Assignment #2 Final Four

 

gender roles

I used a natural lighting in order to capture this shot. The concept behind it was bending the norms of masculinity, as the subject (Kiyo) styles his hair. The angle I shot him at makes him look androgynous, since it is the longer side of his hair, and that there is no clothes to dictate an opinion. He has natural, lean muscle, and fights the stereotype of the big, burly male. As soon as I read the prompt, I immediately thought of Kiyo since he is one of my more metro sexual friends. I wanted to show a softer side to masculinity, or even a modernistic take on a man in this day and age. I instructed him to style his hair (slowly) as I shot him at different angles.

 Richard Avedon recreation

I wanted to make the shot as similar to the original as I could, so I played with the contrast between the subject and the background. The original is of a young Marlon Brando smoking while shaving his face. It is a natural, humanistic approach to seeing a celebrity. I chose this one particularly because of of his masculine reputation, so I thought it would be interesting to contrast that with a less masculine appearing subject. I showed the model (Kiyo, once again) the original photograph and had him try to pose the same way to the best of his abilities. I posed him against a white door so that I could try to blast out the background like in the original. I was directly influenced by Richard Avedon for this shot, and I wanted to try to take one of his and reshoot it with a modern take.

 flash basement

 self portrait

I decided to do a close up with an emphasis on the cuts, grooves, and imperfections of my hands. I also wanted to show contrast between the light and dark spots on them. As an artist (or even a human being) I am dependent on my hands to perfect my craft. I have a nervous habit that involves me tearing up my fingers and nails, which is strange since they are so important to me. In order to get the shot, I focused before and set the self timer so that I had time to get my hands in position. I wanted to make a personal piece relating to myself and my own habits. I've noticed many photographers who use themselves as subjects, so I thought that I would give it my own take.