Identity
A project by Jack Reed
The reason why I chose to study the theme of identity
I have chosen to study the theme of Identity, this is because during GCSE and throughout year 12 I had to study a wide range of projects and photographers but nothing really had anything to do with portraiture. So when I had to pick a personal project for my year 13 A-Level I jumped at the chance to study the idea of Identity. The theme identity gives me a lot of creative freedom when taking my own photographs and choosing photographers to base my work off. My other projects are based either on architecture or inanimate objects. Working with people makes this project a lot more personal as I have to direct them to do what I want, compared to just taking photographs of a building that hundreds of people have taken photos of.
In this project I will be doing a lot of experimenting to become a better portrait photographer and increase my photography tool belt, this project will give me a chance to learn and enhance my photoshop skills as I will use edits and techniques that I have never done before. There's also a wide range of photographers to research and look at, from the basic but crucial work of Rory Lewis to the edgy and powerful photographs of Lasse Holie. To be able to present my work next to these photographers will give me a chance to overall improve my photography skills. Being able to work from photographers that clash so much gives me a chance to have a complex and dynamic project.
In this project I will be doing a lot of experimenting to become a better portrait photographer and increase my photography tool belt, this project will give me a chance to learn and enhance my photoshop skills as I will use edits and techniques that I have never done before. There's also a wide range of photographers to research and look at, from the basic but crucial work of Rory Lewis to the edgy and powerful photographs of Lasse Holie. To be able to present my work next to these photographers will give me a chance to overall improve my photography skills. Being able to work from photographers that clash so much gives me a chance to have a complex and dynamic project.
Researching other Photographers
When researching other photographers I did not focus on what the photographers where taking pictures of but, the way they chose to edit those images focusing on major point such as: the way the photographers takes the images or the way they use shadows to enhance a feature of the image, not just an object or the entire image. Focusing on the editing style of the photographers will give me more creative freedom when taking my own photographs the research will still be reliable and relevant but in a different way to others.
My initial ideas before doing any major research
Specific Photographer research
Research on Rory Lewis
Rory Lewis is a British photographer known for his celebrity portrait photography. Lewis's inspirations include the works of the artists Hans Holbein the younger, Caravaggio, Titian and Thomas Lawrence and the German Expressionist movement of the 1920s.
In 2012, Lewis held his first exhibition, Keeping Abreast, at the Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool. Held in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, the collection featured unseen portraits.
David Warner portrait by Lewis, Nov. 2013In 2013, his portrait of actor David Warner was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, London. The portrait was Warner's first sitting since Cecil Beaton photographed him in the mid 1960s.
In 2014, Lewis photographed and held his first major portrait photography exhibition. Entitled 'Northerners', the project was an entirely new collection of portraits from a cross section of northern English actors, celebrities, sports personalities, and politicians. Held in aid of UNICEF, the exhibition featured portraits of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Emma Rigby, Beth Tweddle, Craig Charles, General Sir Nick Houghton and Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson.
In May 2014, Lewis photographed Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez in a campaign for Pepsi.
In 2016 Lewis photographed all the remaining Victoria Cross & George Cross winners for a new portrait project.
In 2017 Lewis photographed actor Rufus Sewell in Los Angeles. The portrait was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.
Throughout 2016–17, Lewis embarked on a portrait project entitled Soldiery British Army Portraits. Photographing over 278 British soldiers, and publishing a book of the collection. The collection was exhibited at Armed Forces Day Liverpool 24 June and then moved to The National Army Museum in London from 31 January – 12 February 2018.
As part of the Soldiery project, Lewis held portrait sitting with WO2 Deborah Penny, Britain's first transgender soldier to serve in the front line.
In 2018 Lewis embarked on a new project entitled Portraitist, including portraits of former prime minister David Cameron.[ The portrait sitting was featured by the Guardian Newspaper.
Information source : Wikipedia
In 2012, Lewis held his first exhibition, Keeping Abreast, at the Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool. Held in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, the collection featured unseen portraits.
David Warner portrait by Lewis, Nov. 2013In 2013, his portrait of actor David Warner was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, London. The portrait was Warner's first sitting since Cecil Beaton photographed him in the mid 1960s.
In 2014, Lewis photographed and held his first major portrait photography exhibition. Entitled 'Northerners', the project was an entirely new collection of portraits from a cross section of northern English actors, celebrities, sports personalities, and politicians. Held in aid of UNICEF, the exhibition featured portraits of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Emma Rigby, Beth Tweddle, Craig Charles, General Sir Nick Houghton and Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson.
In May 2014, Lewis photographed Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez in a campaign for Pepsi.
In 2016 Lewis photographed all the remaining Victoria Cross & George Cross winners for a new portrait project.
In 2017 Lewis photographed actor Rufus Sewell in Los Angeles. The portrait was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.
Throughout 2016–17, Lewis embarked on a portrait project entitled Soldiery British Army Portraits. Photographing over 278 British soldiers, and publishing a book of the collection. The collection was exhibited at Armed Forces Day Liverpool 24 June and then moved to The National Army Museum in London from 31 January – 12 February 2018.
As part of the Soldiery project, Lewis held portrait sitting with WO2 Deborah Penny, Britain's first transgender soldier to serve in the front line.
In 2018 Lewis embarked on a new project entitled Portraitist, including portraits of former prime minister David Cameron.[ The portrait sitting was featured by the Guardian Newspaper.
Information source : Wikipedia
Quick google image research
Some of my favourite work of his
The reason why I like this photographer
I like this photographers work because, his work is powerful and striking but also simple and easy, capturing someone being intimidating and grounded with a single photograph is extremely hard but, the photographer goes just beyond that making each of his portrait shots look a different way but, keeping them all cohesive, by making the actors extremely serious along with the back ground has a powerful effect to the viewer as the actors look broken.
My favourite images from this photographer
Why these are my favourite photographs
I chose these as my favourite photographs because the photographer experiments with posing and turning the subject of the photograph to the side which gives new depth to the photographs and makes them more ascetically pleasing and the black background. Another reason why these are my favourite photographs from this photographer is because, he experiments with poses and different emotions.
Why I like the work of this photographer so much
I like the work of this photographer because as they are only taking simple portraits we uses a lot of technical skills to get the effects that they get. Making the background of the photograph a solid infinite black is a tricky thing to get right and this photographer get it spot on overtime. Another reason why I like this work so much is because his photographs give another angle of dimension to the people he photographs we are used to seeing these people star in high budget Hollywood blockbusters or in BBC dramas but, these images bring another side to the actors that we dint usually see, that they are just human. In a lot of these images you see a lot of "faults" with the actors if its wrinkles or of its acne or a weird eyebrow. That is why I like these images so mush its not the thing they are photographing that amazes me its the way the photographer brings out the human part of these people that others will think are invincible just because they have money and power. That's why I like this work so much is because it makes these big stars, human.
What personal twist could I do tho this photographers work
When putting a personal twist to a photographers work can be tricky when the work is just too good to be messed with but, when it comes to this photographer his work is brilliant but it has a lot of space to be messed about and changed with. When editing these images I'm going to attempt to make a double exposure with comic book characters because most of the faces are serious so i think they will match perfectly.
My own experiments with the photographers photographs
Shall I continue with this technique
I have chosen not to pursue this Photoshop techniques any longer because in my opinion they don't have a good enough correlation to the original photographers work and also they don't fit in with the overall vibe and feelings of the photographers original photographs and even if I use my own photographs I feel they wont resemble the original inspiration to begin with.
Lasse Holie
Lasse Hoile is a Danish artist, photographer and film-maker. He has collaborated with musician Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and Blackfield. He has also designed live visuals for the US progressive metal band Dream Theater. In the mid-1990s he was the vocalist for Danish death metal band, Panzerchrist.
Hoile started working as an editor and producing short films in 1993. Five years later in 1998, he took up photography as a hobby. Since then, he has worked on documentaries, commercials, and short films. Hoile directed videos and creating a number of album sleeves for Porcupine Tree following the release of In Absentia in 2002. Later in 2005, he directed the recording of Porcupine Tree's first live performance DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., which took place at Park West, Chicago. He directed Porcupine Tree's music videos "Fear of a Blank Planet", and has also worked on covert art for Steven Wilson's solo work. Hoile designed the cover art for Porcupine Tree's most recent studio album, The Incident, released in September 2009. He composed and directed the music video for the album's single, "Time Flies", which was the featured "Video of the Week" on iTunes USA (October 19–25, 2009).
Hoile took part in the recording, editing, and direction of some of Blackfield's live shows, including Blackfield Live in NY. He has worked with Israeli singer Aviv Geffen on both live visuals and music videos such as Black and White shot at Abbey Road Studios in London, during the summer of 2007. He was responsible for visual projections for the Danish group TV-2 (band) during their tour for their album "De første kærester på månen". Hoile edited and directed two music videos for Opeth. These music videos include "Porcelain Heart" and "Burden" from their album, Watershed released in 2008. Hoile has also designed visuals for the band's live performances.[citation needed] He was responsible for the art work for the Norwegian post rock band Soup's albums Children of E.L.B. (2010) and The Beauty of our Youth (2013).
Information source : Wikipedia
Hoile started working as an editor and producing short films in 1993. Five years later in 1998, he took up photography as a hobby. Since then, he has worked on documentaries, commercials, and short films. Hoile directed videos and creating a number of album sleeves for Porcupine Tree following the release of In Absentia in 2002. Later in 2005, he directed the recording of Porcupine Tree's first live performance DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., which took place at Park West, Chicago. He directed Porcupine Tree's music videos "Fear of a Blank Planet", and has also worked on covert art for Steven Wilson's solo work. Hoile designed the cover art for Porcupine Tree's most recent studio album, The Incident, released in September 2009. He composed and directed the music video for the album's single, "Time Flies", which was the featured "Video of the Week" on iTunes USA (October 19–25, 2009).
Hoile took part in the recording, editing, and direction of some of Blackfield's live shows, including Blackfield Live in NY. He has worked with Israeli singer Aviv Geffen on both live visuals and music videos such as Black and White shot at Abbey Road Studios in London, during the summer of 2007. He was responsible for visual projections for the Danish group TV-2 (band) during their tour for their album "De første kærester på månen". Hoile edited and directed two music videos for Opeth. These music videos include "Porcelain Heart" and "Burden" from their album, Watershed released in 2008. Hoile has also designed visuals for the band's live performances.[citation needed] He was responsible for the art work for the Norwegian post rock band Soup's albums Children of E.L.B. (2010) and The Beauty of our Youth (2013).
Information source : Wikipedia
Initial google images research
My favourite work from this photographer
Why this work is my favourite
These are some of my favourite set of photos from this photographer because of how striking each images is, they all standout by themselves and stand on their own. Each image is just stronger when put together because each one focuses on only one colour being used so when you put them together they sort of blend into a collage. The images has a mixture of digital painting in post production and traditional painting to get the desired effect. The portraits themselves are simple but the use of a undertone colour gives them a really nice effects when the paint is applied.
why this work will standout from my other types of work
The other 2 photographers that I have chosen to take inspiration from are more traditional portrait photographers but, with this photographer it will give me a lot of freedom to experiment with different ways of making the final results because, this photographer uses traditional painting methods and digital painting methods so this will give me a more complex project because there will be a mix of traditional and edgy portraits to show and expand my creative and practical knowledge of portrait photography.
What will be my plan for creating photographs inspired by this photographer
My plan will be consistently full of experiments as there are so many ways to get the same type of finish in the photograph
Plan of action
Take test photographs
Use Photoshop to add the paint
Use real paint to get the traditional finish
Evaluate both types of photographs
See what works and what doesn't and eliminate the techniques that don't work
Experiment using a mixture of colours in the photograph and make it less monochromatic.
Try more ambitious photographs
Final part of this part of the project
Produce a set of work that is high quality and shows my progression throughout the project
Plan of action
Take test photographs
Use Photoshop to add the paint
Use real paint to get the traditional finish
Evaluate both types of photographs
See what works and what doesn't and eliminate the techniques that don't work
Experiment using a mixture of colours in the photograph and make it less monochromatic.
Try more ambitious photographs
Final part of this part of the project
Produce a set of work that is high quality and shows my progression throughout the project
Mind map of ideas for this photographer
My own photographic work
My own photographs inspired by the work of Rory Lewis
When I was thinking about taking my own photographs one thing kept coming up, I would need a whole lot of people to photograph but this problem was very quickly shut down because the photographer I'm taking inspiration off would use about 5-6 photos of the same person so this opened up a lot of creative freedom when taking so I wont have to take one picture of one person because that would be extremely hard to do. When I was thinking about the taking the photographs I knew I had to make them interesting with out a whole ton of Photoshop so I made sure that each image was interesting with a pose or the photo was just interesting by itself.
Was the first batch of photographs successful ?
In my opinion the first batch of photographs did come out at a high quality some are a bit iffy but that can all be fixed in Photoshop. Hlaf of the images were done by using studio lighting and a professional back drop and the other half were made using a "homemade studio" only about half from the homemade studio came out at a good enough quality to use but the ones i can use are almost as good as the studio lit photographs.
What is the best way to get photographs that match this photographer ?
White Balance
White balance is important when taking any photographs but when taking portraits because, if your photo is too warm or too cool then the whole is image is unusable because it either gives too many orange/yellow tones or blue/white tones and its easy to add the white balance in Photoshop or light room but, taking away the warmth or coolness from an image is hard to do and can look quite bad so, when taking these photos its important to keep the white balance as balanced as possible because that gives you the most amount of creative freedom.
Composition
This is possibly the most important thing to think about when taking portraits because if you have one subject and you have 8 pictures of them just standing there with a blank expression its not aesthetically pleasing but if you have the same subject doing different poses and faces expressions for another 8 photos the photos are gonna be the difference between great and OK portraits. The only reason a subject shouldn't be doing a pose or facial emotion is when the photograph calls for it and it is ecstatically pleasing.
lighting
Lighting is one of the best tools when taking portraits because it can be the difference between and dark and moody image to just a simple portrait shot. The different effect and moods that are created when you change the lighting on a photo is pronominal. When you change the type of lighting you use then you have a lot more freedom over the shadows in the photograph.
White balance is important when taking any photographs but when taking portraits because, if your photo is too warm or too cool then the whole is image is unusable because it either gives too many orange/yellow tones or blue/white tones and its easy to add the white balance in Photoshop or light room but, taking away the warmth or coolness from an image is hard to do and can look quite bad so, when taking these photos its important to keep the white balance as balanced as possible because that gives you the most amount of creative freedom.
Composition
This is possibly the most important thing to think about when taking portraits because if you have one subject and you have 8 pictures of them just standing there with a blank expression its not aesthetically pleasing but if you have the same subject doing different poses and faces expressions for another 8 photos the photos are gonna be the difference between great and OK portraits. The only reason a subject shouldn't be doing a pose or facial emotion is when the photograph calls for it and it is ecstatically pleasing.
lighting
Lighting is one of the best tools when taking portraits because it can be the difference between and dark and moody image to just a simple portrait shot. The different effect and moods that are created when you change the lighting on a photo is pronominal. When you change the type of lighting you use then you have a lot more freedom over the shadows in the photograph.
What is the next stage for these photographs
The next stage for these images are going to be Photoshop based. Fixing these images is going to be really simple but i would like to make them more dynamic with my own spin on them using black and white and making the shadows more define. With these changes hopefully the images will be more striking and more ascetically pleasing.
My creative work in photoshop working with these images
Did the photoshop edits come out successful?
Overall
In my opinion the photoshop edits came out extremely well I was able to take the style of the photographer and give my own creative twist and the edits makes the images more dynamic and ascetically pleasing. The photoshop was simple but because of the dynamic edits it makes the images pop as the contrast between the highlights of the images and the shadows of the images are drastic. The fully black background makes the subject of the photo pop and makes the highlights have more contrast with the shadows because of this. Some of the subjects have soft shadows (gradual lightness) and some have hard shadows (hard edges between highlights) this gives theses images more of a correlation with the photographer because his photographs would always chance how hard or soft the shadows are. So overall the first lot of edited images came out successful and because I now have more experience with these type of photographs I will be able to have more ambitious edits in the future.
In my opinion the photoshop edits came out extremely well I was able to take the style of the photographer and give my own creative twist and the edits makes the images more dynamic and ascetically pleasing. The photoshop was simple but because of the dynamic edits it makes the images pop as the contrast between the highlights of the images and the shadows of the images are drastic. The fully black background makes the subject of the photo pop and makes the highlights have more contrast with the shadows because of this. Some of the subjects have soft shadows (gradual lightness) and some have hard shadows (hard edges between highlights) this gives theses images more of a correlation with the photographer because his photographs would always chance how hard or soft the shadows are. So overall the first lot of edited images came out successful and because I now have more experience with these type of photographs I will be able to have more ambitious edits in the future.
My favourite photographs from these edits.
Why are these my favourite from the gallery
The reason I like these images more than the others is because of the way the lighting works in the photos the subject is either covered in harsh shadows or has more of a soft image due to the soft shadows, another reason why I prefer these images is because it gave me a way to experiment with poses to show a different emotion or movement I was able to use the poses to covey what the subject might be thinking about or straight up showing it in the images. Another reason why I like these images so much is because they can be compared to the photographers work and it clearly shows how I got from taking images inspired by them to then putting my dynamic twist when editing.
How I make these images in a dynamic style
Open the image in photoshop and crop what is not needed
You want to avoid as much negative space as possible as it takes away from the edited images
Select where you want the infinite black back ground
No back ground is going to be a perfect black so the paint brush tool is needed
Get the brush tool ready and select the black colour on the colour changer
The blackest colour needs to be used for the full effect
Colour the selected area and deselect the subject
The edges around the subject might be too harsh
Use a smaller brush with a lower hardness and opacity and go around the subject where the edges are too hard
This is needed to give a better transition between the subject and the back ground
Turn the image black and white and try to add as much contrast as possible without ruining the image
This gives the image more of a dynamic punch
Add a vignette to finish off the image
The vignette give more of a dynamic look to the images
What the image should look like
How my work is different from Rory Lewis' work
The main difference between me and Rory Lewis is how we both get our infinity black background, He uses a highly professional studio and the bets lighting money can buy but on the other hand, I use some studio equipment to get the blackest background as possible but I still have to use Photoshop to get the same quality which in not as bad but it can be time consuming. Another reason why his work is different from mine is by how prominent the subject is from the back ground but, I like the look more of having the subject emerge almost from the back ground so I could put slight shadows on anything I do not want the viewer to look at and I leave the main focus point in focus and with as little shadow as possible but this isn't always the case as some photograph benefit with heavier shadows. Another difference between my work and his work is how we both use shadows, I often change how hard the shadows are in my photograph to give a different viewing experience for each photograph while when Rory takes images his photograph often have very soft shadows on the subjects face while on their body and cloths they get harder.
Self Portraits
When looking at this photographer one thing kept popping up, the photographers usually take their own self portraits and most of the time they get overlooked by the big names that they photograph but often when these photos are put together they look very appealing to the eyes and would often complimented each other often. When taking self portraits the photographer often makes their best work because they don't care weather or not a subject feels confident because if they have the idea they can just do it then and there and theres no conflict of interests. So this section is going to be focusing on self portraits of myself and some experiments in photoshop.
Images I will be working with inspired by the work of
Rory Lewis
Were the unedited images successful?
In my opinion the self portraits could have come out a lot better but for a first time effort I don't think that they are too bad there are some god points about the photos but the only thing get doesn't gel are my facial expression I took the term "emotionless" to a whole new level where there isn't anything dragging the viewers to my face but they would focus over the whole photograph so, when I come to editing these images ill be trying to make an effort to make my face more of a focus point.
These images edited in that dynamic style
Did the edits enhance the photographs ?
When you compare the raw images and the edited images its very clear that the black and white edits easily enhance the images because it takes a simple looking image and takes it to the next level because, it makes it a lot more interesting at it grabs the viewers eyes more than a normal self portrait does.
My own creative experiment work in the style of Lasse Holie
Focusing on body paint
Where these early Ideas successful
In my own opinion these experiments were successful enough where you can notice where my inspiration came from. If I continue to work in this style of using body paint I will focus on the "splatter" effect that I created in the last 2 as the are the ones that look the more professional and striking. This way of photographing a subject that has been covered in paint splatters is very difficult as it takes a lot of resources and time to do so, in reality the only way I can improve this style of photography is using a wider range of colours when doing the splatter photographs and to know how to get the splatters on a subject as fast as possible.
Photo analysis
I chose to do a photo analysis on this photograph because in my opinion this is the best photograph from my initial body paint photographs.
Composition
The photograph it just a simple portrait shot of myself covered in UV body paint . The overall composition is nothing too special but it works well with the body paint as if there was a picture with a complex back ground the photograph will come out more on the abstract than my original inspiration. The simple pose and body expression also enhances the body paint as then the paint is the main focus point for the image instead of the model.
Lighting
The lighting in this photograph is relatively simple. I had myself stood in front of a solid black back ground with the camera pointed at me. For the paint to work to its full potential the room had to be as dark as possible so it was pitch black. I had a UV light on top of a camera, that was the only thing in the room that would produce any light. In my opinion I think I got the lighting just right, my face wasn't under or over exposed.
Editing
There isn't a lot of techniques that this photograph would need to be shown. If executed right the photograph would only need to go into an editing software (I use Photoshop) and would need the contrast bumped up and the darkness lowered if the image was exposed but apart from that these types of images can stand by themselves.
Overall
overall I think that this photograph is one of the best I took during the shoot and easily can stand by itself. I think the composition is flattering to the image and helps enhance the body paint. The lighting is easy and effective and shows up nicely on the cameras viewfinder and on a computer screen.
Composition
The photograph it just a simple portrait shot of myself covered in UV body paint . The overall composition is nothing too special but it works well with the body paint as if there was a picture with a complex back ground the photograph will come out more on the abstract than my original inspiration. The simple pose and body expression also enhances the body paint as then the paint is the main focus point for the image instead of the model.
Lighting
The lighting in this photograph is relatively simple. I had myself stood in front of a solid black back ground with the camera pointed at me. For the paint to work to its full potential the room had to be as dark as possible so it was pitch black. I had a UV light on top of a camera, that was the only thing in the room that would produce any light. In my opinion I think I got the lighting just right, my face wasn't under or over exposed.
Editing
There isn't a lot of techniques that this photograph would need to be shown. If executed right the photograph would only need to go into an editing software (I use Photoshop) and would need the contrast bumped up and the darkness lowered if the image was exposed but apart from that these types of images can stand by themselves.
Overall
overall I think that this photograph is one of the best I took during the shoot and easily can stand by itself. I think the composition is flattering to the image and helps enhance the body paint. The lighting is easy and effective and shows up nicely on the cameras viewfinder and on a computer screen.
My own work inspired by Lasse Holie
Focused on traditional paints
A good chunk of Lasse Holies portrait work is achieved by using normal traditional painting techniques. Mostly they will use a splatter effect to gain the desired look in their photographs. I will use a wide range of techniques to make my own photographs comparable to the original work of Lasse Holie. I will be using a splatter techniques to create creative photographs that clearly shows where my inspiration came from.
Adding a personal twist to this part of the project
Before attempting to work using traditional paints I wanted to continue working with the UV body paint, so after some brainstorming I had my final idea I was going to do a photo shoot using these paint and being inspired by one of the best movies of 2019. Joker. This will be produced with the UV paint with the paint being inspired by the make up worn by Joaquin Phoenix
The movie clip that inspired the sub-project
This clip clearly show the mental state of the main character and conveys everything about how they are feeling and the slow decline into insanity they are taking. I want to take part of this clip and add it to my photography arsenal. The face paint is a clear thing that will inspire me but also the movements and the facial expressions I will be taking inspiration from. In my opinion I think this type of photography will suit the style of Lasse Holie very well,
The photographs that inspire me
These pictures clearly show how the makeup looks and where it gets placed on the face and the facial expression from Joaquin Phoenix clearly shows how the character is feeling and what they are going through but I will also include photographs inspired from Heath Ledgers joker and add a bit more insanity.
My own work inspired by the joker
Where these first lot of pictures successful
In my opinion these photographs did come out successful. I think that I did capture the insanity and unpredictable actions that the joker has though out the movie as he shows his insanity and mental heath decline throughout the movie. The photographs themselves do look striking and aesthetically pleasing. Trying to get the subject to look intimidating while wearing essentially clown make up was easy as the room is already dark and most people have a slight fear of clowns. The black back ground enhances the intimidating factor of the photographs as it makes the paints brighter which helps with the darkness on the face and gives the pictures more contrast.
Enhancing some of these photographs in Photoshop
When editing these photographs I never had to do too much Photoshop work to it as the photographs themselves could be presented as they were. The only real Photoshop work that I had to do was to use the 'brightness/contrast' tool to make the back ground and the foreground darker but using this tool I was able to make sure that the paint was still bright and visible, since I used this tool the contrast between the background and the foreground gave the images a moor horror feel to them which is what I wanted to achieve with these photographs.
My best edited photographs
These photographs are my favourite because are either creative with the composition or the facial expressions were a lot better than the other photographs. These photographs also show the type of insanity I wanted to show in these photographs as they are heavily influenced by the joker and the creative photography work of Lasse Holie.