The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Cinematography: Willy Hameister
Nosferatu (1922) Cinematography: Fritz Arno Wagner, Günther Krampf

While deciding what to photograph for the semester my mind kept circling back to the idea of horror. I first thought of myself sneaking into graveyards snapping away whilst the sun set. But, as I began to research how horror cinematographers capture an eerie mood I found myself stuck on images utilising the high contrast and tightly knitted compositions that existed within the German expressionist movement. I began to look for the same contrasting blacks and whites when picking a photographer to present to the class. Upon stumbling across Magdalena Wywrot in a photography issue of VICE magazine I felt as if it was meant to be. I was particularly drawn to the following two shots:

http://magdalenaswitek.tumblr.com

I had never really considered “movement” as a technique of photography. But after seeing Wywrot’s first image, it prompted me to try and take advantage of the sense of uncertainty that blur and movement can cause. In the second image, I was taken aback by how the contrast worked to create something otherworldly and sinister. When I consider how this photo might read in colour or without the use of hard lighting, I do not believe it would have the same uncanny effect on a viewer- As it would reveal the figure behind Wywrot’s daughter rather than letting them exist as a set of disembodied hands. Another element in Wywrot’s photographs is how she asks her models to pose and will shoot the back of the subject, and other unfamiliar angles to the viewer. In the second image, her daughter throws her head back in a more dynamic and unfamiliar pose than having the subject look to the camera. I will experiment with shooting my subjects from different angles and have them pose in a lot of different ways, trying to create a more striking result.

This idea of capturing something unnerving and eerie is what I’m looking to achieve this semester. I will try to utilise the same techniques found in both the german expressionist movement and Wywrot’s photos, paying particular attention to ways in which I can express a sense of tight space through composition, how I can use light to create high contrast and how I can use props and movement to achieve these aesthetics. I have also made the decision to focus mostly on the portrait as I am really hoping to achieve a final result that makes the human body seem unfamiliar or ethereal.

Continuing to work on PB2 I will look to recreate this hard lighting in order to achieve a juxtaposition between white and black. During the next week, I will begin taking test shots to better understand how light interacts with the face and body.