I new for this project I wanted to practice skills that I didn't in the last project, because I used a projector in the dark last time I never got a chance to practice with lighting. I really like very bright, smooth, and almost flat images. I really like this type of aesthetic because I feel like they really highlight the subject more and bring out a smoother clean look. To start my search for images like these I went back to Mads Perch's website as I really do like his photography as a lot of his shoots have that clean look. After doing some deeper research into his work I found that he often collaborates with Art Director Gem Fletcher.
Gem Fletcher
Gem Fletcher is a London based photographic and film art director who often collaborates with photographers locally and around the world on commercial, editorial and personal projects. She states on her website that "Through everything I do, I want to create work that provokes emotion and challenges perceptions." I really identify with this work method as I would like my work to provoke these same ideas. Gem also states how she works in alot of other fields other than art direction, for example; visual strategy, trend analysis and forecasting, curation, and talent commissioning. She also states that she likes to work with young up and coming photographers to help then get a footing within the industry.
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| Title Image from THE EUREKA EFFECT - Shot by Alma Haser, Art Direction by Gem Fletcher |
The Eureka Effect is a project based around a simple idea, Fletchers website states that "Fusing photography and collage together to explore the concept of the eureka effect. The eureka effect refers to the common human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept." I think this is a beautiful idea matched by stunning imagery. I think this image is wonderful because not only does it look great it also really represents the project as a whole. the flower is such a great visual metaphor for the sprouting of an idea. I also really appreciate the colour story in the image as the orangy reds really match with the flower and also follow the connotations of passion that links in through the original concept. I also really like the lighting in this image and how soft and subtle it is as it lets you focus on the subject and the flower cut out. for me I also noticed how the lighting is very commercial and almost like a beauty shot on the subject, and I appreciated how there's a small connection between that beauty and and the flower and how they are often symbols of beauty.
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| Image from THE EUREKA EFFECT Shot by Alma Haser, Art Direction by Gem Fletcher |
This is the second image from the overall shoot that really took my eye mainly for the composition. The main part of it i find so interesting is the vertical split, initially it confused me as it does not lie on the centre or on either 2 of the lines that show the rule of thirds. I then realised is that the line created by the split doesn't matter as the human subject and the flower are what lie on these lines as they are the focus. I also love the colouring of this image and how the pink is really what stands out and it should because the flower is the visual representation of the whole concept. I also liked the touch to add the darker rectangle behind the flower to not only make it stand out more but also I feel like it almost creates a graphic representation of a shockwave, linking back to the original idea for the shoot.
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| Image from THE EUREKA EFFECT Shot by Alma Haser, Art Direction by Gem Fletcher |
The final image is definitely the most abstract of all the images. I still very much enjoy it though, its also one of the few images in the shoot where the whole face is visible. I think this is to highlight how this is the final image thats shown for this project on Fletcher's website. Overall I feel this image is to show the final stage of idea development and how the original idea has become fully realised and blossomed (pardon the pun). I'd like to play about with this idea of the face being a mask in my shoots and how it could be hiding the 'truth' beneath it. Also I've using this picture as a sort of template for my lighting as i can see how its hitting on the face and how its sculpts it.
Overall this project has really inspired me for the visual side of my project in lighting, composition and editing techniques. For additional research I looked into a project by Mads Perch that Gem was art director on. The project was a personal project that Mads did in order to practice techniques as far as I know as their is little description on his website. He did state though that the project won a PDN photo annual award.
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| Image from INK Shot by Mads Perch, Art Direction by Gem Fletcher |
This project follows a very similar aesthetic to the previous with the grey background and the same compositions. the main difference is obviously what is actually pasted over the faces of the subjects and the lighting is a lot harsher, it does give some great modeling to the subjects but I know for this project I want to have really soft images. I do really like the ink splatters though I think its really interesting how they obscuring the subjects faces I feel this makes the viewer curious when looking at the image as your trying to look past what is covering the face. I really would like to try facial obscuration in my photography as I think it'll be fun to play around with and i really enjoy faceless photography.
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| Image from INK - Shot by Mads Perch, Art Direction by Gem Fletcher |
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