Experimental Portraits

INTRODUCTION
What is your big idea as your respond to the Experimental Portraiture Assignment?
Explain HOW you will break away from the norm to explore more experimental approaches to portraits.

when originally tasked with the experimental portraiture I wasn’t sure what to do I had had a look a a range of artists but none of them really caught my eye until I saw man rays work in solarization, I was looking to develop my skills in the dark room so I could effectively manipulate photos without the use of digital software

MINDMAP

Create a mind map, consider and include the following subheadings as you work out your ideas.

• Theme and concept
• Techniques and experimentation
• Influences & Inspiration
• Subjects & Models
• Location & Backgrounds
• Editing & Post-Processing
  This can be drawn on paper and scanned, created in Keynote/PowerPoint or created on directly on your webpage. Below is some more guidence on the subheadings to get your ideas moving.

INSPIRATION

• Whose work do you find inspiring? Include a gallery of images.
• As you look for inspiration, consider the innovative techniques used e.g. lighting, manipulation, layering, filtering, or combinations of techniques. What ideas have they given you?

Man Ray

Solarization is the name of the technique that man ray uses, it is the process in which he exposes an image mid development to create that distinct solarized look which is shown by the harsh black lines around the edges of the subject and the slightly inverted look to some areas of the photo, I will develop my own solarization photos using the same process which man ray used I feel that I should focus on using masking tools to create areas with no exposure or areas with lots of development causing that black line.

Man Ray was part of the early surrealism movement in photography demonstration his skill in distorting and editing images using the darkroom alone, his mastery in the darkroom led to him being known for his solarization technique (like the examples above).

Explain how this darkroom process work

to start the process you must project your image onto the light sensitive paper, you then begin to let it develop in the tray of developer until the image is almost finished developing, you then bring the tray to a enlarged and project a square of light onto it then leave it to develop until you have a desired outcome, after that it is the standard process of moving the image into the stop then the fixer.

Before taking portraits i have used some older film from past projects to get the hang of solarization and the process in which i need to take, i followed the video aboves instructions with some modifications as our darkrooms are somewhat different

this was the first photo i attempted i noticed the the whole photo was to dark so i projected the image onto some card, this was to mask out the background the the subject would stand out significantly more.

this is the result of the masking of the background as you can see i have used the same exposure time as the subject is still very dark to fix this i decreased the time that i would expose the image onto the light sensitive paper.

This photo came out the best of the three as i have adaped the process in which i expose and develop the photo the photo is a little out of focus as i have to adhjust the focus wheel when solarising the photo so it wasnt focused properly from the last photo.

Be critical and reflective as your work develops. Identify any challenges you’ve encountered—technical, creative, or conceptual—and, more importantly, consider how you’ve resolved them or adapted in a creative way. How have these solutions shaped your approach?

Continuously ask yourself: How am I pushing my project forward? What steps can I take to refine my vision and strengthen my work?

FINAL OUTCOME AND EVALUATION

What will you present: series, single image, video a print in a frame?

• What reaction do you want to evoke?
• How does the work challenge traditional portraiture?