Module Work
15th December 2017
A post-modern self-portrait created by first year Tiana Walton.
“Rather than offering a conventional image of a face or a landscape, I prefer to take a handkerchief, twist it however I like, and photograph it accordingly”. Antonio Palmerini’s portraits of young women have captured multiple versions of the girls. The images have a sinister feel to them. They seem to show another layer to the subject beneath the surface. The girls have a faint appearance as the movement in the face and body has been blurred. You could mistake them for a ghost. These blurred portraits stipulate split personalities. This concept can be strongly linked to mental health issues such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These effects by Palmerini were created using slow shutter speeds and double exposure images.
Palmerini’s work is classified as post modernism as his work contradicts the restraining guidelines of modernism. Shape, line, texture have not been considered. His images are much more soft focus and relaxed. The movement captured in them is a show of free spirit. No guidelines,
I have created work in this style previously when working on images for an interview brief. I used a slow shutter speed to capture a portrait image blurring across the space faded out to darkness. This created a smooth drag of colour which included defining details of the face allowing the face to be recognisable while movement is still being captured.
I wanted to capture movement. I also wanted to incorporate mixed media which is why I printed out my portrait first and reshot the image, creating this multiple image effect. And I wanted part of this image to be in focus and the other part to be soft focus.