Connecting Essay

My Photograph

This is my photography attempting to replicate the work of Robert Mapplethorpe which relates heavily to the formal elements of tone and form enhanced by the black and white effect which I added in whilst editing. To replicate his work I placed a male figures face in the centre of the frame wearing black clothes. I also used a black background and low key lighting positioned as close as I could get it to be directly inform of the subject. This shadows the background and highlights the face of the subject. The low key lighting and black and white effect cooperate well together in producing many shades/tones to show the form of the figure.

Internet Photograph

 

This is a piece of work from the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe who I have studied in depth and tried to replicate his work like the attempt above. The formal elements  of form, tone and colour are shown through this piece. Here Mapplethrope uses a variety of techniques to highlight the subjects face, such as using low key lighting and a black background. The black and white effect is also used to enhance this effect and it also allows the piece to display many different shades and tones which shows the form of the subject. 

These two photographs are very similar in many ways. They both engage and interact with the viewers due the fact that the subjects are looking directly into the camera, making it look like they are looking straight at the audience. Also the facial expressions used by both figures are very similar with very minimal emotion which adds a sense of mystery and curiosity. The background and lighting used in both images are almost identical. very low key lighting is used placed in front of the subject which highlights the face and shadows everything else. To add to the effect of highlighting the face a black background is also used to enhance the effect. The compositions are also similar as they are both from a front on position filling the centre of the frame with only the face of the subject displayed. To conclude a black a white effect is used in both piece to allow the photographs to be more tonal and shadow the rest of the frame more successfully.