Image © Kelli Connell
Photography II
Project 2: Conversation With Yourself
GOAL: Your goal for this project is to hone your skills as an artist by using the technique of compositing in Photoshop.
You will create a series of images that include multiple versions of people (either yourself or another model) or objects. You will be creating a constructed reality through this project, so have fun with it!
Your final photographs that you print and turn in must be digital composites consisting of at least 2 exposures, with your model (this can be a self-portrait or a portrait of someone else) or object appearing at least twice.
Look at the photographs below by artist Kelli Connell for inspiration.
You will create a series of images that include multiple versions of people (either yourself or another model) or objects. You will be creating a constructed reality through this project, so have fun with it!
Your final photographs that you print and turn in must be digital composites consisting of at least 2 exposures, with your model (this can be a self-portrait or a portrait of someone else) or object appearing at least twice.
Look at the photographs below by artist Kelli Connell for inspiration.
Kelli Connell
"These images were created from scanning and manipulating two or more negatives in Adobe Photoshop. Using the computer as a tool to create a 'believable' situation is not that different from accepting any photograph as an object of truth, or by creating a story about two people seen laughing, making-out, or quarreling in a restaurant. These photographs reconstruct the private relationships that I have experienced personally, witnessed in public, or watched on television. The events portrayed in these photographs look believable, yet have never occurred. By digitally creating a photograph that is a composite of multiple negatives of the same model in one setting, the self is exposed as not a solidified being in reality, but as a representation of social and interior investigations that happen within the mind."
Kelli Connell's work focuses on:
Kelli Connell's work focuses on:
- the interior and exterior self
- gender roles
- the intersection between fact and fiction, or when fiction becomes a way to make work look more factual or more real
Technique:
In order to successfully shoot your exposures to include in your composite, remember these guidelines:
Your images and ideas will likely be stronger if you plan out what you want your photograph to look like beforehand. Sketch out your ideas and write down important thoughts and notes about your final shot. Remember, the final image is a composite made up of multiple images. Because your final product will be a constructed image, you will need to put some thought and consideration into the creation of your photographs. Ask yourself these questions:
- USE A TRIPOD!
- Use a remote.
- Consider checking out a prime lens for higher quality images.
- Have yourself or your model change outfits from shot to shot. This will make the constructed image more believable.
- Be aware of how you or your model overlaps with yourself. If you want an image where you or your model are interacting with yourself/themself, consider using a stand in like in the contact sheet above.
- Set your white balance on your camera, don't use auto.
- Once you create your first image, all of your exposure settings should stay the same from there on out. This includes your focus, so be sure to set your lens to manual focus!
Your images and ideas will likely be stronger if you plan out what you want your photograph to look like beforehand. Sketch out your ideas and write down important thoughts and notes about your final shot. Remember, the final image is a composite made up of multiple images. Because your final product will be a constructed image, you will need to put some thought and consideration into the creation of your photographs. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is my final image going to be about?
- What do I want to say with this image?
- Is there a story or narrative taking place? Who are the characters?
- Is the image caught in the action of the story, or just before the action occurs? What about just after?
DUE DATES:
Monday, 10/18/21: Over the weekend, shoot 100 exposures towards your project. Plan to shoot enough to create at least 2 composite images. When you return on Monday, you will import your images and create a contact sheet labeled lastname_firstname_p2_cs_1. Turn it into your Project 2 Google Drive folder by midnight.
Monday,10/25/21: Over the weekend, shoot 200 exposures towards your project. Plan to shoot enough to create at least 4 composite images. When you return on Monday, you will import your images and create a contact sheet labeled lastname_firstname_p2_cs_2. Turn it into your Project 2 Google Drive folder by midnight.
Monday,11/1/21: Over the weekend, shoot 200 exposures towards your project. Plan to shoot enough to create at least 4 composite images. When you return on Monday, you will import your images and create a contact sheet labeled lastname_firstname_p2_cs_3. Turn it into your Project 2 Google Drive folder by midnight.
Monday, 11/15/21: CRITIQUE DAY! Critique will last Monday-Wednesday. On this day, you will turn in:
Monday, 10/18/21: Over the weekend, shoot 100 exposures towards your project. Plan to shoot enough to create at least 2 composite images. When you return on Monday, you will import your images and create a contact sheet labeled lastname_firstname_p2_cs_1. Turn it into your Project 2 Google Drive folder by midnight.
Monday,10/25/21: Over the weekend, shoot 200 exposures towards your project. Plan to shoot enough to create at least 4 composite images. When you return on Monday, you will import your images and create a contact sheet labeled lastname_firstname_p2_cs_2. Turn it into your Project 2 Google Drive folder by midnight.
Monday,11/1/21: Over the weekend, shoot 200 exposures towards your project. Plan to shoot enough to create at least 4 composite images. When you return on Monday, you will import your images and create a contact sheet labeled lastname_firstname_p2_cs_3. Turn it into your Project 2 Google Drive folder by midnight.
Monday, 11/15/21: CRITIQUE DAY! Critique will last Monday-Wednesday. On this day, you will turn in:
- 4 printed composite images on paper larger than letter size.
- 6 digital, processed composite files (PSD) to Google Drive under your Project 2 folder. Label your files lastname_firstname_p2_final_1, lastname_firstname_p2_final_2, etc.