The Gentleman Mandalorian
For this project I wanted to create an ironic contrast by placing a futuristic character into the past through the wet plate collodion style. I photographed a figure dressed as the Mandalorian and then edited the image to resemble a historic portrait, adding in blemishes, scratches, blurring, and sepia tones to mimic the fragile vintage aesthetic. To emphasize the period feel, I combined my photograph with a top hat element from the Library of Congress, along with additional texture to suggest age and wear. The result plays with time by turning a modern science fiction icon into something of the 19th century.
This work by Gabriel Florea is composed by putting together images such as wallpaper and frames overtop the subject, which is the Mandalorian, and adding elements such as scratches and a slight sepia tone. The subject is a more futuristic character, edited to appear in a much more vintage time. This work plays with irony, as one would not expect a more futuristic character such as the Mandalorian to be posing with elements of the past. The work has an almost playful tone, with the large top hat overtop the Mandalorian’s helmet, as well as what appears to be a cigar in his hand. This cigar also adds to the irony, as the Mandalorian cannot “use” the cigar with the helmet and hat overtop his head. The aspect ratio appears to be 4:5, which could be consistent with wet plate photography.
ReplyDeleteWet plate collodion portraits were often made for soldiers, or government figures. This work turns an image of the Mandalorian into one of these portraits. While this work could be interpreted as more lighthearted and possibly “silly” because of the large hat, this work could also be interpreted almost as a “war never changes”. The Mandalorian is a very futuristic character, and by having a wet plate portrait of him, it makes it seem like there is a futuristic war, and soldiers are still having wet plate portraits made of themselves.
Finally, this work shows understanding of the elements that make a wet plate collodion photo what it is. The work appears to have a shallow depth of field, and a slight sepia tone to it. The scratches used appear to make the work look aged, and the stains on the work works well. The work also adds a frame to the border, which many wet plate photos possessed. The lighting on the hat is very well done, it matches the situation perfectly. Some of the areas that could have been improved on would be the exposures. The metal armor that the Mandalorian wears could have been lightened, to blow out the exposures just tad. Adding an adjustment layer and clipping it to the armor would work, and this would also allow for changing it very easily. While also a very minor point, I believe the wallpaper background could have been scaled down just a bit. The design on the wallpaper is larger, so it makes the mandalorian look smaller.
This work accurately represents understanding of the wet plate collodion style, and directly plays with irony from its visual elements to provide the viewer with a few different meanings as to what this photograph could mean/represent. I believe that this work shows the aptitude of the visual elements to make a cohesive piece. The message, while I believe is just a lighthearted portrait, could be represented in a much different way, under the aspect of soldiers in war. I believe just some more touching up, this work would be near perfect. I enjoyed watching the process and trying to understand this piece.