We spent time putting mood boards of ideas for a photo shoot that had been organised for us in our next session. Our mood boards were based on the personas of our partner. I chose to exaggerate the fact that she had participated in contemporary dance and that she had travelled to South Africa volunteering to help with animals. Using her love of animals and contemporary dance background I wanted to create a photo that would look like a dance show, with her being the iconic lead role.
I researched many photographers and artists. The first artist i came across was a woman called Charlotte Caron who paints animals on the faces of portrait photographs. I then stumbled across a photographer called Natalie Field who inspired me to base my mood board on her photography, her work was almost as if my mind had projected on to my computer screen.
Preparation for my photo shoot
I asked my partner what animal's movement she felt contemporary dance represented, she answered "a gazelle". I researched more on the movement of contemporary dance, many referring the movement to be 'gazelle-like'. I decided to take the route of making an animal mask, I put together a net i found on a website called Wintercroft who design low poly mask nets for you to print, cut and stick together. I then found a long red sheet and asked my partner to wear a red dress and her pointe shoes. Looking into the lighting of Natalie Field's photography she uses blue and red compositions which I was going to try an implement with using light gels.
Enter professional photographer Lee Mawdsley.
Lee is a London based photographer with an epic body of work. He began with showing his extensive work that has not yet been released. Lee has worked on an array of international assignments for clients including Skanska, Wallpaper Magazine and Established & Sons.
https://www.leemawdsley.co.uk/
After preparing for my photo shoot, it was my turn. I used a black background and a blue and red gel which complimented my mask creating the imagery I wanted. Lee suggested the positioning of the lights to make the top half of my photo the main focus. he eyes shone through the mask piercing the camera with a pure white glow with a blue hue. I am very pleased with the outcome of the work i produced.
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