Modern Masters - and The Elegance of Decay/Fallen Grandeur

This Blog covers the 2nd and 3rd unit in the module ARD507, the Photography option.

Modern Master.

The instructions were to take a painting of renown and re-create it with a photograph. We had to recreate light and pose, but give the image a 'modern twist'.  Once done, we then had to apply the image to an appropriate product, using interesting copy.

There are a wealth of paintings that could be used for this module, but straight away I loved the idea of using Jack Vettriano's 'The Singing Butler'

I thought  for the modern twist, I could turn the central couple into perhaps a 'celebrity' couple, and change the maid and butler to a PA and Personal Trainer.  And I also had the idea of a second shoot, where the figures would be made up of a family group.










However, you know what they say about the best laid plans . . .

Absolutely atrocious weather made planning a trip to a beach just about as difficult as it could be - trying to time the availability of models, with myself having that time free, and a dry spell was really frustrating.  Added to which,  I unfortunately developed a condition which really badly affected my mobility, and on occasions had trouble walking more than a few yards, especially after one of the frequent physio sessions.  Slowly - but surely - it dawned on me that this just wasn't going to be doable - and I was gutted.

So, back to the drawing board - I had to look for an image that would enable me to use easily available models, in a setting that I would physically be able to get to.  Having children of my own, I have a fair few kids who visit my house, so I decided to look for an image of children, or a child, and work with that.

There were a lot to choose from -

 I liked all these paintings, and a lot more that I looked at, but none of them really jumped out at me.

They almost seemed too 'easy' , as I felt the poses would be quite simple to reproduce, and I wanted something that had an element that was a little different - especially bearing in mind that we had to apply the finished image to 'appropriate copy'.

So I kept on looking - and eventually, I came across this Norman Rockwell Print, 'Girl at Mirror'.

 

 

Although I knew of Norman Rockwell, and had seen several examples of his work, this was one I hadn't come across before, and it appealed to me for several reasons.  The meaning of the painting was so obvious - little girl trying to be grown up and emulate the glamorous image in the magazine on her lap, and obviously sat their thinking that she will never 'look like that' - and I loved the composition, the way the lipstick and brushes by her side and the doll by the mirror depicted the age where little girls become (or try to become) young ladies.  The mirror in the image I knew would be quite challenging to photograph, but would give me more practise in overcoming the practical problems that it would pose.  I also felt that though the image dates from 1954, what it depicted is still relevant to today - little girls always have, and probably always will, use images from popular culture to copy in their efforts to be grown up.


So - I asked my daughters friend, Naomi to be my model, got permission from her Mum - and attempted to turn my front room into a 'studio' for the shoot.

Space was an issue, with the furniture cluttering up the view and making it difficult for me to get the space and angle to replicate the pose.  But, after a couple of hours, I felt I had an image that I could work with.  Big thank You to Naomi for her patience !

Obviously, there was a fair bit of work to do in editing - lack of space meant the angle I got wasn't quite what I wanted, so I had to change perspective slightly - then crop, and burn in the shadowed section. I had deliberately kept the focus quite 'soft' to try and recreate the feel of oils, whilst it still being obvious that this is a photograph.

Lack of lighting, and strong sunlight through the windows had meant that I had to close the curtains, which made the light wrong - that had to be corrected, and  - of course - dealing with the mirror, to block out unwanted reflection.  This was one of my attempts to deal with these issues .














Eventually, I was happy with one of the images I edited, and the last step to complete the image was to change the colour of the floor, to create the finished piece.

The Modern Twist was deliberately quite subtle - given that both clothes and hairstyle were of a type that could possibly apply to both the '50's and modern day, it was simply a case of letting the image in the magazine bring it 'up to date' - I chose a magazine with an image of Tulisa, who is very much a popular figure for young girls today. 

Then to apply the image to an appropriate copy - I first played round with the idea of using this as a magazine cover, for a parenting magazine, to high light a supposed story about how to help your daughter handle the transition from girl to young woman - however,  once the image was finished, a much simpler, but I felt more effective, idea occurred.

I lightened the image and the floor slightly, as I felt this made the text and the image of the chocolate stand out more, and all in all, I was quite happy with the finished piece.


The Elegance of Decay/Fallen Grandeur.

We were required to produce 6 images, Interior or Exterior that showed the beauty in age - this might be derelict spaces, objects showing signs of age or natural deterioration in something.

Although this was one of the units that I really looked forward too in advance, thanks to the mobility problems, its was one of the most frustrating to complete.  I was severely hampered in my ability to get to some of the really out of the way locations that I knew of, to photograph buildings and areas that I felt I could have got some good images from.  However, I did visit quite a few easier to get to sites, and I also managed to get to Caergwrle Castle, although that one was a real struggle!

I decided to concentrate on the 'Fallen Grandeur' aspect - this harks back to my interest in 'lost' industries from this area. There is a rich industrial history to this part of North Wales, and whilst some effort has been made to preserve a little of what's left of the building - that at one time signified 'grandeur', because the industries generated wealth - its by no means enough, in my opinion, and so much has been lost. 

With this in mind, I visited an old windmill in Threapwood, the Penrhos Engine House (where there has been some effort been made to preserve it), some of the buildings that are left around the area of Minera Lime Quarry, and I also found several disused farm buildings.  As I said, I also made the trip up to Caergwrle castle, looking for a different type of grandeur.

Here are the final six images - in photographing some, I decided to experiment and to use black and white, and a red filter, to get a more dramatic effect, 3 of the final images are from that set.  For the other 3, I chose to use colour, either because the colours of decay and ruins can be so beautiful, or because (in the case of the castle), the colour of the sky enhanced the image.