Lara Jade Photography is a recent discovery that has caught my attention. Generally speaking, I tend to find myself drawn towards an individual piece or two, rather than an artist's works as a whole, but on a bit of further investigation, I found Lara Jade's work to hold a collection of striking compositions for the fashion and beauty industry. I love fashion photography. But what I found even more intriguing was her collection of conceptual pieces.
The images I found are from her online portfolio, and while I had a bit of difficulty deciding which photo to focus on, I found myself gravitating back to the above image, so this is the one I am featuring. The juxtaposition of an almost overly-feminine figure – in this case portrayed by the excessive ruffles and white lace – within a grungy or somehow darkened setting is a common theme among fashion photographers. But what I like about Lara Jade's interpretation is that the effect is not so overtly drastic. She uses faded lighting, screens, and textures to give her photos a worn down and darkened feel rather than the pitch darkness, chains, blood, and old warehouses that you might find from other photographers. Obviously in the digital age, this involves a bit of photoshopping with the texturing along the top and right side of the image to create the effect of a worn, wrinkled, and torn book page. However, I don't see the use of photoshopping on a photo to be a detriment - provided it is done in appropriate amounts to enhance the overall effect of the photo rather than photoshopping simply for the sake of hashing an image up. The texturing in this piece gives the photo a storybook atmosphere – practically that of an illustration or oil painting - that compliments this idea the feminine fairytale character within a slightly unnatural setting. It also presents the image as something of a narrative focused on a definitive character and a story, which I find to be key to this style of photography.
I love this picture! Very cool.
ReplyDeleteGood evaluation Claire. The technical descriptions were really helpful in understanding not only the image depicted but the other work that Jade Does. Your evaluation about how the effects affect the image and its content were also excellent.
ReplyDeleteYour second paragraph is stronger than the first. Watch the over use of the word "I" - that becomes distracting. I can't wait to read your descriptive entry coming up next week, which will build on the strengths you already have.
Good job.
This picture catches my eye every time I scan through the blog, then reading Claires evaluation of it helped me to see it in a different light even more so. Thanks Claire!
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