Masquerade and Tableu- Staging for the Camera

MASQUERADE and TABLEAU workshop

'A Tableau Vivant', French for 'living picture', is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically lit. It thus combines aspects of theatre and the visual arts.'

In this Workshop, we were given the task of creating photographs with a narrative, more specifically, a Tableau Vivant. The audience are left wondering what the purpose behind this story is, if it has a purpose or even just what occurred before and after the photo was taken. Gregory Crewdson was one of the many photographers that we looked at during this workshop. Crewdson is an American photographer best known for his large scale staging of suburbia to dramatic effect. His images are surreal and melancholic, suggesting ambiguous narratives and exploring the boundaries between fiction and reality. 'My pictures are about a search for a moment- a perfect moment'.

I indeed felt a sense of mystery looking at his photographs and they immediately made me think of the film 'Blue Velvet', directed by David Lynch. 

'Dorothy's first song'- Blue Velvet

I saw similarities in the colour palette- deep blues and purples create a film noir scene. His shots, like Crewdson's photographs, are dramatic and cinematic, capturing a moment that has been so intricately composed.  Lynch himself said:

"I learned that just beneath the surface there's another world, and still different worlds as you dig deeper."

This is exactly what Tableau photographs aim to create. Characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect so become absorbed and unaware of the existence of the viewer. Crewdson achieves this in that his photo's are usually rather surreal and disturbing. They are so elaborately staged, it would be like walking onto a motion picture film set- with extensive crew members and large lighting scenes using motion picture equipment. Reading further, i found out that Crewdson has actually cited Blue Velvet as having influenced his style and it goes without saying that the influence is prominent in his work. He straddles the divide between life and death, which ultimately creates an ethereal/other wordly atmosphere.

In this first image, it very much feels as if the camera is completely separate to the events happening in the shot. Because the window acts as a border, you feel hidden from what looks like an abduction. I assume this because of the concentration of light on the subject and the clear control it has over the person in the photo. They stand completely vulnerable and open to this light, they don't put their hands up to cover their eyes. It's a rather hypnotic scene. You can tell also that the window is purely just to frame the image, as it's out of focus. It condenses the action and makes the audience focus in more on the scene. They notice more because the camera is telling you what to look at. The colours are quite cold which adds to the ethereal feeling trying to be conveyed. Crewdson's photography has been described as 'a transcending mix of lively pigmentation and morbid details within a traditional suburbia setting'. This is and apparent theme within his work, as a lot of his images feature the same sort of transcending light.

Again, the light is illuminating the main subjects in the foreground and leaving the audience to discover the other people and objects shadowed in the background. Crewdson is making it clear where he wants the audience to being their visual journey. We don't know where the light is coming from or why it's focused on these people but that leaves the photo ambiguous and the audience can interpret it for themselves. I like the clear intricacy of each shot yet it's amazing how playful they come across. He completely comes into his own world and creates something so normal yet so other worldly because of this mysterious lighting.

In this shot, the lighting is used in a different way from the previous ones shown but it's still just as effective, if not more. It highlights various parts of this rather eerie room so the eye is unsure of where to begin this story. The girl sitting upright is more directly in the light than the girl laying down so we assume she's our main focus. We are left wandering what it is she is looking at and why? Each of Crewdson's images seems to show his subjects being completely encapsulated by this mystery light and it's frustrating not knowing the reason behind it. But that frustration encourages you to look closer.

The silhouette of the tree is almost a great beast towering over the subject. You can see more of the light in this image and can quite clearly tell that it's coming from the sky. What i love about this image is the pools of light in the background that create a path down the street for your eyes to follow. I also like how the houses are illuminated. There are people in but they are completely oblivious to what is occurring outside. That separation is very effective as it reinforces Crewdson's distinction between fiction and reality. 

Another artist we focused on who explores the theme of 'Masquerade' was Annie Leibovitz.

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

Leibovitz is a well renowned American photographer who is best known for her portraits- particularly of celebrities, who she often shows in intimate settings and poses. 

Like this portrait of Angelina Jolie, for example. Simple but beautiful. However, for this blog i'm focusing on her less conventional photographs that depict fictional scenes with extensive sets, rather like Crewdson. Like the one below:

There's obviously a lot of post-production that goes on after Leibovitz is satisfied with what she's captured on the shoot. It just shows that she has to be confident that what she imagines on set will come across well in post-production and the outcome will be how she pictured it. A lot of trust goes into her work.

Annie Leibovitz- 'David Byrne'

We put all the skills we had learnt in the Flash induction to the test. We set up the Bowen's Flash head, along with the Sekonic Flash Meter and chose a Tableau image to re-create as a group. The first portrait we chose was of Laurel and Hardy. We had to try and get the composition as accurate as possible. I think gauging the position of our shadows was the most challenging as we had to keep adjusting the artificial light to catch the subjects and background at just the right angle. In the photograph we were referencing, Laurel and Hardy were both wearing bowler hats which we unfortunately didn't have access to. However, we improvised by putting my hair in the highest bun possible and using Will's coat and hat- out best attempt at getting into character. 

As we go through these first few images, you'll see the exposure get lower and lower. We were simply experimenting and trying to find the right balance of light. The first image is far too over-exposed that you lose the detail in the subjects faces: 
(I couldn't find the exact Laurel and Hardy portrait to reference from however)

Laurel and Hardy

I'd say this image below is a good level of exposure compared to the initial shot above:

I however, like the beginning of the shadow that is being cast from the right. It gives the image depth:

In this photo, we were testing how far away we needed the camera to be from the wall so we could get the positioning of the shadows correct. 

The image below is a split image because we were seeing how far we could push adjusting the shutter speed. This resulted in one half of the photo being completely blacked out which, in itself, was an interesting concept but just not what we wanted for this particular shot:

|Samuel Fosso
'African Spirits'
2008, Printed 2009





Shots inspired by the second image we chose. In this portrait, no shadow was cast onto the background so we had to change the positioning of the light. We also brought in a second one to put in front of his face, attempting to create a shine effect- create little pools of light:

Using the Sekonic flash meter to sync the camera with the Bowen's Flash Head and calculate the shutter speed along with the aperture:

As the image we were referencing was in black and white, we decided to give that a go to see if we could get closer to the actual photograph.

This shot was a little over-exposed but this was because we were playing around with shutter speed to try and get that glow on his face. We manged to achieve it slightly on the tip of his nose. You can just about see the light concentrated on that one area. We were also testing out reflectors to bounce the light onto specific parts of his face. We benefited from this a lot.

There's not much detail on her face in this image as the shadow is cast across most of it. The light is more focused on her left shoulder. There's an effective diagonal line that cuts through the photo  on the white wall behind her, which almost splits the image in half. The lighting is so completely different on either side of her, as it is on the wall. You can see the reflector intruding in from the left but this shot was purely just for experimentation so we didn't mind that.

Twiggy
by Barry Lategan, 1966



Our Interpretation:

Overall, I really enjoyed this workshop because of how interactive it was. Having access to reflectors and the soft box allowed us to achieve the kind of lighting we needed, making our lives that little earlier. I was satisfied especially with these last few photographs because they are well composed, having the subject centrally in the image with the right amount of negative space behind them. The lighting also really compliments their complexion.