Researched Photographers – Lou Blanc

About this photographerLou Blanc is French photographer that has looked at architecture and urban landscape photography, and portraits and work on body image. He has been an on/off photographer since the 1980s but in 2010 rediscovered his passion for photography when he purchased his first SRL camera and introduced himself to the modern world of photography.

Why have I picked this photographer?It was Blanc’s body image work that caught my attention and got me thinking about how I could apply what I was seeing in his work, in my own project. He work generates a lot of emotion of all kinds and he executes in such contemporary way. It is evident from his work that he directs his models in such away that allows him to get the emotion and feeling he wants to achieve in his images every time, and this has lead to a lot of his work looking haunting and really capturing the attention of the viewer – something I always strive for in my own work.

This first photo that I looked at was a collection of his work entitled ‘cORpus’. I love the way he has looked at using different camera angles and different ways of positioning the body to make it look distorted and out of proportion. I think that this photos concept links in with my own project and possible holds a message about how all bodies are different. I like the fact the photo has been taken in black and white as I think this makes it stronger and holds more emotion. I love the fine detailing that is visible on the skin such as the wrinkles and lines, as well as the over all shapes. The fact the head is ‘missing’ from the shot suggests that this photo is highlighting that we’re all the same on the outside. The positioning of the foot has created the focal point as the eye is drawn to where the idea would usually be –I think this a very clever technique that Blanc has used.

This photo is another one taken from the same collection as the first. This one stood out to me as it has such a haunting and creepy feel about it. The focal point is where the one eye is visible – the viewer is instantly drawn in to this. Even though you can only see the one eye and the rest of the face is hidden, there is so much emotion in it you can really feel the expression that you would otherwise see on the models face. The pose of the model adds the idea of craziness or ill mental health. The arms are twisted around the face in what looks like an uncomfortable fashion and this adds another element of the haunting emotion that is present in the shot. The subject here looks very ‘normal’ and raw, they do not look like a high fashion model, and this I think has added a different quality to the photo that you do not get with more ‘professional looking’ models. I like the shapes that are defined against the background and how the lighting has highlighted parts of the skin to show the texture it has.

This third photo is from another collection of work that Blanc did. I think this photo connotes feelings of fear, anger, and terror. The photo is scary to look at, and even with the blurry effect over the photo, you can clearly see the horrible expression on the face. I love this photo because it holds so much emotion in the expression on the models face. This photo is again in black and white and this generates more of haunting feel again. The editing that has gone into the photo to create this effect has made the photo striking and definitely catches the eyes attention. I like the way the subject blends away into the background –it has kind of created the idea that the subject is trying to break away from this or tear himself from it. The model is not making direct eye contact with the camera but the way the eyes have been

made to look white makes them stand out from the darker parts of the photo (I personally however think that the mouth is more the focal point as there is so much going on here).

This final photo that I looked at is similar to the third photo, but it is from a different series of work. I think that the effect used to create this photo and make the body look distorted like this is slow sync. The photo has a scary feel about it that pulls the viewer in. This is one of the only collections where Blanc kept colour in his work as opposed to making the photo black and white. This has worked well in this photo as all the colours are similar and blur in together, but there are also hues of colour (such as red and black) on the face, which highlight these parts and bring more attention to them. The subject here looks more like a creature with a crazy expression and pose. I like the use of the sterile background as there is so much going on with the subject and the effect that has been used, it has helped to created shape in the photo and eliminate distractions.

InfluenceI have really been influenced by Lou Blanc’s work. I love the way he sees the human form in such a different way to its natural state, distorting the body and creating something very visually dynamic and interesting to look at. I liked the first two photos in particular where the body wasn’t actually distorted in any way, it was just made to look out of proportion and ‘weird’. I think Blanc’s work is striking to look at and he really knows how to capture emotion in a shot. His work has made me think about how I can start to look at the body in a different way when working on my project to represent human figure in a different form to what’s thought ‘normal’. Camera angle and pose are key things to look at here when trying to achieve such a thing. The other photos that saw more effects applied with both the camera and after edited effects got me thinking about how I could include techniques I have learned more in my shoots to broaden my body of work and how expand my style.

SummaryOverall, I feel looking at Blanc’s work has made me think about my own project and how I can expand upon things I have already learnt in photography or started to touch on. It has also made me think about how I see things when shoot them, and how the slightest change in pose or expression can have more than just a slight effect on the over all feel and look of the image. Blanc does a lot of work in black and white, and though I do sometimes execute my work in black and white, it has made me want to get more emotion out of the shot and create more raw and natural looking images.