Being given the keyword ‘penumbra,’ I knew from the start that I wanted to work heavily with shadow. Thinking about how shadows can obscure or exaggerate an object or person, I looked into veils and masks, and also considered emotional ties such as wonder, mystery, and cruelty. I found the feedback about my moodboard from my peers really helpful, and decided to push the idea of light-meets-dark, good-meets-bad. When we were shown spotlights and gobos in our photography lessons, I was excited to use the gobos to cast shadow ‘veils’ over my model for my editorial images. I felt inspired to research Film Noir, as I noticed similarities in the style of lighting. This led me to look into German Expressionism, which I found fascinating: so much emotion and meaning could be communicated through just a style of art.
I started working on my brand image, and found that MAC fitted perfectly with my keyword; by researching the brand’s image and message, I found that a lot of their campaigns and looks incorporated a lot of shadow, black backgrounds, and simple styling. I chose to promote a lip product in my work, and I analysed various adverts to decide on the most effective pose and set-up for my brand image; settling on using a spotlight to shine a concentrated light, while using an assistant to block some parts of the light to create shadows over my model’s face. I searched for an appropriate model, wanting someone with a strong profile and plump lips.
In terms of hair and make-up, for my editorial images I illustrated my light-meets-dark theme by portraying a youthful, innocent-looking girl, with an added twist of darkness. I tied her hair in high bunchies - stereotypical of a young girl - and then backcombed them to add a messy, darker tone. For the make-up, I created ombré effects on the eyes and lips - visually showing the light-to-dark idea. While my model looked bold, youthful and beautiful, I then used a gobo to cast tree-like shadows, adding senses of mystery and coldness. I directed my model to pose in playful, youthful ways, furthering the ‘innocence’ of her character. For my MAC brand image, I felt inspired by MAC’s previous ‘Mineralize’ campaign, in which the hair was hardly visible beneath the shadows, and the make-up and posing was decided according to which product was being promoted. So, I scraped my model’s hair back into a slick, neat ponytail, keeping it out of the focus of the shot. I then applied minimal make-up to the eyes - simply a peachy eyeshadow and subtle mascara, so that the attention would be kept on the bold, bright red lips. I directed my model to tilt her head up at an angle and part her lips, not looking into the camera as I felt that direct eye-contact draws the viewer’s attention to the eyes instead of the lips.
I was really happy with how my shoots went. Next, I selected my favourite images and edited them. Aside from cropping, making sure that face shapes and hairstyles were even and symmetrical, enlarging the eyes, plumping up the lips and perfecting the skin, I also altered the white balances and temperatures to fit with my shadowy, cooler theme. I thoroughly enjoyed the post-production process, understanding the importance of editing the images and seeing how much more effective they looked once finished.
Overall, I have really enjoyed this project. I loved researching styles of photography, experimenting with lighting and styling, and most of all communicating my message and theme through imagery.
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