Editorials

This week I have been looking at the Asian Models blog again for inspiration for my editorial. I think looking at it does open me up to so much more than just flicking through English magazines. I have chosen four editorials that have caught my eye and that I could use to influence my work. I have chosen them for different reasons and will write notes on what I like about them.

Rony Shram - Harper's Bazaar Vietnam

I love how she is laying down with her eyes closed

The hair and make up is really beautiful, love the lipstick

I think what I love the most about these images is the energy and feeling I get from them. The shoot looks like it has a high production value because of its location. The lighting and tone of the photos looks very sunny and cheerful, but then we take a double take with the model as she seems in her own world and maybe even a little distressed. I think she looks like a socialite, in her expensive apartment and on the roof top contemplating. The backdrop of the city is exciting, I think because of her posing it does make it seem like it is very still, rather than a busy place.

What I could take from this shoot is some of her poses, I want to shoot something much darker, but I do really like the look of worry in her face. Is it worry, or dis-interst? I think the images are very interesting and I would love to take something from them and incorporate that within my shoot. 

Flower Power by Mark Segal - Vogue China 

This is another shoot that caught my eye on the blog. I think what i really like about it is the cold tone to the images, it has a real winter appeal with the use of the background and tones used. The first thing that drew me to it was the material over the models face, how it changes her identity and you are unsure of who she is. The images have movement, I think my favourite is the one with the material over her, as her body is dramatic and shapely, matching the flow of the fabric. I think these images do look like campaign standard, rather than an editorial, maybe it is because of the background. I don't think these images have as much as a narrative as the story before, maybe it is because I see them as more glossy.

The darker eye make up does draw my attention in more in shoots, thinking bout it for my project. 

I love the dramatic use of material in both these images

Snake Wave by Kim Tae Woo - Vogue Korea

I think these were interesting to me because the model does not look typically asian. Her hair colour made me look instantly, rather than brushing over them. I then noticed the texture of the rocks around her, which is really beautiful. Because these images were taken on such a sunny day it does look exotic, like the first series I looked at. Again I do not thing they have as strong of a story line as Shram's photos, but they are unique fashion images. The rocks do really interest me, as I have been looking at texture for a while now. Smugglers bay could have potential rocks like this? Would it reflect my storyline or should I just run with something I find visual interesting? 

I really love how the light picks up the texture, I think I am more interested in the background than the styling of the images.

The rocks look a little bit like out of space.

Desert Rose by Whee Kim for NuYou 

I think I was attracted to this shoot because of the previous images I had looked at. I like the idea of shooting against rock more and more because I have never really done a location shoot and feel it would benefit my portfolio. I am looking at lots of bright images, but I feel I would want to create slightly darker images. I do really love the square crops with this series and that is something I would like to do with my work. I think these images are a little bit off topic with what I am researching but I think I should look more into texture and what that could mean for my images. 

Primal

From my test shoot I decided that I should develop my work to be more edgy and dark, to get the best results for this project. I think by doing some thing different to my previous work it will benefit how I make images. This week I am looking at Primal, a February 2012 editorial in Dazed & Confused. Shot by Serge LeBion, the images are really interesting and edgy. I like the use of the darkness and how dramatic the models are. Like Good Kate, Bad Kate the location is interesting and that does really add to the shoot. From the series, the three images I have picked up on are the most interesting. In the first two I really like the model's hair, in the first it creates a new texture to the image, and with the second it does blend in to the background. I think the styling here would be something I would love to do for my shoot, the use of sheer material does catch my attention with the second image, and maybe adding in layers of it could be something I experiment with. 

I think one of my biggest problems with the shoot will be how I make the styling look like high fashion.  Although this is titled Primal, the clothing is still expensive looking. How can I portray a poor, heart broken character? 

Knitted 1950s Hair Shoot

I had my third shoot today, for my knitted hair portrait series. On the search for a model with my other project I had come across Toni. I kept her in the back of my mind and then when it came to sorting this project out I contacted her as I really wanted to shoot with her. 

The hair piece was baby blue, inspired by the 1950s and Katy Perry's use of the eras styling. I was using one of my favourite make up artists, Danielle, who I had worked with on several other projects. She was very attentive with what was working with the make up, as well as helping me place the piece on. 

I had some problems positioning it, as it was one of the harder pieces to put in position, however it payed off once it was on properly, as it began to really mimic the hair. 

I shot with a range of blue and purple gels on the background, but settled with blue on blue, to be coherent with my project. 

Later on we tried using some tattoo lips, as Danielle had them. I thought they were really interesting, but where I hadn't used them in any of the other photos they would have been odd in the series. I can use them as a stand alone image. 

I was happy with the use of the big eye lashes, nice brows and nude lips. I wanted to keep it fresh and contemporary. We changed the eye shadow colour a few times and I am really happy with the end result. 

Pastels

I really love the pastel trend at the moment, and felt from my test shoot with Faith that I needed to do something more light hearted and quirky. As I will be casting interesting looking models I felt that doing something quite soft with my colours would work really well. I have found some pastel examples that I can draw inspiration from with my work.

Sharif Hamza - Passion for Pastel

I think this series is so beautiful and interesting, the colour palette is amazing. I really love the soft pinks and how they relate through the whole of the image. It is really simple, but works.

Ina Jang

Finding Ina Jang's work on Trendland was a bit of a surprise. The photographer takes the images, and then makes strange collages from them. I think they are really interesting, and I can't really comprehend how she makes them. I was really interested in the pastel backgrounds, they are really soft colours, contrasting the colours in the image. 

Material Girl - Xanthe Hutchinson

I thought these images were a different take on the pastel look for this season. They are much more grunge inspired, with the prints quite bold and busy. I like the purple in the hair on the second image. 

I Want Candy 

Images from I Want Candy, from Elle Netherlands. I love the colours in this, the make up is really dramatic and the styling is incredible. It makes me question how far I want to push the make up with my images. How far is too far with the knitted hair pieces? 

Test Shoot With Jess

This week I did a test shoot to get the ball rolling with my project. I wanted to cast a model who would reflect my perception of Eponine, I started chatting with local girls and Jess was happy to work with me. I wanted to shoot close to home as I was more interested in developing the technique for the shoot.

I shot in three ways:

1. Using smoke
I wanted to experiment with smoke and see if I could shoot in a way that wouldn't look studenty. It didn't work. I think to get the effect I had been hoping for I would have needed a much higher production value, which I didn't have. Maybe it is something I can further test when on location.

2. Using material over the lens
I had also brought some sheer material to place over the lens, which began to look like the smoke when in use. I did have more control over what parts of the image looked more blurry. So here I think I got a better result that using the smoke. I also like the tone I put over these images, maybe I should consider a darker/blue/purple tone for my other images? Maybe here it is slightly too light.

 3. Using material over over the model
At the end of the shoot I started experimenting with placing the material over the model. I wish I had done this before as I think I got the best results from this technique. It gives an interesting texture and I like how the light is picked up on certain parts of it. I do think here, because of the pose and hair over her face, it does look like a horror movie promo, which is something I need to work on on a further shoot. It is a lot darker than the other images, which is something I don't usually do and I think this is how I want to develop my image making - by experimenting more with the darker side of fashion. I think, even for a test, that this is a lot more edgy than anything I have ever produced and a way forward for my portfolio.

Knitted Finger Wave Shoot

Today I had my second knitted hair piece shoot. I had finished making a baby pink finger wave piece. I found making the piece harder than the beehive, as I had to try and get the texture of the hair to appear. i think it went okay, I used a lacey stitch to get the wave initially running through the piece. I knitted it long enough to double it over then stuff and sew into place.

I used a pink gel, and Louise used her 1920s make up skills, as she had recently learnt them in her course. This photo shows both my model and her looking lovely and smiling! We decided we needed to soap the eyebrows however it did not go that well which means I have to sort that out in post production.

The shooting process when much faster than my beehive, as I had a clearer idea of the set up. After a tutorial with Conrad he said not to change the lighting too much, or it wouldn't look like a series. I stuck to the beauty dish, with a diffuser. I think the final photo has a lot of potential, however it will need a fair amount of retouching.

Good Kate, Bad Kate

Good Kate, Bad, Kate caught my eye in W Magazine, photographed by Steven Klein with Kate Moss styled incredibly, I thought it would be an interesting reference for my project. I am looking to shoot soon for my Eponine Project and deciding which style I want to work with. I do not want to copy any other photographer, and although we have been told to look at other references other than fashion, it is always good to know who is doing what.

The over sharpened effect on the photos gives a painting like quality, in the strange world that this is set in. The location is dirty and gritty, matching the style of the images. With the work I am making I need to consider everything works together. Here the clothing matches the images, the whites representing a 'Good Kate' and the blacks a 'Bad Kate', giving a strange relationship with religion, Kate herself, and the location it is set in. They are powerful images, and I think that is what attracts me to them. I would like to create something with emotion, that is not just about the clothing, but connects all the elements to make a sound final series.