Photography can be so much more than the snap of a button. Various methods have made their way into making the shooting of photographs much more fun and interesting throughout the times; Ever thought of how you could play with it; how a photo is shot to make it look unique? Or are you bored of conventional photography and would like to experiment more?
There exists a style called magics of mixed media photography, which put simply, is the usage of various other mediums in photographs to enhance its look; This includes ink, watercolor, and even the burning of photographs to give your work a different feel and look! This use of mixed media is a form of experimentation that can produce very unorthodox yet mesmerizing artworks; We will be visiting some of the different techniques this time around; and see how they have been employed to sell photos.
Forced Perspective
Tribute to Phillippe Petit 2014 by Pejac
One of the more famous techniques and frequently used is the forced perspective technique. By employing optical illusion, it can make certain subjects of a photograph larger, smaller, closer, or farther away than they actually are; You could use this technique to exaggerate your photographs and to give them a better depth. An artist by the name of Pejac uses forced perspective to draw a silhouette of someone and then photographing him like he is balancing on a cloud.
Stitching your photographs
Sewn Found Photos by Lisa Kokin
The stitching of different photos together, photos with no relations to each other, to form one cohesive artwork. In other words; When the photographs are stitched together; it creates this imaginary bond that makes it seem like the photographs are related to one another; The usage of this technique can pique people’s curiosity as they try to make sense of this connection. Lisa Kokin used this technique for this purpose to create a narrative.
Watercolor
Photos can also be painted with watercolor to give this soft magical feel to the photograph. The addition of paint adds a layer of fantasy into something real, thus this media can really make your photo dance between the grey lines of realism and fantasy; Moreover; It does not have to be done to the finest detail to fulfill its job either; some simple strokes can have the same effect. Aliza Razell plays with watercolor on photographs to bring out more movement and stories told by a photograph.
Framing the Picture
An old tactic employed by photographers of the past, ‘Frames within frames’ helps to create focus, driving the viewers’ eyes towards a part of the photograph that is demanding attention. This is done by putting emphasis on areas of the photograph; creating depth in a photograph. This method has been used to execute ideas; and stories and a frame can range from windows to even multiple doorways.
A work of Shadows
Fishnet stockings by David Basanta
A play with shadows can help create illusions and are ways to explore our creativity! By playing with shadows and light, you can create tricky ideas and visualize imagined fictions to life; Add a little experimentation to what you think you can do but with shadows and light and see how different your photographs can become; David used shadows to create clothing that does not exist. You could also use it to scare your friends if you are creative enough because that’s what I would do!
There are still multiple ways of doing magics of mixed media photography out there, you could try your hand at any of them or figure out something new by yourself!
It is such a broad category of discussion and experimentation that no matter how you attempt mixed-media photography, it would be something original that only you could have thought of in this photography marketplace.