Ben Wray DFSA

Final Portrait 1/200     f1.8    ISO 1250  After taking what I'd learnt from my photographer research and experiments with the cheese grater, this is my final portrait. I achieved the lighting effect by shining my phones torch through a colander with a black background behind my model. What I concluded made a good portrait from my photographer research was having areas of high contrast and also having some features of the model shrouded in shadow to give the portrait more of an enigmatic quality. I chose my model (Zannah) because she has naturally white hair which I thought would really stand out in a black and white portrait that deals heavily with visual contrast. I also made her wear a black T shirt so her hair would be all the more contrasted. By using a colander as my stand in gobo mask I was able to cast this interesting embroidered shadow that hid her lips yet made the rest of her face seem semipermeable, as if she was her own prisoner. I also...

Studio Experiments   In the studio with Peter Ren we were challenged to recreate a portrait that we were inspired by. We chose this silhouetted image where the edges were illuminated.   We decided that what made this image so impactful was its areas of high contrast and also the fact that it had an element of mystery due to the fact that only parts of the model are visible. To replicate this effect we decided that a black background would be most impactful as the white edges of our model (me) would stand out more. We started by placing a flash directly behind me. What this achieved was a white glow around my hair and a nice black background but unfortunately the rest of my body was exposed and you could also see the lighting support behind my head We then decided to bring 2 flashes either side of me so that they would highlight the edges of my face. This did a better job at darkening the front of my face but the edges were also sacrificed to the ...

Photographer Research After trying to recreate this silhouetted portrait in the studio using different lighting placements I decided I wanted to create a portrait that used a lot of contrast to create a striking image. Whilst searching for past photographers who have used shadows to enhance their portraits I found George Mayer and his appropriately named collection of portraits “Shadows”.   Shadows by George Mayer In this collection Mayer uses high contrast black and white photography to present an image of the “ideal woman” in a way that is not only more attractive and elegant but also much more imposing and powerful. But Mayer didn’t just stop at using a single directional snood flash to create this high level of visual contrast, he went further by using gobo masks to cast shapes on the models faces to highlight different areas of their bodies to extreme effect. By having only fractions of the models appearance visible for the viewer it adds an enigmatic qual...