thought this looked more interesting than the design being the same all over. I then added dots to the spaces between the pattern. I think that this image design is fairly unique as it uses the same ideas as Haynes' but doesn't copy. This image didn't take too long and I think that it would be easiest to do this on a computer than by hand. I think this because I was able to copy and paste, whereas if I were drawing this by hand, I would have to draw every single shape and it would probably look a lot less even.
For the ninth image, I edited this using my own unique way as well as in the style of Haynes' work. I did the same thing as the previous edit by outlining parts of the model's face. I then added patterns which are similar to that of Haynes' images. I spent the most amount of time editing this image. The reason for this is because there are so many curved lines which are difficult to do with Photoshop as there is so much precision for the lines. I think that I might have been able to produce this a lot quicker by hand drawing the pattern. After completing all of the complex patterns, I decided to add dots to the spaces as it look quite bare without it.
The images that I have captured don't represent juxtaposition alone, only once edited. Once the images have been refined, they give a different meaning to it and add curiosity to the viewer. The straight images show half of the juxtaposition as it shows the reality, but once the drawings are added, the image portrays the layer that is not real.
