This image shows a representation of a figure on a pale wood chair, with a noticeably neutral back round consisting of white wall, a small white pillar placed on a grey planked floor and a pale plank of wood leaned against the wall. This figure is made up of three main components: a blue coat which does not appear to be being worn; a pair of crossed hands located in the centre of the coat, and a disfigured representation of a face made up of continuous squiggly lines. Although this picture has many abstract constituents, it would have to fall into the genre of portrait photography due to the focus being on the figure as a result of less distracting back round. On the topic of portrait pictures, they are usually a lot less fabricated- not as edited and more natural, unlike Blalock’s addition of other things to the base picture to represent a person (the face, hands, coat as a body). This type of photography needs to capture the personality or mood of a person with either using the subject directly- (pose, facial expressions) or using back round or lighting. I think Blalock has done this. However the image also makes it difficult to interpret the mood of the person by interfering with their facial structure and only having the hands to base our conclusions off, leaving the viewer with many questions on the deeper meanings behind the picture.
To compose this picture I think Lucas Blalock has purposefully not made a complicated back round and has used simple, pale and not unusual objects to interfere with the viewers focus of the person in the centre. He has then placed the coat on the back of the chair and propped the top up with something behind the chair, as we cannot see that area due to be concealed by the coat. I know the coat has not been cut out of another image and placed in this one because of the sides hanging off the edge. He has then cut out a pair of overlaying hands from another image with a black back round to make a clear separate frame and placed them roughly where a normal persons hands would be if they were in that position. However, I am not certain about the making of the face. It would. be difficult to cut spaces out that intricate with the line so even throughout, therefore it was probably a type of photoshop - he has also clearly taken care to keep the nose whole and central unlike the rest of the face.
After a while of examining this photo I feel like there is is a sense of tranquility due to the neutral tones and the metallic blue. Usually these colors would create a cold and callous atmosphere, but somehow the the common texture of wooden planks used in the chair, plank and floor as well as the clear frames and unvaried colors creates a placid mood. If I could ask the photographer questions, they would be- "was there an intention of creating a particular mood, or is the abstract face meant to create an opening to many interpretations?" or perhaps "what inspired you to take this picture?" and as I think the face and hands could have come form the same picture I would ask "if they are from the same picture why this one particularly?".
For my personal response, I am going to present my inspiration from Blalock by using clothing as a form of a torso against a less distracting back round, however they may not be neutral tones like the evaluated image above- I will try to use a different but complimentary colour for the clothing. i will then take a picture of a person and use a scalpel and cutting mat to cut out their hands, arms and face to add to one of the several chosen back rounds. I will take several photographs of 2 people in different poses and expressions to create a range of images as my final response- around 16 as the minimum.
The gallery above shows the back rounds I will be using for the final images
The pictures above are the faces I will edit onto the backrounds.