Alexander Khokhlov is a Russian photographer who often works alongside a successful makeup artist. The reason I chose his work to be in my extended photographer research is because I love nearly all of his images, through the bold colours and the creative compositions. His work has stood out to me as some of the best that I have studied through his creativeness and the different techniques he applies in photographing and by using editing software such as photoshop in order for it to stand out to me. He also takes images of several different topics and all of the different photographs are placed into different themes. For example, one of his most acclaimed piece of work, '2D or not to 2D' features several portrait images on a number of different studio backgrounds while the makeup and composition of the image is different. He creates a look which appears to be unreal, while actually, the makeup is so advanced that it is real, in this set, he features some images which have distorted colours through photoshop but nearly everything is real.
Bio:
Alexander Khokhlov and Veronica Ershova is a photographers duo world renowned for it’s creative projects. Unconventional ideas and daring approach to common shootings are their calling card.Most talked-about series Weird Beauty: 2D or not 2D were created in collaboration with famous russian make-up artist Valeriya Kutsan. Mix of face art, photography and post-production allowed to create optical illusions. 2D or not 2D series were included in DesignCollections Top 10 Russian Projects of 2013.
 |
| This image is one of my favourite through its use of tone and composition. The use of the white colours is so sophisticated and creates a classy feel to the image. The whole of the image is white, however the selective colour is that of the green which stands out. I like the composition of the image as only half of the frame is filled, leaving the other half with the white space. This is not wasted as it allows the girl to stand out and to see enough of the background. It also makes the girl the main focal point of the image. The use of the leaf and the abstract feathers attached to her head draw attention to her face and make her stand out, I also feel like the way she is looking towards the camera creates a relationship with the audience as we are able to see her looking directly into our eyes. This enables the audience to relate with the female who is the main subject of the image. |
 |
| Again, the use of the white background in this image makes the girl stand out as she has a variety of colours on her face. The colour is one of the formal elements and it is the most common in this image as it contrasts from the white background. The composition in this shot is also well suited as there is no wasted space and I like the angle of the girl in the frame. The photographer has made this image look like a painting, to the extent I had to question whether this was a painting or a photograph. However, the photographer used his make up artist that he had used in other shoots to drop different lines of paint to add a burst of colour to the image in which her entire face is covered in a different line of paint. |
 |
| This above image of Flower Marge is cleverly created through the use of colours in order for it to resemble the famous cartoon character. The rich dark blue background stands out to the yellow colour of the girls skin. I like the portrait shot used as it allows the whole of the hair to be shown as appose to it being landscape where there would be a lot wasted either side. They have used a rich royal blue background as appose to a black one which makes the image more colourful and a bit brighter around her face. There is a small use of the formal element depth as we are able to see the enormity of the hair in comparison to the rest of the females body. |
 |
| This picture comes from the Tables shoot Alexander Khokhlov in which he had had people sat at the end of a table and objects on the table. I love the use of colour in this shot as the green leaves stand out among the white background. The man covering himself at the end leaves the question as to who he is and why his identity has been hidden. There is a use of form in this image as the leaves get smaller as we get further away.
Influence
When studying Alexander Khokhlov, I looked at how I could make my work conform to the complex work that he does. As much of the work that he does, doesn't suit my project. I had to apply techniques on photoshop to make my work conform to his. One of the ways I did this, was by applying colour to her face in Photoshop, this enabled me to explore a range of different colours and make the effect that I applied over the top to stand out more than previously.
Summary
Overall, Alexander Khokhlov is still one of my favourite photographers that I have researched. Instantly, when I discovered his portfolio, I knew that I would continue to love his work as I had never seen someone so talented, without using editing software. All of Khokhlov's work is done naturally, whether it be by using a professional makeup artist or by himself, he always manages to find a way to enhance his work. One of my favourite images by him is his 2D or not 2D shoot, in which by using make up and finding the perfect composition he was able to make a person appear 3D on the image. In the future, I will definitely come back to look at his work and aspire for mine to approach the same style of simplicity his does. |
No comments:
Post a Comment