Extraordinary  Beings      

Tolu  Kehinde  

JR  Pepper-­‐  SPIRIT  The  <tle  of  the  Image  is  Spirit.  In  the  image  there  appears  to  be  a  ghost-­‐like  being  holding  on  to  the  railing  of  a  staircase  looking  down.  The  image  appears  to  have  a  sepia  edit  and  you  can  clearly  see  two  doors  and  the  edge  of  one  in  the  photograph.  The  way  that  the  spirit  has  been  placed  makes  it  seem  like  the  used  to  live  in  the  house.  She  looks  quite  comfortable  in  the  house  and  doesn’t  seem  like  a  stranger.  Her  body  language  also  seems  like  she  posed  for  the  image  as  she  is  looking  directly  at  the  camera.  The  image  appears  to  be  dark  which  could  be  implying  that  there  is  no  light  in  the  house  at  that  moment.  This  could  be  to  represent  the  fact  that  ghosts  don’t  usually  appear  in  the  day,  but  in  fact  in  the  night.  The  woman  appears  to  be  wearing  a  long  black  dress  though  it  is  not  seen  clearly.  This  could  be  to  represent  death  as  black  is  a  symbolic  color  mainly  at  funerals.  It  seems  like  the  light  is  coming  from  the  boIom  of  the  stairs.  From  the  way  the  light  is  reflected,  it  appears  it  is  a  flashlight  or  something  along  those  lines.  This  paints  a  picture  of  the  possible  scenario  the  picture  could  be  portraying.  One  possibility  is  that  the  owners  of  the  house  heard  some  strange  noises  and  crept  up  the  stairs  to  see  where  the  noises  where  coming  from.  That’s  when  the  spirit  itself  was  caught  off  guard.  This  relates  to  my  ini<al  ideas  as  it  is  spooky  alike  mine  and  loo  ks  at  the  supernatural.  

Ar<st  research  

James  Insogna  

TITLE:  My  Imperfec<on    

TITLE:  The  Awakening  

Evalua<on  The theme I chose for this project was Extraordinary Beings. The photos I took were for my AS Photography coursework. I took a literal approach to the photographs and made them evidently relate to the theme rather than photo’s that you’d have to read in-between the lines. I took many shots but ended up shortening it down to 8 images. These varied from images of my model wearing a scream mask, smoking, and looking like a scary dolly. These all successfully related to my theme and I achieved the task set. The lighting in my pictures are artificial and the flash has been used for all the images. This created the darker, gloomy extraordinary feel I was going for with the images. All my images are in focus. I did this intentionally as I wanted to pay attention to all the detail in the images. I used Photoshop to blur some of the images deliberately. This gives the images a more unrealistic, creature like effect that I was going for. One of my photos has my model sitting down and I have used Photoshop to edit off her nose,. This made her look more extraordinary and inhuman. It makes her look like a super natural being and this gives my image a more extraordinary feel to them. In this picture there isn’t natural lighting. All my photographs lack bright colours. This is because of my chosen theme. I decided that if I was to use bright colours it wouldn't work as effectively as dull colours hence the reason why my model is dressed in all black. Her makeup is made to look like an evil dolly. When editing the photos I took into account the artistic feel they had to have. I used layers which gave the images different textures etc. It also created the evil side of the images that I portrayed in the first set. The visual impact my images most likely have on viewers is quite a shock reaction because of how deep they are in the sense of how surreal the images are. In one of my images I have an evil dolly that stares into the camera. This creates the shock reaction at first but once looked into the photo it creates deep thought. Also using the scream mask also relates to humans being extraordinary, linking it back to my theme. Seeing as all my images have a literal impact to them then I do believe that the pictures reached the level of symbolism needed. The images related to my theme Extraordinary Beings as all the images are not ordinary and question realism. The viewer would be able to decipher the symbolic meaning behind the image.

I  am  quite  pleased  with  my  piece  of  work  as  a  whole.  The  images  have  good  quality  and  and  are  very  effec<ve.  It  is  not  too  difficult  to  understand  it  is  quite  simple  to  read  into  the  images  also  they  relate  to  the  Theme  very  well.  The  angles,  colours,  shape,  textures,  ligh<ng,  posi<oning  etc.  .  of  the  images  all  add  to  the  success  of  the  images.  The  props  used  in  the  images  make  the  image  come  together,  also  the  models  body  posi<oning  and  facial  expression.  The  images  look  realis<c  which  was  what  I  was  going  for.  Though  I  do  feel  like  my  Images  are  a  success  there  are  some  things  that  could  be  improved  and  there  were  some  difficul<es  I  faced  along  the  way.  At  first  the  images  were  quite  repe<<ve  and  I  thought  I  wouldn’t  have  much  to  choose  from  when  shortening  the  images  down,  I  was  also  having  difficul<es  finding  the  right  props  to  use  and  I  was  also  struggling  to  give  the  model  the  right  direc<ons  to  bring  out  the  facial  expressions  I  wanted  for  the  images.    I  do  believe  that  pushed  my  crea<ve  boundaries  in  my  ideas  but  I  don’t  think  that  I  pushed  them  as  far  as  I  am  capable  of.  I  did  find  it  hard  where  to  start  and  what  exactly  I  was  going  to  do.  At  the  start  of  the  project  I  had  2  ideas  which  wasn’t  enough  as  I  didn’t  want  all  my  images  to  look  similar,  I  wanted  them  to  vary  from  idea  to  idea.  As  <me  went  on  I  began  to  come  up  with  more  ideas  and  had  a  good  star<ng  point  for  the  project  which  later  became  what  my  images  are  now.  I  made  it  clear  to  my  model  that  her  facial  expressions  were  key  in  the  images  as  they  were  the  main  aspect  that  would  help  relate  to  the  Theme.  Looking  back  at  my  work  now  I  could've  gone  out  of  my  comfort  zone  and  found  somewhere  else  to  take  the  photos  that  would  have  a  good  surrounding/background  rather  than  taking  all  the  photos  in  my  house  and  back  garden.  If  comparing  the  start  of  my  work  and  the  ending  point  you’ll  evidently  be  able  to  see  the  improvement.  Some  of  ar<sts  I  chose  for  inspira<on  really  helped  me  in  rela<on  to  my  work.  The  ar<st  that  helped  me  the  most  was  James  Isogna.  His  image  of  the  scream  mask  in  a  field  related  to  my  work  perfectly  as  I  was  using  the  scream  mask  also  so  it  gave  me  ideas  on  my  posi<oning,  ligh<ng  etc..  In  my  Images,  his  work  inspired  me  as  you  can  see  my  scream  shot  is  fairly  similar  to  James.  In  general  I  do  believe  that  my  project  went  surprisingly  well  and  I  was  pleased  with  my  outcome.  The  way  my  pictures  vary  from  shot  to  shot  shows  my  wide  spread  of  ideas  and  the  interes<ng  way  I  portrayed  them.  If  more  <me  was  given  for  the  project  then  I  believe  that  there  could've  been  much  more  improvement,  especially  on  the  edi<ng  of  the  images.  I  could've  made  the  pictures  have  a  more  ar<s<c  feel  to  them.  If  I  had  more  <me  on  the  project  then  I  could’ve  taken  the  images  on  the  next  level  of  Extraordinary  Beings.  There  could've  been  more  ideas  throughout  also  a  more  ar<s<c  feel  to  the  images.  There  would’ve  been  beIer  ligh<ng  (more  natural)  and    the  photos  I  did  take  outside  would’ve  been  taken  on  a  sunnier  day  to  create  beIer  ligh<ng  I  also  would've  researched  much  more  photographers  as  that  would’ve  given  me  much  more  ideas  which  could’ve  resulted  to  beIer  off  photos  in  general  but  as  a  whole  I  believe  the  images  were  a  success  though  could  be  improved.  

Ar<st  Research    BARRIE  HARWOOD  

 Katherine  PoIer   Walter  Schels  

TIM  FLACH  

Joshua  Hoffeine    Most  of  Hoffeine’s  photography  is  not  compa<ble  with  reality.  It  takes  on  an  a^erlife  context  in  which  demon’s,  zombies  and  witchcra^  come  to  life.  In  this  specific  image  he  is  portraying  a  half  human/half  animal  being.  The  image  has  a  blue  <nt,  this  could  be  because  he  is  trying  to  relate  the  actual  animal  on  the  face  of  the  human  into  the  image  (fishes  are  sea  animals,  the  sea  is  blue/green).  The  background  is  quite  scaly  to  represent  the  fishes'  skin.  The  ligh<ng  in  the  image  is  quite  minimal  and  there  are  shadows.  It  appears  that  there  is  a  light  source  that  is  displaying  light  unto  part  of  the  image  leaving  the  rest  with  shadows.  The  image  is  portraiture  and  the  man  is  in  the  middle  of  the  image.  This  is  showing  that  he  is  the  main  focus  of  the  image.  The  photographer  is  trying  to  experiment  human  and  animals  as  one.  The  photo  appeals  to  me  because  of  how  surreal  the  image  is  also  how  unique  it  is.  In  rela<on  to  my  work  it  stands  out  to  me  as  my  images  are  going  to  be  based  on  half  human/half  animal  images.  My  images  are  also  going  to  be  portrait.  

Walter  Schels  The  image  is  portraiture  and  it  is  displaying  a  monkey.  The  background  is  black  and  the  image  is  black  and  white.  The  image  is  portraying  the  image  as  a  human.  Schels  could  be  trying  to  portray  the  idea  that  human  came  from  monkeys  as  the  monkey  is  si_ng  just  as  a  human  would  in  a  portrait  image.  The  monkey  is  looking  away  from  the  photographer  and  appears  to  smiling.  The  image  seems  to  be  taken  with  flash  (regarding  the  ligh<ng).    The  photo  appeals  to  be  because  it  is  interes<ng  to  look  at.  It  also  shows  animal  in  a  different  sense/view.  It  is  also  very  rare  that  an  animal  is  taken  into  a  black  studio  to  be  photographed.  They  are  usually  taken  in  their  own  environment.  The  monkey  is  in  the  center  of  the  image.  This  shows  that  the  money  itself  is  the  subject  of  the  image.  The  photo  stands  out  to  me  as  it  relates  to  my  own  work,  not  only  is  it  in  black  and  white  similar  to  mine,  but  it  is  portraiture  and  it  is  of  an  animal.  

MaIhew  Barney  MaIhew  Barney’s  photography  consists  of  him  meshing  animals  and  humans  into  one.  In  the  image  he  has  created  a  goat  like  human  being  that  appears  to  be  combing  their  hair.  The  being  is  wearing  clothes  just  as  a  human  is  but  has  animal  features.  This  brings  up  many  ques<ons  about  the  image  including  what  the  image  is  portraying.    The  image  was  possible  taken  in  a  white  studio  as  it  has  a  white  background.  This  makes  the  subject  of  the  image  (the  man)  stand  out  from  the  rest  of  the  image  itself.  The  ligh<ng  used  in  the  image  appears  to  be  natural  ligh<ng.    Barney’s  image  has  inspired  me  with  my  own  piece  of  work  as  I  want  to  portray  a  half  human/half  animal  picture.  He  has  portrayed  it  in  such  an  effec<ve  way.  The  edi<ng  use  has  not  been  done  to  look  obvious  and  that  is  the  sort  of  approach  I  myself  are  going  for  so  this  is  the  reason  I  look  to  Barney’s  work  for  inspira<on.  

Development  Set  

Evalua<on      My  task  was  to  look  at  our  chosen  theme  in  a  different  way  and  take  another  set  of  ini<al  photos  and  then  develop  them  in  an  ar<s<c  way.  I  took  30  shots  and  shortened  it  to  8  photos.  For  my  first  set  of  photos  I  looked  at  my  theme  Extraordinary  Beings  in  animal  approach  whereas  for  these  set  of  photos  I  took  a  more  demonic  approach  to  my  photos.  I  took  close-­‐up  portraits  of  my  models  which  I  then  edited  in  Photoshop  to  create  half  animal/half  human  beings.  I  used  flash  on  my  camera  to  create  the  ligh<ng  in  my  photos.  The  photos  are  quit  dark  and  glum.  This  is  because  I  wanted  the  photos  to  be  in  black  and  white  and  quite  simple  as  the  edi<ng  would  of  the  photos  themselves  would  be  very  surreal  and  over  the  top/drama<c.  There  has  been  no  use  of  natural  ligh<ng  with  the  photos.  I  used  layers  to  edit  the  photos  (several  different  textures).  I  took  into  account  the  ar<s<c  feel  the  images  had  to  have.  The  layers  made  the  images  look  tarnished  and  old.  It  also  created  the  feel  I  wanted  the  images  to  have.  It  also  darkened  them  and  created  the  half  animal  look  I  was  going  for.  The  visual  impact  my  photos  have  on  the  viewers  is  quite  a  shocked  but  interested  impact.  It  makes  them  look  deep  into  the  images  for  the  meaning  especially  because  of  how  dark  and  gloomy  the  images  are.  Most  of  the  images  ques<on  realism  as  they  look  human  like  but  have  that  elemeb=nt  of  them  that  does’nt  The  images  seem  quite  unique  and  strange.  So  the  viewers  may  be  freaked  out.    I  believe  that  my  images  reached  the  level  of  symbolism  needed.  I  believe  this  because  the  model  in  the  image  blends  well  with  the  animal  features  added  to  the  images.  This  is  essen<al  as  it  relates  to  the  theme  itself  (Extraordinary  Beings).  Therefore  the  viewer  will  be  able  to  decipher  the  symbolic  meaning  behind  the  image.    I  am  very  pleased  with  the  outcome  of  my  work.  Comparing  my  first  set  I  took  for  the  project  to  this  set  of  photos  I  see  a  major  improvement.  I  also  believe  that  I  developed  the  images  very  well  rela<ng  to  the  theme  and  my  images  have  an  edge  to  them.  This  helps  it  go  into  depth  and  seeing  different  views  of  each  image  instead  of  them  all  being  similar.  The  dark  colours,  shapes,  texture,  ligh<ng,  posi<oning,  etc.  all  add  to  the  success  of  the  images.  The  props  that  I  used  created  the  feel  of  evil  etc.  The  model  I  used  was  posi<oned  well  for  the  images  though  most  of  them  are  close-­‐ups.  Though  I  believe  my  photographs  are  a  success,  there  is  room  for  improvement.  There  could’ve  been  more  diversity  as  most  of  the  images  are  similar.  I  could’ve  taken  it  to  another  level  with  the  developments  also  rather  than  using  layers  for  most  of  the  images.  Other  than  the  points  I  made  I  believe  the  images  have  good  outcome.      

I  do  believe  that  I  pushed  my  crea<ve  boundaries  as  my  images  are  quite  crea<ve  in  rela<on  to  the  props  and  my  ini<al  ideas  itself.  At  the  start  of  the  project  I  had  difficulty  deciding  on  what  exactly  I  was  going  to  do.  I  had  many  ideas  and  I  couldn’t  make  my  mind  up  on  what  would  work  beIer  and  what  would  relate  to  my  brief  the  most.  It  took  me  a  while  to  make  the  decision  a^er  careful  considera<on.  My  ar<st  researched  really  helped  me  with  my  ini<al  ideas  and  when  developing  them.  MaIhew  Barneys  half  animal  half  human  photography  truly  inspired  me  with  my  work  as  it  is  the  exact  sort  of  photograph  I  was  looking  to  create  and  it  helped  widen  my  ini<al  idea  to  shape  shi^  what  my  photos  turned  out  to  be.  In  general  I  do  believe  that  my  project  went  surprisingly  well  and  I  was  pleased  with  my  outcome.  The  way  my  pictures  vary  from  shot  to  shot  shows  my  wide  spread  of  ideas  and  the  interes<ng  way  I  portrayed  them.  If  more  <me  was  given  for  the  project  then  I  believe  that  there  could've  been  much  more  improvement,  especially  on  the  edi<ng  of  the  images.  I  could've  made  the  pictures  have  a  more  ar<s<c  feel  to  them.  If  I  had  more  <me  on  the  project  then  I  could’ve  taken  the  images  on  the  next  level  of  Extraordinary  Beings.  There  could've  been  more  ideas  throughout  also  a  more  ar<s<c  feel  to  the  images.  There  would’ve  been  beIer  ligh<ng  (more  natural)  and    the  photos  I  did  take  outside  would’ve  been  taken  on  a  sunnier  day  to  create  beIer  ligh<ng  I  also  would've  researched  much  more  photographers  as  that  would’ve  given  me  much  more  ideas  which  could’ve  resulted  to  beIer  off  photos  in  general  but  as  a  whole  I  believe  the  images  were  a  success  though  could  be  improved.  

Final  Outcomes  

Marlene  Dumas  Marlene  Dumas  looked  at  Photography  in  a  more  ar<s<c  way,  meshing  the  images  with  pain<ngs  giving  it  a  more  ar<s<c  effect.  This  image  is  of  a  woman.  Marlene  has  made  the  image  look  like  a  pain<ng  though  the  image  started  from  a  photograph.    Marlene  has  used  a  human  form  (portrait)  of  a  woman  who  looks  quite  young  and  vulnerable.  Her  eyes  appear  to  be  searching  for  help.  The  woman's  finger  is  on  her  chin  which  could  be  indica<ng  that  she  is  in  deep  thought.  She  has  used  the  colour  red  boldly  across  the  whole  image,  This  could  be  to  represent  danger  and  could  be  ques<oning  whether  this  woman  is  who  she  appears  to  be  portraying  herself  to  be  in  the  image  (vic<m,  innocent,  vulnerable).    Marlene’s  artwork  relates  to  mine  as  it  has  an  ar<s<c,  pain<ng  look  to  the  photograph,  similar  to  what  mine  will  have.  The  use  of  colours  which  brightens  the  images  as  has  also  inspired  me  in  my  final  outcomes  photographs  to  make  the  images  more  bright  and  colourful  to  really  bring  out  the  beauty  of  the  image  itself.