Within my virtual galleries, I made sure not to overcrowd the gallery with too many photos as I wanted them to look clean and simple to give more affect. Each photograph represents the theme of union through the combination of subjects and body parts. I am very happy with the layout of my galleries and the way I have presented union through surrealism.

Overall, I have enjoyed portraying unity through my photographs as it has been an interesting theme to work with. The main thing I regret doing was taking too little photoshoots, as I didn’t have many photos to work with. I think that my planning and preparation supported the structure of my photoshoots and editing, helping me stay organised. I believe that my editing within Photoshop is of high quality and really presents unity within the surrealist photographs.

In my statement of intent, I stated that I wanted to express unity through surrealistic images as a way to show combinations of faces and body parts. I feel as though I have succeeded this as I have used the photographic technique double and multi-exposure to create these images. I have also linked back to my artists quite well and used inspiration from them as I feel my images are similar to both Ray and Ingberg’s. To do this, I edited all of my images black and white, same as Ingberg, to reflect my inspiration from his photography. Whereas, Man Ray inspired me to combine faces with hands, using double exposure to present this idea.

Here, you can see the similarities between my photo and Man Ray’s. I have used him as inspiration to merge hands on top of someone’s face. Similarly, I also edited my image to be black and white. It is clear that I have taken inspiration from both of my artist references.

Finally, I am happy with my final images as I feel as though they link really well to the theme, and my photos clearly show the relationship of union within surrealism photography.

Final photos to use for mounting:

Experimentation in photoshop for my layout:

For my mounting, I will be presenting my photos on black mount board. Each photo will be raised as I will spray mount them onto it’s own individual white mount board, before using double sided tape to stick them onto the black board.

Final layout presentation:

After editing:

Throughout all of my photoshoots, I have kept my edits in black and white as they continue to link with both of my artist references and look more unique when edited in photoshop. The enhanced contrast and tones create a sharp looking, clear and textured image, with depth through the contrast of black and white.

Photoshop edit process:

Edit 1:

Photos I will use:

Firstly, for both of these images, I used the quick selection tool to select the subject of the image. I then right clicked and pressed ‘layer via copy’ to transfer the image onto the main one. These actions lead me to this, where I am able to move the subject in different layouts:

Once I decided on a layout that I liked, I changed the opacity of the two overlapping images.

Final edit:

Edit 2:

Photos I will use:

For this edit, I am attempting to merge the two photos together, to make it look like they have two different facial expressions. So, I copy and pasted the second image onto the initial one where I can experiment.

Finally, I used to eraser tool to remove the harsh line that separates the two images.

Final edits:

Evaluation:

Overall, I think these edits are my least favourite, as I feel they were difficult to edit and merge together. I won’t be using these for my final prints when I collect my favourite ones and present them on mount board.

My plan:

Contact sheet:

First of all, I went through the contact sheet of this photoshoot and divided the photos into three groups:

1 or 2 stars = Red- the worst photos and I will most likely not use them.

3 stars = Yellow- photos that aren’t the best quality but I may use them.

4 or 5 stars = Green- my best photos and will definitely use.

This supported my organisation skills within the photoshoots so I could keep a structure.

For this photoshoot, I kept the same routine with my photos so that they were all similar, and clear when being used. I used the photography studio to take photos for this photoshoot, using both the black and the white backdrop, creating a variety of similar but different images.

My best images:

Before editing:

After editing:

For this photoshoot, I am going to edit the subject’s faces together to create a sense of unity through the females and their similar or unique facial features.

Photoshop edit processes:

Edit 1:

I used Adobe Photoshop to edit all of my photos.

The photos I will use for my first edit:

First of all, I selected the subject on both individual images and right clicked to choose ‘layer via copy’.

Then, I transferred the copied layers over onto a new, blank document in Photoshop and experimented with a few different layouts.

But I preferred this one the most:

Onto the final image I will use for this edit:

I repeated the steps from before for this image also. I selected the subject and right clicked ‘layer via copy’.

Then, I transferred this image onto the same document as the other two portrait photos and made it smaller to fit behind the subject’s heads.

I liked this layout so I decided to experiment with different opacity’s and filters for the background image.

Final outcome:

Edit 2:

For this edit, I used the same subject but three different angles of her head where she is looking in opposite directions, so that I can merge the images together.

The photos I will be using:

I selected the subject for all 3 images and transferred them onto a blank new document.

I then experimented with the layout of the images and once I finalised the layout, I decreased the opacity of the background images.

Final outcome:

Edit 3:

For this edit, I wanted to incorporate hands to merge with faces. Therefore, in the studio I took a few photos of different hand shapes which I thought would be useful to edit onto the subject’s face.

The photos I will be using:

Firstly, I kept the image of the subject’s face (the background image) the same, as I did not need to transfer the photo onto a new document.

I then selected the hands using the quick selection tool. Finally, I transferred them onto the image of the subject’s face where I continued to experiment with the layout and opacity.

Final outcomes:

To create the different affects on the hands, I used the filters I can access through Photoshop, as well as changing the opacity.

Sideways hands: Filter: Screen Upwards hands: Opacity: 60%

Sideways hands: Filter: Darker colour Upwards hands:

Opacity: 60%

Sideways hands: Filter: Divide Upwards hands: Filter: Screen

Opacity: 100%

Sideways hands: Filter: Divide Upwards hands: Filter: Overlay

Opacity 100%

My plan:

Contact sheet:

I started by selecting my favourite images and giving them 4 or 5 stars, meaning they would be colour coded to green. Then my least favourite/ worst were given 1/2 stars and colour coded red. Finally, the rest of the images were given 3 stars and colour coded yellow, which means that they weren’t the best photos but can still be used. This helped me to stay organised with all of my photos.

For this photoshoot, I used the studio with the professional lighting and backdrop, as I felt my images would come out clearer and easier to use and edit.

My best images:

Before editing:

After editing:

I decided to edit all these images in black and white using similar adjustments so that they look simple and sharp, which will support my editing process in Photoshop. The black and white tones exaggerate the shadows around or within the subject, adding depth to the image and enhancing the texture.

Photoshop edit processes:

Edit 1:

Initial edit:

To edit this image, I imported the edited black and white image from Adobe Lightroom Classic to Adobe Photoshop. I then started by cutting out the subject’s body (using the quick selection tool) and placing it onto a new blank document.

I then selected the background layer and used the paint bucket tool to create a black background behind the subject.

However, I wasn’t pleased with how it turned out, so I decided to remove the subject’s neckline in order to create a clear, surrealistic image. To do this, I used the selection brush tool to carefully remove the neckline, as this tool was easier to use rather than the quick selection tool for a precise cut. Once the neckline was completely coloured in, I pressed ‘Delete’ on my keyboard, which removed the selected piece.

Final outcome:

Edit 2:

For this edit, I am planning on blending these two images together to create one, where the subject is portraying opposite facial expressions and direct/indirect eye contact.

Initial edit:

First of all, I started with the first image in Photoshop. I used the quick selection tool to carefully select the outline of the subject’s face and body:

Onto the second image, I repeated these steps in Photoshop:

Now that the colour is selected, I placed the paint bucket tool onto my selected layer (background).

Finally, I experimented with the layout of the images, as well as the opacity:

Final edit:

Evaluation:

Overall, I am really happy with how these images turned out as they link really nicely to the theme of union. I feel that surrealism reinforces this idea around unity because it is the photographic process of bringing things together, which I have tried to attain in my photos. I am also glad that I created a plan before taking the photos as it supported my organisation within the photoshoots.

My plan:

Contact sheet:

Firstly, I went through my contact sheet and organised the photos into different groups:

1 or 2 stars = Red- the worst photos and I will most likely not use them

3 stars = Yellow- photos that aren’t the best quality but I may use them

4 or 5 stars = Green- my best photos and will definitely use

This way of sorting my images helps me to keep them organised.

For this photoshoot, I went to the photography studio, as I planned, to experiment with different ideas and images that could be successful to edit for surrealism. Within the photos, I decided to keep these images as portraits of the subjects, as I would like to experiment with different tools in Photoshop, using inspiration from Tommy Ingberg’s Surrealism photography.

My best images:

Before editing:

Man Ray (born 1890 – 1976) was an American visual artist, who spent much of his career in Paris. He was best known for his pioneering photography and was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is also noted for his work with photograms (photographic image made without a camera), which he called “rayographs” in reference to himself. He was the son of Jewish immigrants, where his father worked as a tailor and his mother was a seamstress. He studied architecture, engineering and art, and became a painter. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above everything else.

Examples of his work:

Ray wished to distance himself from his family, yet he felt a connection to tailoring as it was a form of art. Growing up, he always displayed artistic and mechanical abilities. In 1904, Ray started attending Brooklyn’s Boys’ High School which provided him with a strong education and which he learnt basic art techniques. While he attended school, he educated himself with frequent visits to local art museums. After his graduation in 1908, Ray was offered a scholarship to study architecture but chose to pursue a career as an artist instead. Man Ray’s parents were disappointed by their son’s decision to pursue art, but they agreed to rearrange the family’s modest living quarters so that Ray’s room could be his studio. Man Ray stayed and lived in the family home over the next four years. During this time, he worked steadily towards becoming a professional painter. Man Ray earned money as a commercial artist and was a technical illustrator at several Manhattan companies.

Ray’s artistic beginnings started during the Dada movement. Shaped by the trauma of World War I and the emergence of a modern media culture, Dada artists shared feelings of disappointment with traditional modes of art making and often turned instead to spontaneous experiments.

The Dada movement:

Dada or Dadaism was an anti-art movement that developed in 1915 with context of World War 1 and the earlier anti-art movement. Early areas for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had spread to New York City and a variety of artistic centers in Europe and Asia. To develop their protest, artists tended to make use of nonsense and irrationality.

The art of the movement began primarily as performance art, yet eventually lead to visual, literary and sound media- including sound poetry, cut-up writing and sculpture. Dadaist artists expressed their discontent toward violence, war, and nationalism and maintained political connections with radical politics on the left-wing. Ray was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal.

In 1915, Man Ray had his first solo show of paintings and drawings after taking up residence at an art colony in New Jersey, as he had moved out of his family home in 1913. He produced his first significant photographs in 1918, after initially picking up the camera to document his own artwork.

Surrealism:

Man Ray’s experiments with photography carried him to the center of the emergent Surrealist movement in Paris. Led by André Breton, Surrealism sought to reveal the uncanny truth beneath familiar appearances in daily life. Man Ray proved well suited to this type of art, which led to him being represented in the first Surrealist exhibition with many artists, including Pablo Picasso, at the Galerie Pierre in Paris in 1925.

The Second World War forced Man Ray to return to the United States, where he lived in Los Angeles from 1940 to 1951. From this, he focused his creative energy on painting.

Tommy Ingberg is a self-taught photographer and visual artist known for his work in both fine art and commercial photography, born 1980 in Sweden. Ingberg particularly focuses his photography around surrealism and conceptual imagery. His work often evokes a sense of drama and depth, using bold contrasts and creative compositions to explore themes such as identity, emotion, and the human experience. His photography usually features strong tones and shadows to evoke intense emotions and portray cinematic or surreal quality.

I am using Ingberg as my artist inspiration as I feel his photos evoke deep emotions and I would like to portray this through my photography. I will also be editing my images in black & white to reinforce my inspiration on Ingberg’s photos. I will also attempt to represent unconscious ideas, dreams, and emotions, similarly to Ingberg.

Ingberg: “For me, surrealism is about trying to explain something abstract like a feeling or a thought, expressing the subconscious with a picture. For my work I use my own inner life, thoughts and feelings as seeds to my pictures. In that sense the work is very personal, almost like a visual diary. Despite this subjectiveness in the process I hope that the work can engage the viewer in her or his own terms. I want the viewers to produce their own questions and answers when looking at the pictures, my own interpretations are really irrelevant in this context.”