Connecting Essays

Connecting Essay One

I thought that this would be a good image to look at for the idea of multiple imagery in the sense that there is more than one of the same person in the same picture.  I thought that the way that the photographer has done it, looks really effective as all of the individual images flow together and work really well.  The continuity in the image makes it look a lot more interesting and unique compared to other types of images like this, that can some how look unprofessional and mediocre in the way that they have been edited.  I decided that this would be the best image to look at in more depth because of the way that it relates the best to my own work.  This is because I concentrated one of my shoots on simply getting shots that would allow me to create an image similar to this one.  I think that this aspect of multiple imagery is good to explore as it is the most simple form of editing and piecing together an image, but it looks a lot more advanced and developed than it actually is.

This is my own image that I have created form the second shoot that I did.  I think that it shows well the type of idea that I was trying to get across.  I like the way that you can see the person running in the distance and I also think that the spacing in between all of the individual images, highlights to the audience that the person that we are looking at, is most likely going to be the same person.  This is in fact what I was trying to achieve and I think that it follows a similar idea to the image above as there is a sense of continuity in the image.  I also think that it is similar to the other image in the sense that even though we can't fully see the face of the person in the shot, we know that it is going to be the same person.  The action that I have captured in this one photograph has turned out to work highly effectively and I think that it is a much more interesting way of showing action, than simply through the use of video.

The differences in these two images would have to be factors such as the lighting (brightness/contrast etc) and aspects of rule of thirds.  For example, the lighting in the top image is a lot brighter and in my own image it is a lot more contrasted to get the detail in everything looking more sharp.  In regards to rule of thirds, in the top image, the photographer is not really following any particular pattern, placing individual versions of the person wherever they feel.  When I was creating my own image, I thought that it would be a good idea to concentrate the main subject area of the photograph right in the centre, seeing as it was an action shoot and that it is capturing movement.  I thought that it would be better to do it in this way than the way that the other photographer has done it because more focus is put on the centre of the image. 


Connecting Essay Two

I think that this image shows really good examples of expression and the way that the photographer has managed to put all of the photographs together has works out really effectively.  I think that the continuity throughout all of the images works really well and the way that they are all so close together, with no breaks between them as such works nicely whereas I would most likely think that it would look better with some gaps.  Even so I think that there is a lot of similarities between this image and mine below.  For example, I think that the black and white feature that I have put on my own photograph to mimic the idea behind this one, adds to the overall look of the image and makes all of the images blend more and it makes the overall look of the photo flow more continuously.  this is the type of idea that I wanted to use within my own image as I thought that the gaps would make them seem more seperate.  I also like that in this image, there is a wide range of facial expressions that I think all work really well together.  It almost looks like the person in the photographs has pulled each of the expressions one after the other, with the photographer using a continuous shooting technique so that he doesn't miss any of the in between shots.  I think that I sub-contiously decided to do this as well within my own shoot. 



This is my image in contrast to the one above and I am really happy with the way that it turned out in comparison to the inspiration that I looked at.  I think that the overall look of this photograph has turned out really well, especially with the black and white effect that I added at the last minute.  I think that if I didn't have that effect then it would really be as effective.  I followed a similar technique to the other photographer, in the sense that I continuously shot to get some of the funnier shots in between which I think add to the overall look of the end result.  I like the more spontaneous look of the photographs as I think it captures true facial expression without it being forced and posed for the shot.  I think that the fact that they are a lot more natural and makes the overall look of the image a lot more personal and unique to whoever is looking at the image.  To me this is really important when I am creating a personal piece of work.  I like the fact that there are gaps in between all of the images which is slightly different to the approach of the other photographer that I have look at in this connecting essay.  I think it seperates all of the images and makes them more individual, giving them all their own identity.

There are also many differences between the two images which I think is important to recognise when comparing two images like this.  For example, I think that the difference in the amount of facial expressions is important, especially due to the fact that I have managed to capture more in between shots than the other photographer which I think is important when trying to show 'true expression'.

Connecting Essay 3

 I thought that this image would be interesting to look at due to the fact that it is a very dramatic image that easily gains attention in a crowd of images.  I particularly like the way that this image has a strong outline rather than it having been faded at the edges.  This technique makes for a much better overall image and I think it makes everything come together in a much more intriguing way.  I think that the way that the photographer has decided to incorporate hands into the image being placed inside the main arm/hand is a nice way to present the image due to the fact that it would not necessarily be a conventional way of presenting the idea behind it.  To me, it would seem as though the photographer, is trying to highlight the person hiding behind a mask of some sort.  It seems as though this idea and technique has been followed into more depth to show just how much the person is actually hiding behind themselves and maybe even other people.  The black and white effect that has been added to the image, also makes the photograph look more detailed and mysterious, rather than being simple and just leaving the image all in colour.  It also adds more depth to the image as it emphasises the shadows and highlights in the image, giving off a strong sense of contrast.  The multiple imagery technique of double or multiple exposure, works well in this case to create a develop and advanced depth to the entire image.



Compared to the other image, this is my own creation that I created on a whim.  I am very happy with how it turned out and I think that it is a good example of multiple exposure.  In regards to aspects such as depth and highlights and shadows, I would say that the difference between these various factors aren't that substantial compared to the other image, but it still has many areas that are appealing in themselves to particular audiences.  The outline around the hands is a key aspect of this image as it frames the rest of the face in the image, which is very important as it signifies the importance of the image.  The image as a whole, looks so much better with a black and white effect being used.  When I first looked at the original image that I took, the image with colour didn't look that effective or advanced, which is why I thought that it would be a good idea to incorporate the black and white effect into the image.  I increased some of the reds and lowered the yellows so that the shadows and the highlights would be more prominent against the outline of the hand.  

There are a few similarities between these two images which stands out a great deal to me.  The black and white effect on both of the images is important because through using this technique on both images, there is more depth and professionalism in both of the images and it makes them both look a lot more advanced.


Connecting Essay 4

This photograph, taken my Thomas Barbey, was a big inspiration for me throughout my surrealism shoot and I really wanted to create a piece of work that somewhat replicated this image in particular.  The image itself is really interesting to look at due to the fact that he has made it look as though there is traffic flowing into the base of the tree trunk, which is highly effective.  I also think that Barbey has done a really good job of making it look like the tree has caused a sense of chaos amongst all of the people.  It somehow looks as though the tree has suddenly gotten in the way at the bottom of the image and there are a lot of people and cars mismatched together into one scenario.  I love the way that he has managed to get everything to blend so seamlessly together.  I would say that in this image there are at least 3 different images, that have been pieced together, which is an idea that I want to explore.  I also think that the idea of using a black and white effect makes the image a lot more appealing that if it were to be in colour.  I think that this is because the different images may have slightly different colours within them, which may or may not be a give away of the links between all of the different images.  The fact that it is in black and white makes everything blend together in a much cleaner way.

This was my interpretation of the idea of surrealism, taking a few aspects of Thomas Barbey's work and including it in my own.  I used his idea of black and white to make everything come together a lot cleaner as before I added the effect, the edited photo did not look that effective as it did with it.  I also wanted to use the idea of making it look like there is something either going into or is actually inside of the tree, which I think I managed to get across really well.  As at first I wasn't sure how I was going to make it look like there was something flowing into the tree, I decided to just go with the basic idea of putting something inside of the tree stump.  Even though the idea behind it is very basic, I still think that the overall effect of the image is just as impactful.  I decided to add the clouds at the top of the image to finish it off and make the idea of surrealism a lot more prominent.  I experimented with the clouds and tried placing them in lots of different places to see if I could make it more surrealistic, however it worked best this way and I like the overall way that the image looks. 


Both of the images are very similar in the way that they have been constructed.  The black and white effect on them both, also makes them seem a lot similar than if they were to be in their original colours.  I also think that they are similar in the fact that they have been pieced together in the editing process in similar ways.  They both show very surrealistic ideas with the trees in both of them, having something unrelated attached to them.  Both images relate to the idea of multiple imagery as well, due to the piecing together of 3+ images. 


Connecting Essay 5

I chose to look at this image, because it was created by one of my favourite multiple exposure photographers, Christoffer Relander.  I thought that it was interesting how he had managed to put together what looks like 3 separate images, in order to create a really interesting looking multiple exposure.  It would seem as though the hand and the face would've been taken in a studio set up, to get the lighting right for the image of the bush or tree that was obviously taken outside and I think that he has got the balance between all of the different exposures exactly precise.  On top of this he has created an interesting alternative to the common fade in image, making the arm blend out using the edge of the bush, instead of a filter or effect in photoshop.  This technique makes the image a lot more interesting to look at and adds yet another dimension to the image, on top of all of the separate images.  I also like the way that he has positioned all of the different images so that they work well together in this image.  This is because of the way that the fingertips are darker than the rest of the hand to bring the majority of the focus to the centre of the image (being the face), rather than the image as a whole.  This also helps the way that the arm blends out at the bottom.  I like the fact that the model is looking down instead of off to one side, or even directly at the camera, as it adds a sense of vulnerability to the image.  This effect makes for a much more powerful image overall, which I think Relander has managed to do extremely effectively. 

This was the image that I created, after looking greatly into the work of Aneta Ivanova and Christoffer Relander.  I think that my main influence for this particular edit came precisely from the image above, created by Relander.  I wanted to try and replicate the style that he had shown, giving it my own flare.  I did this through keeping the colour in the 3 separate images, with the green in the holly bush and the natural colours of the face and hands.  I think that this feature added to the overall look of the image, as it didn't look as effective with the black and white feature.  I decided to make the fingertips lighter than the rest of the image, much opposite to Relander's image, as I thought that it had the same effect, just in a different way.  The fact that they are lighter that the main part of the image, means the a person is going to me automatically drawn to the section that is more in focus.  This was what I thought when I was editing this photo together, working out where I should position the images.  I also wanted there to be similar gaps on each fingertip, so that they all had the same amount lighter than the rest of the image.  I thought that this was also an effective technique and made the overall image look a lot better. 

There are many similarities between the two images, as multiple exposures in this sense tend to have and use similar techniques.  I think that both of these images were creating in a photo editing software, rather than in a camera itself, as they are both very precise with their positioning of each of the images.  This would be a lot more sloppy and not as precise if it were to be completed within the camera itself.  Despite one image being in black and white and the other in colour, I think that it is also fair to say that the colours in the images being used are similar.  The use of a hand, face and some form of nature is also apparent and would therefore have the same colour scheme involved.  I like the way that both of the images share the similar idea that they have been simply stamped onto the page, adding to the multiple exposure effect.  Both images have different pros and cons, but all in all, I think that they are both really interesting and unique with a lot to offer.