Research
Brandon Kidwell.
Kidwell creates photoshop based work combining both portraiture and landscape in a way that creates an abstract . All his 'double exposure' work includes a clear outline of a face, which is contracted with negative plain coloured space. The face has been merged with a landscape, sometimes with a person but always has a leading line which draws you in. The colours inside the human form are within the same colour group and art very contrasting. The colour contrast comes from the leading lines where the light is, and also the contract around the shape of the human form. Within the human form there are many different textures that are created by the landscape, along with many different bold outlining shapes. Kidwell creates lines that lead you eyes in many places, from the eyes of the human form to the leading light, to the paths, these all draw your eyes too a place in the image. The leading lines, shapes and colours make me feel relaxed and calm, he does this by making sure their isn't too much going on, and the human form facial expression also adds to this. Until recently Kidwell took all of his images on a iPhone, he says this helped him with photography because it helped him too look past the complications and technicalities of todays photography, therefore he could focus more on composition and his own photography. His double exposure have become a way for him to portray some sort of lesson or share a small piece of his wisdom that came from his life experiences, and his children. Most of his double exposures are of him, his son and his daughter. He creates his work by setting the exposure on the sky which outlines the human form, then have him/her face slightly towards the light, which exposes the features and casts a shadow on other parts. He then would go from a lower angle and take another picture of the subject, like a tree, again setting the exposure on the sky so the images have a similar background making them easier to blend when editing. From here he uses a blending app on his iPhone like Filterstorm, Union or PS touch, to put the two images together. The composition is very simple, but effective, everything is central and aligned together. I think if the composition was any different or complicated they work wouldn't make you feel relaxed or calm as the work would be too busy. I think that Kidwell is trying to say that there is more on the inside than seems on the outside. I think this due to the colours, textures and shapes on the inside of the human form which is contracted to a blank negative space on the outside. The outside has no personality which you would think if you just looked at someone, but you find their personality once you get to know them.
Artist comparison.
The artist jess looked at was Oliver morris. Oliver Morris creates the same style of double exposure abstract imag, which includes both landscape and portrait. Although both Morris and Kidwell have a similar style there outcomes and intentions are very different. Morris's images are more about the landscape and the natural beauty of that where as Kidwell focuses more on the personality of the human form. I decided to focus my work mostly on Oliver Morris but incorporate the nature side of the human form, I also wanted to include the personality of the human form this is why the facial feature are much more clear then they are in Morris's work.