I was watching boudoir photographer Christa Meola on Creative Live this afternoon and she discussed the process of developing your own personal style as a photographer. Here is one of the exercises she recommended to tease out what your style is or what you might want it to be.
Identify your 10 favorite images. They can be from any art form. They can even be your own. Identify what about them most resonates with you. Are there common themes that bubble up? Find and foment (as in revolution) those characteristics in your own work. Here are my twelve favorite images. Twelve instead of ten, because I wanted a 4×3 square.
From top right:
1. The Japanese poster for Amelie. The cinematography, the set design and wardrobe for this movie are masterful. If you are a film geek, I suggest you indulge yourself and watch the director’s commentary. Jean-Pierre Jeunet does it both in English and French, bless his weirdly imaginative soul. Rewind the crane shot where Amelie is skipping stones and the Steadicam Western dolly shot through the train station.
In the film, reds and blueish greens feature prominently. I find that color combination, especially when the greens bleed into teals, as well as the overall color-grading of the film to be particularly beautiful.
2. “I open wide my eyes but see no scenery. I fix my gaze upon my heart” by Takashi Murakami. I love high tonal and color contrasts in general, but the metallic grey gold background sealed the deal for me.
3. Aliens, directed by James Cameron, is my favorite movie of all time and Ellen Ripley is the pinnacle of the female action hero. Vasquez comes in a close second. Why I love them and by extension Cameron: I saw the film when I was 11. It’s an age when some girls might choose to dumb down their talents to appeal to boys. Ripley and Vasquez command respect from their peers, mostly men, in some gender-equality infused future because they are very good at what they do and aren’t concerned about letting you know about it. Note the CTO (color temperature orange) gel on Ripley to warm her skin and the CTB (color temperature blue) gel on the background. Complementary colors for the win.
4. In my childhood, I very much wished I was lighter skinned. Internalized racism, what can I say? It wasn’t until I was much older that I appreciated how unapologetically dark-skinned and amazing Grace Jones was and is. Again, we have some wonderful color and tonal contrast in this shot.
5. Marv in Frank Miller’s Sin City. Before I saw this, I never knew comics could look this good. I like shadows that go to black. Some photographers want legibility in their shadows, but I prefer them when they are definitive and rich. If it was newsprint, it would get all over your fingers it’s so black. These shadows are not wishywashy and indecisive. They are a vortex that will suck you right in.
6. Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Umberto Boccioni. In the future, when you can customize the casing of your personal autonomous robot, mine will look like this and his name will be Prometheus (Theo for short). The sense of windswept power and movement in the sculpture’s stance captivate me.
7. Antonio Banderas by Herb Ritts. High contrast goodness. This is a reminder that you don’t always need to focus on the eyes in a portrait and that you shouldn’t be afraid to get close to capture the spirit of your subject. No really. Closer. The texture of the smoke is so tangible. It seems as if you are teetering in the moment before he decides to stop showing off and inhale it back in.
8. ? by Mexican illustrator Chiara Bautista aka Milk. Wow. Just wow.
9. Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse. A part of my wedding was inspired by this photograph. My husband and I got married on Lago Atitlan in Guatemala. At the start of the ceremony, my maid of honor kayaked me to the pier where my husband was waiting as I stood at the front of the boat. Thank goodness for balance poses in yoga class, easy lake waves and my wingman for keeping me from falling in. It was epic.
10. Last Supper (Jesus is My Homeboy) by David LaChapelle. By now, you are seeing the recurring color theme. I like my colors bold and brash. I love this photograph because it reminds me of the Illustrated New Testament that my mom got me when I was a kid. My favorite story was when Jesus defends the prostitute who was washing his feet with her hair against the apostles who wanted to chase her away. I remember thinking “I like Jesus. He’s nice to women”. As a lapsed Catholic, this work of art makes me think “I like Jesus. His grace and love are for everyone regardless of race, social class and standing. He hangs with the people”.
11.The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai. I’ve loved this piece for a long time for reasons I don’t remember. It might have been one of the first Japanese prints I was exposed to. I don’t know. It just makes me happy.
12. Mikhail Barishnakov by Annie Leibovitz. It pleases me that Barisknakov’s stance is similar to Grace Jones’ above. He’s one of my first crushes. I used to watch him dance in the Nutcracker every Christmas on Great Performances. This is another portrait that captures the spirit of the subject while not being technically perfect. You see both edges of the backdrop, but who cares? Looks at his reach. A simple backdrop can’t contain him. I wish Leibovitz would go back to taking photographs like this. I think her stuff for Vanity Fair has only gotten more and more complicated, with crazily ornate lighting setups. I miss the days when she had a pregnant Demi Moore do a cover shoot or Whoopi Goldberg in a milk bath.
So there are my 12. I might do this every few months with different art forms because, if nothing else, it’s nice to reminisce about art that moved me and to think about why. The next one will be books.
