Heitor Magno
Brazilian photographer Heitor Magno produces very eye-catching double exposure photographs. Much like Matt Wisniewski's work, he often mixes the human body with various natural elements like flowers and the sky. Additionally, he likes to literally “play with fire” in a darker conceptual way. The reason I have chosen to research this artist is because I would like to use some of his techniques in my own work to relate to my theme of identity. I would like to produce abstract and interesting images which I will manipulate manually, masking a person’s identity.
This is a portrait image created by Heitor Magno. It is a contemporary modern portrait that has been manipulated manually rather than digitally.
The tone of this image is quite dark, with the original image being in black and white and shot with a long exposure to capture the cigarette smoke. The paint that has been added manually is also dark in colour. There is slight shadow within the image but nothing dramatic which draws your eye away from the subject. This image will have been shot in a studio.
In the image there is the subject which seems to be a man who is smoking. The photographer has captured the smoke from the cigarette using a long exposure setting on the camera which adds movement to the image. The photographer has then printed the image and added harsh brush strokes of dark paint over the subject's face, hiding the identity of the person.
The camera angle is straight on with the model being central in the image and it is unclear where the subject is looking in the image. The mood of this piece is quite calm due to the colours but is also quite subtly loud because of the movement and certain elements in the image. The aperture when shooting this image will have been narrow as the entire image is in focus.
This is a second portrait image created by Magno which is contemporary in style. The image was shot in a studio and edited manually after being printed. The tone of this image is dark and quite washed out. The image is a simple portrait of a man. With limited shadow around the man, he is central within the image and your eyes are immediately drawn towards him.
Once the image had been shot, the photographer has then printed the image and edited it manually. From the image it looks like the photographer has added watered-down acrylic paint drips over the face of the man in the image which has created movement within the image. The camera angle is straight on for this image and the subject is looking straight towards the camera, it is unclear what the facial expression is of the subject.
From this research I am going to conduct my own photoshoot in the studio using the same techniques and proses that Magno uses in his own work. I will get my subject to do simple portrait poses similar to Magno. Once shot I will then print my most successful images and edit them manually, I will burn certain parts of the images and add paint in an abstract way.
