ABNORMAL
DOUBLE EXPOSURE ARTISTS
Sara K. Byrne
Sara K. Byrne is a Portland-based photographer that uses silhouette portraits and landscapes such as trees and woodlands to create a double exposure piece. I am interested in the relationship between landscape and portrait and the abnormal outcomes that are created when combining these two very different subjects. Byrne uses Photoshop to create these images and occasionally makes the images look as one, such as trees replaces hair in the image. I like this technique as allows people to have a different perprective on the the human figure and finding similarities within humans and the shapes and designs of nature in an a way we wouldn't normally see, this is how this fits in with my theme of abnormal. Byrnes work is as recent as the past few years. Her work may have a similar meaning to mine however it's possible that Byrne looks at a side of abnormality but shows it with beauty instead of having a slightly strange element.
This photograph is a side view portrait of a girl and layered onto a picture of woodland landscape. I really like this layering technique and the joining of two completely different photographs. However I think the portrait would look better as just a silhouette. The juxtaposition of the landscape photograph makes the portrait photograph looks like it is becoming a landscape and makes the two photographs look like one, like a face within the trees or trees in the head of a person. Again relating to the idea of a ‘Relationship’ between Human and Nature as Byrne makes them look like one. I also like that both photographs are in black and white. This also makes the photographs look as though they are one. However the black and white draws away from the attention to the colours of nature like the greens and browns of trees or bright colours of flowers. What may have improved this photo is to possibly match skin colour to the colours of landscape photos either matching colours up in photos already taken, or doing it digitally by using photoshop. Looking at the artistic and practical side, it may be an idea to use different media’s of the colours of nature such as acrylics, oils, pastels etc, and just using photoshop methods for guidance and a start for the double exposure idea.
This image is a silhouette portrait image that has been layered onto a coloured blossom tree. As the portrait is a silhouette, we can’t tell whether the portrait layer has stayed in colour or changed. I like this technique more than being able to see detail of facial features. I much prefer the silhouette as it just gives a shape of a person’s head, not being able to see expression or personality in their face. This [possibly] makes the viewer have an imagination of how that person may be thinking depending on the background, for example; in this image the blossom is a baby pink colour, not very bold but a springtime colour, maybe giving a calm, pleasant feeling. I believe this is a better technique than showing facial features in black and white and I think this is a more creative idea. The white background complements the pale pink colours inside the silhouette but doesn’t have much contrast making it harder to work out the silhouette, again, making the viewer think about what the image actually is. This image has been created digitally on photoshop or a similar program. A painted/drawn image of this kind of double exposure idea could be very interesting and could be developed into abstract instead of focusing on portrait images. The image shows nature within a person and the feeling it could give a person whether it be calming or not, again showing the Relationship between Human and Nature.
Antonio Mora
Following the portrait and landscape work of John Stezaker, I looked at more portrait and landscape work and different techniques used when portraying the images together. Double exposure was something that caught my eye in particular. Antonio Mora’s work carries similar properties as Stezaker, however Mora’s work is much smoother and acts as two images blended together rather than collaged like Stezaker's. I find this technique to be, although challenging, very interesting and fitting with the ‘Abnormal’ theme. I find that his work makes a viewer make similarities and see it as one image instead of as two separate images. I feel this is where the abnormality comes into play; that the two images are combined into one to represent possible a personality within the person, or even simply relation between shapes in the two images that them form into one.
The two images above are portait images combined with structural landscape images. Mora has used arched images that fit with the shape of the heads/eyes to create the illusion of the two images becoming one. I like the idea that Mora has used similar shapes to create this illusion.
These next two images above are practically the same idea as the previous two, however these images feature landscapes of nature. In the first image the bark of the tree fits with the skin tone and the idea of wrinkled skin. In the second image, the tree trunk grows from the top of the nose making it look like one.