Connecting Essay: Physical Experiment: Gender: Adam Hale

Connecting Essay -
 
Physical Experiment/ Gender -
 

Adam Hale Artwork:

 

 

 

 My photography:

 

 

 

The four images depicted above are the works of the artist Adam Hale and my physically manipulated photographs.

Some of the technical similarities between the above final outcomes is that they have been edited through similar techniques such as physical experimentation and both belong within the sub-group of portraiture photography and even more in depth sub-category surreal portraiture. Hale is a photographic artist much like myself and therefore the process used to form these final outcomes are similar. For instance the use of portraits cut into sections which are cohesively joined with clippings from print mediums and are layered to create ideas about identity.

Additionally, the composition of the images are similar as both feature portraiture which is further experimented through concepts such as the dissecting of facial features to reveal other images such as landscapes. Also, the final outcomes implicitly play with ideas about gender and other forms of identity such as regional identity.  

However, there are some differences in the final pieces that are shown above. One important change is the objects surrounding or replacing facial features that depict various forms of identity. For instance, Hale's first artwork could depict the dangers of a beauty based society such as mental illness like body dysphoria and physical ailments caused by botox etc. The second of Hale's work appears more to depict regional identity and how one is vastly influenced by their home and their surroundings. I chose to focus on gender stereotypes to conform to my previous photoshoots category under personal opinions. Moreover, the composition of the final outcome is different between Hale's work and mine; Hale employs warm lighting and a square crop. On the other hand, I used a much more clinical and sinister cool lighting to depict the oppressive, interrogative like, nature of society on all people to conform to their assigned gender. The reason I continued with a portrait crop was simply due to practicality in that I did not use only the head for my photographs but also a whole shoulders to head layout and this would have been difficult in a square crop.
 

If I was to improve the pastiche of my final outcome then I would experiment with my Photoshop skills to include skills such as filters or colour adjustments to create a similar lighting to that used by Hale. I would also try a variety of different crop shapes and ratios so that my work reflected that of Hale's more than it currently does in reference to composition.

To conclude, there are both similarities and differences between Adam Hale's work and my own in that I was inspired by Hale as can be seen in the composition of my second photograph shown above. Although, I still wanted my ideas to be understood by an audience and seen in a way that has been created from my own ideas.