Like many "ideas",
the inspiration for Fragmented
Keira came from the convergence of several separate
ideas.
One concept:
I've been seeing a lot of "collages" of models,
usually a 3x3 grid of model head shots, where the model
is posing with an extreme facial expression on each images.
Something like this...
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I've done animated
images before, like this one made 12 years ago. I
did another sequence with an animated GIF 6 years ago --
for those of you with access to the Out Takes Galleries,
you'll find that sequence associated with the out takes
from Yulia's third visit, the sequence from the back stairs.
Check it ouit.
In any
case, I got a good animation utility as a bonus when I purchased
an earlier version of Paint Shop Pro. Frankly, it
makes creation of these animated GIFs easy -- in fact, it
took less time to put together these animated images than
it took to edit a single image.
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One final inspiration
element contributed to this idea. When I was very
young (i.e. before I learned to drive), I spent one summer
in an "art" camp. There, I was interested
in learning film making. I made one memorable "film"
-- it was a moderately long loop of images -- I only put
together quick images of 3-10 frames, so each shot lasted
only a fraction of a second -- just enough time to show
a gesture. With the loop, these images repeated infinitely.
The soundtrack? I collected 3-5 metronomes, and had
to click away at different speeds. It was interesting
-- the brain could find patterns with those semi-random
noises from those metronomes. (Now that I think about
it, that film loop with those metronomes must have been
very annoying for more adult viewers).
I liked
the randomness of the images & the clicking of the metronomes.
I loved how, after a while, one found patterns and how one
saw more detail each time through the loop.
Frankly,
that project taught me that I had no business trying to
be a film maker -- that project convinced me to try my hand
at still photography. That was over 40 years ago.
In any case,
the 60-70 individual images used in Fragmented Keira were
created from a larger number of images created for the express
purpose of that concept. Each was cropped from larger
images. Presented here is a selection of those larger
images. Enjoy
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I occasionally
get feedback from viewers, requesting more color images,
but hey, it's my web site, and I've got to have a reason
to post a color image -- otherwise, I prefer the abstraction
of the monochromatic images.
Here's
a good example -- although this is a full color image, it
uses a limited palette. Why make it a color image?
Any color in my images have to be making a contribution,
otherwise, expect a B&W image.
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I've got
to say that there is something alien to me about this concept.
Normally, I'm photographing naked people -- we are having
a natural conversation, and the model simply reacts with
natural gestures. This time, however, we are really
challenging Keira to show me a variety of poses that are
more focused on specific body parts. This is not how
we normally work together, and for that reason alone, this
is a good thing. |
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... That's not to say that we didn't get
a few "natural" reactions from Keira.
I was a little concerned about the camera perspective.
For both the head & the torso images, I put the camera
on a tripod, with the camera set at around breast level.
When I later photographed Keira's hips, I lowered the camera
perspective.
I probably didn't have to worry. I didn't notice,
but during these exposures, Keira did wander a little bit
-- closer & further away from the camera. Since
the camera's lens was set a mild wide angle, the little
change in position did make a bit of an impact on the image
perspective.
In the end, it didn't matter all that much, because I
was not being careful about dividing Keira's form consistently.
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We dabble a little with some props -- in
this case, a nice scarf. To be honest, I didn't like
the prop-work we did. For one thing, Keira has a magnificent
head of hair, and it was a shame covering it up.
Keira looked terrific on her own. I think I liked
this setup without the props. We used classically
simple studio lighting, and that with Keira's world class
figure was all we needed.
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Yes, I still do these "artistic
effects" often. I love how we can reduce the
information in an image and still have it recognizable.
A little about me -- I have a graduate degree in computer
science, and I worked in R&D for a Fortune 50 company
for ~24 years. During the course of my career, I was
often asked to create & present status report for projects
involving hundreds of engineers. We engineers loved
diving down into the details, finding significance in the
tiniest subtlety. However, managers were the typical
audience for these presentation, and they wanted to hear
summaries that they can trust. They wanted to hear:
are we on track, are we on schedule, who's been doing the
best work, what problems are ahead, and so forth.
So, throughout my career, I became successful by reducing
millions of details into the essential information.
Perhaps that's why I like these artistic effects.
Indeed, if I were to go back to college for another advanced
degree, I'd do a study in methodologies to present complex
information in a non-verbal manner. I love maps, charts,
tables, and so forth. My problem is that I don't exactly
know what the discipline would be -- I certainly find the
challenges to be part art & part science. |
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By the way -- we are now producing images meant for
the torso collection.
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Keira is doing a terrific job; we are leaning
heavily on her experience.
But this kind of work is a tad alien to me. She
is moving & showing me a wide variety of poses, but
I like the images that show some kind of connection between
the model and the photographer. I like Keira's shape;
I like her gesture, but I got to admit that when I see a
picture like this (and I often see pictures like this),
I wonder what the model is looking at.
Around this time, we lower the camera on the tripod and
focus a little more on Keira's hips.
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