Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 009

Foreword

"Stay Inspired" is a weekly post on my Facebook Page where I share the work of an inspirational photographer or artist every Thursday. I've been doing this every week since 2013, so there’s now a vast number of outstanding creatives from all genres and disciplines that we've looked at over the years. In fact, I’ve been sharing these for so long now, that even I’ve forgotten some of the great artists I shared at the beginning.

So because so many of these have been lost to time, I thought ‘why don't I try and collate them all into one place for not only myself, but for you as well’.

This is the eighth compilation, so if you missed the previous ones and are interested in an inspiration overload, here’s the links to them;

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 001

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 002

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 003

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 004

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 005

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 006

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 007

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 008

These new posts will look at a collection of 10 artists each and they should prove to be an excellent resource for not only inspiration but motivation as well. With each artist shared, I will include a short overview of their work including things to consider and look at whilst on their portfolio.

Please bear in mind that these opinions are mine and as such are clearly very subjective. I could just share a link but I believe a more personal point of view of another artists’ work may be of more value to you over simply stating their name and age for example. But this does mean you may not always agree with me and I would encourage that. Art is subjective and like music, the best art does not appeal to everybody.

Inspirational Work from 10 Photographers and Artists 009

Davis Ayer

It's that time again, the gear heads and pixel peepers may want to keep on walking because we are about to get creative. You have been warned.

Photography has undergone many dramatic shifts in recent years, from the vast surge of its accessibility to the sheer numbers of people that now actually consume it. If photography is still considered art, then it may well be be the most consumed form of art we embrace day to day.

So in that daily visual noise, how do we as photographers who want to record more than our Friday nights, actually stand out from the tidal waves of baby photos and meal updates?
This of course is the million dollar question, but in short you have to get people to look, stop and actually engage the brain, and that is getting harder and harder to do.
I personally think that one way to borrow your viewers time is to actually get more creative with photography, whether it’s with location, styling, props or lighting, all of these things will help to make a photograph look different and stand out.

One guy who manages to keep every single one of his images looking different in absolute spades, is L.A. based Davis Ayer.

I personally love Ayer's work for many reasons and although we live in a hipsta age, I don't think Ayer is trying to chase the rosy nostalgia of his childhood family holidays from the backlit palm display of Instagram, I think he is truly playing with the photographic art form the way we all should once in a while.

I guarantee he will have hundreds if not thousands of crazy 'almost but not quite what I was after' shots as he pounds his Mamiya RZ with countless double exposures, light leaks and distressed films.

His timeless and playful style is what I love and it is within these miniature 6x7cm pieces of artwork that you find yourself stopping and actually engaging your brain.

http://www.davisayer.com

Kesler Tran

Don't hate me, but if this work doesn't make you want to cry yourself to sleep, then you're doing it wrong.

This week we head off once again to the (seemingly perpetually) sunnier climes of L.A. and look at the gorgeous work of Kesler Tran.

I've featured Kesler's work some time ago, but its certainly worth a revisit as his style has gone from strength to strength and I love it now more than ever. For some reason though I can't really put my finger on what it is that I love so much about this look. A lot of his work is clearly taken on location in the infamous L.A. sun, but although his work has a very dark look and feel to it, you always still have the impression that the image is taken in blindingly bright light. This contrast is very difficult to achieve effectively and yes there is some gorgeous post pro involved here, but perhaps only that L.A. light has that quality because you will see a similar style from many other L.A. shooters.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I really need to look at playing with this level of contrast as I believe it’s harder than it looks. The highlights are always so glossy and the shadows are always so deep, you need to have a very keen eye for composition and lighting to pull this off as effectively as Kesler.

For those that are interested it seems Kesler Tran is a Sony guy through and through and he's come from the Sony Nex7 to the Rx1, the A7 and now on the full frame beast of the A7II.

I only mention these cameras as I very rarely come across Sony shooters and even rarer are Sony only shooters too so I must say I am blown away by these images from a camera that you can nearly fit in your pocket. (Edit: Please remember that this was originally written in 2015 - Sony shooters are everywhere now, but they were far rarer back then)

Let me know what you think and if you're a Sony shooter let me know what you think compared to some of the other brands.

http://keslertran.com

Camilla Akrans

I've just finished reading an interview with Camilla Akrans on the Fashionography site before I decided to revisit her work with a new insight into an outstanding fashion photographers visual process.

I would strongly recommend you do the same as Akrans explains her design background her obsession with flowers and her thoughts on casting models.

Looking at her work again I was definitely moved by her graphic eye and her ability to somehow see colours in monochrome (remember monochrome means one tone not specifically just black and white) and the power that single colour can have across a story.
I also hadn't noticed her obsession with flowers, but upon revisiting the site it seems nearly every campaign has a subtle balance of nature throughout, again something that is very tricky to pull off at this level especially when you are faced with complementing the beauty of a model over drowning her out.
Is this a delicate quality of female photographers or have you seen this achieved by male photographers too?
Definitely try to read Camilla Akrans interview first and then check out her amazing work.

http://www.lundlund.com/camilla-akrans/

The interview on Fashionography: http://thefashionography.com/camilla-akrans-interview/

Bastian Traunfellner

For those of us that remember the original ground breaking tablet, 'Speak and Spell', you will also remember iconic British fashion and culture magazine 'The Face'. For those poor souls that missed the whole New Romance and Heroin Chic era's then you will have missed out a whole host of outstanding photographers like Glen Luchford, Craig McDean and Elaine Constantine. They were at the forefront of creating flawless imperfections in photography, a raw and vivid style that the likes of Terry Richardson has now assimilated along with an instagram generation.

If we take a look at Bastian Traunfellner's portfolio here you can see how a new generation has taken that more relaxed attitude to the science of photography and really concentrated on the art of the look.

Traunfellner isn't so worried about pin-sharp focus, generic composition or balanced histograms, he's more concerned with creating a mood and a feeling behind a shoot, something science finds very hard to visualise.

Head on over and take a look at his work and for those fortunate enough to remember flicking through a copy of The Face, spare a thought as to where Bastian Traunfellner may have found those early seeds of inspiration.

https://www.resurrect.it/index2

Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton

'Hey Jake what you doin' with that big ol' bar there?'

'Oh this? I'm just trying to raise it all the way up here, but for some reason I don't think it will EVER go any higher!'

Yup I'm warning you, this work is phenomenal in my opinion and so yet again the bar for blending art and photography has been seriously raised.

Artists Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton have been called modern day painters as their work is so departed from what the mainstream calls photography, in fact

in an interview with the Vinyl Factory last year they positioned themselves as active artists in their own right rather than simply a commercial lens-for-hire.

This is an interesting distinction, but it only makes sense when you see their work, they just don't want to be confined by the preconceived ideas and limitations associated with photography.

The pair started out nearly a decade and a half ago working with clients like YSL, Levis, Nike and BMW but further down the road their artistry is used by other artists to represent their own work. Artists like Bjork Alexander McQueen and Massive Attack have all worked closely with Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton to ensure their own work is seen in the best possible light.

What bigger compliment is there than to be asked by an infamous artist to create art to represent them and their work?

Check them out for yourselves but be wary as this site is very image and video heavy so I would recommend a desktop visit.

http://www.warrendupreeznickthorntonjones.com/category/fashion-beauty/

Mecuro B Cotto

I'm not a huge fan of nude 'photography' because I rarely see the photographer inputting enough to complement the beauty of the model. Sometimes it just feels like the model is actually doing all the work to make a beautiful shot.

Mecuro B Cotto certainly isn't leaving it to his models to carry the image as his mastery of light play and composition is outstanding and always manages to compliment and showcase the human form perfectly.

Certainly check out his nudes but definitely stop by his portraits section too as he has some fantastic shots in there too.

Edit in 2020: In appears that Mecuro may have suffered at the hands of copyright theft in recent years as his site now only shows tiny images of his work compared to the huge and beautiful displays of years ago. A sad but very real consequence of likely theft I’m afraid.

http://mecurobcotto.com

Ana Dias

I've never shared a glamour photographers work on here before…. and today is no different. Ana Dias is certainly no 'glamour' photographer, she has worked for Playboy all over the world and photographed some of the most beautiful women around, but she does not rely on her models to carry the picture, she brings her own outstanding skills to bear on every shoot.

This genre of photography is marred in my opinion by some cheesy work by shooters that rely on the 'pretty girl' but Playboy shooters aren't allowed to be so lazy and are renowned for some exquisite lighting.
It is certainly not uncommon for Playboy centrefolds to be photographed with anything from 15 to 50 lights and this level of lighting and beautifying refinement is outstanding and certainly a dying art.

Ana is no different in her approach and her attention to incredibly crisp, clean and contrasty lighting is phenomenal in my opinion and something that baffles me. Even her simple white background images have a contrast and definition that eludes me.

There are those of you that will rightly argue that this look is too synthetic and devoid of artistic merit, but I urge you to appreciate the skill it takes to light a model this perfectly.

Head on over and check out Ana Dias's site and let me know what you think or even better, feel free to let me know how you think she's lighting some of these shots or what modifiers you think gives her that vibrant look

http://www.anadiasphotography.com

Thomaas

Hahah so I was literally in the middle of posting this weeks Stay Inspired when I came across this guys work. I had already started writing about somebody else and getting all 'Radio 4' and arty-farty about their work when I stumbled across the visually viscous work of Hamburg born and Paris based artist Tomaas.

I immediately fell in love with Thomaas's work and I had to share it and so it jumped the queue.

At first I thought this was the work of an agency, a group or at the very least a production team but no, this is actually the work of an individual.
Thomaas's work seems more self indulgent than most, he seems drawn by the project as it evolves and the results seem raw for it. I mean raw in its base form, the images are processed but in a way that is not meticulous, they are played with in way an artist would play with paint on a canvas and I love this approach and result.

I for one am far too guilty of over thinking some of my work and as a result sometimes I feel the end product is just that, 'a product' and too contrived and soulless. Thomaas doesn't seem to suffer the same hesitations and his work certainly speaks for itself.

Sometimes we should force ourselves to just let the chips lie where they fall and just let the art happen.

https://www.tomaas.com/collections/artwork

Victoria Will

As the title of this weekly feature suggests, these posts are supposed to give a little inspiration to those of us that want to push our work further or even explore a different direction entirely. This weeks Stay Inspired takes that core idea and looks at celebrity portrait shooter Victoria Will and how she re-imagined her role of celebrity portrait shooter at the Sundance Film festival earlier this year (2015).

These shots have been circulating the web for the last couple of weeks and rightly so as they are outstanding results of what is a very complex process taken of people who aren't to keen on sitting around for too long. Her portraits were taken using a technique called 'tintypes' or 'wet plates', these are essentially large format plates with active and wet chemicals on them with an ISO rating of around zero! These portraits need a LOT of light to be correctly exposed and when originally used the exposure could have been up to fifteen minutes, but with Victoria's modern twist she was able to use flash to capture the shot instantly, this, unfortunately for Victoria's subjects, did mean a 9600w flash!

Take the time to check out Victoria Will's site and the section that I'm referring to is the 'Tintypes' one.

https://www.victoriawill.com/project/borne-back

What is definitely also worth checking out is Will's explanation of the process and a video of her in action.

It's pretty funny to see her subjects reaction after being nuked by nearly 10,000ws of flash haha.

https://profoto.com/uk/profoto-stories/victoria-will-shoots-tintype-portraits-of-the-stars-at-sundance

Simona Smrčková

Todays spotlight of inspiration is for those of you that like colour, people, weddings, models, babies, portraits, make up …………pretty much anything you can photograph really because Simona Smrčková seems to have mastered them all.

They say 'you can't specialise in everything' but Smrčková comes very close, but what caught my eye in particular was their mastery of colour. I don't mean colour theory, although that is very strong here, I mean his ability to capture colour and present it so amazingly well. The colour in his images are amazing, so vibrant and saturated without the telltale banding or clumping of colours I normally see in work this bright. The images almost look like they've been printed on that metallic paper as they seem to already have that sheen to them, an effect that I'd love to achieve one day too.
I am certainly open to suggestions as to how you think he's achieving this look but it may well be post pro alone or a combination of a very high bit depth capture camera like a medium format back or similar.
Either way make sure you check out his site and if you're interested in the weddings and portraits side of things check that out too as he's got plenty of cool ideas on how to approach that too.
Let me know what you think, especially if you know how he's getting those colours

https://en.simsfoto.com/portretnifotograf

Closing Comments

As with all of my posts, I welcome your comments and thoughts on the artists I've shared here today. But although all of the photographers and creatives I've mentioned above come from my own personal tastes and appreciations, I still feel they are all incredibly varied, which ultimately means there will be at least one persons work here that you'll love.

Granted we've really only looked at 'people' photographers including, portraits, fashion and editorial shooters with none of the other photographic genres being covered, but it's still incredible to me as to how varied this single discipline can be.

I think one of the core things I want you to take away from this series is how another person interprets their subject into a photograph.

Sure you can simply reverse engineer the lighting or copy a pose of an image, but I hope you take away a lot more than simply the mechanics of a photograph.

Look at their style and see how that is impacting their work for the better. Look for similarities in pose, expression, subject, lighting, theme and colour. All of these things play a role in any image and by appreciating that in others work, we can be better equipped to express it in our own images.

Thank You

Thanks for checking out this article and spending a little bit of your day with me here. I hope you found it useful and that you left here a little more inspired than when you arrived. If you did, then this was worth it. As always, if you have any questions, then by all means fire-away in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Thanks again and I’ll see you in the next one.

Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to be sent all of these photo tips and techniques articles every month in case you miss one.

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Lensbaby - Omni Colour Expansion Pack Review

For those that have followed my work for a while, you’ll know that I love to show a sense of depth to my images. Sure we can all shoot wide-open (f2.8 for example) to get that shallow depth of field, but nothing beats the depth of showing not only a separation between subject and background, but a foreground element to your image too.

Adding foreground elements to your shot like you see above can add a sense of depth. But relying on a metallic chair leg like I’m doing here can be a pain!

Whenever I’m on location or even in the studio, I am always looking for elements around me that might be introduced into the foreground of my image. Plants, widow reflections and even a metallic chair leg have all been clever ways to add a sense of depth to my images, but they are far from consistent and reliable choices.

To combat this issue of unreliable foreground elements, I’ve often resorted to holding all manner of objects in front of my lens. Items like crystals, wine glasses, keys… the list goes on, but again, these are often inconsistent and nearly always inconvenient due to me having to hold them with one hand and shoot with the other. That was until Lensbaby introduced me to the Omni.

The original base pack for the Omni contains all the key items you need to hold the filters in front of your camera. The back disk above simply screws on to your lens thread and you attach the filters to that via magnets.

If you’re not familiar with what the Omni is, then by all means check out my previous review on it here Lensbaby Omni Review. But in short, the Omni is a metal disk that screws onto the front of your lens. On that metal disc you place moveable magnets and onto those movable magnets, you place all manner of creative elements (filters) that can moved and supported unaided in front of your lens. As a result, you get consistent and hands-free foreground elements with each and every shot.

The original Omni was released by Lensbaby last year in 2019. It quickly saw huge success and demand for more variety in elements to hold in front of your lens soon followed. As a result, Lensbaby answered the call with their latest offering, Omni - Colour Expansion Pack.

The images above shows what the original Omni does for your shots. It adds those beautiful foreground elements in-camera without the need for post-pro.

The Omni Colour Expansion Pack

This year however, Lensbaby released a brand new pack of additional elements to play with and that pack is called the ‘Colour Expansion’ pack. As you may well assume from the name, these new elements are designed to add a splash of colour to your shots. But what do we get with this latest edition?

What’s in the box?

So what do we have in the add-on pack?

In the box we have:

Two multicolor crystal effect wands
A bunch rainbow diffraction film
A set of colored films & gels

As the image above shows, we have 4 new magnet stalks that attach to the original Omni metal ring and on these new stalks, we have a whole host of new items to play with. First and foremost we have two brand new crystal elements, both of which have a rainbow coating that add a variety of additional colours to the shots. One of these crystals is straight and the other is curved and cut so that you can get more of a shape in front of the lens. This is handy if you are after a more subtle effect.

In addition to the two crystals, we also have a bunch of coloured films to play with and they break down into three sets.

First we have the coloured gel films. These are simple swatches of colour that can be held in front of the lens.

Next we have the almost quilted diffraction films. These films are highly reflective but also let a little light through them. The quilted surface is producing just enough shape so as to catch some highlights across its surface if you have lights going back into the lens.

And lastly we have a set of flat diffraction films. These are thinner and let more light through them, plus they are flat and won’t catch the light as much as the quilted versions.

5 new additions to the Omni lineup: 1.Curved Crystal 2 Straight Crystal 3.Coloured Films 4.Quilted Diffractions 5.Flat Diffractions

What Effects Do They Produce?

But of course, the real question is, what results do they produce?

Below you’ll see me playing with a bunch of the different filters from this Omni Colour Expansion pack during a model shoot. Take a look and see for yourself. See anything you like?

Note: Clicking on any of the images below will enlarge them

All of the images below are taken with the straight crystal…

All three images here were taken with the regular straight crystal.

All of the images below are taken with the curved crystal…

Both of these images are taken with the curved crystal

All of the images below are taken with the quilted diffraction film…

The images here were all taken with the quilted diffraction film

The image below is taken with the flat diffraction film…

Image here taken with the flat diffraction film.

The image below is taken with the coloured film…

Before you message me about the lighting…

Oh and before you ask, as I know I always get loads of messages about this lighting setup whenever I share it… yes this is using the coloured gels from my Gel Packs on the lights and this setup is also part of my Creatively Simple Lighting Workshop. This is the second setup of six that we cover on the day and you can see more about it here.

The Lensbaby Omni ‘Colour Expansion Pack’ does add a lot of colourful effects to your shots. In fact all of the new filters in this pack each have a huge range of looks and colours, but are you ready for that level of creativity?

Closing Comments

Of course, as with many reviews I do, I tend to shoot a lot of example images so that you guys can make your own decisions from what you see. But I do also like to share my personal thoughts with regards to things I like or any concerns I might have.

Essentially this ‘Colour Expansion Pack’ is more of the same from the Lensbaby Omni. If you are familiar with the base product and what that entails, this whole process and look probably makes a lot more sense to you than if you’re seeing this idea for the fist time. The Omni product allows you to maintain a more consistent look with your foreground elements as it literally keeps everything in place so that you can get the same look with each shot you take.

If you shoot any video, you may immediately appreciate the power and value of this. Having a video with something wobbling about in the foreground of the shot will be extremely distracting. Having this effect locked down with the Omni however is huge.

The base Omni pack contains a solid selection of creative tools for you to play with, but ultimately they are all fairly clean and crisp looking. This new ‘Colour Expansion’ pack does kick the creativity up a good few gears as every item in this pack will add colour to your images. Yes this colour can be managed, but I did find it tricky to keep a consistent look throughout a range of shots due to how much variety in colour each of these items add. The crystals (which although my favourite) did add the most variation due to their rainbow coating. Any minor adjustment made huge changes in the final shot, and although I loved that level of variation in images, some may find it frustrating to recreate one look from a previous shoot.

Personally I think the sheer variety in looks this new pack adds is it's selling point and like I said, it’s a lot more creative than the base pack. In short, if you already have the base Omni pack and you’re not afraid of adding a little bit of colour to your images, then this is a must-buy for you. If you prefer a slightly subtler and cleaner effect to your images, maybe stick with the base pack for now.

Featured model: Valencia Germain

U.K. Links - If you’re buying from the U.K. be sure to check my discount code below

The Lensbaby Omni Colour Expansion Pack - Currently retailing at £59.00 (June 2020)

Lensbaby OMNI Creative Filter System Large for filter thread sizes 62-82mm - Currently retailing at £86.95 (June 2020)

Jake Hicks Discount Code

Although I was not paid to write this review, I was given a discount code to share with you guys if you buy any Lensbaby product from WEX Photo here in the U.K.

Use the code: JAKEHICKS10 at checkout for 10% off. Plus this code works on ALL Lensbaby products at WEX too!!

U.S. Links

The Lensbaby Omni Colour Expansion Pack - Currently retailing at $59.95 (June 2020)

The Lensbaby Omni Creative Filter System (Base Pack) - Currently retailing at $99.95 (June 2020) - Note that there are two base system sizes depending on the lens sizes you have. Be sure to check which is best for your lenses first.

Please note: I do not earn commission from any sales on the Lensbaby store.

Thank You

Thanks for checking out this review and spending a little bit of your day with me here. I know this article probably took a little while to load due to all the large images, but I hope you found it useful and that you left here with a little more knowledge than when you arrived. If you did, then this was worth it. As always, if you have any questions, then by all means fire-away in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Thanks again and I’ll see you in the next one.

Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to be sent all of these photo tips and techniques articles every month in case you miss one.

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Colour in Cinema: Abstract Colour in Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira

Many new people who find my work today, think my lighting is simply inspired by me watching a couple of modern films. Either that or I get asked which photographer inspires me the most. The truth behind my lighting and colour inspiration is routed far further back than that though, and not even by cinematographers or photographers at all.

Although I’ve never consciously tried to be inspired by this, my best guess assessment of what inspired me and my work all those years ago was in fact not a photographer at all, but rather a comic.

And no, not one of the cookie-cutter Marvel comics, but Japanese Manga like that of the infamous Katsuhiro Otomo and his now legendary Manga, Akira.

I fully appreciate that not everybody is aware of Manga, but before you turn away and write this off as a simple comic book review, I’d urge you to take another look. My aim here today is not to impress the genius of story telling and design from this genre, but to analyse something that has ultimately been very unique to them; Abstract Colour.

I appreciate that the word ‘abstract’ means different things to different people, but for the sake of this article and discussion, I’ll be referencing the idea that abstract in relation to colour is about a skewed version of reality. Colour that is used in a non-realistic, yet highly effective and suggestive way.

Why the hell are The Simpsons bright yellow?!

Comics, Manga and moving versions of their characters like cartoons and anime, all ask their viewers to put their expectations of reality on hold for a moment. All cartoons we watch are quite clearly not something that is real. It’s this suspension of reality that enables these genres to do several things that other disciplines cannot, and one of those things is mess with colour….. in a BIG way!

Nobody questions why the Simpsons are bright yellow and nobody questions why the cats in Top Cat are bright pink and blue…

It’s because it’s a cartoon, that’s why!

This is a very clear-cut and easy to understand example of abstract colour, the only difference here is that it’s done in such a way that you don’t question it, because of the bizarre nature of the characters surrounding it.

In short; cartoons do all sorts of hella crazy things with colour, simply because it’s a cartoon that is not based in reality.

So what happens if we try to use abstract colour with more ‘realistic’ characters?

Katsuhiro Otomo

It’s at this stage where Japanese comics, or as they’re better known, ‘Manga’ come in. Eastern comics mainly directed their stories to younger audiences, but in the 70’s and 80’s Manga saw a rise in comics being targeted at a more mature audience, specifically the late teens. Although there are many, many great artists from this period, for the sake of this article I will be focussing on one, the now infamous Japanese Manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s arguably most famous work is the Manga Akira, which he began work on in the early 80’s. To give you an idea of scale, Akira was ultimately made up of 6 volumes, each of which contained a staggering 300-400 pages each! It’s no wonder Otomo is so praised for his work on it toady, as it was a staggeringly colossal project to undertake.

So let’s look at Katsuhiro Otomo’s vision of colour back in the 80’s…

Manga panels from Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira

No, do not adjust your sets, the Manga was indeed originally in black and white and apart from a few pages of colour at the start. The ordinal Manga was indeed ALL black and white.

The West Wanted Colour

Thankfully though, Akira was receiving so much success in Japan that Marvel’s EPIC imprint wanted it brought to the Western market as well and in 1998 the western world got their wish.

In an Anime News Network interview with Yasumasa Shimizu (Senior Vice President and Board Member, Kodansha*) said this:

“Otomo-sensei didn't want AKIRA to be perceived as some 'strange thing from Japan,' so we put a lot of work into making it accessible to American audiences. It's unimaginable to put in that kind of effort now, but at the time, they worked on making it all color, and flipping the artwork (to be in left-to-right western style pages).”

*Kodansha was one of the companies that made up the Akira Committee in the late 80’s. The Akira Committee was formed of several large companies in order to fund the colossal ¥1,100,000,000, Akira anime. More on that in a sec.

This really was the first time this process of bringing Manga to the West had happened and although the colouring of Akira was done by American colourist Steve Oliff, every single colour was checked and approved by Katsuhiro Otomo himself before production.

Take a look at some of the original coloured pages from Steve Oliff’s archives below…

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira coloured by Steve Oliff

I think the above pages are an excellent example of abstract colour, but did you even notice it? Look again.

The first page up there is explains it perfectly. Bright green motor bikes, red roads, cyan sky and the panel with one bright pink cop inside the car and one bright blue cop outside of it.

Abstract colour is about using colour to tell a story, but without that colour somehow looking out of place.

Can you see now what I mean by abstract colour? These are ridiculous colours, yet because it’s a comic, you don’t question it. Can you imagine that same scene in real-life? Can you imagine seeing those same colours in real-life and not be pulled out of the action due to the colours looking weird? Hard to pull-off right? But not impossible, as we gel-shooters well know.

The Anime Akira

One of the core reasons American colourist Steve Oliff was drafted in to colour the western adaption of the Akira Manga, was simply due to the fact that Katsuhiro Otomo was somewhat busy on other things… namely the film of Akira.

Back in the late 80’s Katsuhiro Otomo was approached to make his Manga into a feature length film. Katsuhiro agreed, but on the proviso that he could maintain complete creative control over the project and even direct it. I mentioned this earlier in the article, but the Akira film was budgeted out to cost ¥1,100,000,000 if it was to do Katsuhiro’s Manga justice (remember that’s 1980’s money).

To give you some idea of the sheer size of this project, the Akira movie was made up of 160,000 individually hand-drawn and hand-painted cells!!!

Can you really imagine someone with no directing experience being given that sort of budget today. To give you some perspective in todays money (2020). That’s like giving $12,145,258 to someone with no directing experience to make a movie!

As it turns out, that was the right call and Katsuhiro Otomo ultimately directed one of the most famous anime’s ever made. In fact it was so well made, that it still holds up to this day… and its over 30 years old now! Sadly, there aren’t too many films from the 80’s that can say the same (un-ironically) .

Abstract Colour in Akira

So here we are, you finally made it to the meat of the article, let’s look at how Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira uses abstract colour and what that means today. Below are some stills from the final movie.

Click on any of the images below to enlarge them

So I ask you; ‘can you see the abstract colour now?’

What I find fascinating about this, is simply how ridiculous and over the top some of the colours are here, yet how we actually never notice it when we are watching the film. This is extremely hard to do, yet Otomo is an absolute master of it.

To further cement this fact about just how colourful this film is, if you’re not familiar with the story, Akira is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia! How many other post-apocalyptic films can say the same.

In the examples above we have blue concrete, green concrete, red concrete, orange concrete and yellow concrete. And that’s not to mention the red helicopter interior with the purple seats.

Like I said, it seems utterly ridiculous when you spell these colours out, but when seen in context with what’s onscreen, we simply don’t notice it and this is what makes this a masterclass in colour theory too. Otomo is using colours that simply just work well together and if this part is done well, a visual balance is struck and the image is assimilated by us without question.

You can’t just throw just any abstract colours together. There needs to be some control over what you use.

And don’t think that just because you follow popular colour theory that any abstract colour combo will work.

Abstract colour is not about displaying a series of random colours together, it’s about using colours as a major feature of the scene, without allowing them to dominate it. This is what is truly impactful, but the best part of all, you never notice it happening!

Live-Action

So although we specifically focused on Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira and explored abstract colour within it, there are of course a huge multitude of live-action examples out there too. We won’t go to deeply into them here today, but here are a couple of examples that spring to mind…

I appreciate that you may not have thought I’d use these two movies as an example, but remember, we’re looking at abstract colour, this is colour that is not designed to be a feature or character in its own right, but compliment and develop a scene without you noticing it.

Take a film like Neon Demon as a counter to that. This movie forces colour down your throat every damn second you’re watching it. Don’t get me wrong, I get and respect the technical excellence of this film, but the colour is so dominating it’s actually hard to watch. Compare that to the film Drive, this was directed by the same guy a few years prior to Neon Demon, but try and see what I mean by powerful, yet less dominating colour. The director Nicolas Winding Refn does a far better job here in using abstract colour to compliment and propel the film over simply dominating it.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for this extremely dominating colour and there are films that do it well. Films like the original John Wick have scores of exquisitely lit neon coloured scenes or the Shanghai fight in James Bond Skyfall. These are highly crafted and complimentary scenes to the action and story as a whole. But these are not abstract colour pieces and the colour and design in these scenes are characters in their own right.

Sadly, as a result of the successes of earlier film using extremes in colour, many modern films are now quite literally shoehorning in neon and gelled lighting in a ‘tick list’ approach to lighting in their films.

“Okay we’re making a modern action movie, we gotta have someone fighting with a household appliance and lit by coloured lights in a futuristic apartment!”
-sound familiar?

The very recent (2019) Fast and Furious spin-off ‘Hobbs and Shaw’ saw some hilariously bad gelled lighting with both the main characters getting their own ‘gelled’ scene. The obligatory neon-lit tattoo parlour and the modern apartment with a single neon light flashing outside!!! I swear I’m not making this up. Remember, this is a modern film that had a staggering $200 MILLION BUDGET! This wasn’t a student film, yet the coloured lighting was tacked on to seemingly fill some secret coloured light quota so many modern films have. Watch these gelled-lighting scenes in isolation and they’re hilarious. Jason Statham even fights with a shiny toaster to reflect the light too! They really thought of everything.

….but we’re getting off topic here and I hope that clears up what I mean by this type of colour-use in modern cinema. Sure films like Neon Demon have a lot of great coloured light, but it makes for a better art installation than it does a movie unless it’s done with purpose.

What can we as photographers learn from all this?

In todays world of photography, I can share a gelled lighting shot of a bright blue model with a bright pink background and nobody thinks that’s weird. When I was doing this 10 or even 20 years ago, people would actively say to me,

“Why have you ruined that photo with those awful colours?”

Times have changed and nobody looks twice at a gelled lighting photo today and more and more films are shoehorning ridiculously out of place gel-lit scenes into their films, simply because they can.

Gels are common place today sure, but that can be a good thing if we use this theory of abstract colour to our advantage. Think about where you can add colour to your scene to enhance the drama and engagement, but not to dominate and distract.

This image without gels sees a dirty white door and yellow/brown walls. Do the abstract colours in place here detract or add to this shot? See the full set here- Lost Light

This was beautiful staircase, but it was pure white all over. The abstract colours I’ve added here are to match the subject and compliment, not dominate it. See the full set here- Bexie Model Shoot

These images were all taken in a dark and dingy London night club. You definitely did not want to see this place with the lights on, but do the artificial and abstract colours add to the shot? See the full set here- Fire and Ice

This image without gels is visually very dark. The floor is dark grey concrete and the wall behind is a deep, dark brown wood. The abstract colours help to enhance and amplify the scene and the fashion. Without the abstract colour the general vibe o… — This image without gels is visually very dark. The floor is dark grey concrete and the wall behind is a deep, dark brown wood. The abstract colours help to enhance and amplify the scene and the fashion. Without the abstract colour the general vibe of the image is visually oppressive with the ‘real’ colours. See the full set here- Bitter Sweet

Closing Comments

The core point I want you to take from all this is this;

Abstract colour exists all around us and if it’s done well, we shouldn’t even notice it.

Taking charge of this and applying it into your own shots is now more acceptable to do than ever before. Just look at all the random colour ‘toning’ we see on Instagram. Our audience is primed and willing to be fooled by it, we just need to be open to experiment with it.

Start off slow if you like. On your next shoot, throw a cool blue colour on the wall behind the model. Add a subtle yellow or orange light to the hair. These are subtle abstract colours, but they are about creating visually engaging colours in our scenes without them dominating it.

Looking Ahead

As I’ve mentioned throughout, although this article was specifically looking at the masterful abstract colour work of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, take the time to explore more of not only his work, but other Manga artists from that period too.

The reason I mention this period specifically is because they were excellent at this subtle colour that didn’t dominate or try to fight for attention, instead their colour was bold but more importantly, complimentary.

We are in an age where crazy, bold and saturated colours are filling our media and screens. Sadly, with films like ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ overusing it in horrendous ways like this, the audience will turn away and grow tired of it very quickly. If we want to use colour in a dynamic way in the future, we’ll have to be far cleverer and far more subtle than many are doing now. Go back and re-watch films like ‘Amelie’ or ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ to see the difference compared to some more modern films today. I promise, all this will immediately make a lot more sense.

Thank You

Thanks for checking out this article and spending a little bit of your day with me here. I know this was a long one, but I hope you found it useful and that you left here a little wiser to colour than when you arrived. If you did, then this was worth it. As always, if you have any questions, then by all means fire-away in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Thanks again and I’ll see you in the next one.

Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter to be sent all of these photo tips and techniques articles every month in case you miss one.

Reference articles and further reading:

Akira Manag Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(manga)

Akira Anime Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(1988_film)#Legacy

Steve Oliff Akira pages http://www.felixcomicart.com/ArtistGalleryTitles.asp?ArtistId=582

Steve Oliff Interview https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2016-03-17/akira-in-color-with-steve-oliff/.99830

Kodansha Interview https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2015-11-05/bridging-the-gap-between-us-comics-and-manga-with-kodansha-usa/.95039

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Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 008

Foreword

So because so many of these have been lost to time, I thought ‘why don't I try and collate them all into one place for not only myself, but for you as well’.

This is the eighth compilation, so if you missed the previous ones and are interested in an inspiration overload, here’s the links to them;

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 001

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 002

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 003

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 004

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 005

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 006

Stay Inspired - Inspirational work from 10 Photographers and Artists 007

Inspirational Work from 10 Photographers and Artists 008

Although Jay Russell's website photofiend.com is a great showcases of a lot of fantastic images (no longer currently available as of May 2020), it's his 500px page that seems to have the most impact and the most recent work.

On here you will see some absolutely stunning and striking imagery but upon closer inspection you realise there is an arresting simplicity to his work. We see a lot of this photographic style at the moment; heavy vignetting, very shallow depth of field and lifted blacks but Jay certainly seems to do it superbly.

As you go through the shots take a moment to see what strikes you about each shot because although all these portraits look gorgeous they are certainly obtainable by most of us even with limited equipment. It's by careful light placement, composition and polished post production that this work jumps out not 9 lights, fire hoops, underwater set pieces and 6 gels.

It may well be worth taking stock and seeing if less truly is more.

https://500px.com/thephotofiend

BRACE thyselves!

I'd probably skip this weeks photographer spotlight if you're feeling a little creatively insecure, as Norwegian born fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø is not holding back with his crushingly impressive online portfolio.

Known for his 'stylistic versatility' (in layman's terms that means just really damn good at everything) he has shot for every major label there is, including Chanel, Armani, Cartier, Gucci etc. And although he's good at everything the overarching style throughout these campaigns is his graphic interpretation of the brief.
Even something so serene as scarves from Alexander McQueen turned into a phenomenal short film that blends graceful movement with reversed slow motion to create something very otherworldly.
Also, as luck would have it he has just done a shoot with FKA twigs with some truly incredible light painting. Granted not all in a single frame but still outstanding work all the same. The project 'V Magazine Twigs' should be at the top of his site and definitely worth a look.

Theres a huge amount of content there so I probably wouldn't recommend trying to tackle it all in one sitting, but its something I will definitely plan to re-visit…….once I've recovered.

You have been warned!

http://www.solvesundsbo.com/work

I've been following Frederico Martins for a while on Behance and I thought it well overdue to share some of his work. Frederico is a top Portuguese fashion photographer with the usual suspects of Vogue, Elle and GQ covers under his belt and even the quickest look at his work will tell you that he's certainly a very clean, crisp and technically perfect shooter.

One reason I also wanted to share his photography though, was the way in which he shoots a series or story for a campaign. Frederico will take a few key little details and carry them throughout a series or story. This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised at how few photographers pull this off quite as nicely as Frederico.

Take a look at his 'Advertising' section, in there will be whole campaigns and this illustrates nicely what I mean. It appears that Frederico has carved out quite a niche as it seems he's your go-to guy for shoe campaigns. Shoes are actually some of the toughest pieces in fashion to photograph, they are usually at the furthest point from the normal focal point, the face and they are usually relatively small in the shot.

Take a look at how he comes up with innovative ways to get around this photographic nightmare.

https://www.frederico-martins.com

A long time ago I shared Elizaveta Porodina's work, but I couldn't resist sharing it again as I am really loving a lot her new stuff. It's this more 'organic' look to fashion photography that I see really taking off in the coming years and as a result Elizaveta will be at the forefront of it.

Head on over and take a look at the 'forced' depth of field, gorgeous colour theory and amazingly effective and clean lighting. Enjoy :D

http://www.porodina.net/

Edit May 2020: I originally shared this back in 2015, and since then Elizaveta’s site has been under construction. In case it’s not up and running when you click the above link, try the next best thing which is her regular updated Behance page here https://www.behance.net/porodina

Once again I was desperately scouring the barren outer reaches of the place where art goes to die (the internet) searching for this weeks inspirational photographer. It suddenly dawned on me to go back to where it all began, the most influential photographer of my photographic first steps; Nadav Kander.

Back at Uni the whole Avedon, Bresson and Beaton indoctrination was getting a little stale so when Nadav Kander's work graced my weary eyes I knew there was more to photography than just good composition and exposure.
If you value 'art' at all in photography, then I cannot urge you enough to check out Kander's work, and if you only look at one small section of it then I implore you to view his 'portraits'. In his portraits he photographs some of the most powerful and influential people on the planet with frankly little regard for how they want to be portrayed and certainly with little regard to how his viewers want to view them. This is pure self indulgent art at its finest and I love it.
Bill Clinton is portrayed as a small and lonely man at the end of a table (striking contrast to famous photographer Platon's depiction of him) and David Beckham is nothing more than a few squiggly light trails.
This is striking, ballsy photography but better than that, it's an artist being truly selfish about his work, something that is becoming harder and harder to find as we all scrabble to please an audience, Nadav Kander seems to care less whether there is even an audience at all.

Feel free to share your opinion of it though if you think I'm way off course on this.

http://www.nadavkander.com

Beijing born photographer Chen Man has not made her career easy for herself, but she has stood by her style and emerged at the forefront of Chinese fashion photography working for brands like Mac, Mercedes Benz and Levis.

Chen Man has tried to make a point of finding artistic influence from within China whilst others around her sought inspiration from the west, as a result she is often criticised for her photography involving too much post production.

In an interview with I-D Magazine Chen Man says "Some people say my work isn't photography, they say its graphic design or art because I use so much post-production," and although her work may have been controversially artistic ten years ago, Chen Man's work is certainly leading the way with its balance of photography and art today.
Take a look at her agents site below to see what I mean, and personally I believe her fantastic control of contrast and colour saturation is something that I will be aspiring too in my future projects.

http://www.chenmaner.com/portfolio.html

Today I wanted to share the exceptional work of seemingly disgustingly young German Photographer Edgar Berg.

I have only recently discovered him and to those who love natural light portraits this is surely the gold mine you've been searching for. Granted his post production is gorgeous too, but his control of light both inside and out is exceptional.

After a little digging I did see that some of his seemingly natural light shots did also receive a gentle caress ever so often from a fill flash and hair light but I had no idea this was added until I had seen the behind the scenes.

For the techies out there, try not to beat yourself up too much on how you can achieve these looks as it seems a lot of his work is shot on the medium format Phase One. I could be wrong though and if anybody sees differently please let me know. If I thought I could get this shot quality from one, I'd definitely be sorely tempted to take the medium format plunge.

For those in a rush, don't leave his site without first seeing the collections to see what I’m harping on about:

Selected Snow

Urban Affair

One of These Days

and Almost Spring

Let me now what you think though and feel free to share any similar shooters you've also seen :)

https://www.edgarberg.com

Edit May 2020: Sadly, I originally shared Edgar’s work back in 2015 and back then, all of the listed shoots above were still present on his site. But although those old shoots are no longer visible on his website, there’s still plenty to look at and enjoy today.

We go BIG in this weeks -Stay Inspired- as we visit the work of legendary fashion photographer Steven Klein.

Klein is commonly seen running with the likes of Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and most recently and controversially with Alexander Wang and his Denim campaign.

The link below takes you to his agency page* and on there you can see some of his latest and greatest work but Steven Klein hit the mainstream audience for his extensive work with Madonna. The two of them started a collaboration that has been running since 2003 where upon they created the infamous exhibition X-STaTIC PRO=CeSS. Madonna and Klein have been working together ever since and he is often heavily involved in her concert backdrop videos.

The reason for me showcasing his work though is not for his fame but for a photographic style that takes inspiration from all over, Klein has the evocative posing of Boudin the colours of Testino and the set pieces of Mert and Marcus but for me personally I really like Klein's ability to somehow mix a HDR feel to his colours and sets.

To see what I mean take a look at campaigns on this site like Alexander McQueen SS14, Dolce and Gabbana FW 2011 and the stunning W Magazine Good Kate Bad Kate is a must see before you leave.

Let me know what you think though or if you have any other suggestions of work to rival it.

*Edit May 2020: Klein is no longer with his original agency so this updated link takes you to some of his most famous pieces on the Artnet site. I’d encourage to have a hunt around the web or even just image search him as there is a lot more great work to explore than is shared here.

http://www.artnet.com/artists/steven-klein/

So normally during these introductions you would have the 'opportunity' to read my barely informed musings on one of my favourite photographers. Today though I will spare you, because there is no way I can complete with the sheer legendary introduction already written on Ruven Afanador's biography page. Take a look at the first paragraph.

'Ruven Afanador is an internationally renowned photographer of limitless imagination, powerful vision and profound sense of self. His work is distinguished by an opulent classicism nuanced by an irreverent point of view. His idiosyncratic visual language is informed by the fierce emotion and lavish style of his Latin American heritage, filtered by an exquisitely mannered elegance saturated with singular erotic charge.'

Now come on, how cool is that for an introduction? If you don't want to go check out his amazing photography after reading that you need to stop trying to lick your own elbow!

Literary laudation aside, Afanador's work really is awesome and apart from it being the only Flash website left on the web, it's worth enduring the splash page relics to take a look at his fashion work. From the opening image in this gallery you will immediately see why I like his work but further clicking will also show some fantastic colours, subtle but effective post pro and some great set pieces, its definitely worth the struggle. -Edit: The site is now finally gone, see my update below)

Let me know what you think though and if you get really bored you could always check out some more of his 843 word biography :O

http://www.ruvenafanador.com - Currently under construction.

Edit May 2020: For whatever reason the legendary site of 2015 is no-more. I looks like Ruven is now signed with Sarah Laird & Good Company agency, so you can see his latest work here https://sarahlaird.com/artists/ruvenafanador/overview

Today I'm sharing yet another photographer that I was hoping to keep to myself; Fabrice Mariscotti.

Mariscotti is a belgium based fashion and advertising photographer who has an amazing grasp of personal interaction with his subjects. He definitely seems to be a portrait photographer trapped in a fashion photographers body though, as there is so much connection between the models and his lens that it's sometimes difficult to see the photographic excellence behind them.

Whilst you are at his site, obviously check out his fashion work as I love his use of contrast in his colour images and with his subtle use of gels some of his work is very reminiscent of the cross-process effect of the film days.

Further browsing will take you to his personal work which holds so much of that outstanding character portraits that simply scream for your attention. Some of these shots would look phenomenal blown up big in a gallery space and further emphasises the importance for all of us photographers to have personal work we are constantly developing.

Go check him out and let me know what you think, maybe you've seen other examples of this work or maybe you think I'm mad to rave about it, let me know.

http://www.fabricemariscotti.be

Closing Comments

I think one of the core things I want you to take away from this series, is how another person interprets their subject into a photograph.

Sure you can simply reverse engineer the lighting or copy a pose of an image, but I hope you take away a lot more than simply the mechanics of a photograph.

Thank You

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