Composite Image Making Research Notes

Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson was an English artist, graphic designer, film maker and tennis fiend. He was born in Potters Bar, Middlesex on 28 February 1944 and attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys. He graduated in English and Philosophy from Leicester University (1966) and went on to study an MA in Film and Television at the Royal College of Art (1969). Thorgerson formed his own design studio called Storm Studios. He went into video directing and made TV documentaries, including "The Art of Tripping" (1993), which investigated the effect of drugs on creativity, and a science documentary called "Rubber Universe" (1994). He designed album artwork for more recent artists such as the Cranberries, Anthrax, Audioslave and Biffy Clyro and continued to work on Pink Floyd projects. 

Some of storms work beg the question of is it real or not?" He used applied techniques such as multiple exposures to create surreal dislocations and disturbing juxtapositions. He cited artists and photographers including Man Ray, Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, and Juan Gris as influences behind his work. In his designs, Thorgerson used computer manipulation in favour of building massive sets and tableaus, staging performances and actions and "doing it for real" in what he called "mind movies" and "photo paintings".

AlthoughThorgersons images were unrealistic the majority of his work would be shot for real,  as he stated himself that; "I prefer the computer in my head to the one on my desk."

His photograph "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" involved dragging 700 wrought iron beds onto a beach. In an interview, Thorgerson confirmed, "Yeah, that is what we did. And we had to drag them all back again because of the God-damn English weather. It rained".

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

My Examples

This is my example of Storm Thorgersons Work. 

I done this using photoshop, by using three original images which were;

Using these three images, and put them into one image. To do this I had to select both the cards, and remove the background I then copied and pasted them into the landscape image. I then positioned the cards where I wanted them to be. After this I cut off the bottom of the card on a diagonal to give the cards the effect that they are buried into the grass. However cutting it in a straight line didn't give it a realistic effect, this meant that I had to do something about it. Therefore I used the brush tool, and tapped the bottom of the card to give it a more natural and realistic look, as it makes it looks like the grass is over the card as well.

2.

I done this using photoshop, by using two original images which were;

Using these two images, I put them into one, this meant that I selected the ball, removing the background and copied and pasted them onto the landscape photograph. I then positioned the first ball in the position i wanted it to be in. I then duplicated the ball 4 more times, as it gives the effect that the balls are rolling down the hill. To give it this effect I had to adjust each size of the ball, with the ones at the back being smaller, and the ones at the front being bigger. However, the photograph didn't look very realistic, as the balls didn't have no shadows. this meant that I had to make them look like they belong there. I done this by adding a layer called shadows, and used the brush tool to put a darker colour over the bottom of the ball, with an opacity of 38% and flow of 34%.