The Final Photos - My Photography

On February 2nd 2011, I held my 1980's photo shoot at a studio in Hackney Wick.

Applying The Right Colours for the work



(From Left to Right) Stephanie Seymour, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz and Naomi Campbell in 1989.

 In the 1980's, they believed they were 'ahead of their time' with their photograpic technology. The photos had a natural grain specular to them. When they weren't mirrored with a sepia or black & white effect, they were mirrored with a green-blue effect. As much as we would like to try, photographers nowadays can never get the right 1980's effect on our work today. All we can do is try. And try is exactly what I am going to do.






Linda Evangelista (1989) a very washed-out green tint.



Christie Brinkley (1983) this photo has a blue tint to it.

POST PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE 80'S
(LINDA EVANGELISTA & THE SUPERMODELS)
TALK ABOUT THE PHOTO/ THE COLOURING/ LIGHTING/ CONTRAST

After analysing the photo colouring of some of the 1980's photography, I wanted to make sure I understood it completely so I went on to Photoshop to do a little experiment. I tookthe photos from the D&G Anthology Perfume campaign and edited the photos. These are the originals:

Noah Mills

Claudia Schiffer



Tyson Ballou




Naomi Campbell



To make sure that I get the right colouring, I used the layer adjustments tool to get an accurate edit.

These are screen grabs of the process of layer adjustments on Adobe Photoshop. It will prompt a question box asking you what you want to name the new layer and to adjust its opacity, colour and mode. I done all the editing on the photo of Claudia Schiffer (the first one) and then I copied and pasted it on to all the other campaign photos. This not only saves time, but also ensures that all the photos have exactly the same toning and colour adjustments.

Final Photoshoot

On February 2nd, 2011 I rented out Wick Studios for the day and held my final piece photoshoot based on the 1980s project. I had 7 sets to execute on the day so it was hectic from start to finish. I had 2 assistants, a hairdresser and a make-up artist that worked with me on set. I took over 100 photos, here is all the photos I took on the day.

I was really happy with what I got and I chose my favourites to take forward and use for my final product.

In this shot, the male model really dominates the scene. Not only by holding on to her waist, but also by dominating most of the frame. The female model counter-acts this with a confident pose and smiles to the camera.

This model holds a strong pose and is shot from above. Females are commonly shot from above in photos and videos to represent superiority over women. This is also known as the male gaze.  I subverted the male gaze by giving the model strong dark make-up and high shoulder pads which, in the 80's, represented power and this model exudes just that.

The whole concept was to show strong gender personification whilst advertising the clothes and each model took up a different role. In each scene, femininity & masculinity was underlying in the poses and I found the shoot to really draw the curtains on my project.

Final Major Piece: The 1980s Maan Adverts - My Photography

This first version of the film was the short edit version. It was supposed to embody the more sophisticated side of the campaign.



This second version is the commercial side of the campaign. It's more fun and free and made up of freeze-frames. It also features the biggest song of the year (1987) Faith-George Michael.

Test Shots - My Photography

A 'test shot' is a preliminary shoot you do beforehand so that  you can practice with lighting, posing, composition and wardrobe etc. I done some test shots a week before the final shoot with one of the models to see how they photograph.

I also got the chance to see how clear the photos would come out and I was happy with their finish. But I wasn't too sure about the lighting aspect. The lighting of the photos were very white-washed and there was too many shadows.
On the actual day of the shoot, I will make sure to play around with the lighting and use the device to test the lighting.

Choosing The Models

For the models, I am going for strong, hard hitting looks. So chiselled male faces and strong looks. For the women, I want to portray different model looks of the decade: young and fresh, mature and commercial.

Costume & Wardrobe

As my advert/ campaign is based in the 1980's, I want the models to wear real clothes from the time. So I was able to pull clothes from various places so I could have over 40 pieces of wardrobe for the models to choose from.

It is important that the clothes puled for the shoot are authentically old because of the difference in manufacturing from then to now. Back then, they used more raw materials and different fabrics than we do now. Physically and visually, it will look different. Also, the lining of clothing is not the same as it used to be back then, so the clothes will not fit the same.

I will be getting the clothes from my Mothers old wardrobe. Also the women's clothes from the shoot is all my mothers old clothes from the 1980's. She used to work in the fashion industry so she was very in-style back then, which is perfect for this shoot.