Identity
Artist Gallery
Analysis
Born in 1992, Manny Robertson is a Bay Area surrealist artist from Brownsville, New York and is currently an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) at the San Francisco Art Institute. Unlike many contemporary works of art which seek to separate the digital from the real world, Robertson’s work recognizes the validity of the digital experience as a key and influential part of life by exploring identity and the effect of digital experience on your identity.
Robertson explores the darker aspects of lived experiences using a range of methods. He combines new, modern technology such as digital photography with traditional art materials and techniques such as paint and sewing. This use of mixed media can also be seen in my previous artist Annegret Soltau, who depicts her identity in her work using both digital photographs and sewing. Robertson however uses his artwork to translate problems such as Cyber-mysticism, post gender futurity, and physical harm. In this image in particular Robertson focuses on insecurities (as he does in much of his work), and how people try to hide themselves. This is emphasized in both the use of the layered photo as a mask, hiding aspects of the model, but also the way in which the subject beneath the image has clothes on whereas the model in the layered black and white image does not. This signifies the vulnerability that people feel, especially in the modern age when many of our insecurities are amplified by social media and false representations of what people are meant to look and feel like. Robertson layers the subject’s face to represent how mental illnesses can make people wear a mask. In his photos he depicts stripping away and removing the mask making his artwork especially powerful and evocative. From analysing this image, I have learnt about the importance of symbolism in work and how key aspects of a piece of art can express so much to a viewer whilst explicitly spelling out their meaning. This relates to my theme of identity as it explores the more vulnerable parts of our identities that we wish to hide from others in the form of the model’s face as a mask and other significant features of the image.
This photo appears to have been taken inside with artificial lighting as the subject’s surroundings are well lit. This suggests the use of soft boxes or two sources of light facing the subject from either side, as there are no shadows in the image. Robertson also probably uses a lower aperture as the focal point of the image is in focus whereas the background is blurry, and it has a fairly shallow depth of field. Furthermore, this image has a longer shutter speed and a low ISO as it is relatively bright and is not grainy, making it more vivid. His images are probably taken using cold/cool light as such lighting is closest to daylight and makes the image appear bright.
In Robertson’s photos in general, and this one in particular, the focus is on the subject (a model) as they are the clearest area of the image. The model however does not create any shadows as the light, which is soft and artificial, is direct and head on with them. The dominant lines in the photo (created by the thread) are straight and emphasize features of the subjects face and body both by outlining and filling them in. Repetition can be seen in the photo as the image itself is composed of two pictures of the same person. This creates emphasis on the subject of the image. Although this photo shows very few examples of 2D shapes, it does have 3D forms. The colourful lines of thread sewn into the image are examples of such 3D shapes. The texture of the image appears mostly smooth other than the thread that protrudes the paper. This image depicts a variety of tones as not only is there a white background, but also the subject is made up of two images, one in colour and the other in black and white. This creates contrast between the subject and the background, as well as the between the two aspects of the subject. The contrast between the grey side of the face and the vibrancy of the rest of the image, as well as the black stitching, adds a mood of sadness and depression to the photo. Robertson has used these colours as grey is often associated with loss or depression, thus creating an overarching tone of melancholy and gloom to the image. The use of grey as the dominant colour in the image also draws in the viewer with its boldness, whilst interesting them with the representation of the dark and light side of the subject. The composition of the image emphasizes the subject through the use of a light-coloured background and a darker and more vibrant foreground. This is specifically prominent in the contrast between the white of the background and the dark grey of the subject which further emphasizes the foreground through the use of opposing colours.
Robertson’s images evoke feelings of intrigue in the viewer as to why the subjects appear to be masking parts of themselves and what it is that they are hiding. His photos remind me of those of Annegret Soltau as both artists use mixed media to portray meaning in their photos and use a white background to emphasize the elements in the foreground of their images. If I could interview Robertson, I would ask him what inspired him to make art on the topic of identity and why he chose to use mixed media to do so. I am going to use my knowledge of him in my photos by trying to reflect the meaning of layering the images to create more interesting and expressive photos.
Photoshoot Plan
My plan is for my photoshoot inspired by the artist Manny Robertson. I have created this I order to have a clear reference point to return to when taking my photos so that I know what I have to do and what my initial ideas were. For my photoshoot I intend to take photos of people from the shoulders up facing different directions. I am going to create this photoshoot at home, aided by this photoshoot plan as it tells me what settings to have on my camera and what I need to take my photos. My photoshoot will relate to the artist as I will take photos of people with their heads tilted at different angles and looking in different directions in order to later edit and sew on them in a similar way to how Robertson does.
Contact Sheets
My photoshoot was successful, partially due to the aid of my plan which directed me as to what photos I wanted to take and how to take them. When doing my photoshoot however, I used auto mode rather than adjusting the aperture, ISO, etc as this allowed me to take better photos more easily. I have created 2 contact sheets displaying the 42 photos I have taken. I did this in order to clearly lay out my photos and which of them I will be using in my editing. This is shown through the use of circles which signify the photos I will be taking, whilst the crosses signify the photos I will not be using. Some images are more successful than others as they are in focus and depict good composition; however, others are unsuccessful as they are out of focus and grainy (due to bad lighting and my hands shaking). From taking these images I learnt about the importance of good lighting as it severely affects the quality of your images. I could improve my photoshoot by taking photos of a wider range of models to create more variation in my images. With the photos in my contact sheets, I intend to use photoshop to edit them, making some black and white and layering them above others. My initial photos relate to Robertson as they are of a model looking in various directions at various angles which I will later use to create images such as his which use layering to depict a subject’s face as a mask.
Initial Edits
To create my 10 initial edits, I adjusted the brightness of my images, and made some of them black and white before printing them out. After I printed them out I cut out aspects of the black and white images and sewed them onto the colour photos using multiple different colours of thread to match the colours of my subject’s facial features. This made the black and white images appear like masks which I did in order to link my work to Manny Robertson who sews faces above one another in order to represent how mental illnesses can make people wear a mask. I do not think my work is better than that of the artist as his depicts multiple models in better quality images. To improve my edits, I could have my model make more expressive faces (such as screaming) as this would make my photos more interesting; or I could explore using tracing paper so the images below can be seen. From creating these images, I learnt that it is important to edit your images well before printing them off as you cannot change them once that is done. After having created these edits I am going to print my images off onto tracing paper and sew on top of them in the style of Robertson.
Highlighting Success
I believe these are the most successful of my initial edits as they are most similar to those of the artist. In Robertson's work he sews lines highlighting both key aspects of his models' appearance and their facial features. These lines create interesting shapes and structures which I believe I have successfully replicated in my own work; specifically, in these three images. Furthermore, these images also show good composition as the layered photos appear connected to the coloured ones due to the sewing from the lips and eyes of both photos, as inspired by the artist who frequently does so in his work. I believe the artist’s work is better than mine due to the quality of his images.
Second devlopments
I have created 5 second development edits by printing some of my images on paper and others on tracing paper. I then cut out part of the face from the tracing paper and sewed them onto the other images, sewing between the eyes and lips. These images develop my initial edits as in using tracing paper you can see the images below the second picture when I place the image over a light box. I did this to my images so that you can see both of the photos creating a more interesting and detailed edit. These link to my artist as it portrays faces as masks which Robertson does by sewing faces above one another in order to represent how mental illnesses can make people wear a mask. I do not
think my work is better than that of the artist as his depicts multiple models in better quality images. Next I will be making a physical structure that replicates my first two edits.
Highlighting success
I believe these are the most successful of my second development edits as they are the most interesting. In these three images in particular the image below can be seen quite clearly through the tracing paper, creating more detailed and interesting images. Furthermore, the composition of these images is also successful as the layered images connect well to the base images and appear like separated masks, linking them to the artist as Robertson’s work is meant to depict how mental illnesses can make people wear a mask.
Further developments
For my third developments I have created physical structures of my initial and second developments. I did this to further my understanding of the artist’s work and portray that understanding more creatively. To create these edits, I first printed off smaller versions of my photos and glued them onto card before then gluing them together with a piece of card. I then poked holes in the card and sewed between the facial features of both images. These are different from my initial and second developments as they depict the concepts of both developments as physical structures. These structures still link to the artist as they depict key aspects of his work, such as sewing from one eye to another. To improve these, I could use my second developments as the images I sew onto the card as this would develop the sewing included in my work.
Highlighting success
I believe this is the most successful of my further developments as it looks the most interesting. This structure is more detailed as I sewed not only between the lips and eyes, but also the line detail on the model’s neck. This makes the composition of the structure more interesting and furthers the link between the structure and the artist’s work as Robertson often links the lines he sews on both images used in his work. Furthermore, the images of the model are facing away from each other, creating a more interesting structure overall as the thread detail stretches further across the piece.
AO4
I have created 4 AO4 experiments using tracing paper. I sewed on and layered tracing paper in order to further my understanding of Robertson's work. These experiments link the the artist as they depict the idea of trying to hide yourself, which is frequently explored in his work. One successful aspect of these edits is that in using tracing paper you are able to see aspects of each layer creating a more interesting image (and better depicting the idea of hiding yourself as you only see fragments of each image). However, to improve these images I could layer more of the images and use a brighter light behind them so that you can see through all of them.
Process Log
For my AO4 work I initially intended to sew in-between each image and spread it out like a book as I have done for my Soltau AO4, however, the tracing paper was too flimsy for me to do so. Instead (having already sewed all of the images together at the bottom) I sewed onto each image in the style of Robertson, and photographed them - layering them differently each time - above a white image on my computer.
