Women.
This is an experimentation with technique and an image that I have taken. This is a side project, and the plan is to create a series of portraits of women, modelled after the style of classical painting portraits.
It is important to note that I started off this work in response to a piece submitted for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize which was included in the exhibited show, although – I am not sure if it was shortlisted. It felt more like a challenge than anything, the portrait was digitally styled after paintings, and the artist who submitted it claimed to have taken six months to produce it. In response I wanted to experiment with this style of photographic portraiture, which has resulted in a new project looking at the truth within the image with regard to the photographed female form.
Rebecca Martinez Zoila – the image ‘With Freckles’ was also included in this show. I enjoyed the depth of the concept, and the relationship between truth, expectation, and the warping of familial values and interpretation.
Other work which I looked at while beginning this project:
Andrew Pinkham – I enjoyed the style of these images, and his work helped me to identify that I did not want to decontextualize my subjects through the use of ‘old world’ fashion. Michelle Dupont – The portraits that she has in her ‘people’ section I find to be the most inspiring. It is mainly the clean complexion paired with soft lighting and the creativity they suggest. Oleg Dou – These CG portraits were most inspiring with regard to their simplicity and perfection as well as the conceptual weight held within each series. Joanna Kustra – I liked her work with regard to the lighting of the images, as well as the composition of a few of them. Andrzej Dragan – I found the personal work most inspiring because of its hyper-real nature. The over saturation of colors and clarity of the images is most powerful in combination. Moreover, the fact that they have been edited is obvious elevating the work to a different level of interpretation. However, the subtlety of this puts into question the indexicality of the image as well as the intent of the perspective held by the viewer. Richard Vantielek – this work I found when I was looking for conceptual portraiture. I enjoy the narrative that the images display, as well as the dark grey settings. Maki Kawakita – I found the theatrical nature of the work most inspiring. My favorite work was by far the second commission which had a surreal element. I liked the strong make up in combination with the perfection in the complexion and styling of the models. Amazing CG Portraits – This is a general blog which I stumbled upon, which highlights some very well executed CG portraits.
Heather Dalton 