KISHAN THAKRAR
A LEVEL ART PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO
The image below, of the mermaid, is suitably dramatic mainly due to the focus on lighting. The rays of light shining around the figure add to the magical look of the scene, and therefore having a main light source above the water pointing down is quite an effective lighting setup. The lighting is also dramatic because of the soft dark vignette around the figure, which is interesting and
Mark Mawson is another underwater photographer. I found that his work is more dramatic, and focusses more on the use of light and shadow. I prefer his work to Phoebe Rudomino's, particularly because each photo here is a good quality, finished piece but some of Rudomino's seem to be either lower quality or unfinished, with a slightly less professional look.
Mawson is based in London and is best known for his 'Aqueous' project, where he has captured images of coloured liquids dispersing underwater in high quality. He captured a video for this project, which has since been projected onto the walls of Buckingham Palace for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. He has one various awards; one of his more recent was at the 2014 International Photography Awards where he came 2nd Place.
Mark Mawson - Artist Study
Mark Mawson
Images ©Mark Mawson
In the latter images I really like the use of colour underwater; it is quite a hard thing to acheive in such an environment especially with the fluids and props used. Also the simplicty of the images means we focus on the subject solely, also conveying a sense of loneliness in the last image almost as if the figure is trapped or trying to escape. Again, the use of light is also incredibly important, and in this instance the light sources must have been artificially created rather than natural light, which does give Mawson a lot of freedom to control the light in the image.
