Paul M Smith is a photographer and course director for the BA Hons photography course within the Coventry University Department of Media and communication. At the age of 16, Smith joined the army into the Royal Engineers for 5 years. This was due to the inspiration of his older brother who had joined already.
Smith then went on to focus on the stereotypical views of masculinity and femininity through a series of photographs which had been manipulated to show mainly himself just in different positions. These series were Artist Rifles, Make My Night, This is Not Pornography and Robbie Williams.
Artish Rifles
This series of manipulated images are his most personal images as it delves into ideas from his childhood and his own personal experiences in the army. These photographs are also his first chapter into his interrogation of masculinity and what it means to be a man. The photographs were taken at a military base in Warminster, Salisbury Plain. Smith elected to assume every role in the photographs which fulfil both the military ideal of war and the fantasy role-play ideal of war. The images take away the visceral reality of war, while retaining the drama and egocentricity of childhood games.
"Television presents us with the clean war, one suitable for viewing over dinner and regurgitating as history in the form of the latest console game"
My Own Image Manipulation
This was my first attempt at a Paul M Smith style photograph. As you can see there are four of me in the image. To do this I had to take four different photographs and then using photoshop I had to place one on top of the other to create the effect of four of me in one photo. For my final attempt at a Paul M Smith style photo I need to be interacting with myself.
Image manipulation in the media
Image manipulation, also called photoshopping or airbrushing, is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception after the original photographing took place. Image manipulation is very common within the media, with most media outlets editing images to change the perception of the image. The most recent image manipulation controversy in the UK is to do with airbrushed models and how unrealistically perfect they are made to look.
In 2011 L'Oréal were forced to pull their
ad campaigns featuring Julia Roberts because the images were overly airbrushed.
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints lodged by Liberal
Democrat MP Jo Swinson.
It is clear that the images have been extremely airbrushed to make Julia
Roberts look flawless when in reality she is no where near as perfect as she is
in the images. Her face seems to have been made narrower and her skin perfect
without any sign of wrinkles or blemishes. Although this image was for an
anti-wrinkle product it is obvious that the "results" in the image
are unrealistic and false.
The ethics of image manipulation
Image manipulation is a very hot
topic within the world of media, with a lot of people questioning how ethical
it is to edit an image to create a false and unrealistic image of either a
person or a past event.
Image manipulation within the
fashion industry raises a lot of questions regarding how ethical it is to
create an unrealistic view of someone. Almost every fashion company manipulates
images of models and celebrities to make them look flawless and unrealistically
perfect. They do this by airbrushing out any blemishes or wrinkles and toning
down the person to make them look slim. Morally this isn’t acceptable because a
lot of young girls look to these airbrushed models and celebrities for
inspiration on how they should look but when these models and celebrities are
unrealistically slim and look “perfect” it leads to many health issues in young
girls and boys. These health issues include bulimia and anorexia.
Although image manipulation
raises many ethical questions, it’s difficult to completely stop it altogether.
One country that understands this is Australia. They are considering making it compulsory
for all magazines to have a photoshop warning label on all manipulated or
airbrushed images. This is good in the sense that it will help young people to
understand that what they see in magazines is often unrealistic. Also it may
aid in helping to reduce the number of bulimia and anorexia sufferers.
I personally feel that image
manipulation is acceptable within reason. As soon as it becomes unrealistic and
false, for me, it ruins the image and also takes away the natural beauty of
models and celebrities.
Photoshop Techniques - Levels & Curves
Using photoshop we had to edit photographs to increase the brightness and exposure of the image using the levels and curves function.
Here is the original image I have chosen to use. The image is slightly under exposed in some places.
I increased the exposure of the image using the curves function on photoshop. I did this by pulling the slider upwards which made the image brighter. The only problem with using curves is that it increases the brightness of everything in the image which can lead to parts of the image becoming too bright or too dark and so is only really effective when the image is mostly one colour.
I increased the exposure of this image using the levels function on photoshop. I did this by moving the grey scale slider so that it increased. This was good for this image because it allows you to increase the brightness of only certain colours in the image and so is more effective in an image that has many different colours.
Photoshop - Hand Coloured Black and White Images
For this exercise we had to go out and take a photograph of something colourful. We then had to edit the photo on photoshop to make it part black and white and part colour.
This is my original image taken down at the Bristol Docks. As you can see the colours are really vibrant which is perfect for this exercise.
I started by adding the image to photoshop and then duplicating it to create an identical layer. After that I went into image > adjustments > hue/saturation and turned down the saturation to -100 make the image black and white.
I then added a vector mask to the layer. I then made sure the foreground colour was set to black and selected the brush tool. I then began colouring the areas of the image I wanted in colour. A you can see I've chosen to colour in the bridge and a red sign on the post.
Once I had finished colouring in the bridge and the red sign post I went on to image > adjustments > levels and increased the black slider to 80 so that the colours would be toned down slightly.
I then went went to the layer palette and decreased the opacity so that there was a slight bit of colour added to the background.
This is my final image. As you can see the colour of the bridge isn't as vibrant as the original picture but it works well with the image especially with a small amount of colour added to the background.
The Warhol Effect
The Warhol effect was created by Andy Warhol who was a an American visionary artist and also a leading figure in the visual art movement called Pop Art. Warhol's work explored the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement which all flourished in the 1960s. Warhol's most famous piece is of Marilyn Monroe which was created after her death in 1962. Warhol chose to use Marilyn Monroe as one of his subjects as she was a representation of two of his consistent themes, death and the cult of celebrity. Our task was to create our own Warhol image. To do this we had to take a photo of either ourselves or someone else and then use photoshop to change the colour of the image and resize the image.
This is the original image I used for my Warhol effect.
I then opened the image in photoshop and turned down the saturation so that the image became black and white.
I then cut down the image so that it was a perfect square. The measurements for this image is 40x40. I then went into the filter option and chose a filter that makes the image look more like a drawing and so less realistic. Once that was done I saved the image as a jpeg so that I could re-use it.
I then made nine copies of the image but each time changing the colour of the image.
I then opened a blank A3 page on photoshop and place each image onto the page and aligning them so that they created a large square. I then cropped the left over space off of the page. This is the final result. It is not exactly the same as Warhol's image because he uses more than one colour in his squares but it is very similar in style.
Summer to Winter landscapes
For this exercise we had to change a summer landscape to a winter landscape. I went up to the top of Cabot Tower to capture this image as I figured I would get the best landscape view. When taking this photo I tried to include as much of the park and city as well as making the horizon fall in the centre of the photo to give the landscape and the sky an even divide.
I started by making a copy of the original image.
Next I went on select > colour range. This option selects how heavy and how much snow will cover the photograph. Once I chose how much I wanted I created another layer and titled it snow. This layer only contains the selected areas that will be covered in snow.
The next step was to go on to edit > fill. This option filled the selected areas in white which made it look like snow. This was a bit of a trial and error phase as it took a few attempts to get the snow how I wanted it.
I then created a new layer and made it grey. I then added noise to the photograph as this eventually creates the effect of falling snow.
I then went in to gaussian blur and blurred the noise I made previously so that it looked more like snow fall .
I then went into motion blur and made the blurred noise go downwards at an angle which made it look more like a snow fall and more realistic.
This is my final image. As you can see it looks quite realistic because the ground and the tops of buildings are covered in "snow" and also the clouds have gone a grey colour which is similar to the colour they go when there is a snow fall. Also the effect of the noise makes it seem more realistic as it looks like the snow is falling.
Vignette
Photographic vignette
Vignette featured in a book
A vignette is where the image's brightness or saturation is reduced around the edge of the image but the centre is still completely in colour. Vignette's originated as being a decorative border in a book but evolved into being a photographic word used to describe an image that is clear in the centre but fades around the edges.
Own Vignette
For this task we had to go out and take a photograph of either an object or a person
Photography Copyright protects the photographers work from being used by others and presented as their own.
The photographer who created the image officially owns the rights to the photo unless they have been hired by a company to take photograph, which in that case means the company owns the rights to the photograph.
The infringement of Copyright can happen when someone takes a photograph that wasn't created by themselves but claim it is their own and present it to the public as their own work.
You can legally copy photographic images by gaining permission from the photographer. If the photographer is unable to be found or is unknown, then legal judgment can be made to class the photograph as an 'orphan photo'. To do this you need to gain a sufficient amount of evidence to prove that you have tried everything to find the photographer but have each time been unsuccessful.
Copyright of photograph lasts for 70 years beginning at the end of the year of the photographer's death.
The best way for photographers to protect their images is to watermark the images with their name and the year the photo was taken. They can also include an email address on the watermark so that the photograph is traceable back to themselves. If the the photographs are going to be used in the public domain, it is very important that the photographs are traceable back to the photographer.
Watermarking my own image
To watermark my own photograph I started by opening the photo in photoshop. I then chose the text option and typed my name, the copyright logo (done by pressing alt+G) and my blog address.
Once I had done that I chose the layer and opened the FX options. The effects I chose to add to my watermark were drop shadow, bevel and emboss and stroke. I then turned then turned the opacity of the text to 60% so that it wouldn't distract too much from the photograph.
Famous photographer Art Rogers shot a photograph of a couple holding a line of puppies and then sold the photo so that it could be used on greeting cards and similar products. Jeff Kroons, an internationally renowned artist, was in the process of creating exhibit about everyday items when he came across Rogers's "puppies" photograph. Kroons then proceeded to create a set of statues based on the original image. Koons sold several of these statues, making a significant profit in the process. When Rogers discovered the statues he decided to sue Koons for copyright, in which Koons responded by claiming fair use by parody.
The outcome of the court case was the similarities between the image and the statue were too close and that a "typical person" would easily be able to recognise the copy. Due to this, Koon's defence was rejected. The court argued that Koon's could have easily used a more generic source to make the intended statement without copying Rogers' work. Koon's was forced by the court to pay a monetary settlement to Rodgers.
Gallery Report
Taylor Wessing Exhibition
The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013 exhibits sixty photographic portraits by photographers from all over the world, giving insight into the lives of people from around the globe through contemporary photography. The photographs exhibited explore a vast range of themes, styles and approaches through editorial, advertisement and fine art prints. The photographs range from commissioned images of famous faces to the private and spontaneous moments capturing friends and family. All the photographs exhibited were portraits of people's life's from around the world which showed everyone to be the same regardless of where they come from. Every photograph in the exhibition tells a different story and connects with many different emotions. These emotions include happiness, sadness, loneliness, pain, depression and pride. I especially like how they put different races all together because it plays on the idea that everyone is the same and have the same feelings no matter where they come from. The layout of the exhibition was very plain with the walls being white and the photographs were in black frames which made the photographs the main focus and also attention grabbing. For me the dim spotlight focused on the photograph helped to emphasize the fact that each photograph tells an individual story, especially on the smaller photographs. The short descriptions next to the photographs had just the right information to give you an understanding of the photo but at the same time left a lot to the imagination. Overall I really enjoyed this exhibition because of how emotive all of the photographs were because it gave me an insight to the lives of others from all around the world.
Jeans Advertisement
Dr Martens
Dr. Martens is a British footwear brand, which also makes a range of accessories - shoe care products, clothing, luggage, etc. In addition to Dr. Martens, they are known as Doctor Martens, Doc Martens, Docs or DMs.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. also known as LS&CO or simply Levi's, is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Fransisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. In 1873, Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent to make the first riveted men's work pants out of denim: the first blue jeans.
Inspiration for photographs
My favorite style of jeans are the ones from the 90's, so for my own jeans images I wanted to play with the 90's theme. I researched some Levi's adverts from the 90's to find inspiration. Loose jeans were the main focus in this advertisement and so I took inspiration from that and used loose fitting jeans and dungarees.
5 Minute Photographer Presentation
We had to do a 5 minute presentation on a photographer of our choice. I chose to research Cristina Ortero who is a young Spanish photographer who mainly focuses on self-portraits. Previous to this presentation I didn't have a keen interest in self-portrait photography but from seeing Cristina Otero's photography I would definitely like to try it out or do something similar.
Cristina Otero is one of the most talented up and coming photographer in her age group. She is also the youngest artist in Spain who has ever exhibited individually in an art gallery, at just 15.
My Presentation
-"Limon" - I really like the vibrancy of the colors in the image, the contrast between the black lips and the yellow slice of lemon and I like how the eyes show you the flavor of the lemon.
-"Uva" - I like her expression and the composition of the photograph because it shows how succulent the grapes are and the eyes almost make it seem as if she's addicted to the grapes.
-"Mandorina" - This image quickly became Otero's most popular and widely shared piece.
-"Chirimoya" - Image description from Otero said "I love custard apples...makes my mouth water". The composition of the photograph is really good because the piece of apple looks almost as if it is a drop of water coming from her mouth which links with the quote.
- "Trauma" - This is my favorite image because of how deep the eyes are and because of the paint on her face. The image really emphasizes the expression "The eyes are the window to the soul".
-"Faint" - I like this image because it looks like a drawing but it's actually a photograph. The make-up is really simple but makes the model really beautiful and really pure.
- "Don't tell mom" - I like this image because it's really mischievous. The placement of the blood on the lips and the finger leaves your imagination wondering what happened. The eyes also make the image quite exciting and gives it an electric feeling.
Overall I much preferred the 5 minute presentation because it gave me enough time to share all the information I wanted to share without having to rush, which took away a lot of pressure. I also preferred choosing my own photographer because it made it easier to talk in front of an audience because I had an interest in what I was talking about. I feel I definitely improved from my 2 minute presentation to my 5 minute presentation because I had a better understanding of what I had to do, mainly thanks to having a peer coach giving me advice. I feel my main improvement was speaking louder in front of everyone and also being able to speak about what I like about some of my photographer's images because I took more time to analyse them.
I feel researching Cristina Otero has inspired me to explore self-portrait and portrait photography because I like how she tells the story mainly through the eyes and then uses the rest of the face as a setting for the story.
Book Review – Jeff WallFirst published in 1996 by Phaidon Press Limited
The Jeff Wall photography book is a collection of his work
featuring photographs from the late 60’s so about 2001. Also included in the
book is interviews with Jeff Wall which talk about his style of photography and
also his response to critiques and opinions of his work.
The book has a very simplistic layout much like a gallery
with white pages with photographs occupying most of the pages. Some photographs
are a single page spread whilst others are a double page spread. The book is
very text heavy with some pages being completely text with no images at all.
"The Vampires Picnic"
All of the photographs featured in the book are inspired by
some sort of social relation. Jeff Wall’s photography is all set up so every
photograph is a carefully constructed mise-en-scene depicting these social
relations. The collections of photographs featured in this book are all in
colour. Speaking of his photograph ‘The Vampires Picnic’ Wall says “I wanted to
make a complicated, intricate composition full of sharp details, highlights and
shadows in the style of German or Flemish mannerist painting. This style with
its hard lighting and dissonant colour is also typical of horror films”. Although
this is specific to ‘The Vampires Picnic’, it also explains why his photographs
are all in colour because he likes the ‘dissonant colour’. Dissonant means
harsh and inharmonious which relates to his style of set up photography because
a lot of his photographs are quite harsh and inharmonious in the sense that
because they’re set up they lose the emotion because the models’ poses don’t
work harmoniously with each other.
I read an interview between Arielle Pelenc and Jeff Wall,
which is found at the beginning of the book. I chose to read this interview
because I wanted to understand the Wall’s style of photography.
“One of the
problems I have with my pictures is that, since they are constructed…you can
get the feekung that the constructed contains everything, that there is no
‘outside’ to it the way there is with photography in general…But there is an
‘outside’ to the picture, demanding significance from it. The rest of the world
remains unseen, but present, with its demand to be expressed or signified in,
or as, a fragment of itself.”
This part of the interview really stood out to me because it
helped me to understand Wall’s style of photography. When I first looked at his
work I really didn’t like it but I feel that that’s because the photographs
contain everything and so there is nothing left to the imagination. Then
there’s the questions of what lead to that event and what’s going to happen
afterwards. I feel that these questions came from what Wall calls the ‘outside’
and so those questions are the ‘outside’ trying to weigh in on the photograph
and gain significance over the constructed reality that is seen in the
photographs.
The book itself is quite interesting and from reading the
interview with Jeff Wall, it gave me a new perspective on the photographs
compared to what I originally had. The book is very text heavy which I feel, at
some points, takes away the interest from the photographs. It seems as if the
book has a specific target audience because the text is very intellectual and
so without understanding exactly what is being expressed in the text, it loses
the information. At times I had to use a dictionary to understand some of the
words used in the interview so that I could fully understand but I feel the
book is definitely aimed at an art savvy person. The mood of the book seems to
be more of an artistic book rather than a photography book because in the
interviews Jeff Wall refers a lot to famous art pieces and talks about the
relation between his photography and these famous art pieces. I personally
didn’t enjoy this book because all of the photographs didn’t have that sense of
reality that I like in photography. All of the models in the photographs seemed
to lack emotion and they just seemed very rigid which emphasized the fact that
the photographs were set up.
Overall I feel that the style of photography shown in this
book would definitely work in an art gallery but without the emotion and
reality that most photography has, it won’t connect with certain viewers. I
personally didn’t find inspiration in Wall’s work because there wasn’t anything
left to the imagination and with some of his photographs the messages he tries
to express often aren’t clear. WORD COUNT: 775
Brassaï
Lovers in
a small cafe near the place d'italie
Brassai:
Lovers in a small café features a man and a woman who are sat in the corner of
a coffee shop and seem to be embracing. The photograph looks as if it was taken
during either the 1930s, 1940s or the 1950s. It’s difficult to tell the era of
the photograph because it doesn’t contain a lot of detail that can give clues
to the era. Also it is not clear as to what time of day it is. The man and
woman look as if they are on a date but it is not clear whether they are
husband and wife or just lovers. Although considering how hidden the corner
seems, it could be interpreted that the couple may be having some sort of
affair.
The
photograph only shows the couple and some teacups. There are no other people in
the photograph including the reflections in the mirror which only include the
couple. Due to this it is hard to tell how intimate the moment is between the
couple and how private that moment is. Brassai may have chosen to photograph
that moment because it shows a reverse in roles between the man and the woman.
This is because it is the man that is looking quite needy and the woman looks
quite defiant which would be fairly different to the stereotypical patriarchal
norms of that era. The angle of the photograph looks as if it was taken from
the view of either an onlooker or a waiter because it is slightly looking down
on the couple. Brassai was very clever with the way that he shot this
photograph because of the angle he took it there is the man and woman’s
reflection seen in both mirror’s and so if had taken the photograph at any
other angle it would not have the same intimate effect.
The
composition of the photograph is very symmetrical because the table is in line
with the walls and mirrors which creates a very clean cut effect. What I like
most about the composition of the photograph is the reflections of the man and
woman in the mirrors. There are two mirrors and so in one mirror it reflects
the man’s face and the back of the woman’s head and in the other mirror it
reflects the woman’s face and the side of the man’s face. This is a nice effect
because in each mirror you can only see either the man or the woman’s face and
it gives a slight insight into their emotions. For example, the woman looks as
if she is really smiling but in the reflection her smile isn’t as big and she
doesn’t look like she’s enjoying herself as much.
After
doing some research on the photograph I found that it was photographed in
Paris, France in 1932. The photograph shows a couple embracing in the corner of
a coffee shop. Although it is not obvious, the photograph has been staged to
capture the reflection of the lover’s gaze in either mirror. The photograph
shows a formal elegance rather than the harsh realities of photographic realism
which is said to have been important to Brassai. The compositional skill of
Brassai is evident in the way that he has framed his subjects through the
mirrors and the symmetry of their surroundings. WORD COUNT: 562
Graffiti
Art or Vandalism?
Graffiti has been causing a stir within the law
enforcement and art world for many years, people are divided on whether it can
be classed as art or if it is just simply vandalism. A question to ask is to
what extent can graffiti be termed as art because it can be a simple and
unattractive tag to an elaborate and well thought out picture. There are two sides to the argument of
whether graffiti is art or vandalism and so throughout this essay I will
research both sides whilst also including the history of graffiti.
The urban graffiti, that is
popular today, originated in the subways of New York City, with many different
sub-cultures using it as a way to express their identities and interests. This
began in the 1960s with the original canvas being subway trains, mainly because
many people would see the graffiti that would give the artists a lot of public
exposure.
Taki 183 was a great
influence in the birth of tagging, as he was the main figure that many people
tried to emulate. Taki 183 began tagging
during his times as a messenger boy in New York. Whilst on his travels he would
tag subway stations and the inside and outside of sub cars which he eventually
became notoriously known for. In 1971, the New York Times interviewed Taki 183
about his graffiti and tagging. This lead to an increase in graffiti and
tagging as many people wanted the notorious fame that Taki 183 had achieved and
so many graffitists began competing with each other to have their name tagged
in as many places as possible. This is when sub cars began to be completely
covered in tags and graffiti. Graffiti has also been used as a way to express
political beliefs in public places to spread a message, often of discontent,
whilst being able to stay anonymous. This method has been used for many
decades, dating back to the WW2.
Graffiti is an art form because it’s by people who want to express their creativity create it and includes just as much thought as a painting featured in gallery. The only difference between the two is that the graffiti was most likely done without permission by the building owner and so is therefore illegal where as the painting was created perfectly legally. The negative connotations that hang over graffiti often make people reject it as an art form and condemn it to being a criminal act of vandalism. Tagging is what gives graffiti the negative connotations as it is seen as a nuisance and makes buildings or areas seem unattractive. The negative connotations associated with tagging go as far to saythere is the concern that tagging may be a "gateway crime," and may lead young offenders to more serious or dangerous crimes such as truancy and drug and alcohol use.” Tagging seems to be largely associated with anti-social gang crimes, which has been the norm since the 1980’s and 90’s when the hip-hop sub culture adopted the style of tagging for many uses, most of which were for gangs to mark their territory within cities.
Street art graffiti is becoming increasingly popular in inner cities with more respect being given to the graffiti artists and the art works they create. Although a lot of the work is still un-commissioned and so technically created illegally, although the attention it’s receiving is a lot more positive than it has ever been. Compared to tagging, street art is a lot more selfless and is created for the pleasure of an audience and to pass on a message often about social or political views. A prime example of street art would be the work of Banksy. All of his work is done in public places with each piece being about a specific political issue or social issue that he either has a problem with or feel people should be thinking about.Currently Banksy is one of the most famous street artists but this is mainly due to the anonymity he has kept. His work is famous all over the globe, with many of his pieces being sold at auctions for an incredibly high amount. In 2009, Banksy’s collection of work was showcased at the Bristol Museum, which saw thousands of people queuing for hours to see his work.
Banksy’s success is one of the many examples of the success of street artists who have helped to shine positive light on graffiti. Although it is still classed by many as vandalism, it is also beginning to be classed as art due to the depth and meaning of a lot of the art works. This new wave of graffiti has helped to better communities by making otherwise dull buildings into masterpieces that have attracted many tourists from around the world. Personally I feel graffiti should be thought of as art because the thought process and composition that comes with graffiti pieces often requires a high amount of skill that only few people possess. Although graffiti is a broad term, which refers to every style from tagging to street art, the more complex pieces are more than worthy to receive the same recognition that high profile paintings and photographs receive. I like the way in which street art confronts the current social and political issues that no one else is brave enough to approach because in a way it acts as a voice for those who often remain unspoken about many issues. Graffiti should remain as a criminal offence because if it were made legal then the streets would be completely covered in graffiti, which would ruin the excitement and novelty that it currently holds. Also the legal acts that are currently in place act as a deterrent for tagging, but if they were taken away then tagging would become an increasingly large eye sore.
WORD COUNT: 980
Triptych
A triptych is a piece of art work that has been divided in to three separate sections. These three sections are usually displayed on carved panels which can be hinged together and then displayed open and standing up or can be closed. Triptych pieces have traditionally been used for religious paintings, dating back to the times of early christian art, which are then displayed on altars in cathedral's and churches. Triptych's have modernly been used by photographers to present photographs that linked by a theme.
My Triptych
For our own triptych we had to photograph 3 items that well represented ourselves as this was the theme for which our photographs would be connected by. I chose to photograph my headphones, my cat and my passports. I chose my headphones because music is something that very much influences me and so I spend a lot of time listening to music. I chose my cat because she's one of my favourite things at home and she also represents the fact that I am a cat person. I chose my passports because they represent my dual nationality. To make the triptych I loaded the three images on to photoshop. I then opened a new blank page and set it to international paper A3. Once this was done I dragged each individual image on to the A3 page and resized them so they were all the same size. I then added shadow effects around the edges of the images to make them stand out more and I made the background red to make it look more interesting.
This was my first attempt at a Paul M Smith style photograph. As you can see there are four of me in the image. To do this I had to take four different photographs and then using photoshop I had to place one on top of the other to create the effect of four of me in one photo. For my final attempt at a Paul M Smith style photo I need to be interacting with myself. 
In 2011 L'Oréal were forced to pull their
ad campaigns featuring Julia Roberts because the images were overly airbrushed.
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints lodged by Liberal
Democrat MP Jo Swinson.
Image manipulation within the
fashion industry raises a lot of questions regarding how ethical it is to
create an unrealistic view of someone. Almost every fashion company manipulates
images of models and celebrities to make them look flawless and unrealistically
perfect. They do this by airbrushing out any blemishes or wrinkles and toning
down the person to make them look slim. Morally this isn’t acceptable because a
lot of young girls look to these airbrushed models and celebrities for
inspiration on how they should look but when these models and celebrities are
unrealistically slim and look “perfect” it leads to many health issues in young
girls and boys. These health issues include bulimia and anorexia.
Here is the original image I have chosen to use. The image is slightly under exposed in some places.
I increased the exposure of the image using the curves function on photoshop. I did this by pulling the slider upwards which made the image brighter. The only problem with using curves is that it increases the brightness of everything in the image which can lead to parts of the image becoming too bright or too dark and so is only really effective when the image is mostly one colour.
I increased the exposure of this image using the levels function on photoshop. I did this by moving the grey scale slider so that it increased. This was good for this image because it allows you to increase the brightness of only certain colours in the image and so is more effective in an image that has many different colours. 
This is my original image taken down at the Bristol Docks. As you can see the colours are really vibrant which is perfect for this exercise.
I then went into the filter option and chose a filter that makes the image look more like a drawing and so less realistic.
This is the final result. It is not exactly the same as Warhol's image because he uses more than one colour in his squares but it is very similar in style.
