Stephen Gill
Stephen Gill (born 1971, Bristol, UK) became interested in photography in his early childhood, thanks to his father and interest in insects and initial obsession with collecting bits of pond life to inspect under his microscope. Gill’s photographs are held in various private and public collections and have also been exhibited at many international galleries and museums including London’s National Portrait Gallery. Stephen Gill overlays flowers, petals and other objects onto his photographs to create interesting and unique compositions which have meaning.
This photograph by Stephen Gill is unusual because it looks as though it has been burnt at the top but it has also been overlayed with a flower which covers the models face. The bottom of the models face has not been covered just their eyes which could show that he is trying to deindividuate the model. I think that this photograph would be more interesting if the contrast was increased to make the burnt section stand out more and for the image as a whole to be more eye catching and intriguing.
This is my favourite photograph by Stephen Gill because the composition has been well thought out and planned; the flower petals have been overlayed on the photograph but as though the truck is tipping them out rather than just being placed randomly. As well as this, I like the way that the original image has been edited so that the offset is not bold and it appears almost cloudy whereas the flower petals are vibrant which contrasts. However, this photograph could be edited to be made sharper because it is slightly blurred. I think that the main point of focus in this particular image is the flower petals because they are the only aspect of the composition which is bold and vibrant; although there is colour in the original image such as the red on the truck and the blue and yellow in the background, these are not bold and appear quite faded. I think that this was Stephen Gill's intentions to ensure that the obvserver focuses on the flower petals rather than on the background of the image where most of the colour was.