Portraits

Leafy Smile

*Leafy Smile*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Patricia

Irrespective of technique and texture, a winning smile is a winning smile, and Patricia’s smile here just makes the shot.

Fertile Hair

*Fertile Hair*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : N.

What led me to initially discard this photo was the stark contrast within the texture itself. I clearly shot this in the sunlight, and some leaves come out really strong while others are lost in the shade. And yet with a little more hindsight, even though that was not what I was going for, it totally works, doesn’t it?

Striped Back

*Striped Back*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Jelle

I remember exactly which leaf I shot for this texture. It was a drying palm leaf on the ground in Victoria Park. It was kind of low contrast, but I hoped it would work nonetheless. What I like is that it’s more structured than most textures I used, and very soothing as a consequence.

Busy

*Busy*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford FP4+
Model : Lara

One of the conclusions I drew from the first two sessions is that plant textures with small or haphazard leaves makes the portraits difficult to read. This is even more true when the textures are shot in the sun, creating harsh contrasts. Yet sometimes that business conveys an interesting, chaotic feel to the portraits.

 

One-Eyed Mona Lisa

One-Eyed Mona Lisa
Fuji TX2 + Ilford FP4+
Model : Madline

I have spoken before of the incredible synchronicity that sometimes matches the textures with the models. Here we have Madline making her trademark Mona Lisa smile while this large leaf stem strikes he right in the eye. Isn’t it incredible ?

Cyborg

*Cyborg*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford PanF
Model: Lilly

In my flora texture experiments so far, the plants I shoot rarely have a direction. It’s a mass of leaves, branches or flowers. Buildings, obviously, are by nature directional. This opens up new and interesting considerations regarding the random / lucky elements of these double exposures. Here, the building column is perfectly aligned with the front of Lilly’s neck, which gives the illusion that it’s a part of her.

Fade to Build

*Fade to Build*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford PanF
Model: Patricia

As with my previous project, the nature of the lighting is key. Here I was using rather hard light which explains why the « fade » into the shadows (and therefore the emergence of the urban texture) is not gradual. I think I prefer a more gradual look, but I have to admit that this looks pretty cool nonetheless…

Scraper Dreams

*Scraper Dreams*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford PanF
Model : Lia

My initial intent with this series was to break away from my flora texture technique and have the buildings extrude from the back of the models’ head. In order to achieve that I strongly lit the background on the side of the face and didn’t on the side of the back of the head. It did not work as intended however. The spill light from the face side spotlight lit the back of the head side too much and I didn’t get what I wanted. But the results are far from uninteresting, so I ran with the shots I had when I edited to bring them back to something closer to my initial technique.

Urban Excrescence

*Urban Excrescence*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford Pan F

The series I’ll be posting this week is the result of very early experimentation. The results delivered were not what I was going for, but quite interesting nonetheless. Definitely a direction I’ll keep exploring in the future.

The Smirk

*The Smirk*
Canon A2 + Lensbaby + Rollei RPX100
Model: Lilly

The thing I really love about film shot with a Lensbaby is the way the grain breaks down the more blurry the picture gets. This one is a really good example of that, with the edges of the shoulders not only blurred, but fuzzy. Also, Lilly’s smirk is priceless.