Photographer Research - Erwin Blumenfeld

Erwin Blumenfeld 

Erwin Blumenfeld is a photographer and an artist. He is best known for his fashion photography featured in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. However, he has also shot portraiture using celebrities as models, fine art photography, collages and drawings. His work is based in Germany, where he was born but has also photographed in France and the US. After Blumenfeld was given a camera as a present, he began to see himself as a photographer from then on. His first famous image is a self-portrait of himself dressed as Pierrot, and in this shot he used a mirror so that the photo included a front and a side-view of his face. I've chosen to look at Blumenfeld in more depth because he is a portraiture-based photographer, but also because his photos are extremely unique and abstract. His work will influence me to use far more editing techniques on Photoshop, as well as shooting more obscene photographs, instead of staying in my comfort zone. Blumenfeld's work, both from his vogue pieces and personal, are incredibly creative. 

I chose Erwin Blumenfeld as a photographer because I wanted to experiment more with editing techniques and ways in order to portray different ideas. For instance, this photo is a front/side portrait of a woman, but Blumenfeld has cropped a stripe across the photo, which falls across the bottom part of her nose, and then he has moved it slightly to the left so that the nose isn't connected to her face anymore, making her face look unusual. I like the idea of cropping out certain areas of someone's face, or moving their features to create an entire different look to their face. This would relate to my identity project because somebody's face is their identity, it's their appearance and what they look like. Therefore, by changing it you are changing their entire identity and appearance. Aside from this, the image is black and white which I like because it defines the lines of where the stripe has been cut from, as well as emphasizes the shadows and makes the photo more mysterious, and old-looking. 

This is another photo from Blumenfeld whereby he has shot another portrait of a woman. In this photo, it has been edited to black and white, but also 'negative' whereby the colours have swapped. Therefore, the dark shadows and parts of the image are white, and the bright, light parts are black. So, in this image the right side of her face that is closest to the camera is black, with a white lip, eye and eyebrow, and the other side of her face is the opposite. Also, the models hair and clothes are also white which blends into the background, making her face the main focal point of the image. Again, this work by Blumenfeld has influenced my identity topic because in this photo the woman almost has two faces, so like two identities. I also like that this photo would've been so ordinary without the editing techniques of black and white and the negative effect. 

This is Blumenfeld's most famous cover image, from the January 1950 issue of Vogue. I chose this image because it reminded me of the high-key lighting photographs I’ve researched. However, this photo has been edited so that the features don't belong to a face, therefore Blumenfeld has edited the eyebrow, eye, mouth and beauty spot and separately placed them onto a white background - making up a face, but without the nose, face shape or hair. I like this image because the features are so separate but make up one thing when put all together. I also like that because the background is white, we focus more on the colours such as the red lipstick and blue eyes and eye shadow. I also chose this image because of the relation it had to my topic as a face is a source of identity, yet because Blumenfeld has pulled apart features of a woman's face to create this image, it is almost like he stripped their identity and formed a new one. I also like that this photo shows a bit of makeup, as makeup could be seen as a mask from people's true identity, and I could use makeup within my shoots as well. 

This is a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, however in this image she is stood near multiple mirrors that therefore reflects her image at least six times. I liked the concept of this image because we can see the front of Audrey Hepburn's face, but we can also see the back of her head in the reflection of the mirror. I also like that she is looking straight at the camera, so that has been transferred within her reflections, making them all look like they are staring at the camera too. This photo appealed to me because the mirrors make it appear that there are multiple Audrey Hepburn's, which is like multiplying her identity and her as a person. Although this is not an editing technique, I like Blumenfeld's creative style of photography. 

I chose to study Erwin Blumenfeld because I wanted to experiment more within the editing field. For instance, I wanted to discover new techniques in which to edit my images, so that they become more interesting and exciting to look at. For this image, I took a normal self-portrait but when editing I decided to do something different with it so that it looked more extraordinary. After experimenting with different filters and tools, I created this. Here, I have "melted" or "smudged" half my face to create a melting look, I also used this tool along my hairline and that same side of my neck. I enjoyed creating this edit, as well as the outcome as it gives my work a bit more of an edge. Blumenfeld is also an extreme editor, and it was his work that inspired me to experiment more with editing. 

This is another creation of experimental editing, and an image within the same shoot as the first. For this image, I took 3 individual self-portraits, but in each I was pulling a different face, i.e. pulling at the skin on my face or pulling my eyelids - as I wanted to create a maniac/disturbing vibe for the image. Within Photoshop I then layered these images on top of one another, and then reduced the transparency of the two top layers, which would be the two-layered images, so that you can see each image all at once. I then changed the overall image to black and white to add to the dark and eerie feeling of the photo. This again links to Erwin Blumenfeld's work as most of his images are in black and white, but also because of the experimentation with editing. 

In summary, I like Blumenfeld for his unique creativity and imagination. His images are obscure, and even though they are mostly black and white they each stand out individually, and are incredibly creative whether that be by editing technique or camera style or set up. Blumenfeld has influenced me to experiment with my photography and editing skills. He has also influenced me to use various techniques in order to portray identity, by either editing a photo of somebody or using my imagination and shooting a photo a different way.