"Cyber Self" A Surreal Self Portrait

"Cyber Self"

For this 'Self-Portrait' task the only specified requirement was that we had to include text and convey some elements of our personality, background or interests.

The idea behind this image was quite simple- the world has gotten all too fast paced and mechanized. The metallic texture ripping through the skin was my way of showing how people are becoming more modern in their living and increasingly more dependant upon technology. The way in which the metal is shown is similar to scrapes, scars or scores; which was my way of showing how the pace of modern living has eroded or ravaged humanity. We are becoming more dependant upon technology- such as the incorporation of synthetic limbs and organs within medicine for example.

The binary coding is a great symbol for the digital age. This is the most basic code upon which computer systems are built. I have overlaid this to represent the dominating effect it has in our post-industrial world- it is everywhere! It was become more iconic since the film The Matrix (dir. Andy and Larry Wachoski, 1999) was released. In the film it was used in screensavers, backgrounds and excessively for special effects. I have slotted descriptive words (such as 'Poet') into the binary coding in an attempt to cover all the guidelines and help define myself. The words are quite jarring and difficult to find but this helps convey how easily people can lose themselves in this maelstrom of modern living where people can redefine themselves at will on community websites such as "Myspace", "Bebo" and "Facebook".

(The scrolling ciphers of The Matrix)

My abstract use of text is based on the work of Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) who was highly innovative in 1920's-1930's Russia for his graphic design and was one of the founders of constructivism. His work also included creative political portraits in which he used 'photomontage' for effects which were striking and fresh. His portraits are also cropped much tighter than classical portraits which increases the magnitude of the image.



The art of John Heartfield (1891-1968) is a massive influence on my work. His use of text in satirical Nazi propaganda as well as his sublime use of photomontage places him as one of the fathers of montage and collage (within photography). I have used text at the bottom of my image. It may not as witty or sharp as Heartfield's work but it ties in my personal thoughts and opinions upon the current global situation. The second line ("We have traded the handshake for the fist" is actually a Bob Marley quote. I have used this for two reasons: firstly, I thought it was fitting considering the current state of unrest within the world; and secondly, Bob Marley is a nickname that I commonly go by, so using some of his words adds more a personal element.




Other influences:

George Grosz (1893-1959) and his images of a desolate future and decaying bodies,



Man Ray (1890-1976) and his surreal work within portraits],



Alessandro Bavari (1963-) for his dark futuristic portraits and surreal collages,
















Daniel Lee (1945-) and his creative surreal portraits














Also, the random images that I found when I typed "Cyber" or "Industrial" into 'Google'...














From these images it is clear where I got ideas for my overlays (the text and the keyboard squares). They make the image much more complicated- quite like the shell of a computer or camera which houses many circuit boards and wires. These overlays also help enforce the cyber culture of which is on the rise.

My initial sketches are shown below.

The original image was taken using natural morning light diffused through a window. To help even the image out I reflected some light onto the other side of my face using a sheet of cardboard wrapped in tin-foil. This resulted in the dramatic light and shadow play across the face. A narrow depth of field was used so that only the eyes and nose were sharp and that all other areas were slightly out of focus. Using 'Adobe Photoshop' I enhanced the highlights using a 'Diffuse Glow' filter on a copied layer and then set an appropriate opacity to further control the extent of how the white areas bled into the remainder of the image. The metal textures were applied using a series of layers and layer masks. Once these were applied I used the 'Dodge' and 'Burn' tools to make them seem more natural- so that the light play was consistent throughout. In the next step I applied a light 'Unsharp Mask' to the area around the eyes and nose to further sharpen them. From here I 'Flatted' my image and began building up the overlays of text, shapes and colour which make up the majority of my image. I tried adding in additional images of circuitry and geometrical forms but this made the image too complicated to read.