Shoot 9 - Work Diary

In this shoot I explored Dryden Goodwin's technique of etching into his photographs in further detail as well as developing his style in my work and my it original. First of all I shot in the studio which differs to his candid style and my photographs are much more stages and have a particular intention. I tried to incorporate certain lighting to contribute to the connotations as well as considering the colour of etching as well as the style. I included a very rash, messy technique in order to imply anger whereas i used a softer, more fluent use of line to imply happiness.  I used F11 and shutter speed of 1/125 as well as two soft boxes either side of the subject. In some cases I turned of one of the soft boxes in order to create shadows and darkness depending on the intention. I used the pen tool on Photoshop to create the etches into the face. I also explored the effect and dominance that phones have on people lives which shows a relation to Ronya Galka's work, therefore multiple artists styles as well as my own into one. 

I feel that this is one of my most effective photographs from the shoot due to the relevance of the facial expression, lighting, etching style and colour. I placed my subject in the centre of the frame, positioning his head slightly tilted down whilst style looking into the camera. This create a rather sinister/evil feel which was further through the shadows on the right side and background which was produced through turning the right soft box off as well as using a black background. Darkness has connotations of the unknown as well mystery and death. When coming to using the pen tool in Photoshop I decided to use red paint which relates to the facial expression and intention of creating a very evil sinister effect, as well as demonstrating a strong connection with the work of Dryden Goodwin. This works well with the messy style of etching that I used as it also implies anger.  I particularly like the effect of making the pupil of the eye red which contributes to the overall evil outcome. 

In this photograph I used a slightly different approach and attempted to introduce Ronya Galka's interest in phones and how they affect and dominate peoples lives. I attempted to convey this through the way the etching dominates the composition and even dominates and seems to be taking over the subject's face, being completely subdued in lines. I also developed Dryden's technique further by included etched text which contributed to the message. 'ADDICTION' relates to the way people in society are obsessed and fixated on technology and phones and I have attempted to portray it as a negative aspect of life. The white etches stand out very effectively from the rest of the composition and ends up as being the focal point of the pieces, enhancing the intended effect. The use of lines also illustrates the shape of the subjects head as does Dryden in his work. I like the way that the lines between the subjects face and phone seem as if the two are connected, almost acting as an umbilical cord which also relates Drydens series 'Caul'