Skarbakka and Major

The two photographers I chose to emulate were Kerry Skarbakka and Keith Major. Skarbakka is known for his "death defying" images of people falling in the air. Major is a renowned fashion and model photographer whose style consists of crisp images with strong lighting, mainly all portraits of people.










Keith Major:




One of my Keith Major photos reflects the black and white photo I posted here. I used similar lighting by having the light come from the side/background corner of the photo. This photo was pretty simple compared to other pictures of mine because it required little editing. All I did was reduce the saturation and fix the contrast, highlights, shadows, etc. Keith Major's photos are far from any major photoshop processes, so I think I succeeded in conveying his simplistic style, with the image focusing more on the person rather than the techniques/editing used. My other photo deviates more from Keith Major's style than the other image. I tried his technique of splattering powder/paint-like substances on my face. I think that he had done this to add a pop of color/interest to the photo, and to also show that the model's beauty shines through even though she has "blemishes" on her face. I experimented with lighting techniques by adding in Christmas lights into the whole picture. I think that these splotchy lights unify the picture because they coincide with the splotchy powder on my face, giving the whole picture a pattern of small circles. I also like the monochromatic blue color scheme of the photo, because it gives the image a cool and inquisitive mood.








Kerry Skarbakka:

The two pictures that I took that incorporated Skarbakka's style consist of me falling or flying in the air, which I think is exactly what Skarbakka's photos were like. I then added my own style into each photo, which I think makes each image more personable to me. Skarbakka's pictures often convey the mood of a loss of personal control. I used this mood as an inspiration for my photo "Alice Falling Down the Rabbit Hole". I used the concept of Alice in Wonderland and created an image of myself (as Alice) falling down the hole into the unknown. I distorted the wall behind me to give the picture a more surreal-life feeling (I can tell I'm becoming more and more influenced by Rosie Hardy haha) and added fading clocks to show the idea of a loss of control over time. I think that this photo does a good job in conveying Skarbakka's "loss of control" by showing how I feel that time has escaped me and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get it back. I think that this photo is especially important to me right now because I actually feel this way in real life. I already graduate high school in a few days, and it's really started to hit me at how fast "time flies" when you're young, and I feel a sense of loss because I feel like I'm starting to lose my youth and can't get it back. My other photo reflects Skarbakka's style because it shows me falling, and I can't seem to control my actions. I wanted this picture to convey the idea that sometimes people just hate themselves and want to be somebody else. The picture depicts me literally pushing myself away in the hopes of losing my old self and gaining a new, perhaps more successful, self. To make this picture, I cloned myself a few times and also added in a new sky, because the original sky was washed out and boring. Unfortunately, I had originally covered the parking lot and houses with trees and grass because I thought this distracted from the main point of the picture, but I think I didn't save these changes correctly because when I opened the photo the next day the houses and parking lot were still there. I was going to finish editing the picture at my house over the weekend, but then netstorage wouldn't open, so at least for now, I have to leave the photo the way it is, parking lot and all.