Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz created a series of Fairytale inspired photographs for part of a Disney advertising campaign. The photographs see celebrities as characters from classic Disney films. As I am basing my piece on fairytale, I am looking into these photos to see her techniques.

Each photo depicts a scene from the particular film that Leibovitz is portraying. The costumes of the models are very similar and in most cases exact to those of the Disney animated versions of the tales. Even though some of the images are very portrait like, she still has many elements in each photo that are key to the story that is being portrayed. For example, in the snow white image, the setting is a woodland which is key as the story is based in a woodland. The animals that surround her are key to the story and the personality of snow white. Even though this does not show the whole story, it shows the character of snow white really well.

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David Stoker – research & stylisation. 

  

David Stoker creates story telling photographs. Each of his photographs depict a diverse scene from one another. He creates narrative images with only a small number of characters in the scene. His attention to the details of what surrounds the characters in each image are the key elements that support the story of the image.

 

 

His images are quite diverse from each other and it is very interesting to see how different he creates one setting from another. I also think there is an interesting use of lighting in these images and he uses it in creative ways to highlight certain aspects or characters of an image. I also like the use of colour as he conveys the atmosphere of the setting really well with the use of warm and cold colours.

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Philip-Lorca diCorcia

  

These images are from Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s book titled “A Storybook life”. In diCorcia’s statement about the book he says “The disparate photographs assembled here were made over the course of twenty years. None of them were originally intended to be used in this book. By ordering and shaping them I tried to investigate the possibilities of narrative both within a single image and especially in relation to the other photographs. A Storybook Life is an attempt to discover the possibilities of meaning in the interaction of seemingly unrelated images in the hope that content can constantly mutate according to both the external and internal condition of the viewer, but remain meaningful because of it’s inherent, but latent content. The conscious and subconscious decisions made in editing the photographs is the real work of A Storybook Life.”

I like how these photographers create a narrative about the characters in them. The settings and objects combined with the expressions of the subjects create a story and a small insight into their supposed life.

  

I also like the use of colours and lighting. Quite bold colours are used to create strong contrasts within each image, but these contrast are mostly used to draw attention to the character of each image. In most images he uses quite minimal light. The subject tends to be the best lit part of the image whilst the background is mostly dark. As my main character in my narrative wears red which is a bold colour, this approach is one that I may explore in my own piece.

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Jeff Wall 

Jeff Wall is a Canadian photographer.  He studied art history at the University of British Columbia in the 1960s but taught himself photography after becoming interested in Vancouver’s experimental art scene. He went into teaching in 1974 and has had many solo exhibitions since.

Jeff Wall is a key practitioner when it comes to looking into narrative. His use of symbolism is a very strong element in his images. It can clearly be seen that he picks out key signs to convey in his own work which make sense to the viewer as they decode the image. These signs build up the narrative and Wall’s attention to detail creates some visually stunning pieces.

In Jeff Wall’s piece titled Insomnia, he tells the story of a man who cannot sleep.  The cold blue-green and white tones firstly suggest that there is a cold concept to this piece.  The more we read into this image the more we see that story that is created. It’s not clear at first whether the man is asleep or not but at a closer look at his face his facial expression seems to be stressed and unsettled and light reflected from his head suggests sweating. The cupboard doors left open suggest he was frantically searching for something, possibly sleeping pills or other home remedies to help him sleep. We know that this is set at night time from the lighting that Wall creates as he is mimicking indoor ceiling lighting. We can see the reflection of this light in the window as the scene is made to look dark outside. There is also a small saucepan on the gas cooker at the side which suggest he may have been warming something such as milk—another remedy to help someone sleep.

The Destroyed Room is based on the nineteenth century painting entitled The Death of Sardanapalus (1827) by Eugène Delacroix. which depicts the Assyrian monarch on his deathbed, commanding the destruction of his possessions and slaughter of his concubines in a last act of defiance against invading armies.

Wall takes note of the compositions used in the painting and applies them to his own piece. For example, the red tones that are prominent throughout both pieces. And also, the diagonal that draws our eye across the image from top left to the bottom right.  He creates the chaos that is conveyed in the painting by creating the mess with a number of objects. There is something about this scene that makes it look thrown together and unorganised. The room is a set that was built just for the purpose of the shoot and this can clearly be seen in the image. I think this adds to the disorder that he wants to create that can be seen in the painting.

Jeff Wall’s piece entitled Picture For Women (1979) is based on a painting by Manet, entitled A Bar at the Folie-Bergères (1882).  In Wall’s photo, he makes similarities such as choosing cold tones  to convey a similar feeling. It has been debated whether Wall’s image is taken in front of a mirror or whether there are 2 camera s facing each other. A similar debate is made about the Manet painting, as it is not clear whether there is a reflection of the woman behind her or if it is another waitress serving someone else. It has been questioned whether the man in the corner of the painting is Manet himself or if it is just another customer being served. Wall makes a few differences in his own interpretation. In the painting, the woman’s is gazing away which makes her expression seem distant. Where as in the photograph, the woman is looking towards the camera which makes her more engaging with the viewer.

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Jessica Tremp 

Stylistic Approach

Jessica Tremp is a photographer based in Australia. She creates photographs that almost have a fantasy feel to them, but uses a realistic subject matter. I have chosen to look into her photographs which are set in woodland areas. She takes these images in daylight so it is interesting to see how a mystical effect can still be created in daylight rather than at night time.  The lighting that she uses is very soft and even and the colours of her subjects create a strong contrast from their backgrounds. In images which are set in locations such as forests, she keeps the colours true to their neutral, earthy tones. She also keeps the colour schemes quite simple by not having too many different colours in one scene. She also has very interesting subject matter which seems to create a narrative within her photos.

Even though these photos are taken in daylight, Tremp seems to create misty backgrounds which just gives the photos an eerie edge to them. This is an approach which I think would be appropriate for my own work as I plan to shoot in daylight. Her subjects become highlighted by the light tones that they wear and colours such as white represent an innocence to these particular subjects. She uses locations that look like they are not well maintained which makes the area look desolate and with the combination of her subjects dressed in white it almost gives an effect as if we are looking at the supernatural. The soft glow that she creates on her subjects seem all most ghost-like which give a very mysterious feel to her images. This is an approach which I may investigate with my own images as I am quite inspired by this eerie effect. I feel that this style could be applied to my fairy-tale inspired idea and give the story a new perspective.

Images from http://www.jessicatremp.com/

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Anita Anti

Anita Anti is a new-York based photographer who specialises in fairy-tale-esque portraiture. As my ideas are based on a fairy tale,  I feel that she is a good link to look at for and example of her way of interpreting fairytales. The location for most of her shoots are in woodland or forest areas and as I plan to use woodlands for my location it is interesting to see how she uses her surrounding scenery.

Though the images may seem portrait like, Anti uses props and costumes as elements to give a fairytale feel to the image. She uses soft lighting on her subjects which is appropriate as she prefers to use models with “child-like” faces so it gives an overall warm feeling to the image. As most of her location settings are woodlands, the colours of her backgrounds have neutral, earthy tones to them. The only bold colours that she uses are in the costumes that her subjects wear or are on some of the props. These bold colours draw our attention to what the character of each image is. These costumes and props help the viewer to decode the image to depict what the fairy tale is that the image has inspired. These colours also help us to see what the character’s role is in the fairy-tale world that Anti is making reference to. Subjects that are wearing costumes that have light colour tones suggest their innocence and that they are the main protagonist of the story. Where as in images where the subject is wearing dark tones such as black or dark reds it suggest that they  are the villain of the story. This is what makes Anti’s use of symbolism and costume important in her images. She keeps the use of props very minimal so characterisation of her subjects is key to convey the right message.

Images from https://www.flickr.com/photos/anita_anti/

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Tom Hunter

Tom Hunter is a British artist and photographer. In his photography he creates a compelling narrative whilst usually being visually influenced by other artists. He creates a story of the character(s) within the image whilst keeping the visual style of an artist for each series of work. The above image titled The Way Home is based on the John Millais painting titled Ophelia. Hunter says “[The photograph] shows a young girl whose journey home from one such rave was curtailed by falling into a canal and losing herself to the dark, slippery, industrial motorway of a bygone era.”

Ophelia by John Millais (1851-1852)

The two above images are from a 1997 series titled “Persons Unknown”. The series sees a number of people who were all residents of the same street. They were all facing eviction and the title of the series comes from the wording that was used in the eviction notices. The photos are taken in the style of Vermeer paintings with an emphasis on the ambient light source being the window, and the subjects postures being similar to those of the subjects in the paintings.

 

Woman Reading a Possession Order by Tom Hunter and Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer.

I really like Hunter’s attention to detail in his narrative images. He creates a story about the character(s) in his images by showing the environment around them. It is subtle props and objects and that make such a significant difference to the background of the people and their situation. He is also good at replicating the visual style of particular artists and painters. I think that each image on their own is a very strong piece but as a series it makes the collective so much stronger given the context.

Tom Hunter – http://www.tomhunter.org/

Ophelia by John Millais – http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506

Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer – http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/girl_reading_a_letter_by_an_open_window.html#.VqYbd_myOko