fstopinertia – photography of angela marklew

I recently had a workshop assignment to take a portrait while shooting through something.  I was inspired by an image by one of my favorite photographers, Platon…which depicts a model standing amidst vibrant red and purple leaves.  The leaves are casting amazing shadows on her face and because there is foliage in the foreground, mid-ground, and background, it’s an extremely layered image.

So I set out to Griffith Park (which is basically the only nature in this city) to find something suitable.  It quickly became apparent that lush colours and foliage were not part of the landscape.  It was at this point that I had a creative block.  I had something so specific that I wanted to do in my mind that I became locked into that idea and it didn’t seem like I’d be able to get past it.  In addition to this, I had planned on using natural light and as the sun was going behind a hill, clouds also started rolling in – which meant I was losing my light very quickly.  But, as a photographer, it’s my job to make things work.  So I picked up Linda (who was going to model for me) and I just had to improvise – and this is what I came up with:

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Francis Bacon once said “the job of the artist is to deepen the mystery”…

I’m three weeks into my current portrait workshop with Ken Merfeld.  This time it’s definitely all about breaking out of my box – that is, incorporating more shadows and embracing hard light sources.  Our first two assignments were to shoot a portrait with a definite mood and to shoot a portrait incorporating shadows.  In keeping with the theme of my recent work, the mood I chose was a dark one – perhaps introspective, or a little melancholy – what I hadn’t anticipated (because I don’t see this when I see the image) was people thinking it was unsettling and eerie.  Ken always emphasizes that strong portraits elicit strong responses, so if my work makes people feel uncomfortable, I’ll take that as a step in the right direction.

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Monday marked the last session of my workshop with Ken Merfeld.  When looking at the body of work I’ve completed during the last 9 weeks, there was a definite mood…my recent portraits seem to all have a subtle quiet, melancholy mood with an underlying intensity – much like my recent self (as those who know me well can attest to).  Ken remarked that the first body of work he ever saw from me (which was my food series) was much more playful, upbeat, and quirky…which makes complete sense as that body of work was completed prior to the accident that left me immobilized last winter (my “colourful” period).  Since then, in dealing with the repercussions of the accidents of the last 12 months, my mood has switched from playful to more introspective.  Until viewing my recent work as a body of work, I didn’t realize how much of myself I put into my portraits…and every portrait I take is, in essence, a self-portrait.

“My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph” – Richard Avedon

One of the last workshop assignments was to take a portrait of someone who has their back to you.  This is what I came up with – it’s probably the piece I’m most proud of from the last 8 weeks.  It’s titled “(I Have Seen You Through) Various States of Madness”

“In a portrait, I’m looking for the silence in somebody” – Henri-Cartier Bresson

A couple weeks ago, my workshop assignment was to shoot a naked portrait.  We could interpret this in a way of our choosing – with most people leaning towards an interpretation of the classic nude.  I, on the other hand, decided to do something more unconventional and literal…and the reward was definitely worth the risk.

This assignment definitely opened up my mind to the idea of starting a series based around the idea of unconventional beauty and form.  So stay tuned…