ARTIST RESEARCH | oksphotography

PORTRAITS

Artist Research: Mark Seliger

My photographs (left) are all very simple, straight-on shots. During my black & white editing, I increased the shadows and highlight to create a strong contrast between the blacks and whites in the images. This created a very dramatic and mysterious mood from the shadows being created, similar to Seliger's work. These photos were very eye-catching because in the majority of the photos the model was looking at the camera, so the audience could look directly into their eye. I wanted to capture their emotions; their awkwardness and embarrassment at being stood in front of a camera, their shyness and their happiness. The ones in which the girls are smiling are beautiful as they really show their joy in that moment. Although it was a very staged shoot, I wanted to add that element of naturalism.

MARK SELIGER

Mark Seliger is a well-known American photographer best known for his work in portraiture. His photography passion started young, as he attended Houston's school for Performing & Visual Arts and the East Texas State University where he studied the history of documentary photography.

In 1987, he began working for Rolling Stone. In 1992 he was signed as their chief photographer where he shot over 125 covers. During his time there, he photographed many famous people such as Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz and Kurt Cobain.

Mark Seliger mainly photographs celebrities and well known people. Most of his models have a plain black or white backdrop and are only very occasionally with props. He sticks to a very similar editing style for most of his images (black and white, high contrast). Quite often his photos are rather grainy too.

MY INTERPRETATION OF SELIGER'S WORK

During my artist research, I went for a very basic step-by-step progression. I began to zoom on specific areas of the model's body, such as their ears, eyes, hair, shoulders and collar bones. I think some of the photos turned out better than others; the sharper the photo, the better it came out. I tried to take some photos without using my flash and a slower shutter speed however I do not think this worked very well as it was hard to find an area of the photograph to focus your eyes on. Another element that made some better than others was the contrast and shadows. I think a high contrast worked very effectively for this shoot, but some of the photos were too dark to increase the contrast too much without blackening certain areas. I found this especially difficult with the photos of Emily and Isla because of their dark hair.

Below are some of my favourite images.

As a final experimentation for this project, I combined a few of the photographs to create sequences. I tried to stick with a specific theme - in the following photos, this theme was hair. The mixture of black and white was really interesting. Sometimes this mixture made the photos stand out as they contrasted very well, in others this grayscale made the photos quite similar and plain so they did not stand out against one another. I tried putting a border between each photograph however I did not like the structure and organisation this brought to them. I preferred a slightly messy and uncertain look.

I really liked the collar bone photographs (above) because of their structure. The hair brushing their shoulders created a nice contrast between their light skin and dark hair, especially the image (left) because her hair is in focus and its detail clearly visible.

Similarly, I liked the shoulder photographs (below) because of their structure. Using the macro lens meant that the tiny details such as the hairs on the model's body were visible. This left a pleasant naturalistic effect.

The side-on portraits were some of my favourite photographs because of all the different features they captured.

The photographs (below) could also be considered side-on portraits, however what I like about these is that the earrings of both the girls is what captures your attention, but for different reasons. In the photograph (right) the dazzle and reflection of the metal is what captures the eye, whereas in the photograph (left) it is the pattern and complexity of her earring.

Below I have included the remaining photographs of this shoot.