From my shoot last night with Hesi. The concept was again one of conflicting imagery, which I really enjoy… femininity with aggression and death, normally associated with masculinity. Some of these are tinted with regret or remorse. 🙂
A river runs through her
by Kevin Thom | Jul 14, 2006 | 6 comments
I’m actually glad that you were a bit more thorough and explained what you were going for in these.
I really like the concepts, the poses, and obviously…..the lighting.
Separately, I think they work just fine, but as a series…not so much. She’s got the same exact facial expression on all of them, and it just doesnt seem to work for me as a series. I dont really see aggression because of that. But could it be possible to have an aggressive expression while still holding the femininity? I quite think so, with a little bit of work.
With that, the first and the last are my favorites. The first one, because it makes it seem as if im at her mercy. Good low angle, and that smug expression actually fits like a velvet glove. And the last one, it makes it look as if the job was done, and that look is saying “im done, but dont make me take it out again.”
That said…..my absolute favorite holy crap one wouldve been the camera at a low angle, hesi holding the sword handle with both hands right by her head, blade pointing at the camera, and a very aggressive face. Hell, you could even apply some radial blurring to that (or lens-baby, same thing) and it wouldve been supreme femme fatale.
Yeah it’s definitely not a series. These are just “working photos” I put up in my journal while I decide which ones I’ll actually release and put on my website. Each one of them is meant to be viewed individually. I will probably choose between 1 and 3 of these to be finalized. The only reason they’re all up here is because this is my blog for working out different ideas. 🙂 As for expression, I didn’t want her to have an aggressive facial expression, because that would be too obvious.
I do like 3, but now I look at it weird because i cant see her neck, which it seems as a body reference that i get in the others. But I think i could be biased because now i’ve seen the others and instead, im using those as reference.
As for the aggression, how do you think a playful smirk and a slight frown wouldve worked on some of them? Like thinking “hah, you are so toast now, and im enjoying it.” I think it wouldve been a nice tune-down from the all-out aggressiveness I suggested in my other comment which is the one I think you tried to avoid.
Oh no… I meant “between one and three of the photos” not “#1 and #3.” I’m still figuring out which ones work best for me. I was really asking her for specific expressions that came from situations, rather than an immediate emotion. Most of these shots were based on the same scenario, which is essentially, “I’m sad about it, but you’re going to have to die.” 🙂
same facial expression in each one?
nice, thanks diny
What the…
Before commenting, I went back and forth through all of them for a good while. I stil do. Thats honestly how they still look to me. Even Kev is saying that thats what he was going for (concept-wise), so I dont see whats the big surprise there. This is exactly why i thought that they were too similar to work as a series, which they arent.
I see the angle, pose, and other things changing, but your eyes, eyebrows, cheeks and lips all seem to be at the same relative position and saying the same thing in all the shots which, again, is what Kevin was going for.
I wouldnt be surprised if most of the time I comment on his photography, Kevin thinks “man, this guy doesnt know shit,” and thats just fine quite possibly because…..hmm…..I dont know nearly as much as he does. But guess what? His works still makes me have a reaction, and as a friend, I’m honest and thorough with him. Often times, I get the same in return.
So don’t get mad at me for not being unnecessarily nice and fake instead of honest.
I wish I didnt have to make myself clear and write this comment.