Multiple Image Evaluation

Creating a multiple image on photoshop, I have learnt, can be a challenge. There is a lot to learn, however the end result can be astounding as shown by my influence for this project, Paul M Smith. I tried to make my images less crass and in your face yet still convey a similar message regarding gender but hopefully relating it to a younger audience. I used the idea of facebook profile pictures and the vanity involved when this particular style of photo is taken, especially when talking about girls. Girls are often criticised for taking photos using their own reflection in the mirror, and I had noticed that this has also been seen with boys also. I decided to play on that and have a boy looking into a mirror but the reflection showing a girl in a 'facebook style' pose. This was in hope that it would show the idea that there has been a finer line, in recent generations at least, between 'gender behaviour' and what is often perceived effeminate. This 'feminine behaviour' is shown more and more by many 'alpha male' young men.

After creating the first image of a boy looking at a reflection of a girl, I decided to see what it may look like if I tried using the images the other way around. I thought this would also give me the opportunity to eradicate any mistakes I had made in the first multiple image. One of those mistakes is the alignment of the mirror. I had not realised until after finalising the image that the mirrors in the two original images are not lined up. This must have occurred during the shoot where the camera was knocked slightly out of position. This is obvious where the two mirrors on either door in the image do not line up as well as the doubling up of the handle of the left mirror door. On the second image, i decided a way around this mistake would be to be sure that when using the magnetic lasoo in photoshop that the selection was just inside the perimeter of the mirror. This worked a charm and allowed my image to look lined up, even though behind the scenes it may not have been.

I think on the whole my images are successful with the second image with the girl looking into the mirror with the boys reflection being more successful. This is purely because this image was probably easier to manipulate as there was less editing to in terms of clone stamping and and creating parts of the reflection that weren't in the original image. this is evident when looking at the girls hand holding her mobile phone in the reflection, it does not look natural barely resembling a real arm. On the other hand, other parts of that same image have worked really well i.e. creating the green wall and the headboard in the background of that reflection of the girl. Lastly, I feel I could have used much stronger, 'stereotypical' models when doing this image as I feel it may have brought the point of these images to the forefront of the audience's minds. The nudity and crassness in Paul M Smiths photographs bring home the point of his photos and I believe casting models appropriate to this concept would have done the same for me.