Phonar Task 5
- Tweet
2. Portrait of author posted on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFeAhKgNHtq/?taken-by=livvyreedsphotography
3. Image made in the style of author posted on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFmdJDotHvM/?taken-by=livvyreedsphotography
4. Completed task:
5. Critical rationale:
Firstly, I’m very grateful to have been given this assignment to complete out of the whole Photographers Playbook, a great compliment to my personal photographic style.
One of my all time favorite photographers has to be the great Mario Testino, hence why it had to be one of his images to create a complete copy of for this task. I specifically chose an image which I thought would challenge me technically, whilst also achievable in the short time period given. I wanted to create something similar to my fashion photography interest, although knowing that due to creating a complete copy of Testino’s image that it wouldn’t be suitable to go in my professional portfolio. The image I have chosen ‘Kate Moss, London, British Vogue, 2009′ is a bold, stand-alone piece of photography. I think it’s very current, a recognition of Her Majesty’s 90th birthday. I also knew it would be interesting to break down the components of the image and challenge myself, thinking about lighting, composition, viewpoint and also the fashion itself is crucial in the image.
I’ve replicated Testino’s image as close as possible, the only differences I can see is the outfit choice, the length of the flag, the hand-made shin decoration and the blonde hair on the model. I think I’ve done well to create a replica, the lighting, composition and viewpoint are very similar. As Homma suggested in the task information, “You’ll find that what you intended as a total copy soon outgrows the the boundaries of imitation, thus revealing the individuality of each photographer/creator”, I came to realise this to be very true. I understand that I have re-created Testino’s image in my own vaguely unique way.
In Homma’s Tokyo Suburbia series, you see very little of himself, he reveals very little of his own style, this could be a reason why Homma has created this task, to let other photographers know that sometimes its good for your practice to step away from your usual style.
Through completing this task I have come to realize that I can class myself as a confident photographer, I can believe in my technical photographic skills to break down the components of an image and create what I want. I have learnt as Homma put forward in the task, that every photographer is different, even by copying Testino’s image to near exact, there’s still things that I’ve done differently for which I like and don’t like. The prospect of reproducing a work of art by Mario Testino, for a university module, has been a dream.
6. Communication to Author:
