*The Laurel Crown*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model: N.
N. was the only model with darker skin on that photo session, and I was very curious to see how differently her skin would imprint the flora textures. Turns out that even a slightly darker skin tone makes a lot of difference with beautiful results. Here the small leaves add texture to her upper body, and the way the boughs position in her hair (unplanned, again) makes them look like a laurel crown.
*The Bearded Lady*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Lara
I have mentioned already how amazed at the element of luck in this process I’m exploring. The amazing thing is how often it works to deliver something that I could not have planned and yet somehow says something or deliveres a totally unexpected outcome. This Bearded Lady is probably the most flagrant example of that. The pinetree boughs didn’t register on most of her torso, but did register in her long hair and the shadow of her hair. I clearly remember asking her to surround her face with the hair. There the pine boughs look like a beard. And then her face is hollowed out by the glare from the sky in the original texture shot. I could not have planned this.
*Fragmented Silhouette*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Sarah
One of the things that stands out here in HK (compared to other places I’ve been) is the rich variety of very textured leaves. Not that I had really noticed before I embarked on this project. This type of leaf here has so much structure that Sarah’s back feels almost like a collage. Love the effect. One day I’ll have to find a botanist to figure out what all these plants are!
*Naked in a Field of Flowers*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Jelle
One of the things I could do in the studio that I couldn’t do with my first outdoor shoot (besides having fully naked models) was to have most of the body in the shade to get maximum texture. But what I discovered was how cool the pics were with low light exposure of the body but not full shadows. In this back portrait of Jelle, I love not only how the flowers pop, but how you can still distinguish his shoulderblades, the subtle lighting of the right shoulder, etc. Definitely something to explore in more detail next time.
*Orchid Smile*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Madline
As I was exploring the Hong Kong botanical garden for varied flora textures, I found a little greenhouse that had (amongst other flowers) a number of orchids. I decided that it would be worth checking out how I might use them in the project although I was a little concerned that they would be too « busy » texturally. That turned out to be partially true, I think if I shot with orchids again I might underexpose them a bit more or use them in mostly lit portraits. Still, their very particular look delivered some stark pictures like this portrait of Madline with her enigmatic smile.
*Sunny Smile*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Kodak Portra 160
Model : Sarah
In preparation for the shoot I tried to capture colourful textures in the Hong Kong Botanical Garden. There were beds of these yellow flowers and I hoped that they would carry accross in the double exposure process. They did, as clearly evidenced here. I like how Sarah’s complexion and red blonde hair blends with the flowers, and I also like how her clear eyes pierece through the texture.
*Funky*
Fuji XT2 (XPAN) + Dubble Jelly
Model : Lara
Towards the end of the studio session I wanted to experiment a bit so I asked Lara to bring her hair back and shot in mid motion. Considering I was shooting at the speed of the lights (1/125s) I knew I’d have blur but I hoped it would be legible still. What I didn’t count on was the lighting scheme which has most of her body in the shadows (hence lots of texture) and the Dubble Jelly delivering funky colours. In the end, a lovely accident.
*Deux Fleurs*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Dubble Jelly 200
Model : Camille
When I saw Camille’s flower tattoo I knew I wanted to use it in my compositions. But I was concerned that I wouldn’t get the right correspondance to a flowery texture. Synchronicity worked in my favour. The superimposition is very light (possibly because the original texture shot was in bright light) but the fact that the flower ended up being. the same hue and directly on her face was just perfect…
*Flower Power*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Kodak Portra 160
Model : Ollie
For my colour experiments, I tried to shoot bright and colourful textures in the hope that they would carry through the double exposure. I did not dare hope they would come out quite as bright as they do here on this shot of Ollie.
*Two-Face*
Fuji XT2 (XPAN) + Dubble Jelly 200
Model : Jelle
So I wanted to experience with colour film as well as black and white. My first session had shown that black and white had promise, but I wondered how the flora texture colours would mix with skin tones. In order to assess that, my crazy idea of using Dubble Jelly film, a pre-exposed colour-cast film was perhaps not the smartest as it reduced the separation from textured subject and untextured background I was after. But some of the shots are actually interesting, as seen here. I wanted to invert the instinctive exposure strategy (have the face well-lit and with little texture and the hair in the shadows with lots of texture.) I quite like the result. It looks like there’s a vine growing from Jelle’s chest on to his mouth and face. The orange cast from the Dubble is a unusual but aesthetically pleasing, so I count that as a win.
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