Monday, July 23, 2012

"PIXELS" WITHOUT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY



By Monika Kopeć


When I went to photography school a few years ago, one of the assignments was called “Formal Portrait.”  Everyone went about their way, very conservative, setting up typical, formal portraits with low ratio lighting, neutral backgrounds etc.  Even a somewhat stronger Rembrandt lighting was considered a bit daring.  With other words, formal was being equated with conservative.

I have never been a conservative individual, and I wasn’t about to change course simply because of the title of the assignment.  I began to think of what I could do to take a formal portrait and yet have it displayed in a non-conventional manner.

The result was a photograph taken by entirely conventional means, on film.  No digital photography or Photoshop was involved.


Whenever people see the picture, their first thought is digital and Photoshop, and even then I am always asked how the shot was taken.  I guess it is somewhat hard to imagine and I am curious what readers of this blog think how it was done.

Please let me know your thought in the comments or email them to info@gmpphoto.com.


10 comments:

  1. It looks like it might have been taken through a very coarse printing screen for offset printing.

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  2. I am very familiar with that photograph. After all, I gave her that assignment. while not a bad guess, it is incorrect. Anyone else?

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  3. With close inspection, this definitely looks like the picture was taken through a screen. But that would require depth of field beyond what any lens is capable of. That also doesn't explain the black pixels. I am baffled.

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  4. I can see why you are baffled. But you are getting closer.

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  5. Do we have to keep on guessing or are you going to tell us how this was done?

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  6. Keep on looking for an answer just a bit longer.

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  7. Since the picture apparently cannot be taken through a screen because of depth of field limitations, how about separating the two. Take the portrait in a conventional manner and make an enlargement. Lay a screen on top of the enlargement and copy it. That would render the picture to look like it was shot through a screen. I am still not sure about the black "pixels." Are they the result of blocking out part of the screen with some black material?

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  8. Bingo! You solved the mystery. The black pixels are the result of those parts of the screen having been painted over with black, acrylic paint.

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  9. Shouldn't he get a cookie or something?

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  10. Yes! I am working on a cookie worth to even be called a Leica cookie. Of course it would be made from hand ground, organic flower. I am not sure about the ingratiation yet. Any ideas? Totally hand-made chocolate comes to mind, but what else?

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