Chosen photographers

1. Jenni Tapanila

I had come across Jenni Tapanila when someone mentioned her name to me. After looking at her photographs, I was intrigued. I briefly tried to look at her life/history and had found nothing which indicated to me that she was not a very famous photographer. Even so, I decided to choose Jenni Tapanila as one of my five photographers due to the fact that her work is very uncommon and her choice of topic is something that I would be interested in doing. She explores a horror/dark theme that not many stereotypical photographers explore. Due to the fact that I like to try to be different, I think that further studying her work will allow me to do so as well as allow me to develop my photography skills further. I have also decided to explore her portraits because they're graphic and do not appeal to most people - which is why her work is considered 'unconventional'. The topic in which I have chosen is unusual portraits. This links well into her work because that is what she focuses on. Her work will give me a chance to indulge into the darker side of photography - one that is not very common within the industry. 

Within this photograph, we can see an extreme close-up of the bottom half of a woman's face. The right-hand side of the shot cuts out a section of her face allowing for her lips/mouth to be placed in the middle/right third of the shot. The interesting part about this photograph is the use of a needle containing blood which has been pierced through the tongue of the woman. Her tongue/lips are coated in blood and allow for dripping down the chin. The lighting within this shot allows for the woman's face to stand out well. To the left-hand side of the shot we can see some sort of shadow that appears on her face. To the left of the shadow in the far left-hand side of the shot we can see a black area that contrasts well against the white skin. The composition of the needle reaches from the bottom left-hand corner to the top right-hand corner. This has been done due to the fact that it is the main focus within the shot. The needle goes through the tongue and is very unconventional. This therefore works really well in terms of the topic.

This photograph is one of her portraits that intrigued me straight away. As soon as I saw it, it pulled me in and I wanted to see more shots like this.  Within this photograph we can see an extreme close-up of a woman's lower face and neck area. They cover the entire space within the photograph. The skin is fairly pale and therefore allows for an easy contrast. Within this photograph, we can also see a item of jewellery that has been placed in the woman's mouth. This jewellery consists of a necklace which contains a number of different sized black beads. Also attached to the beaded necklace is a big black bow that covers a large amount of the space. Another key feature to the shot is the lipstick that the woman is seen to be wearing. The lipstick seen is dark black and is the same colour as the necklace and features. This shot works so well because of the colours found within it. I particularly like this shot because of the high level of contrast between the two colours present. The pale skin allows for the black features to stand out really well and capture the attention of the audience. 

Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a woman's head, neck and shoulder line. The background that has been used is black to allow for the model to stand out well. This is due to the fact that her skin is a pale colour and her hair is a bright red. By looking at this photograph, w can see that the main colour theme present is red. This allows for a high contrast in colour and enables her to be the main focus within the shot - compared to the background. The important feature present within this photograph is the use of blood. When looking at this photograph, we can see that her hands are dropping with blood as well as it dropping out from her mouth. The use of blood allows for the atmosphere to be created easily - in this case the atmosphere is spine-chilling. The use of red eyeshadow around her eyes and near her cheek allows for it to appear as if her eyes are possessed/bleeding themselves. Her facial expression indicates that she is feeling some sort of pleasure because she is covered in the blood. We know this because of the way her eyes and mouth are positioned. 

Within this photograph we can see a shot of a woman who is facing at an angle. The background of the shot is black which allows for the blood present to stand out well. The shot features a woman's head, neck and arm. The only difference with this photograph is the fact that her hair has been pulled over her face and covered slightly. Although this is the case, we can still see the woman's right eye, nose and mouth. The most important facial feature within the photograph is the mouth. This is due to the fact that this is where the blood is centred. When looking at her mouth, it appears as if something has been placed in it. The mouth can be seen to be open, with something placed in it. The object is covered in blood and has dripped down onto the chin. Her hand has been placed on the side of her face/mouth and this is also covered in blood. The blood can be seen to be slowing running down her hand onto her wrist. This photograph creates a traumatic scene through the use of high contrast of colours. 

Summary:
After looking through Jenni's photographs, I have concluded that the main focus for her portraits is 'horror'. Although there are a few shots that are not particularly terrifying, the majority of them are. This is due to the fact that a lot of the scenes/surroundings used that are traumatic and contain a lot of elements that are relatable to that specific horror genre. Her work uses a high level of contrast to allow for the horrific elements to stand out well. Overall, her work is a lot different to most photographers and that is why she she is considered controversial.

Influence:

In terms of influences, she has influenced me to want to explore the horror root of photography within some of my project because of the reaction it gets. She has also influenced me to want to be different and create photographs that challenge the perspective of the audience. I can do this by creating scenes/scenarios that are not particularly realistic but create a sense of fear from the person looking at it.

2. Alexander Khokhlov

Alexander is part of a photographers duo that focus on challenging the conventional approach to shoots. His work varies from street to creative shots and feature both male and females. The particular section that I would like to focus on is the 'art of the face'. Within this section of his work, the main focus is the use of face paint in order to create an image or pattern that is different and uncommon. Alexander's work appealed to me because of the beauty seen within the unusual portraits. I have therefore decided to study his work further to allow for me to see the different styles he captures on the human face. His portraits contain a variety of different colours and shades in order to create a defining look. I have also noticed that he does both colour and black and white which indicates that his vision is broad and he can capture a fair amount of ideas. His work includes 2D and 3D face paint that creates an image on the face of the person. When looking at the 'art of the face' section, I noticed that all the models used as female. This is due to the fact that the female face is a lot more shaped and defined. This helps create a more effective look. 

Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a woman who is looking directly at the camera lens. The background seen within this photograph is a dark green/grey colour. The shot contains the face and neckline of the woman. Due to the fact that the face and neck is the main focus, the woman's shoulders and hairline have been cut out. When looking at the woman's face, we can see a pattern that is present. the top of the woman's face and the neckline is covered in a black paint. The main shape of the face has been painted in a bright red colour. This red colour can also be seen to be on the left side of her neck. Inside of the red colour are different shades of blue and a white shade. The middle/bottom right-hand side of her face has been left black whereas the rest of her face has been painted in the blue paint. Inside of that blue paint in a baby blue colour - which is also present on the neck piece. Inside both the baby blue area on the face and neckline, there is a white paint section found. On the face the colours mix into one another to create an illusional image. This works really well because of the contrast in the paint colours used. 

Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a woman who has her eyes closed. The background within this shot is white to allow for the paint to stand out well. The photograph includes the head and neck/shoulder line of the woman. The interesting part about this photograph is the use of paint. It has been placed all over her face and neck. The shoulder line also contains a slight bit of paint because of the fact that it is dripping down from her neck. The paint can also be seen to be on her left ear and the base of her hair. The woman's eyes are closed and her lips have been outline in a different colour to the rest of the paint to allow for them to stand out easier. The colours used within the paint on her face are blues, yellows, purples, pinks and oranges. These colours work well against the model's pale skin and allow for a high level of contrast to be completed. I think that this photograph looks really well because the paint appears that it has been thrown on randomly but works really well and looks artistic and abstract. 

Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a woman who has one eye open and is looking at the camera lens. The background within this photograph is black. The shot captures the woman's head and collarbones.The model's head and collarbones have been painted a lighter black to allow for her to stand out slightly against the background. The main focus within this photograph is the lightening found on the model's body. The lightening starts at the top of her hair and reaches all the way down to her collarbones. The lightening features on the forehead of the woman and follows itself down on the left-hand side of her face. In total, the lightening covers the majority of her face but do not feature on the right cheek.The lightening present is a white coloured paint to allow for it to stand out well against the black background and black body paint. The woman's right eye is closed compared to the left eye which is open. This is due to the fact that the lightening passes past the left eye and therefore it is open. The high level of contrast within this shot works really well and allows for the audience's attention to be placed on the lightening.

Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a woman who is looking to the right-hand side of the camera. The background within this shot is a dark blue/black. The photograph features the head and neck of the woman. Within this shot, there are a variety of different colours present. The majority of the colours can be found on the face and neck of the woman. These colours include white, orange, yellow, red, pink and blue. The entire face and neck have been painted with these colours and therefore no skin can be seen. This is good because it helps to create an abstract piece. When looking at this photograph, it appears that the right-hand side of the shot is a lot brighter. The blues seen on that side appear a lot brighter and appear to look like there is a uv light present. I think that this works really well because it makes the blues stand out against the background. I think that this photograph is really good because it looks amateur but works really well in terms of being unconventional and different. 

Summary:

Overall, we can see that Alexander's 'art of the face' project did not have a specific idea but instead his work features a variety of different images/pieces. He uses the female face and body to create images that are both abstract and detailed. His work uses both colour and black and white to create contrasting pieces that stand out well and grab the audience's attention. 

Influence:

Alexander has influenced me to want to use paint on the face to create a variety of different looks. I think that he has influenced me to want to use the abstract idea more because it is free hand and will allow me to explore it a little more in detail. Due to the fact that I am not particularly good at drawing, I think that using his abstract ideas will be more influential to me and help me to create an unconventional image.

3. Philippe Echaroux 


Philippe is a French photographer who is known worldwide for his work. His portraits are very varied and range from black and white to colour. They include a number of different shot types including close-ups, medium shots and long shots. His work is extremely varied and consists of a variety of different topics and locations but I am specifically focusing purely on his paint pigment work. Philippe has taken a series of photographs which show people having paint thrown onto/over them. This intrigued me and therefore made me want to study him as my third photographer. I think that the paint pigment photographs are definitely something that I would like to look into and do myself. This is therefore the reason why I decided to choose him. I think that the paint pigment photographs that he has taken use colour extremely well to allow for a high level of contrast. This is due to the fact that he uses a black background and throws bright coloured paint pigments onto the models. This allows for the paint to easily stand out and capture the attention of the audience. As a photographer I think that his work is interesting and all his portrait are inspiring but I feel like the paint pigment photographs will link into the face paint idea that I have decided to do.

 This photograph consists of a young woman who has her elbows positioned on the bottom of the shot. Her hands have been placed onto her cheeks. She has been positioned in front of black background to allow for the subject to stand out well against it. The interesting part of this photograph is the fact that the woman has her eyes closed. The shot shows the eyes being closed because there is nothing covering her face. The most important part of this photograph is the use of paint pigments that cover the majority of the space within the photograph. The paint pigments consist of different colours including pink, yellow and purple. The paint pigments can clearly be seen to be being thrown over the woman. This means that there is someone beside the frame of the photograph who is throwing the paint pigments onto the model - this is why the pigments can be seen to be spread out within the space of the photograph. The bright colours used for the pigments work really well because it allows for them to stand out against the pale skin and dark background colour. 

 Within this photograph, we can see a shot of an older man who is positioned in the centre of the shot. He has his elbows placed on something which we cannot see. His hands have been placed together and his chin is leaning on them. Similar to the previous photograph, the man has his eyes closed. This makes the photograph look more interesting because it appears that he does not see what is going on. The paint pigments within this photograph are a variety of different colours, including blue, yellow, green, purple etc. These colours work well and stand out due to the fact that the background is black. The way the paint pigments have been positioned in the photograph indicate that the pigments have been thrown onto the man. The use of throwing paint pigments works really well because it creates a random shot that cannot be repeated even if you tried. I think that this photograph looks good and interesting and uses a variety of different colours. The face that the man is older and has grey hair also allows for her hair and pale skin to stand out well.

Within the photograph, we can see a shot of a woman who has her eyes opened and is looking directly up to the top right of the photograph. The woman is positioned in front of a black background to allow for the coloured pigments to stand out well enough. There is not much of the woman that can be seen due to the way the paint pigments have been thrown - you can only see part of her hair and the majority of her face but the colours have covered up her body. I think that this works really well because it allows for the woman to be perceived as naked without anyone actually knowing. The paint pigments within this photograph consist of colours including yellow, pink, red and purple etc. The bright colours used are bold against the background but also are quite feminine to allow for the photograph to be more relatable to the subject in the shot. The colours in this photograph work really well and contrast really well against one another. The blue colour in her eyes also allow for her to stand out against the background. I think that her blue eyes are an important factor within this photograph because they contrast against the black background and the paint pigment colours. 

Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a man who is looking directly at the camera. Compared to all the previous photographs that I have evaluated, this photo is a lot different. This is due to the fact that the man is acknowledging the camera and the shot is a medium close-up. This means that the man's head and shoulders/top of his chest are featured within the photograph. The man's hand has been positioned on the left-hand side of her face - holding her head up. The man has been placed in front of a black background to allow for the man to stand out a lot easier. The colours within this photograph contrast really well. The paint pigment colours feature blue and yellow which stand out against the background as well as the use of a light brown/grey hair colour that stands out both against the background and the blue paint pigments which have been thrown onto his hair. The positioning of the paint pigments indicate that the pigments have been thrown from the left-side of the photograph. I think that using the blue and yellow works well because the two colours go together and look more appealing.

Summary:
Overall, his work contains a variety of different portraits with no specific area of concentration. This means that his work is very broad and uses different surroundings/settings to create different atmospheres within his photographs. His work ranges from both black and white to colour to create effective photographs.

Influence:
Philippe has been a big influence on my ideas for shoots. He has influenced me to want to incorporate paint pigments into my work and therefore create a shoot that does so. He has influenced me to want to take still images but also influenced me to want to take a video of it happening. This is due to the fact that I watched the behind the scenes video of the pigment shoot and it made me want to actually do a video of someone having paint pigments thrown onto them.



4. Yago Partal

Yago's work is very simple but is really effective and looks appealing to the audience. I decided to look further into his work because it was something different and it gave me the opportunity to look into placing two separate shots into one single subject. Although there is not much difference between the single shots, the animal head and human body clothing change and therefore mixes it up slightly. Yago's work is quite broad in terms of the different animals that feature in the shots which include animals like dolphins, sloths, horses, foxes, etc. The range of animals used works well in terms of making the shots slightly different to one another. The clothing also changes slightly and ranges from formal outfits including bow ties, ties, blazers etc to casual including tops, leather jackets, scarves, cardigans and jumpers etc. Each single photograph uses the same type of background. The background consists of a light blue colour which allows for the animals and clothing to stand out well against it. I think that Yago's work is intriguing and makes the audience question why there are animal heads on human bodies and how it has been done. I think that the interesting part about his work is that is looks quite realistic and appears as if they are normal and are born like that.

 Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a subject that is standing in front of a background. This subject is standing in front of a blue background. The subject has been positioned in the centre of the shot with a little bit of space found in the top side of the photograph. In this particular shot, we can see a raccoon head which has been placed onto a human body. The human body is wearing a white and light blue checkered shirt which the top two buttons undone. He is also wearing a waistcoat that is a light grey colour. The lighting in the photograph is artificial to allow for it to appear as natural as possible. The pattern on the raccoon looks symmetrical and therefore works really well. I think that this shot looks interesting and the size of the raccoon neck fits well into the human body space.  

 Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a subject that is standing in front of a background. This subject is standing in front of a blue background. The subject has been positioned in the centre of the shot with a little bit of space found in the top side of the photograph. This subject within this shot features a panda head which has been placed onto the body of a human. The human body is wearing a grey coloured blazer which has a grey jumper and white shirt on underneath. The panda's neck fits well into the neck and it appears that there is a scarf tucked into the clothing but it is not 100% sure whether it's a scarf or the neckline of the panda. I think that this photograph looks quite realistic and looks interesting towards the audience because of the appearance of the panda wearing the clothing.

   Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a subject that is standing in front of a background. This subject is standing in front of a blue background. The subject has been positioned in the centre of the shot with a little bit of space found in the top side of the photograph. This particular photograph features a shot of a elephant's head which has been placed onto a shot of a human body. The human body is seen to be wearing a dark green blazer that has a dark coloured top underneath. The elephant's trunk flows down the middle centre of the human body. I think that this shot looks really good because of the contrast in colour. The green stands out well against the blue along with the grey elephant head. I like the fact that the outline of this subject is a lot bigger and therefore fitting for the shot. 

 Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a subject that is standing in front of a background. This subject is standing in front of a blue background. The subject has been positioned in the centre of the shot with a little bit of space found in the top side of the photograph. This photograph contains an animal head which is a fox head.  The fox head has been placed onto a human body. The human body is wearing clothing which consists of a black leather jacket, black cardigan, white shirt and a black tie. The outfit is a smart outfit and therefore makes him look more stylish and slightly cooler. The fox neck fits well into the collar of the human body. I think that this photograph works well because it creates a smooth and cool atmosphere because of the use of the clothing and the type of animal used. 

Summary: Yago's work is based on purely one type of subject. He captures a variety of different animal heads and places them onto the bodies of humans. The clothes and heads both change in each photograph but he still uses the same type/same coloured background to allow for them to stand out well.

Influence: Yago has influenced me to want to try this technique out and try to capture animal heads and capture human bodies, then place on onto the other to create one subject. I think that he has also influenced me to want to do a variety of different animals and try to test them out to see which ones work out well and which ones do not work so well. I think that he has also helped to influence me to incorporate something like this into my animal themed area that I am going to do. 

5. Caesar Lima

Caesar is both a photographer and director. Caesar's work has been praised and awarded a variety of different awards including the Spider Fashion Award, IPA Awards, Eyeland award, DPhotoPro Mag. The Face award and many more that stretch from 2001 to the present. Caeser's photograph work is very diverse but I think that the photographs work really well as individuals. Caesar focuses on a variety of different topics including beauty, fashion, fitness etc. Caesar has different portfolios for each topic that they have photographed. The projects that they have also completed include Miami living, institute magazine, Miilla lookbook, revitalash and of course my topic that I have chosen - unusual portraits. In terms of Caesar's unusual portrait photography work, I think that it is really interesting because it features a variety of different subjects/sub-topics that do not tend to relate to the next photograph. The majority of Caesar's unusual portraits are found within the studio and there are some that are found within location. The most important part of most of the photographs is that they feature extreme fashion clothing which varies from hats to jackets/outfits. The studio shots have a variety of different background colours including brown, white, black etc. The different background colours make the work more varied and therefore more appealing towards the audience. I think that Caesar's work is very interesting and therefore I decided to study their work further.

 Within this photograph, we can see a shot of a woman who is seen to be facing to the right-hand side of the shot. The woman has her head tilted back with her finger placed onto her neck. The background within this photograph is white to allow for the subject to stand out well against it. The shot cuts off just below the woman's chest area. This photograph contains two separate shots which have been placed together to create one final subject. The first shot is that of the model who is posing away from the camera. The second shot is one of a landscape view which features a variety of different buildings. This shot indicates that it is a city that has been captured. The only difference is that the city shot has been placed over the woman's body. This means that the woman's inside/outline is overlapped by the city shot. The opacity has been turned down to allow for both the city shot and the model to be seen together without one being more overpowering, I think that this photograph is something different and interesting because it works really well and appears as though the city is inside of the model. 

Within this photograph, we can see a woman who is looking to the above right of the shot. The woman is seen to be standing in front of a grey coloured background. The shot tpye is a medium close-up due to the fact that it cuts off just above her head. The woman can be seen to be wearing no clothing and therefore her body is facing away from the camera in order to cover herself up. The woman has a dark coloured hair and light skin which both contrasts against the colour of the background. The different part of this photograph is the eye area of the model. Her eyes area has been covered in a black eyeshadow and the outline of the eyeshadow has been covered with different lines that cross over one another. The lines make it appear like she has been scratched and this makes the photograph look more interesting because it is not normally featured on a model's face. These lines sit on the top of her cheeks and also sit on the bottom part of her forehead. These lines have been created and positioned to allow for her to stand out and be more diverse. I think that having the lines onto the face is appealing towards me because it works and looks good. It creates a 'rock and roll' kind of atmosphere which changes the mood of the shot. 

Within this photograph, we can see a woman who is looking to the left-hand side of the shot. She is standing in front of the black background. The majority of the shot is covered with the model's face and hair due to the fact that the photograph features a close-up shot type. The model's hair has been created to be big and dramatic. This is due to the fact that the theme for the photograph is drama. We know this because of the facial expression seen on the model. She has a serious look on her face and is stern. The only difference between this portrait is that she has something extra added on her face. There is a use of make-up on her face which features different colours. The colours found are yellow, orange, pink etc. The yellow and orange can be found on the forehead and the pink can be found to the outer side of the eye. There was also a black mark that could be seen within the model's eye area. This mark is a eyeliner line that creates drama and stands out against the pink and yellow colours. This photograph looks really good because it creates a dramatic atmosphere and intrigues the audience as to why she is looking so serious. It also makes the audience question why she has coloured make-up placed onto her face. 

Within this photograph we can see a shot of a model who is looking down towards the ground. The model is standing in front of a dark coloured background. This photograph has a fierce and dramatic appearance to it. The shot captures the model's chest, shoulders and head. The model has a large hat that reaches to the top of the photograph. The hat has two main large points that are at different directions in the photograph. The hat is covered in what appears to be loads of small singular purple strings that make the hat look more dramatic. The clothing that the model is wearing matches the colour of the hat and background as well as contrasting against them - the use of white which can be found on the lower shoulders of the model. The model's face also features make-up which makes her stand out a lot more. The colours used for this make-up are the same as the previous photograph. The make-up uses pink and yellow to allow her her eyes to stand out well against her skin. This creates a dramatic feel to the model. I think that the dramatic feel that is present within this photograph is something that works and looks really interesting. 

Summary: 

Caesar's photography work is varied and features all completely women models. Their work also uses a variety of different face make-up to create a 'different' vibe as well as expanding the boundaries for make-up in terms of make-up that is considered normal. Their work also features the overlapping of two separate images to create one final image that works well together.

Influence:

In terms of influences, I think that Caesar has influenced me to want to complete a shoot that features controversial make-up to allow for it to be different to stereotypical portraits. I also think that Caesar has influenced me to complete a shoot that features the use of two separate images which then overlap to create a single subject portrait. I think that these two shoot ideas would be interesting to completed and Caesar has influenced me to look further into it.