Shoot 6 Work Diary

For this shoot, I wanted to explore a more exaggerated form of hyperreality. For this, I wished to explore emotion and how visual manipulation can be used in order to influence the audiences understanding of the people within the image. I wanted to focus on simple props and bold colours that are associated with the emotions that are being represented. In a contrast to my last shoot, I strayed away from realism and instead focused on surrealism, I wanted to make striking imagery while paying close attention to the way in which the techniques used can adjust perspective and enhance the audiences' opinions about the people within the image. I also realised that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to explore the subject of hyperreality through the use of portraiture apart from my airbrush photography. Since that was more Photoshop focused, I wanted to utilise more practical aspects within my second attempt to create visually striking portraiture. I believe that this would be the best way to explore my chosen themes as I can manipulate the area of the studio through the use of lighting and colour than I would be able to on location. I wanted to show the audience how easily the audience can be persuaded to view an image differently through simple manipulations which offer strong connotations to certain emotions and themes. For this shoot I wanted to use a one light set up, manoeuvring it depending on the effect that I wanted to give. I did this in order to enhance the presence of shadows within the image and use the connotations to make the audience view the image in a certain way. In order to properly photograph this low light image I adjusted my camera settings appropriately. I had a shutter speed of 125 with an F stop of 16 and an ISO of 200. This would allow me to maintain detail within the darkness of the image.

This image focuses on representing anger and rage. On its own, we can see a person holding a knife to his face. While this may appear unnerving, the emotions of the person may appear unclear. The light strikes one side of his face and casts a shadow, causing the rest of his face to become lost within the background. This use of shadows is used to imply that the person may have something to hide. I positioned the light close to the face of the person in order to create a low key lighting effect which would cause contrasts of light and shadow across his face. This would also allow me to blend the shadows and background in order to give a sense of mysteriousness. The contrast also draws more attention to the knife implying his intentions, while also casting shadows under his eyes in order to give a more deranged look. Finally a red colour becomes the main focus of the image which immediately offers connotations to emotions such as anger and rage.

First, I wanted to focus on the shadows within the image. The light set up which I had used was very effective and gave the image the right amount of shadow in the places that I wanted them. In order to exaggerate these shadows, I adjusted the levels within the image. I moved the middle slider to 0.80 in order to cause the shadows in the image to appear darker and surround the person. This would also allow half of the person's face to be removed through shadows, implying that he is mysterious and perhaps hiding something.

I used the photo filter with a deep red colour which would offer connotations to danger, blood and evil. I raised the effect to 100%. I then applied a curves layer in order to exaggerate the contrasts within the image, enhancing the effect

This image focuses on sadness and depression. While the positioning of the subject may imply that the person is feeling depressed, the other alterations to the image imply further that the person is depressed. A cool blue is used to draw connotations to sadness. The composition of the image leaves plenty of space around the subject, implying loneliness and isolation. The shadows help to emphasise this as they gradually overtake him and fade into the background, giving an overall emptiness to the image. This image may cause the audience to pity the person within the image. The point of this is that I was able to manipulate how the audience feels about the audience and the person within the image to the point where they pity him. This reflects how the media manipulates audience's perception of events and people through a similar manipulation, evoking certain emotions within the image. I used a similar set up within the studio, manipulating one light in order to enhance shadows. For this image however, I moved the light slightly further away in order to give softer tones to the image.

Progression:

Within this shoot, I learned a lot about how I can suggest ideas through visual manipulation. I am a fan of this over-stylised example of hyperreality, so for my next shoot I may attempt a similarly stylised example of hyperreality and maybe explore more metaphorical examples of the subject. As I have explored the use of location frequently within my previous shoots, I feel that I should continue to explore the subject of hyperreality through a combination of studio portraiture with a smaller focus on location. If I could develop this shoot in any way, I would probably focus on the censorship side of the media controlling how we view certain things. This could create some strong portraiture imagery as a result.