For this project, I knew I wanted to play with a multi-colored led flood light that I have for photo shoots. My hope was to evoke a feeling of chaos, discomfort, and maybe a little fear with the motion shots and lights and shadows. I also know that the outcome of this project was heavily influenced by my in class assignment related to the sparklers, where I chose to add a lot of color and contrast to the piece. I wanted to do the same here, but add more layered effects to add depth and to help merge some of the facial features together to give the illusion of multiple faces joining together to create one creature. I was my own subject as the portrait and used different color lighting to create different colors and shadows, as well as different movements and timings to create different visual effects of the movement blurred across the photos.
Cassie Eberle
ReplyDelete10/17/24
I started this project with a broad idea of using a multi-colored floodlight to create shapes and shadows with my profile and facial features. I have not played with movement in long exposure before, but was intrigued at the idea. While I was taking photos, I realized the lighting did not need to be bright at all, in fact needed to be very dim or far away or else the photos would come out over exposed. This could also be fixed by shortening the exposure time, but I wanted as much movement to show as possible, so finding the balance was difficult but doable. I also had the realization that my movement did not need to be one fluid move. If I held part of a pose longer than other parts, it would show up clearer. Also if I move a little too fast, it won’t show up at all. I took many many photos trying to come up with a balance of all these elements in order to get the effect I was looking for.
This piece is composed of a group of different photographs that depict and emphasize different parts of the face. The element of the photos being taken in a dark environment was kept in the background, while the main focus of the faces were shrouded in different colors and intensities of lights, such as purple, blue, orange, etc. One element that stands out to me the most is the haunting eyes on the bottom right quadrant of the composition. There are other facial features, though, such as a mouth, nose, and a somewhat undefinable element that is blocking out features in some areas. The overlapping of these different images almost give the illusion of casting their own shadows over other faces, giving this image a lot of depth.
When I look at this composition, I see fear. I see a fight within oneself. The way the light and shadow interact with the eyes on the bottom of the composition give a haunting feeling, while the faces in the top of the composition show the wistfulness and longing. The long exposure creating duplicates of the same face with slight movement also adds to this feeling of fighting oneself, implying a literal sense of having multiple of you inside one form. The colors add a chaotic and almost teleport feeling of bouncing around. This adds to the feeling of fear and the unknown because there is almost nowhere for the eyes to rest, except for making eye contact with the brightest and most stand-out part of the piece in my opinion: the eyes. Eye contact with something so haunting is naturally unnerving.
I think the individual photos are intriguing in and of themselves. The focus on using lighting to emphasize or hide different facial features creates interesting compositions and individual elements to add to the full composition. The composition itself I think could go further and have additional elements. I do appreciate the variety of colors and how they were layered and linked together to move the eye and create that sense of depth in the piece. Adding to the depth of the piece was how dark some areas are, emphasizing the shadows of some of the images, while the front pieces emphasize the highlights and brighter colors. I also feel the light and dark colors were well balanced, which helps the composition feel balanced as well. There is clear use of different blending modes here with the different layers and images, which was a good way to create the depth mentioned earlier, but I think some areas of masking parts of images could have been done smoother.
ReplyDeleteI think this piece was created to both depict and cause a sense of turmoil for and in the viewer. I think a large part of art in culture throughout history, and continuing into today, is evoking feelings in the viewers while also expressing yourself and your experience with how life is. I think this piece is doing the same thing and displaying its own narrative in today’s world. In sharing this piece with others, it creates connection with those who are feeling the same, and can also bring perspective to those who don’t currently have those feelings. Another Night Prowler piece that I found to be inspiring was Light Angel by Aliyah Valcin. Her piece, in my opinion, depicts a clear meaning and narrative. The dramatic difference in lighting from the foreground to the background just emphasizes the angelic features that were created with light. The creativeness of using moving light as wings and a halo was also a beautiful idea, as angels and being angelic are typically associated with that white and gold glowing effect. The lighting merging with the face also adds an element of feeling and emotion of being taken over by this spiritual experience. Keeping the darkness in the back, again, also creates the experience of an angel escaping darkness, furthering the narrative of an angel finding itself.