Experimenting with portrait photography in which the subject knew full well they are being photographed therefore playing up to the camera, creating ‘forced emotion’ instigated the portrait ‘Bleurgh’.
A very brash, confronting composition, of my room mate. I chose this image as I felt it was the most confronting and is both literally and metaphorically ‘in your face’ and unpleasant to look at.
I wanted the viewer to feel the subject was almost invading their space and moment in time rather the reverse roles within my self portrait ‘Squint’ (refer to Self Portrait). The sickly, garish colours used mimic her artificial and crass facial expression, deterring the viewer. These colours were influenced by the work of Martin Damman who also uses bright, acidic tones allowing his paintings to escape the dull, honest colours of the real world. When painting figuratively he expressed to myself in his studio in Berlin, he feels ‘you do not need to literally show the features on the face to reveal the face or emotion within it’, which I have gone completely against and allowed the full frontal emotions in Jasmine’s face to pierce through the piece. I feel the artificial colour in Dammans work almost masks or conceals the truth within the image, giving the viewer a false sense of utopia as the scene may not be as innocent as it first appears.
Bleurgh
I enjoy the idea of trying to capture an authentic moment in time, or in someone’s life, which lead me to look at the work of Nan Golding.
Resulting in ‘Myah’s laugh’ both the original photograph and painting of my close friend, in the comfort of her living room. I purposely chose to paint this photo as I knew she was unaware of the camera when taking it, with no intent of posing for the image, therefore the strong emotion we see within the shot is genuine, an authentic moment in her lifetime.
I painted the portrait with the colours I saw within the photo as I wished to keep the image as honest as possible, yet I didn’t want to keep it as unemotional as a photo realism piece therefore I allowed for some more painterly parts. In retrospect I feel the photo is most successful. It captures the moment in its most honest form.
Myah’s Laugh
Martin Damman continued to influence my work through the use of vibrant colour within the portrait of my friend, ‘Amy’. I wanted to experiment again with unnatural tones and see how the viewer may respond differently. I also used Sam Walsh’s style in order to try to capture some sensual, intimacy with the subject. Although I feel the viewer cannot relate well enough with the subject with such an artificial palate, as natural colour is simply honest, something the viewer understands directly.
Using a shot from the ‘Bathing’ photo series, I came across the work of Alyssa Monks a realism painter that also paints portraits of subjects in the shower, dripping wet. Her images are very sensual in the way they are painted and the colours used are soft and easy. Influencing my largest portrait of my brother, ‘Tom’. An indulgent piece, inviting the viewer in. I also blew the image up giving the viewer no escape from the present scenario, hoping to reverse the roles of control make the viewer feel the image is almost invading their personal space, overwhelming them.
Tom & Amy
Lucy.Southworth 