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Who is Elaine Constantine?
Elaine Constantine is a documentary style photographer who uses this approach for her fashion shoots as she takes the images in public locations rather than a studio. Her work is easily recognised because instead of her fashion photos being a professional shoot they are done in an outside environment.
She carefully plans out her images, by making the models she uses wear bright, vibrant clothing when there is a dull background behind them so that the models stand out in front of the background.
This is also one of her images where you can seen the model in the photo at the front is wearing very vibrant colours so that she stands out against the green fields and because its a photo for a clothing brand it makes the clothing look much more appealing to buy and showcases the clothes as being bright and colourful.
Who inspired Elaine Constantine?
After Elaine received a camera from her Aunt, when she was a teenager, she joined a photography club that was advertised in a local arts and crafts centre. It was during her time at the club, that Elaine first got inspired particularly after reading photographer Chris Killip’s book In Flagrante. His book was made during a period of de-industrialisation in Britain, the work charts a changing landscape and the effect this had on those living in the surrounding communities. This is similar to Elaine Constantine’s photography because the landscapes she uses are important for the shoots she does as it changes what clothing she puts on the models for example if she has a dull, dark background then the models will be wearing more vibrant clothing compared to if she has a bright background the models may be wearing duller clothing such as grey and black.
Elaine Constantine Image Analysis
The colour in this image is very bright and vibrant which makes Elaine Constantine’s images fun and different to other photographers. Her images are carefully planned out as when the background of her images are dull and boring and have no colour in them, the models that she uses are wearing brightly coloured clothing to make them stand out in front of the white background and to entice the reader more and make her images more interesting and unique. The lighting in this image is very bright and enhances the features of the models so they are clearer and the colours of their clothing stands out. Elaine Constantine takes her images in the day so that its easier to see the colours of the clothing and because it gives a better contrast against the background because when its daylight outside the background or the building in the background is easier to make out and see the colour difference between the background and the foreground. However some of her images are taken at dusk when the sky is not fully black but dark and the model that she uses in the image is wearing a light pink jacket which stands out against the darker sky so the clothing stands out and looks eye catching to the person that is looking at the image. Elaine Constantine’s images are designed to be this way so that the clothes she uses come across as bright and intriguing to look at and makes more people want to purchase the clothing because it looks more appealing and inviting. This image doesn’t follow the rule of thirds because the models are not directly in the centre of the image which in some ways does make the image less appealing and less aesthetic to look at because there is no leading lines and no focal point of the image. The colour in the models clothing is what draws your eye to the image. The layout of this image is not aesthetically pleasing because the camera is looking up which makes the whole image look of centre and the model on the left hand side is not sat straight and is at an angle which makes the composition confusing to look at.
Why I’m using Elaine Constantine?
I’m using Elaine Constantine as my first artist case study because she is a fashion photographer and she uses very bright, vivid clothing to make the models she uses stand out and purposefully uses a blank background so that the clothes stand out more, I’m going to do this in my photoshoot and wear colourful clothing that stands out against the locations I’m going to for example I’m going to wear a 70’s style outfit and take the photoshoot against the backdrop of the white house at St Ouens, so it stands out and really showcases the outfit.