2. Erwin Blumenfeld – Doe eye.
Originally Taken in 1950 this picture has become an
iconic surrealist fashion image creating waves
throughout the fashion world for its simplicity and
striking beauty. Featuring model Jean Patchett the
photograph was originally taken in black and white
and was then Hand coloured by the Vogue art
department. Although rather easily creatable by
todays technological standards This photo is a mix of
Photographic ingenuity and attention to detail using
clever methods such as using Mirrors and violent
lighting to disjoint the eye and lips and pure hand
crafted dedication to bring the photograph to life with
pencil and paint. The striking beauty of the red lips
and green eye help to make the image pop and if kept
in original format of black and white I think that this
image would not have been as well received. This
picture helped to create the doe eye look by further
pushing the popularity along using the perfect
features of Jean Patchett’s face.
3. Erwin Blumenfeld – Red cross.
Taken in 1945 this image holds more meaning
than what meets the eyes. Fashion photography
superimposed with current affairs this particular
picture explores the themes about Nazi Germany
and war camps and the liberation of the prisoners
held there. Fleeing from Nazi Germany in 1941
blumenfeld was one of the highest paid
commercial photographers by the end of the
1940’s. I believe the intentional blurring on this
picture is to express the loss of identity and that
the use of the red tape placed over the printed
photograph is specifically used on the body to
express distress and need for medical attention.
Although used for American Vogue at the time
that doesn’t take away from the meaning and
compositional efforts of this photograph. More art
than commercialist photography. Simple and
striking macabre but still fashion.
4. Erwin Blumenfeld – Untitled.
Taken in 1953 this photograph looks like a
real peace of hand painted art but it is
actually a photograph using strong and
perfectly placed lighting and a model
placed behind rippled glass. The way
Blumenfeld uses patterns and glass to
distort his image shows that he was ahead
of his time, even by todays standards with
technologies such as Photoshop at our
disposal is there anything simpler than
using a plane of rippled glass? The use of
patterned and special glass within
Blumenfeld’s work really stands out
creating striking images that amuse and
disturb at once. You can still admire the
beauty and fashion of this model even
though that the features are warped. The
colours themselves may have been painted
onto the photograph after being developed
but this image would be just as striking if it
where black and white.
5. Philippe halsman – Dali atomicus
Taken in 1948 Showing both the edited version and
the untouched version This revolutionary image
comes from the minds of surrealist artist Salvador
Dali and Philippe halsman who worked together for
many years to create art. The picture itself is created
to look impossible but is actually created very easily.
The photographers wife would hold up the chair and
the paintings and props would be held up by piano
strings and stands which where then removed in the
editing process. The image was painstakingly put
together and took over 6 and a half hours to get the
final result, although there was a large amount of
time only 28 shots were taken due to the fact that
halsman would have to go to the dark room to
develop an image after each shot. No cats were
harmed in the process of making the film but
halsman says that he and his crew were exhausted. I
admire the attention to detail, you will notice that in
the touched up version a painting has been placed on
the easel but the shadow left untouched purposefully
to add a bit more of a surrealist feel.
6. Philippe Halsman – Untitled.
Taken as part of Philippe halsman’s book on
jumpology this is one of his many famous
jump pictures. The theory behind jumpology
is that when a subject jumps their attention
and focus is on the physical act of jumping
allowing the subjects true personality to slip
through the cracks because their attention
is drawn away from the camera and as he
puts it this allows the mask to fall. This
picture of Marilyn shows her mid jump with
a laugh on her face. The expression and the
way the hair and dress moves with the jump
allow the image to feel more natural and
pretty instead of a forced model stood in an
awkward pose this way of capturing pictures
allows the subject a freedom to be
thesmelves without the worry of being on
camera and is a more relaxed fun way to
Capture models.
7. Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dali – in
Voluptas mors
Another Famous photograph from the
collaboration between halsman and Dali this
piece is also a portrait of Dali himself. The skull
made of nude women is a great way to use the
human form as art and to show the relationship
between life and death itself. The skull itself was
made using specific lighting and numerous
models lying and kneeling in various positions
on the floor and the portrait of Dali was most
likely a separate picture that was cut into the
final image in dark room processing. The way
the lighting fades and darkens in certain areas
help to create the look of a painting instead of
an actual photograph which makes this photo
stand out. The idea of using black and white
technology to create a skull is also a great idea
because even if they took it today they would
probably make it black and white through
editing.
