"Tastes Like Regret"
When I read through Alex Prager's interviews, I found a few things that were really interesting. One particular method I found brilliant was that she doesn't start her photo with a particular story in mind - instead, she begins with an emotion. I found this rather startling because many people push us to tell a story with our photo to release a viewers emotion, but her method is the other way around - tell an emotion so the viewer creates their own story.
I began this with what emotions were going on with myself, as many things were going on in my life and I was overwhelmed with a variety of emotion. I chose the emotion of regretfulness. On a daily basis, whether a major or minor source, my own actions or others, theres always a moment I wish I could hide under a rock forever, or undo some action that cannot be fixed. And of course, in most things, you can eventually get over them, or speak with someone and work it all out, carrying on as if nothing has happened.
I decided I wanted to make a farce of this frase by taking it to the extreme - ironic contrition. But, I will let you figure out your own story with this image, and not taint it by my own interpretation of the story.
I also liked Alex's vibrant style. I mimicked this, and had a lot of fun with it, as I have begun having an affair with garish colours in my recent work.
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update:
Here is another image I have edited from the same shoot. As you can see I wasn't shooting in the studio because it was booked up with class all day, and I didn't know until my model was already on her way. So I shot it on the floor with boards instead, but thats why the shadows are all wonky. What Evan said is pretty valid, so I'm going to post this as an alternative as well. Its not quite as cheery, and I have placed colour casts to mimic some of Pragers work in the way she uses different filters. I dont like this one as much but I would like to know what you think of it also.
I love this picture and i can see that you were very inspired by her style. Also the composition is great, I love how she is cut off and how everything is at a slight angle!
ReplyDelete-Imogen Wallis-Mayer
I like the repetition of the shapes. Circles in the sprinkles, circles on the shirt, circles in pill form, CIRCLES EVERYWHERE.very cool
ReplyDeletei wish the pill bottle was facing in though because i want to follow the spill. you can easily fix this in photoshop if you want, just a suggestion! but sweet colour scheme, wicked
-Alex Demelo
Beautifully shot, nice colours, great use of light.
ReplyDelete-Evan Hutchinson
he colours are beyond gorgeous, you really played with her style in terms of making colours really pop. I think your concept is lovely and is represent really well within the photograph! Beautiful lighting job as well!
ReplyDelete- Diana Edelman
This is a fantastic idea, and extremely well conceptualized. However there are some technical decisions that bring this photo down.
ReplyDeleteWhile the lighting makes sense for her skin, it created a really distracting shadow underneath her and the objects. If you ever do something like this in the future, try to create softer shadows under the model while still keeping those nice details on her skin.
I also feel like the image could have been composed differently. I don't like how you cropped so much of her body out of the frame, I would open the image a bit more. It may just be because of the shadows but I would also move the pill bottle and pills somewhere else because to me it feels a bit close.
I think this concept is strong, and needs tweaking to make it perfect. This image is very powerful, and true to the artist in many ways. You did an excellent job.
- Evan Cohen
The second image honestly blew me away. It kept all the elements that were working in the first image, and fixed all the elements that were working against it. I would show both of these to Robyn, and see which one she likes better.
ReplyDeleteI think the second image is something you would see in a gallery. To me it is one of the strongest images I have seen created all year. You pushed the limit on this image, and took into account all elements that needed to be conceptualized when creating an image. Again, excellent job.
- Evan Cohen
Both are incredible but in my opinion the second one is strongest! So very well done. The soft fades of colour and light work perfectly with the stiffness of the model. I really like that the subject is totally Prager-like but the over all feel of the photo is for sure your own style. A+!
ReplyDelete-Hayley Jones
This photo is amazing, and I absolutely love the colour scheme. Great job!
ReplyDelete-Melissa Bessie
Hi Erin, Robyn here....nice work on this. I do agree that the second image is stronger. Having a real physical space makes it feel less purely aesthetic and commercial. I actually think the pills are unnecessary, do you have any without? The cake and model's expression and body language say everything you need and the pills (being a relatively cliche pop) make it a little too heavy handed, as if you're spoon-feeding the viewer. If not I would erase most of the pills and perhaps just leave 2 or 3 white to nicely mimic the polka-dots in her shirt. I am also a little worried about how this is going to print. You may have pushed it a bit far in post....the light on her face looks a bit wonky. Do some tests and we'll see how it looks.
ReplyDelete-Robyn