The Object & The Body- Review

The Object
My final concept for the first part of The Object & The Body project is too create a still-life that represents vegetarianism and animal cruelty. The still-life is going to symbolise how natural it has become for society to eat animals that were once living without thinking about what pain the animal might have gone through. I want my image to have a very natural feel with the way the props are set out so it looks so it looks as if someone is about to sit down for a meal to represent how normal and natural it has become for people to eat meat. By having an animal skull on the plate instead of the food will shock the viewers and  will represent how the meat on your plate was once an animal. 

Keith Arnett

Polly Morgan

My idea developed from researching into traditional still life painters as they often include animals in there work to celebrate them. Many traditional still-life paintings also include skulls. I became interested in the idea of making something that is usually seen as ‘ugly’ into something ‘attractive’ as I wanted to show how eating something that was once alive and should be seen as an ‘ugly’ thing to do has turned into a very natural and normal act. The photographers Emma Hamilton and Keith Arnett both look at making something that is ‘ugly’ into something that we see as beautiful. Arnett’s series called ‘From a Rubbish Tip’ is images of rubbish that look incredibly beautiful because of the way they are lit and because of the softness of them. Emma Hamilton’s still-life images inspired me to give my own work a very seductive feel, her work is inspired by Dutch paintings from the 17th and 18th century and is of very ornate looking flowers that are actually made out of meat and animal organs. 


I was also inspired by photographer Polly Morgan as she places dead animals in unexpected scenarios which makes you notice the animals in a different way. The idea of placing an object somewhere that makes you look at it different appealed to me, my idea of removing meat from a plate and replacing it with an animal skull makes you think of the food in a different way and you start to wonder what it went through to get there. 

Emma Hamilton

Laura Letinsky

In my still-life I wanted the skull to appear dry to show the audience the animals beauty. I also wanted there to be a wine glass with deep red liquid in it to symbolise the blood the animal would have shed to be killed for the meat. The vibrancy of the red drink against the whiteness and simplicity of the rest of image makes the issue about animal cruelty stand out. In some images I had the knife and fork on either side of the plate to make the set up look as if someone is about to sit down at a table to have a meal. After I showed my negatives to the tutors and my peers and got feedback I decided to add more of a shock feel to my image by using fake blood. I placed the blood on the plate and on the ends of the cutlery, to make it look as if it has poured out from the skull. To make the liquid in the wine glass more vibrant and blood like I poured some fake blood into it. 


I also changed the placing of the cutlery and moved them on to the plate, by positioning the knife pointed towards the skull symbolises the pain the animal would have gone through in a very subtle manner. My research into other still-life photographers such as Laura Letinsky inspired me to use a white background as I like the scientific feel it gives the images and how it simplifies the photo so all your attention is on the issue the photograph represents. The lighting effect I wanted was very soft and delicate, to get this effect I used a very large soft box as I didn’t want any harsh shadows. The most challenging part of this unit was the printing, I found colour correcting to be quite difficult especially with trying to get no colour tones in the white areas of the image. However as I’ve practiced colour correcting my prints with my still-life images when it comes to printing my other work for the final submission it will hopefully be less difficult. Trying to compose the image was also difficult as I had to make everything in the image line up correctly  as my image was very simplistic so if an object was slightly out of placed it would have ruined the photograph.

The Body

For ‘The Body’ project I decided to create a portrait that looks very natural and intimate. The main concept of the portrait is going to be the models eye’s, from looking in to other portrait photographers I noticed how the eyes can reveal a lot about how someone especially how they are feeling at the time. The quote ‘eyes are the window to your soul’ inspired me for my portrait as I like the idea that eyes can reveal that much about someone. My portrait is going to capture a female model in a very soft and delicate way using diffused lighting to create an intimate picture and so the subject appears very natural. 

First I researched different portrait painters, I noticed how traditional portraits always have the models looking directly at the viewer which creates an intimate feeling this inspired me for my own portrait. Whilst I was looking at work by contemporary painter, Fatima Ronquillo, I noticed that in many of her paintings she included a small prop which was a picture of an eye inside a frame. From further research I found out that the prop is known as ‘Lovers eyes’, I discovered that it is when a picture of a loved one’s eye is put into an object such as a piece of jewellery or a frame as a remembrance of them. I found this very interesting as it is only the eye they carry round which made me realise how important eyes are as a lot of emotion is revealed from them. I began to look into photographers who focus on eyes in there portraits such as Jeanloup Sieff and Henrick Adamsen, by having the model look directly into the camera creates an intimacy between the viewer and the subject. From looking in to the works of Paolo Roversi I became inspired by the softness of his lighting and how his images have a 'honest' feel because of how diffused and even the lighting is. Paolo Roversi’s portraits inspired me on my lighting choice, I decided to use large soft boxes to keep the light diffused and to make sure it is even so it is similar to Roversi’s images. 

Henrick Adamsen

Jeanloup Sieff

Paolo Roversi

Lovers eye's

The portrait I have taken for ‘The Body’ project captures the model in a natural way with how I photographed her without any make up on and in a natural pose. By using very soft lighting adds to the intimacy of the photo as it gives it a delicate feel. The soft lighting makes the portrait appear more natural as it shows the model in even lighting. When I was taking the photo I had the model look directly into the camera to create an intimate feeling as it feels as if she is revealing her feelings to the viewer. One aspect of the shoot production I would need to reflect on is making sure the lighting was more even as the lighting on the background is more brighter on one side then the other which takes away from the soft feel of the image. I would also manage my studies better by doing more lighting test shots to make sure I get the lighting exactly how I want it as I found getting the lighting right the most difficult part of this unit.