Weird and Wonderful: Brooke Shaden

Brooke Shaden was born in 1987 in Lancaster USA. She started to develop her love for photography in the year 2008. She began creating self portraits for ease and control over her images. She attempts to place herself within worlds she wishes she could live in, to make the impossible, possible. Her photography questions the definition of what it means to be alive.

Moodboard on Brooke Shaden

In this photograph, it shows a simple composition. The subject of Shaden herself are in two forms, both stemming from one. The photograph has either been composed with two different shots, or by using a slow shutter speed to create the illusion of there being two of the same person within the shot. Objectively, Shaden is in clear focus in both of these forms, therefore creating a more realistic effect to the composition as opposed to the blurred texture you would get when using a slow shutter speed. The background of this photograph, is dark and presents negative space all around the subject. Subjectively, this creates a sense of isolation. The positioning of the subject, are ones that seem very unnatural and distressed, therefore reflecting the feeling created by the area around her. In the foreground, you can see an area of grass, which tells the audience of the location. As it is not overly clear, and we are given little information, this allows us to portray this photograph individually, so what I may perceive to be going on, will differ from what someone else may think is going on. The lighting has a harsh contrast between the background and the foreground. The overall photograph, seems to present a yellow saturation which would have been later added when editing. Personally, this effect subjectively refers to the moon, and the lighting to which a moon gives off. This is also complimented by the element that the photograph is composed at night. Subjectively, I feel that this photograph reflects a dramatic fairy tale. The subject in the dress, portraying over dramatic poses, reminds me of the term a 'damsel in distress'. To me, the pose of the right, portrays a classic stance to which any person would naturally achieve when told to act distressed, whereas the stance to the left of the compositon, to which she is leaning forward, could portray how she is actually feeling. This creates a contrast between fairy tale and reality, a harsh wake up call for someone who expects a happy ending. 

My Responses;

Above are my first attempts at a response for Brooke Shaden. I shot all of these in the studio, using studio lighting. I used a chair for my model to lie on to create the levitation effect. I then took a separate photograph of the plain background. Once the initial photographs were shot, in photoshop, I layered both photographs together and then erased the chair from underneath my model to make it appear that she is levitating. This, however did not turn out as I had hoped. The background photograph seemed to appear a different contrast of colour compared to the photograph with the model present. When I erased part of the chair, the colour did not blend in with the rest of the composition. I then decided to erase fully around my model. The results appear artificial and one that I am not overly pleased with. As an improvement, I need to master how to create these levitation photographs. I will re create this method on location similarly to Shaden. For an improvement, I could work on the movement and positioning of the body. I also experimented with another response, creating two people from one body, taken from a photograph of Shaden's work shown above. I chose to take two separate photographs shot in the studio. I layered both photographs over the top of the other and, again, erased the bottom half to make it appear as if my model has two bodies. Also, an improvement upon this, would to create more movement within the photograph using a slower shutter speed.

Further Developments;

These set of photographs are developments for my response of the photographer Brooke Shaden. Here, I experimented using myself in the studio, expanding on my previous experiments, whilst making improvements. For the levitation photographs, I used the same process as before. This time, I used a slower shutter speed. This slow shutter speed, creating movement in my hair and arms, looks as though I am falling. I left the background within the composition, to enhance the effect, making it look as though I am actually floating on location, which was the studio. I found that the slow shutter speed gave the photographs an added weird element, similar to Shaden. This time, I found it easier to erase the background, as I changed the opacity with the eraser tool, so that the contrast between the two photographs were not as prominent. I found that these were more successful that my last experiment, and I now feel confident in moving on to location, to achieve something similar to Shaden's pieces. 

Final Developments;

These are my final developments for the photographer Brooke Shaden. Here, I went on location to shoot these. For the first photograph, you can see myself within the composition. I am wearing my Mum's wedding dress, as the material was floaty and there was a lot to play around with. Similarly to a piece of Shaden's. I chose a location where there was an open field. I set my camera up on a tripod and my camera with a shutter speed of 1/6. I then proceeded to step out in front of the camera and constantly move around, creating fluid movements with my body and the dress. My dad helped me with pressing the shutter as I moved around. I particularly like this one as there is just the right amount of movement within my body. You can still see parts of my face and my body is in full movement. Also, as I am placed in to the right of the composition, it leaves negative space to the left. I cropped to an appropriate size, yet still leaving slight negative space. Lastly, I added a sepia filter to the photograph relating to some of Shaden's pieces. I feel that this photograph creates a weird yet wonderful mood to it- the elegance of movement that is being created and the location being quite empty. Along, with this, there are other photographs that I created similar to this which are shown below. The last two photographs, I shot in the same location, yet further into the woods. I transferred what I had learnt from my experiments in the studio, to the location. I used a chair and placed myself either standing or lying on the chair. I also used a slow shutter speed once again, so that when I erased the chair, it gave the effect I was falling. I shot the background image, and once in photoshop, layered both photographs together. I proceeded to erase out the irrelevant parts. I de saturated these photographs along with adding a sepia filter. The bottom photograph, is my favourite. This is because, to me, it subjectively creates an eery mood and fits more into the 'weird' element. This is because you can't see my face and my whole body is blurred which creates a ghost like effect. The de saturation almost drains the life out of the subject, therefore reflecting the position that I am making. The results of these create both a weird and wonderful sense and I plan to use this technique of movement within my project.