I thought it would be fun to photoshop myself riding my beloved black lab like a horse. My roommates and I make jokes about saddling her up all the time, or that she's built like a warthog because she's so big and clumsy. I myself am an avid player of Red Dead Redemption so I knew this time period had lots of cowboy activity going on in the West. I used images of what is probably Utah, and photo-composited different angles of my dog's body and head to get the right setup for me. I took my photo balancing on a stool which was a fun photoshoot to do in all. Masking the saddle and finding a place for my body to go that made sense directionally and proportionally was the most difficult part. In the end I used sepia tones and overlayed wet plate textures.
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ReplyDeleteDescribe
ReplyDeleteIn the composition “Old is New Again” by Fran Gatti is a scene created to look as if it was taken via wet plate collodion. In the composition the artist is smiling and sitting and riding a black dog in the same manner as a western cowboy on a horse. It’s set in a scene of a desert or the midwest with canyons in the distance. Other elements in this composition include vultures that surround her in various places.
Interpret
With all of these elements in mind it seems like a humorous composition most obviously because she’s horseback riding on a dog but because of her smile and posture as she has her leg out while sitting on the dog's back. She seems overly happy and excitable while out in the middle of nowhere it seems with nothing but vultures praying on her death. Maybe this work is her laughing in the face of death or it could be about her not having a care in the world, or maybe even being clueless and naive not noticing the surrounding dangers. It could even be about a funny adventure with her travel pal doggo.
Evaluate
In this composition we see elements like a color change in the photo to black and white as well as a sepia tone. There also appears to be some light leaks/hazy effect around the composition that add to the wet plate collodion appearance. There is also a frame around the composition and some distress around the edges of the photograph which create a more distressed appearance as well as light distressing over the entire photograph. Also create a short depth of field feeling by fading out the background more. However, it slightly contradicts a traditional wet plate collodion because normally portraits were normally still shots while this is more of an action shot but nonetheless it has a wet plate collodion appearance.
Summarize
Overall, I think this is a successful wet plate collision re-creation. Setting the scene in the Western 1800’s was successful. The techniques you used to create the wet plate collodion appearance were also successful. Overall, this composition has a humorous sense to it with maybe a few different slight interpretations. In conclusion, the techniques (arguably the most important aspect of this assignment) were well executed. The playful mood you tried to create was also apparent.