BLUE DEER
EMULATING THE WORK OF AN ARTIST
The second project in this portfolio was to emulate the work of an artist. I chose Pablo Picasso, a Cubist pioneer, whose work I felt would give me a good challenge to translate into photography as well as giving me the opportunity to create something visually interesting. Out of Picasso's extensive portfolio of work I settled on a 1949 project that he undertook with photographer Gjon Mili - painting with light.
A Love Affair with Light Painting
The process by which a camera sees light is, quite frankly, a wonder to behold. The way it captures patterns over a period of time that we just can't see with the naked eye is absolutely incredible. And the fact that I can mould this light into any shape I choose is just so exciting!
I've been obsessed with light painting since I first found out about it at an arts course in Staffordshire when I, decked out in fairy lights (don't ask), accidentally wandered in front of someone's long-exposure shot. This ended up being a very happy accident as both the photographer and I were thrilled with the result. Since then I've been searching for ways of creating images of my own, and my adventures have ranged from one-woman shoots in my room, to small-group work in the local park, to something altogether more ambitious in an old newspaper printing factory.
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Creating Blue Deer
My first challenge with this image was deciding on which natural form I would use for the final piece. My first experiments in Carlisle (which you can see more about in my vlog at the bottom of this page) were pretty successful, and I was able to make a flamingo, a pine tree, a canary and a bluebell out of light. While these were interesting to make, I felt that they weren't really suitable as there wasn't enough scope to make a Cubist-inspired design.
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I decided that a deer would be a good choice for my final image as it has enough features to interpret in a Cubist style, whilst still remaining recognisable. I carried out some more experiments at my home in Kenilworth to work on the final design that I'd use but came away disappointed. I realised that I needed to switch strategies and began to look at this puzzle through the eyes of an artist.
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I needed to draw my deer. On paper.
I approached this challenge with some trepidation as I know that I'm no artist - I barely have control of a pen! But once I got over my initial nervousness and let my ideas just flow I found that I quite enjoyed sketching. The final designs still looked fairly life-like, but there is definitely some Cubist flair especially around the hind legs. Once the deer was finalised on paper I was able to work out how I would physically draw this in light, which made the final session go so smoothly.
The Final Shoot
I headed out to Dunwich Heath to capture my image. I chose this location as it reflects the natural habitat of deer and it was isolated enough to not suffer from light pollution (which plagued my previous shoots). I arrived shortly before sunset to scout for a suitable spot and found an isolated tree that was far away from any paths and disturbance while still providing enough visual interest in the background, and show off the environment, without diverting attention from the main subject. It took a couple of attempts to really get a hang of creating the shape of the deer - there are many outtakes I could share with you, but I'll leave those to your imagination. I also managed to not fall over once despite running around in the dark!
I was very pleased with the end result - there's a good balance between the deer and its environment. If you look closely in the top left-hand corner, you can actually see some of the stars, which was a lovely addition to the piece! There are definitely elements of Cubism in this but there's certainly scope for making even more distorted shapes inspired by natural forms. A project for another time perhaps...
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