1 Volume 2009 - 24 Soura Magazine | Issue
25 AED 25 QR/SR 2.5 KD/BD/OR 12,000 LBP 8.99 $US$/CAN 4.99 £GB 6.90 €EUR 2160 ¥YEN 11.99 $AUS 12.70 $NZ
CONTENT | ISSUE 24 10 soura | issue 24
16 | Johann Pinto 26 | Lauren e. Simonutti 36 | Michal Karcz 48 | Thomas Marquez 60 | Basem Samir 72 | Photography Field Guide 76 | 9 Photoshop Techniques 80 | “MOOD” Bassem Al Sharqi 84 | “Runa” by Joanna Andraos
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Annelie Solis 19-year-old Annelie Solis is a Trinidadian born Artist who has been drawing from the time she could hold a pencil. She is mostly self-taught and has worked with a variety of subjects and materials including, most recently, her camera and Adobe Photoshop. With the earnings from her first solo art exhibition in October 2007 she bought herself her first digital SLR camera. Through observation and experimentation with photography and photo-manipulation she discovered a whole new palette for her artistic expression. In her paintings, as well as in her photographs, Annelie has shown particular talent in her portrayal of the human figure and is drawn to subjects with interesting stories. She works as a freelance artist. Most of her current photographic work has been for her personal portfolio but she has recently had numerous requests for commissioned work. About the Photograph The concept for the piece just came right out the top of my head, she is a muse emerging from the frame in which she was painted. The shot was taken looking over a pane of glass being held over the surface of a pool, and did involve a lot of manipulation using Photoshop.
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A Surrealist Explorer | Johann Pinto
JOHANN PINTO
A Surrealist Explorer
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A desire to learn more every day remains a constant.”
Johann is an amateur photographer who visualizes his images with a touch of surrealism, a theatrical feeling. He likes bringing to life the interpretation of his dreams, fantasies and inspirations through the lens in carefully staged pictures screened with light and details. He has participated in several theatre workshops in his native Venezuela and has attended photography courses in Montreal and London-UK. Photography quickly evolved from a Hobby to an almost full time passion once he immigrated to Canada. The fascinating changes in light and colour through the seasons made him study and accomplish ways of capturing the natural scenarios he marveled at from coast to coast.
Right: Boy Wonder From the series “Boys will be Boys” 16 soura | issue 24
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A Surrealist Explorer | Johann Pinto
No Logic Involved From indevisual work.
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The Dreamer From the series “Boys will be Boys”
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A Surrealist Explorer | Johann Pinto
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Exploring “My Self” My approach with the lens is respect for the subject, with an absolute desire to explore it to its limits - a preference for natural light “drawing power”. No matter how simple or complicated the image, it must draw the viewer to a new world, a new feeling, an old feeling not well experienced. I first conceive the images in my mind and carefully study a way to stage them.
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The intention is to draw the viewer to my world, my dream, not just my image.” Inspired by the desire to send a Valentine’s Day Image to my friends I rehearsed several Self Portraits. I quickly became fascinated with the idea of exploring “My Self”, my capabilities and limitations, my joys and my fears as a warm blooded immigrant in a cold blooded land. Being my own model for a while as the only resource gave me the chance to invite my self to a journey of self discovery, to stage my past and erase its faults, stage my dreams and make them reality, a way of bypassing the judgments imposed on a new immigrant. It became a short spiritual journey on my way to exploring others styles. There is however in self portraits, an element of intimate fun in clicking, posing, judging, developing and printing the subject as one. My inspiration comes from all the surrounding sources and an innate South American curiosity to explore further than the object that may be present in front of me. Back home is the lack, and not the excess of tools, what determines the means. To succeed you must draw on creativity alone. Has the work of some people been inspiring? Yes. Certainly Avedon, Lachapelle, Beaton, Fenton, Jerry Uelsman and Albert Watson Have I emulated it?, I pray that one day I evolve to that level, for the time being they inspire as I learn.
Left: The Choice From indevisual work. Vol. 1 | 2009 21
A Surrealist Explorer | Johann Pinto
We all Went Missing From the series “Planet Earth”
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Transition From the series “Planet Earth”
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A Surrealist Explorer | Johann Pinto
Planet Earth From the series “Planet Earth”
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Noah’s Arc From the series “Planet Earth”
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The Poltics On Injury | Lauren E. Simonutti
LAUREN E. SIMONUTTI
Madness is the Method
I graduated from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, in 1990 with a BFA in Photography. I then moved to New York City where my fine arts degree enabled me to attain numerous positions in the food service, cocktail waitressing and bartending industries. The mid to late nineties introduced me intimately to the world of medicine including intensive care, orthopedics, physical therapy, wheelchairs (primarily single arm propelled), adjustable dial leg braces, bone growth stimulation (a phrase I still find amusing), titanium steel insertion rods and multiple surgeries, as the result of my introduction through and rapid expulsion from the windshield of the car that ran me over as I was walking home on the Lower East Side. The years that followed were comprised of a form of buoyant self imposed exile that absconded with memory, dignity, propriety and a not insignificant amount of opportunity. Recently returned from the dead I am in the process of piecing things together. Throughout it all events, injuries, individuals, dreams, nightmares, life, still life, and visions of afterlife have been faithfully recorded, processed, printed and when necessary toned, painted or otherwise altered. Illness has rendered me housebound and led to a solitary life. I am a creature of past, proof, memory and imaginary friends. You cannot set everything right so you settle for setting it on paper. Some use ink, I rely on silver.
Right: Birthday, 2008 Indevisual Work 26  soura | issue 24
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The Poltics On Injury | Lauren E. Simonutti
The Kitchen Sink, 2008 From the series “Evidence”
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The Box, 2008 From the series “Evidence”
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The Politics Of Injury | Lauren E. Simonutti
Hover, 2008 From the series “H as in House”
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The Politics Of Injury Madness strips things down to their core. It takes everything and in exchange offers more madness, and the occasional ability to see things that are not there. The problem with insanity is that you can feel it coming but when you tell people you think you are going crazy they don t believe you. It is too distant a concept. Too melodramatic. You don t believe it yourself until you have fallen so quickly and so far that your fingernails are the only thing holding you up, balanced with your feet dangling on either side of a narrow fence with your heart and mind directly over center, so that when you do fall it will split you in two. And split equally. So there s not even a stronger side left to win. For mental illness the cure is not worse, because nothing is worse, but is just as bad as the disease. At the end of the end of the rope, after several years of trial and error, prescribed drug after drug, commitments, hospitalizations and 3 inexplicably unsuccessful suicide attempts it comes down to one last try. Sequestered in the house that I had made, a madhouse in its’ own right, only leaving to see the doctor or for food, I am dosed with as much stardust* as a body can take without breaking, trying to balance the threat of organ failure against the redirection of the bio-chemical misfirings that conspire to convince me to destroy all.
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I am aware enough to know the things I see and hear are not real, but that does not mean I do not still see them.
I have reached the point where if I do not have a photograph of something I cannot be certain it happened. So, locked inside the house with nothing else left, I shoot this. Heart & mind, hallucination & dream. I figure it could go one of two ways-I will either capture my ascension from madness to as much a level of sanity for which one of my composition could hope, or I will leave a document of it all, in the case that I should lose. (*lithium really is stardust. It is the 3rd to last element that an exploding star expels before it goes nova. Only hydrogen and helium come after.) (All work 100% digital free. Any manipulations and/or effects are done either in camera (occasionally) or in the darkroom (usually)).
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The Poltics On Injury | Lauren E. Simonutti
Homecoming, 2008 From the series “H as in House”
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Hospitality, 2008 From the series “H as in House”
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The Poltics On Injury | Lauren E. Simonutti
The consequence of discipline, 2008 From the series “The Capriccios”
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The Captive Of All Her Vices, 2008 From the series “The Capriccios”
The Camera Lied, 2008 From the series “The Capriccios”
Leave Me Never, 2008 From the series “The Capriccios”
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Beauty Chaser | Michał Karcz
MICHAŁ KARCZ
The Beauty Chaser
Michal Karcz was born in 1977 in Warsaw, Poland. He graduated from the High School of Art in Warsaw and went on to advertising school. Karcz’s journey into the world of photography began in the early 90’s, but at that time his biggest passion was painting. Painting helped him develop vision that was hard to create. However, circumstances led Michal to leave the paintbrush. And a few years ago, he opened ‘the door’ to his own world with the help of a different key... Currently, Karcz is mastering the art of photography, photo-manipulation and retouching. He is working successfully as freelance graphic designer and photographer in his own studio.
Right: To The Threshold of Silence 36 soura | issue 24
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Beauty Chaser | Michał Karcz
Dreamscape
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Return to Innocence
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Beauty Chaser | Michał Karcz
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Journey To The Undefined Most of my work encompasses my journeys in to the places which don’t exist: places of my dreams, desire and imagination. There are worlds which I want to explore but they are faraway from here or sitting in a faraway dark future. I draw inspiration from many artists and they move me through my senses of both vision or hearing. I can tell that music has affected me the most; I harness it with my work. To me, they are inseparable elements: music and photography. When I listen to music, I envision pictures which, after that, I try to recreate. It helps me take off from reality and ascend into arms of imagination. My second most important source of inspiration is literature. This is what starts my imagination. I always try to create an extraordinary photograph and my goal is to make the viewer stop for a minute, to instigate and influence their emotions and take them away from reality. My interest by photography began in the early ‘90s, during my education at the High School of Art. I began exploring new techniques in analogue photography and new ways of achieving artistic statements. I started working with photography of any kind: mostly black & white. I was learning about old equipment and traditional darkroom techniques, analogue post processing and negative developing but all non-technical things related to cropping, lighting, interesting angles, emotion-generating photography… these I discovered without any additional help. In my opinion, you cannot get it right when you learn it from the book. You need to feel it, visualize the final result, before you release the shutter. In the High School, I learnt techniques, designing and history of art but my style and outlook on those things come directly from me, inside me. After all these years I have finally found a way to show you the world I see, through my own eyes with the help of digital tools and techniques. And I believe: Never close your eyes on beauty
Right: Near Dark Vol. 1 | 2009 41
Beauty Chaser | Michał Karcz
Forgiveness
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Cloudwalker
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Beauty Chaser | Michał Karcz
Antarctic Echoes
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Ultima Thule
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Beauty Chaser | Michał Karcz
The Road
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The Road to Wirikuta
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Introspective Photographer | Thomas Marquez
THOMAS MARQUEZ
Introspective Photographer
Thomas Marquez was born on April, 2nd 1982 in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He grew up under his mother’s roof, close to every member of his French family. His Spanish family on his father’s side has a history which is coloured by their flight from Spain during Franco’s regime. This particular background naturally pushed Thomas to study History at the University of ClermontFerrand, for 2 years, during which he notably found a particular interest for the Vietnam War. To fully understand the world’s functioning and movement, Thomas decided to leave the family’s nest at the age of 20, to study Political Sciences at the University of Lyon, for a year, to finally come back to History and develop his own thesis on the role of a satiric newspaper’s information on Charles De Gaulle’s actions during the Vietnam War. Today, Thomas is still living in Lyon with his fiancé. He is currently studying to pass the French examination to become a History and Geography teacher. Thomas was initially influenced by his father’s passion for photography and he finally inherited from his camera 4 years ago: an old LE NOM This sentimental gift gave him a strong desire to test his ability to express himself through this new artistic mean. His first shots underlined 48 soura | issue 24
his particular attraction for geometrical perspectives,and were all taken in black and white. Such was the case of the ‘tunnel like’ aspect of an old staircase, shot from its bottom. Furthermore, Thomas enjoyed photographing anything that could have a history, and looked heavy and old, hence his preference for black and white. However, Thomas decided to work with a digital camera to develop new techniques and thus bring his work to a new level, by also integrating colourful perspectives. Thomas still works in the same way: taking simple scenes, not needing a specific title in order to make his audience’s imagination work. Therefore, Thomas is working today on portraits, which are all put into a creative context rather than taking people on the streets like he was doing before. His passion for photography remains today very personal. He enjoys sharing professionals’ opinions on his work, which is published on his personal website but has never exhibited or published his photos. In fact, his camera is more like an every day tool to allow himself to escape and express his feelings about simple scenes of every day life, to show bits of history, or to express, even, his relationship with human senses such as: love, cohesion, happiness, but also death, loneliness and torture.
How Many Miles must We March
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Introspective Photographer | Thomas Marquez
Near Death Experience
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Where Do I Go
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Introspective Photographer | Thomas Marquez
Lighting’s Torture
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The Other Dark Side My work has fundamentally emerged with my fascination and admiration of great filmmakers such as Larry Clark and David Lynch, or photographers like Duane Michals. All three of them have the great ability to specifically underline the dualistic nature of every human mind, made out of 2 opposites, based on the greatest paradox of all times. Human psyche is full of contradictions and inconsistencies, which I want to picture to stimulate my audience’s thoughts regarding their own existing dark side. If I have chosen myself as the principal model for my pictures, it is for both practical reasons (the model is more obedient) and above all to plainly state that my work is introspective. Indeed, I have a very lighthearted and playful personality, however
“
I am also interested in understanding and testing this ‘other’ side made out of feelings like solitude, melancholy, or my strong fear of death.
I have chosen a visual aid, which echoes my clear attraction for movies. The triptych and diptych allows me to play with my pictures with both movements and stasis. I specifically like this combination since it allows my audience to totally let their imagination flow on the basis of their own lives and experiences, and invent their own ‘before’ and ‘after’ of the scene they are watching.
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Introspective Photographer | Thomas Marquez
Wait in Vain
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Maybe there’s God Above
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Introspective Photographer | Thomas Marquez
Bad News
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Introspective Photographer | Thomas Marquez
Sweet Escape
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A Spontaneous Character | BASEM SAMIR
BASEM SAMIR
A Spontaneous Character
Basem Samir is an Egyptian architect and a freelance photographer, graduate of faculty of fine arts 2006, started to practice photography 3 years ago. Had ambitions to become a professional and for that he continued to learn and practice. He created a series of conceptual shots that made their way into a number of exhibitions. Photography is like a personal diary to him, through which he used his talents to present his own feelings and thoughts.
www.basemsamir.com
Right: Am I?
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A Spontaneous Character | Basem Samir
Nightmare
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Nice To Meet You
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A Spontaneous Character | Basem Samir
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Led By The Passion I am currently working as an architect and a freelance photographer. Ever since I was a student my major focus has always been revolved around achieving success in my architecture career. I also had several approaches towards photography and phtotoshop associating it with architchture. With the time my interest in those two mediums increased and through my spontaneous character I started involving my emotions and personal experiences in creating a new direction for myself through photography, reflecting my inner feelings and thoughts. This triggered my concern of my future career, either to continue in the architechture field or focus more on my new passion, with the time I came to a conclusion that my main interest was actually the conceptual approach in both fields. Therefore I started with my minimum resources to create my own studio using my premature photoshop experience beside the support of my friends who offered to pose for me. I also joined two online art communities, both of which I received feedback from proffesional photographers from all over the world who helpled me develop and upgrade my skills and tools in photography. Eventually I had a lot of ideas that needed certain lighting effects and space in order to create the required atmosphere but due to my limited resources I started editing my photos through programs such as Adobe Photoshop creating mixed media photomanipulated art work.
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My inner fullfilment was to express and reflect my personal emotions; I would say that this was my window of creativity, through which I unleash both my positive and negative energies.
I had no intention to take this passion for granted and use it in the commercial world. Untill I was offered to have my work published in a local magazine and was given the freedome to choose the topics and concepts that I find suitable without their intervention. It is my ultimate satisfaction when I am able to create a visual reflection of my intangible thoughts and feelings and be able to share it with the world. Am Paranoid
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A Spontaneous Character | Basem Samir
How You Remind Me
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Left Alone
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A Spontaneous Character | Basem Samir
Scattered looking for the scattered pieces of me ... holding the memory of what i used to be
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A Spontaneous Character | Basem Samir
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Trapped
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Field Guide | The Dark Side Of Photography
The Dark Side Of Photography an inspirational field guide
These days we are experiencing a quite large production of photos that have scary, introspective, and dark moods, especially among the personal productions of many photographers. We’ve also seen a growing diffusion of such themes in advertisement photographs and cinematography, usually paired with other powerful themes such as sensuality or mysticism. From this point of view we can even assume that contemporary visual arts are living a new “romanticism” era. Photography itself is searching a way to express the most scary and hidden sides of human conscious and subconscious. The reasons behind the diffusion of such themes have to be researched in numerous aspects of everyday’s life. Probably one of the main reasons lies in the characteristics of our current historic period, dominated by uncertainties and instability. In such moments, perceived as transitional and temporary, the artistic productions tend to be strongly influenced by doubts and fears. It is also to be said that modern medias such as internet are shaping our society and our way of thinking promoting “instant fruition” over complexity, interpretation and elaboration. Combined with the need of emerging from the masses, the adoption of such powerful and immediate subjects in photography follows. Summarizing, many photographers are showing growing interest in subjects that are characterized by dark, gloomy, or even insane aspects. The reason behind this interest may lie mostly behind the necessity of expressing an interior condition of anxiety inside arts and mankind, but there’s also an “avalanche” effect caused by modern medias that motivates artists in producing consumer-friendly emotions with instant impact on the observer to help them emerge from the ground noise. 72 soura | issue 24
the most important aspect of a photo is often the combination of both the subject and the background. We could easily write down a list of common themes that would fit a dark photo, but that would prove to be hardly useful. Photography in general is about making others see the world through the photographer’s eyes, and dark photography is about shocking and impressing the observer: it gets quite hard to achieve such objective when a photo represents something the observer is expecting. This is the reason why the element of surprise is very important in dark photography, as well as in many other kinds of artistic photography. All in all, a dark photo should be characterized by expressive subjects or situations revealing a sense of introspection conveyed by surreal images and even macabre symbolisms.
Understanding The “Dark Photo” Category While almost anyone will understand what “dark photo” refers to, it may prove quite difficult to draw any guidelines that strictly identify what a “dark photo” is. We’ll now try to get an analytic idea of what we’re talking about. As the name suggests, a dark photo does look “dark” indeed. This conclusion follows directly from the fact that the illumination defines the atmosphere of a photograph, and probably one of the most important requirements for a dark photo is that it has to show limited highlights in favor of shadows. Nevertheless the small bright details have a huge importance in the composition. This happens because the attention of the observer will be drawn by these elements, and so the photo has to be well thought with the aim of selecting the proper amount of details in highlight and, even more importantly, the right visual configuration and balance between highlights and shadows. In this kind of photos tones are also quite often very cold and overall saturation maintains moderate levels. This prevents the viewer from being distracted by punchy colors (when present), also providing a sense of alienation from reality. When talking about the subject and the background, it’s not possible to identify a specific class of them that describes what you’re going to find in a dark photo. As always there are infinite possibilities, and furthermore
Darkness From Scratch Up until now we haven’t spoken a single word about the possible meaning of a dark photo. We’ve even taken for granted that such a photo may be meaningless, provided that we consider “the meaning” of a photo as a photographer’s thesis or concept described in the photo itself. At a first glance we could consider a meaningless photograph to be somehow inferior to another one with an elaborated meaning: as we said earlier, the need to emerge pushed many photographers to focus on visual impact. On the other hand, if we leave a bit of skepticism apart, we’ll be able to understand that the meaning of a dark photo is not necessarily a message or a metaphor behind the image, but the image itself. This is often the case because this kind of photos is one of the key instruments for a photographer to express his fears or even investigates his own subconscious, voluntarily or not.
but it doesn’t have to be a substitute. The theme also refers to the overall “style” and atmosphere of the photo, and relates directly to the setting. The Subject And The Setting. Matching the idea and the setting is another fundamental part of how to take a successful photo, and this is related to the fact that the idea and the theme of a picture are strongly connected. Thus choosing the appropriate setting becomes a crucial part of a photo, especially of a dark photo. The most obvious example is a gothic cathedral or cemetery: probably the perfect settings for a macabre or occult theme. Nonetheless dark photography is usually carried out in interiors where the photographer has total control over the elements of the composition and the lightning. This way it gets much easier to achieve the desired visual effect, and the themes may be better defined by the set design. Even though the setting is usually of primary importance in a dark photo, there are many cases where you want to keep it minimal and unobtrusive to emphasize the subject. Empty rooms and ruined spaces are often used to give a decadent look to the photo, while solid dark backgrounds evoke dreamy atmospheres and help estranging the subject from any obvious contextualization or distracting details.
To understand how this is possible we’ll try to have a look at how an introspective and dark photo is carried out. The Idea And The Theme. The first step in the making of a photograph involves always thinking and planning in advance what the photo will be about and what it will represent. For dark photography the main source of inspiration lies in everyone’s mind: dreams, nightmares, fears and imaginations. These are all perfect start points for a dark photo (provided you choose something you’re able to portray). If the idea is too vague or you can’t find a proper idea, it may be useful to focus on the overall theme instead. Finding a theme for a dark photo is often easier because we have many examples and inspirations all around us. Notice that the theme can only give suggestions about the idea behind the photo,
The subject itself often shows recurrent characteristics that are a consequence of the idea behind the photo. If the subjects are persons, the most important factors that have to be taken into account are the dressing, the pose, and what parts of the body (and most importantly of the face) are uncovered. The dressing and the pose are probably the most obvious aspects any photographer would care in the first place: they are often bound tightly Vol. 1 | 2009 73
Field Guide | The Dark Side Of Photography
to the setting and theme choice, and they enable the observer to understand who the subject is and its role in the photo. If you’d ever start a photo session with only these two elements predefined, you’d soon realize that showing more or less portions of a subject’s face (through additional dresses or with a different pose) changes the perception of the whole photo a lot (especially when you’re dealing with few subjects). This happens because a choice in this direction has direct effects on the observer’s perception of the subject’s role, and thus must be planned in advance consistently with the core idea behind the photo. Taking The Photo. Once everything else is in place, the decisive step is to actually take the photo. We cannot really talk about any particular photographic technique involved in dark photography: depending on the idea behind the photo, different “classic” rules apply. This is a consequence to the fact that dark photography defines a class of themes
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A similar approach may be applied with the choice of lightning. It’s often better to plan and set everything in advance (when possible) instead of relying on luck. This is the reason why spotlights and diffusion lamps should be the first choice, while flashlights should be used carefully and under controlled circumstances.
other kind of photograph. As always, postprocessing tends to compensate for limited tools or resources, but when dealing with imagination and subconscious any physic resource may ultimately prove insufficient. This is why dark photography has grown so much with the diffusion of digital photography and computer graphics. From some points of view, this need of retouches and digital editing connects dark photography to fashion and advertising photography: both research the imaging effect more than contents and they often use abstraction, symbolism, and unreal elements to achieve their goals. Despite the debate about how much post-processing can be applied to a digital photo and still call it a photograph, dark photography as we know it nowadays was born on the borderline between digital photography and digital art, and so the post-processing applied is part of it just as the setting and the subject.
Once the photo is taken, dark photography often implies a good deal of digital/chemical post-processing, probably more than any
The amount of techniques that can be used to edit and complete a dark photo is so large it would be hard to even just list them
rather than a class of techniques like portrait and landscape photography, so the proper choices have to be applied based on what kind of photo you want to obtain. In other words, a dark photo may be a portrait with an introspective and scary feel to it: in this case you’ll need to apply the techniques required to carry out a portrait. The only thing that can be generally said is that you’ll hardly need strong telephoto capabilities for such photos: the average range of focal lengths varies from fisheye to 90 mm.
all. Generally they imply the tweaking of the luminance and tone curves to adjust the contrast and calibrate the presence of shadows and highlights, the application of local color and saturation shifts, and even the masking of unnecessary details or elements in the setting. Some photographers push the editing to the point of even adding textures and patterns as semi-transparent overlays on some portions of the photo. Nonetheless one of the most important parts of editing a dark photo is the manual dodge and burn. No tone curve will be able to shape the light distribution as well as the capable eye and hand of an artist. The final step is thus often the selective darkening and lightening of the photo through manual tools available in every photoediting softwares. As a conclusion for this short introduction to this kind of photography inspired by introspective and obscure themes, we can only reaffirm that we’re experiencing a rising interest in powerful subjects and dark compositions as a way to express anxieties and fears or to somehow “investigate” the human’s subconscious.
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Epic Edits | A Photography Resource
WARNING: These 9 Photoshop® Techniques May Result In Great Photos! By Brain Auer
Post-Processing (or photo editing) is often a controversial subject among photographers – some hate it, some love it, and some don’t take sides. But however you feel about it, post-processing can make a good photo great, and it can be fun to let loose every once in a while. Digital cameras produce a good starting point, but post-processing is often where the magic happens.
HIGH CONTRAST B&W I love black & white photos, but I really love a good high-contrast black & white. This method creates a focus on the shapes, lines, and patterns rather than the tones. It’s still important to keep an eye on your blacks and whites – you don’t want to push things too far!
This article is less about the “how” and more about the “what” – think of it as an inspirational motivator. I won’t get into the details of how to accomplish each of these techniques because each technique would require an article of its own. If you’re feeling a little bored with your current arsenal of Photoshop techniques, try out some of these creative postprocessing tricks to boost your artistic style.
HIGH CONTRAST COLOR Boosting the contrast in a color photo can produce some stunning results. Bump up the contrast, play with the colors, and add that sort of “grunge” mood to your photo. This example photo is actually cross processed film (which I wrote about in a previous article), but the look and feel can be mimicked on digital photos too.
© Kris Krug 76 soura | issue 24
© Gregor Winter
OVERSHARPEN Most digital photos need to be sharpened to some extent, but some photos can actually benefit from over-sharpening. This method gives the image a “harder” look and feel to the subject. The example photo also uses an element of intentional overexposure to boost the artistic appeal.
© Brain Auer
HIGH COLOR SATURATION
LOMO LOOK
One way to make your photo “pop” is to really push up the color saturation. Just be mindful of color clipping and banding if you push it too far. Work in LAB color mode for better separation of colors and tones, ultimately producing cleaner results.
The real Lomo photos have a very distinct look to them, but it’s a look that can be replicated through post-processing. They tend to be saturated and toned in a very interesting way, heavy vignette, and strong contrast.
© Anoop Negi
© Sigh Lens
VINTAGE LOOK
TEXTURIZE
Making a photo look older than it really is gives it a lot of character and mood. To get this look, you can toy with color saturation, color tinting, and adding imperfections. Heck, you can even shoot through the ground glass viewfinder of an old camera to achieve a similar result to the example.
Overlay texture to bring in subtle elements to your image. It’s a great way to deal with flat and bland portions of the photo by introducing detail and complexity into it. Textures can also give your photos a random and messy appearance, but in a good way!
©Elaine Mesker-Garcia
© Jason Morrison Vol. 1 | 2009 77
Epic Edits | A Photography Resource
ADD VIGNETTE Some images really stand out with some applied vignette. It helps create a natural frame around the image and it draws the eye toward the center of the photo.
© Neil Kad
ADD NOISE & GRAIN This is another way to spice up the bland parts of your image. Adding noise or simulated grain adds texture and feeling to a photo, and can sometimes produce very “gritty” results. You can also use grainy film scans and overlay the texture for a more natural appearance. As you can see, many of these photos apply multiple Photoshop techniques in addition to other techniques not listed here. So if you see a photo that intrigues you, ask yourself why. If you like it partly due to the post-processing, try to imitate the technique on your own photos.
Brian Auer is a part-time independant photographer residing in San Diego, California. He’s actively engaged in the teaching and exploration of photography and fine art, and he shares his experience through his blogs (http://www.epicedits.com). © Emily Higginson 78 soura | issue 24
Local Event | Art Attack Gallery
“MOOD” of Bassem Al Sharqi Interviewed by Afreen Ahmed
Bassem ALSharqi, a renowned artist in Saudi Arabia, has an impressive list of exhibitions under his belt. His work reflects the vintage style of Pop Art through a mix of mediums, such as collage, spray-paint, and silk screening. Bassem’s art is often characterized by iconic images, such as the Mona Liza or a classic VW Buggy. When asked about the significance of bringing such images to the Arab world, he replied “These images are universal; they no longer just belong to the Western world”. Bassem argues that the subjects he depicts in his artwork are just as recognizable to Arabs as they are to the people of their countries of origin. His goal is to create novel iconic symbols that represent this new generation of Arabs. “My grandma used her sewing machine that was made in China and that is more a part of my heritage than the dalla (traditional teapot), which is considered to be a symbol of Saudi culture.” He asserts that the symbols usually associated with Saudi culture are now outdated and need to be replaced by images that the existing generation can relate to. His art is such an attempt. By representing the contemporary through a vintage medium, such as silk screening, Bassem is “combining the classic with the modern”, in order to bridge the chasm of past and present.
“These images are universal; they no longer just belong to the Western world”. The editor of Soura Magazine met the artist and asked him about his past, present an future plans. Here are a few excerpts: Why and when did you decide you wanted to use Pop Art as your medium? The beginning was with my first “Pop Art” solo exhibition back in 2005. The show was appreciated by the crowd and described as unique and successful. 80 soura | issue 24
Would you say your style reflects an amalgamation of cultures? I believe the Arabic identity must be integrated to this kind of Art. Especially knowing how rich is our culture. It is filled with beautiful subjects that should be taken into consideration and presented in a modern and contemporary style. What or who do you consider your inspiration? Inspiration usually comes from searching and studying the Arabic Heritage. Also by trying to deal with the new artistic movements with a way that suits me as an artist and fits my visions. Do you think your art is reflective of the present generation of Arabs, and how? I think my art work carries a contemporary presentation to a period the Middle east had gone through in the mid sixties. Tell us more about your technique and your art. My technique is based on photography, which through it i try to express my thoughts and ideas. After that the execution of the Art Work is done by Silk Screen which in its turn adds more to the final production of the piece. What do you have to say about the contemporary art scene in the Middle East? The art in middle east has been witnessing a lot of growth since the beginning of the new millennium, which is a result to the rapid and quick changes the arab work is going through. And this indeed effects the artist. In what way do you think art can play a role in representing modern culture and society? The role of the artist is really important to the improvement of the visual world. And the way society deals with this reflects on the artist. Art is a life-style after all which we can’t eliminate from our lives. We all communicate with each others through Art and Artists are those whom control the change and development of a society.
Basem Al Sharqi: Motion in the silent and forgotten! Art Critic by Mohammed Al Jazaieri
“There is neither dam nor veil on eye” Such as involved in live consumption, symbol: Store “gets into our attention, as it is present our practical live, its signals are not forgotten so long as they declare themselves as a necessity and that it define the meaning of commodity not only in price also in quality. It is an abbreviation of the money as a commercial tool for exchange and living not its technical material (whether coin or banknote, assets and their exchange value. This is an impression which can not be construed that equals its price but it is encoded and that such code has taken an electronic from printed in the accounting system and artistic from on the packet cover or price label of the product whether garment, tool, consumer food or industrial, product. It is turned by the attention and conscious of artist and hia attentive graps and mental faculties into composing the picture with its identifications and not its price – commercial price, despite of the fact that regardless its value and dignity as an art, it is also a product and investment tool when the art is commercialized and display becomes a part of marketing This global pressure which is summarized in the market globalization is the motive that led the artist Basem AlSharqi (1976) to adopt the commerciality spirit and turn it into a function as there is nothing free of charge, Hence the meaning gets larger but in the signal conversions and the commercial exchange relation as the picture represents its content, subjectivity and marks at the same time. It is an Extension for its past experience which we will discuss hereinafter as reflected in his works for the ends of year 2006 G, where his intensive study and researching has led him to reflect clear vision and expression, in addition to his extra- ordinary interest and converting it from a neglected thing to art. In terms of color, Basem Al Sharqi has applied in his new works the black and white works and its degrees as the transparent gray as its
shadow going back to the non- color stage which regards the black and white represent all colors in the Painting and not original nor derivatives of the three original colors: Red, yellow and blue. Doing so, it repeats the experiences he has gained from Matts, Paul Clay and Dadaian in their dealing with the white and black colors especially the artist Matts in his turning towards the orientations affected with the products of our eastern civilization of visions. Then :Composition: nature of the composition of the picture ingredients and its elements where Basem Al Sharqi has worked out the structure and composition of architectural engineering inspired by the relief spirit and graphic to make his picture approaching the technology of symbolic walls in all its neglected conveyances of the wastes of the materials of the market, life and its commodity meaning as if he is giving wall posters that condemn the control of the market, consumption and price originated from the trading process and its impressive factors. He is reflecting the engineered and arranged congestion and not arrangement of chaos as if he is constructing a formal building in design, prism and general structure to the Russia Formal School and engineer Zuha Hadeed, where picture does not appear as an enlargement of the price label and its usual code stored in the memory of the computer and salesman) whether central or not, as a visual analogy which is definitely adjacent to that mutual relationship between the human being and market.
Bassem Al Sharqi presents for first time in one man show his most recent work in Dubai, UAE at Art Attack Gallery Art Attack Gallery strives to introduce vibrant local and International artists enriching the communities’ art diversity and reflect this in the eclectic mix in paintings, sculptures and installation exhibited at the gallery. The Dubai gallery is situated in the Jumeirah area between Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Beach Road, Dubai. Vol. 1 | 2009 81
Christie’s | Icons of Glamour and Style
ICONS OF GLAMOUR AND STYLE: THE CONSTANTINER COLLECTION The Constantiner Collection of Photographs December 16th & 17th, 2008 On the heels of the success from December sale, Christie’s is pleased to announce the second installment sale of The Constantiner Collection of Photographs, which will be offered in one session on 12 February 2009 in New York. Assembled by Leon and Michaela Constantiner, this spectacular collection focuses on photography as a key shaping force within the media worlds that have, for over half a century, celebrated fashion, style, celebrity and desire, and features highly sought-after artists, including Helmut Newton, Horst P. Horst, Tom Staebler, Guy Bourdin, Jeanloup Sieff, and Richard Caldicott. Glamorized figures represent the core theme of the Costantiner Collection, with photographs from the Hollywood era of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean to contemporary stars such as Madonna, Tom Hanks and Cindy Crawford. Comprising of 155 lots, the collection is expected to achieve $1.1 to 1.7 million. Offering the most comprehensive survey of Helmut Newton works to come to the market, the Constantiner Collection provides yet further insight into the photographer’s rich career with the top lot of the sale: a contact sheet for Newton’s record-breaking lot, Sie Kommen – Naked and Dressed. Lot 57 TOM STAEBLER Candace Collins, Playboy Cover, February 1980 chromogenic print 13.1/4 x 9.1/2in. (33.6 x 24.1cm.)
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About Christie’s Christie’s is the world’s leading art business with global art sales in 2007 that totalled £3.1 billion/$6.3 billion. This marks the highest total in company and in art auction history. For the first half of 2008, art sales totalled £1.8 billion / $3.5 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie’s conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 600 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million. Christie’s has 85 offices in 43 countries and 14 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Hong Kong and Zurich. Most recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in emerging and new markets such as Russia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai. Visit Christie’s website at www.christies.com
This rare example of Sie Kommen – Naked and Dressed (estimate: $150,000-250,000) – pictured, is comprised of a gelatin silver enlarged contact rint diptych, with each print signed, titled and dated by Newton. Other notable highlights are two prints, Dressed and Nude Model Reclining, Brescia, 1981 and a photograph of Violetta with monocle - Big Nude IX, Paris, 1991. The sale will feature a selection of color photography by Guy Bourdin, including works such as Fashion study, French Vogue, circa 1975, and Tom Steabler, whose work Playboy cover of Candace Collins from February 1980, is the sale’s cover lot (estimate $2000-3000) – pictured right. A group of five prints by Jeanloup Sieff, Fashion and other subjects, 1956-1967 (estimate: $9,000-12,000) will be offered as a single lot, as will five bleach-dye prints by Richard Caldicott Untitled, numbers 166, 168, 169, 187 and 196, 2001.
Part two of the Constantiner Collection completes the offering of the greatest Hollywood sirens of all time, Marilyn Monroe. Her glamorous public image is celebrated, while a range of informal and more intimate photographs build a powerful document of her personality and explore the fragile, vulnerable quality of her extraordinary appeal. The sale will conclude with an array of photographs by André de Dienes, Wegee, Cecil Beaton, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Elliott Erwitt, Eve Arnold, Milton Greene and Bert Stern. With estimates starting at $1000, the sale offers collectors the opportunity to acquire key images of Monroe from every facet of her career. Among the highlights are Alfred Eisenstaedt’s portrait of Marilyn for a 1953 issue Life Magazine, and Wegee’s iconic 1960 image of the starlet as she playfully puckers up for the camera..
Lot 95 RICHARD CALDICOTT (B. 1962) Untitled, numbers 166, 168, 169, 187 and 196, 2001 5 dye-bleach prints, flush-mounted on aluminum each signed, titled, dated and numbered `1/5’ or `2/5’ in st each 50 x 40in. (127 x 101.5cm.)
TOP LEFT: Lot 121 ED CLARK (1911-2000) Marilyn Monroe, for Life, 1950 11 gelatin silver prints, printed later each signed, some numbered ‘6/99’ and titled in ink 10.3/4 x 7.3/4in. (27.3 x 19.8) or the reverse Estimate: $30,000-50,000
Vol. 1 | 2009 83
Local event | Boutique 1 Gallery
“Runa” by Joanna Andraos Interviewe by Afreen Ahmed Joanna Andraos was born in Paris in 1980 and is of Lebanese descent. She was educated in France and Lebanon where focused her studies on both the audio-visual arts at IESAV in Beirut (Institute for Scenic and Audio-Visual Studies) before pursuing a comedian formation at Ecole du Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris. Joanna Andraos manages to balance two parallel creative careers, one in the theatre as an actress and the other in the visual arts as a photographer. Her work represents a fusion of each area of influence which aims to explore stylistic expression within a contained space. Joanna has an exceptional talent for photography. Her photos are not digital, she works with slides, that she manually scratches, then overlays several images without ever using photoshop. She is a fascinating artist as she uses her artistic universe and background to create her own scenery. She doesn’t take a random image that she reinterprets at her liking. On the contrary, she creates the mise en scene that she then shoots, conveying her emotions very skilfully to the viewer through her models, her colours and her themes. Joanna grabs the viewer’s attention by showing an artwork that is not led by some kitsch or political clichés that are sometimes present in Middle Eastern photography. Her art is accessible to all and has great international appeal. The first Joanna Andraos photography exhibition in the “Runa” series took place in Beirut in January 2005 and was also part of a collective exhibition in Paris at the gallery Chambre-avec-vues in September 2006. Joanna’s application of “plastic” photography blends together the different processes of mechanical and chemical manipulations of negatives. Her original working technique provides the subject matter of the camera with a new dimension; forming not just a representation of them but a suggestion. 84 soura | issue 24
The editor of Soura Magazine met the artist and asked him about his past, present an future plans. Here are a few excerpts: How do you think your art conveys your many emotions? When creating my artwork, I need to concentrate on my emotions in order to try to express them through the themes, the colors and models I choose to use. The resulting picture has acathartic affect on me. Would you say the Middle East has potential in the field of photography? If yes, then do you think this region been able to exploit this potential to the fullest? Photography as well as art is still considered to be young in the Middle East. Thereby, the photography as a form of art will take much longer probably because it is mote minimalistic than the tradition forms of art as painting and sculptures, which usually meet the taste of people from the Middle East. Dubai is just
starting to promote art and photography. As I beleive, Boutique 1 Gallery is becoming one of the most important on the current art scene in Dubai. I am very proud that my art work are displayed in this gallery and have the support of such an important gallerist as Fadi Mogabgab. What has been your favorite subject that you photographed till now? It is not a matter of subjectas much as it’s a matter of technique for me. I love to experience many different techniques. Each one of my techniques can be my favorite for a period of time. If I have to focus on a subject, I would definitely focus on women! Most of the time I end up taking pictures of women by a matter of chance. It always happens this way. Tell us more about your modus operandi and your inspiration? I work a lot from fantasmagoric images. I try to work on my pictures in a way so that they would look like a paining. I usually do this by manually scratching the negatives.
What do you think of Adobe Photoshop as a photograph manipulation tool? Photoshop is a very good tool for those who wish to use it; however, I chose not to use it as I work on the negative process. My application of “plastic” photography blends pretty well together with the different processes of mechanical and chemical manipulations of the negatives. How did ‘Engram’ come about? A collaboration was created between me and Caroline Tabet in 2003 in Beirut. Engram means the trace of the memory. How do you think your photography has evolved over the years? I am sure it has evolved over the years but I am still searching for the chemistry process. The “RUNA” collection of Joanna Andraos is currently on display for the first time in Dubai at the new Boutique 1 Art Gallery, The Walk, JBR.
Vol. 1 | 2009 85
Local Event | Art Sawa Gallery
Visual Offerings Written by Roger Lovatt
‘In the Arab world, there is no concept of documentary,’ says Camille Zakharia, a Lebanese-born photographer. He’s recently finished a project for the Sharjah Biennial which he describes as ‘pure documentary’ and has called History Images. ‘I feel documentary photography is seen as an alien element in the Middle East. At a time when change is happening at such a fast pace across the Gulf, I think that documentary should have the strongest importance. Whatever you are shooting now is history, it won’t exist in a few years.’ Zakharia has forged a distinctive style of capturing the worlds that fascinate him. In his series Al Bilad, which took him into the lives of Oman’s fishing and agriculture communities, he refined a warm, embracing and unobtrusive style of taking his shots. Discovering an implicit generosity in the communities there, Zakharia explains that the country of exception to the great changes happening across the region is, largely, Oman: ‘You still feel the need for self-sufficiency amongst the people. I wanted to show how these communities keep a strong grip onto their old lifestyles and this self-sufficiency.’ In nearly every shot in the series, Zakharia’s subject are shown with their hands full, gesturing to the photographer. One sun-baked fisherman offers his catch, another – a jovial looking farmer – extends a handful of tomatoes towards the camera. ‘People were overwhelmingly generous and I wanted to reflect that,’ he explains. ‘There is so much misrepresentation of Arab culture, particularly in the western media. I found a very peaceful culture and I see what I’m doing as a way of bridging gaps in understanding. “Let us give” – that’s the true spirit of the people I found, and a full reflection of the Arab spirit or character.’ Originally from Tripoli in Lebanon, Zakharia moved to Beirut at 17 for a degree in engineering, and has since acknowledged that getting a camera at that time, in the lead up to the civil war, and documenting his life, was formative in his development as an individual. ‘I arrived in Beirut when I was 17. It was the first time I’d left the safe haven, or rather the false safe haven, that my parents created for me. All of a sudden I was confronted by the real world and it was chaotic, for a 17 year old it was too much to absorb. At that time, cinematography was my passion - I went to a lot of old movies when I was in my teens. But there was no art school in Lebanon, so the alternative was to get yourself a camera.
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And that’s what I did.’ With the war starting soon after his arrival, the traces of the conflict began to filter into his photographs and he found himself relying ever more on the camera as a means of ordering the massive changes wrought on life around him. ‘I started to see myself in those images. Even after I’d left Lebanon, eventually settling in Bahrain, my camera has been my best companion. I look back at images that I took 20 years ago and can see how I’ve matured.’ It’s telling, however, when he explains that the idea of himself as a documentary photographer never really figured in his early work. All photographers are tempted by the abnormal in their work, he says - they are drawn to the facets of life that escape the norm and the intrusion of the war into normal life represented that for him. He was not documenting the war itself, Zakharia explains, but rather its subliminal effect on his own distorted, late teenage life and the friends around him. Zakharia is quick to suggest that his engineering background figured highly in his development as a photographer. An interest in buildings and the spaces of habitation that people create within them has led him to a number of projects, most notably a series where he interviewed and shot Omani families on the day they moved into new, purpose-built government housing. Involvement with the engineering project itself allowed Zakharia access to the families and stoked his awareness of their situation. But engineering has filtered into his work in other ways. The other half of Zakharia’s body of work is a number of highly-distinctive collages, formed from cut-up photographs that he has personally shot and archived during his career. ‘Engineering trained my eyes to see the architectural elements and the soul of a building, and to depict what makes a building more interesting. But in the collages more than the photographs, there is a clear element of engineering. You put the foundations, then the colours - there are stages to building,’ he explains. Cultivate Your Garden, a six metre cityscape collage formed from Byzantine frescoes, treetrunks morphed into columns and a whole city assembled from individual shots of buildings in Turkey, the US, Bahrain and Greece, is infused with this engineering aesthetic. As he puts it, there are layers and methods in his work that are very specific to this background. Zakharia has, foremost, forged a career as a documentary photographer born and based in the Middle East. He returns again and again to this idea that an absence of homegrown documentary is detrimental to understanding about the region. Aside from recording the great changes happening, he’s conscious that documentary plays a significant part in affirming difference and individuality. He explains that he’s aimed for just that with his latest work, History images. ‘What I’m showing in these shots is an individuality that does not exist anymore. These are the facets of a culture that is eroding. We look at images in a nostalgic way, they still exist but we know they won’t be for long. We’re moving towards branding, branding, branding and losing an identity. Documentary has a strong element of promoting individuality – promoting the state that we’re in. The people are not blind to the nostalgia we feel about these shots, nor to the mechanising way of life that’s happening around us, right now.’
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BOOK REVIEW
PHOTOCRAFT
Cool Things to Do with the Pictures You Love by Harter, Frankel & Lovett
In the action-adventure comedy Open Season, the first featurelength CG animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, a happily domesticated grizzly bear (Martin Lawrence) has his perfect world turned upside-down after he meets a scrawny, fast-talking mule deer (Ashton Kutcher). Open Season also features Debra Messing, Gary Sinise, Jon Favreau, and Billy Connolly (as head of a rogue gang of Scottish squirrels). Open Season is directed by Roger Allers (The Lion King) and Jill Culton (credits include Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 2) and codirected by Anthony Stacchi (credits include Antz). The film showcases the Computer Generated (CG) animation created by Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc., an Academy AwardÂŽ-winning, state-of-the-art visual effects and character animation company, dedicated to the art and artistry of digital production and character creation. Recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Imageworks has been nominated for its work on Spider-Man, Hollow Man, Stuart Little, and Starship Troopers. The Art of Open Season gives you an inside look at an explosion of color and talent, documenting every aspect of creating a CG animated film, from scripting and storyboarding to layout, animation, color, lighting, and visual effects with sensational full-color images throughout. About the Author Linda Sunshine is a former editor at Stewart, Tabori & Chang, and the author of more than fifty books including twenty-six behind-the-scenes portraits of notable films, from E.T. and Stuart Little to Catch Me If You Can and Frida. She lives in New York and Los Angeles. Steve Moore, executive producer, created the comic panel In the Bleachers, while working at a sports editor at The Maui News in Hawaii. He then took a post at the Los Angeles Times, where after eleven years, he left to concentrate full-time on the comic strip and developing other projects. Open Season is his first animated feature film. In the Bleachers is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. Steve and his family currently reside in Boise, Idaho.
This book can be found in Borders Bookstore, located at the Mall of the Emirates and Dira City Center. A copy of this book is available to one of our lucky readers. Just send us an email with your name and address to: books@soura.ae before December 20th, 2008 and your name will be entered in a draw to win this faboulous book. 94  soura | issue 24
A g ia l Ar t Galler y, Bei r u t A i c on Galler y, L ondon / Ne w York / Pal o Al to A i d a n Galler y, Moscow A l b i o n , L ondon Almine Rech Galler y, Brussels A n a n t Ar t Galler y, Ne w Delhi A r t sp ace, Du b ai Ata s s i Galler y, Damascu s B 2 1 , Du b ai B I S CHO F F / WEISS, L ondon B it fo r ms Galler y, Ne w York B R E E NSPACE, Sydne y B o l s a de Ar te, Por to Alegre C h e m ou ld P rescott Road, Mu mb ai C on t i n u a, San Gi mi g nano / Beij i ng / Le M o ul in C on t rasts Galler y, Shang hai D ir im ar t, Istanb u l D ist r i to Cu 4tro, Madr i d E l e m e nta, Du b ai E d w y nn Hou k Galler y, Ne w York Fil om ena Soares Galler y, L i sb on Fre y Nor r i s Galler y, San Franci sco G a l e r i Ar ti st, Istanb u l G a l e r ie Cap r i ce Hor n, Berli n G a l e r ie El Marsa, L a Marsa G a l e r ie Emmanu el Per roti n, Par i s G a l e r ie Jani ne Ru b ei z , Bei r u t G a l e r ie K ashy a Hi ldeb rand, Zu r i ch G a l e r ie Kr i nz i nger, Vi enna G a l e r ie Mi chael Schu ltz , Mu ni ch G a l e r ie P i ece Uni qu e, Par i s G a l e r ie Tani t, Mu ni ch
A RT D U BA I 18 – 21 M a rch 2009
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