Tammy Latto portraiture

this is my background image for my film poster i have layered several images to create a very textured quality, this image was shot with a tungsten light in my bedroom, i also took close up images of a canvas bag which i layered over the initial image and them took the opacity down to just give it a slight texture, i also painted a V For Vendetta sign and done the same with this then positioned it over V’s face so the two spikes from the V went through his eyes. I think it looks authentic as a film poster background and although it was very last minute and a tad rushed i am very happy with the out come. i’m not sure how well it will go with my portrait as i am yet to choose a lighting style to go with but i hope they will work well together. 

this is my background image for my film poster i have layered several images to create a very textured quality, this image was shot with a tungsten light in my bedroom, i also took close up images of a canvas bag which i layered over the initial image and them took the opacity down to just give it a slight texture, i also painted a V For Vendetta sign and done the same with this then positioned it over V’s face so the two spikes from the V went through his eyes. I think it looks authentic as a film poster background and although it was very last minute and a tad rushed i am very happy with the out come. i’m not sure how well it will go with my portrait as i am yet to choose a lighting style to go with but i hope they will work well together. 

My Film Poster

i am going to base my film poster on the hit comic book adaptation V For Vendetta. These are a few film posters and the dvd cover which have a very graphic and eye catching look to them. 

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these are my two final options im going to print them both and i will annotate later

update - i tossed and switched a few times and mad a few last minute happy accident type decisions but i am happy with the top image. I used tungsten light and my on camera flash to create a bright image and background, i wanted to show that i am my own worst enemy so my first idea was to have one “version” of my self shying away awkwardly and a bit sad and fearful - this was to show how socially stunted i am. and the other “version” of me is screaming at myself because i get so frustrated. i took two separate images and then dragged one over the other, i used a layer mask and painted one of my “selves” through - while doing this i accidentally showed through some of the wall paper pattern on my arm and face and it occurred to me that it would be a really nice touch to have me literally fading into the background. i liked this so much i took a crop of it to see what the printouts would look like. I printed both images at 8x10 on matte paper, i’m not so sure about the matte but its too late to change it now and the paper is a really nice quality. i have chosen to go with the top one because it does go with my brief better and i think maybe shows a part of me people don’t usually get to see. if i could change anything i would have shot the “angry” me more to the left because the gap between them is very distracting and i think if i was screaming more in my ear it would give the image a more jarring look. I had a lot of difficulty with lighting on this brief but i think the simple lighting works OK, a bit of mood or atmosphere might have made this picture but i’m happy with the background as its got some tone to it here and there.

these were my first test shots. i done them last week but didn’t get a chance to upload them. i was going to do the Photoshop on these but decided against is because the lighting was annoying me. i had some feedback about the crop and i know i need to get the focus right, I’m planning on buying a remote trigger today. i set up my shots last night but i need a better source of light so i will be maybe getting a speed light from the college store for the background. i also rearranged my room so that i can have a better crop with out needing to change the focal length.

straight off the bat i had two main ideas for my self portrait, the first was to portray the frustration i have towards myself, i wanted two images of myself, one almost cowering - shy and unconfident, and the other screaming at the first “self”. i was hoping that this would convey how angry i get with myself when i get shy and akward in social situations. I was going to use my wallpaper for the background as i think it is a reflection of how i can be quite a bright and friendly person but i want to use multiples to get opinions on what will work better. The idea was to take two images and use the drag tool on photoshop to make two layers, add a layer mask and then using the brush tool remove the wall to uncover the other image of myself. i hope to put up some test shots by tomorrow. lighting will be an issue so i plan to either take flash guns out of the college store or try and use every lamp in my house in an attempt to make it bright enough.

The second is to show my love of the outdoors. at first my idea was to be screaming in this picture but i decided it wouldn’t be a real representation of who i am, so i decided to instead be very peaceful in the image with my arms spread wide and my eyes closed i haven’t decided weather i want to be smiling or not. I know that i want to be clipped out of the frame and turned slightly towards the camera so my face can be seen, but the main thing is the surroundings…. i primarily want the background to be nature a forest or mountain scene. the weather has mucked up my travel plans a few times so i plan on checking the weather forecast for the weekend  and making plans from that.

I want to continue with test shots of both these ideas before i choose which will be the final image i submit. 

these self portraits of Irving Penn are so striking, he shot some of these images shortly after his wife of 42 years died, as a way of expressing just how lost and tormented he was. starting with just a slightly distorted image of himself pinching his face between his thumb and forefinger its a very graphic image and it hardly even looks real, it does however show his wedding band and perhaps anger at himself. In the second image its like he is being pulled apart by two versions of himself, and is in complete despair at being torn apart. the look on his face speaks volumes, his pain is projected through the page. the third image is both the most haunting and the most disturbing of the three, but in my opinion it shows most of his heart. when i look at this photo i see Penn’s heartbreak, his awful devastation, and yet it makes me feel uncomfortable to look for too long like i’m intruding on his grief. Penn has managed to show his pain by distorting his features, making the viewer really feel what he was feeling at the time. something he felt could not be portrayed without these measures.

(Source: obit-mag.com)

I paint myself, because I am often alone, because I know myself best - Frida Kahlo

i like this quote because i believe it describes the essence of why any artist be it photographer, film maker or painter would create an image of themselves for example Quentin Taratino is well known for taking parts in his own films. Many painters are also famed for painting self portraits to further their skills and to express / keep a record of how they were feeling at the time. Van Gogh is among the most famous of these as well as Rembrant and of course Frida Kahlo. a reproduction of someones image can really show a lot about them, therfore why would an artist not want to manipulate that to show a side of them self they choose for everyone to see?

On September 25th 1925 a bus Frida Kahlo was taking home was struck by a tram which cased her grave injury’s including fracturing her spine, breaking her right leg in 11 different places, fracture her collar bone and ribs and crushing her right foot. She had more than 30 operations and it was during her recovery she started to paint. her most famous works are her many self portraits and the surrealist quality in which she does them. this is one of my favorite self portraits of Kahlo’s named The Broken Column, because it shows the complete agony she felt during her recovery from the accident, i think an image with so much depth and misery really strikes you when you see it. you can tell from this image the depressive state she was in, over exaggerating the damage to her spine by replacing it with a crumbling stone column. its such a raw image and it makes me think that putting your pain into an image could make it very strong.

On September 25th 1925 a bus Frida Kahlo was taking home was struck by a tram which cased her grave injury’s including fracturing her spine, breaking her right leg in 11 different places, fracture her collar bone and ribs and crushing her right foot. She had more than 30 operations and it was during her recovery she started to paint. her most famous works are her many self portraits and the surrealist quality in which she does them. this is one of my favorite self portraits of Kahlo’s named The Broken Column, because it shows the complete agony she felt during her recovery from the accident, i think an image with so much depth and misery really strikes you when you see it. you can tell from this image the depressive state she was in, over exaggerating the damage to her spine by replacing it with a crumbling stone column. its such a raw image and it makes me think that putting your pain into an image could make it very strong.