Styling: 'Post Production'

After the photoshoot I was left with a massive amount of images to chose from to have as my final remake photo!
The original, unedited photo I chose to use:

I love the natural lighting streaming in for the window as it emulates the original portrait perfectly so I really want to work with this. What was evident from early on was how, to ensure the window and the bed were in shot, it would have to be a landscape photo. This would prove problematic as it is a 'Portrait'! Therefore I chose to edit the image in Photoshop to change colours add certain objects that could not have been placed for real and to adjust the brightness.

 

Process of taking away the cushion used to elevate the model
Using the eyedropper and stamp tools.

I really enjoyed using Photoshop (with a helping hand from my housemate) to make my image closer to the original as I feel that witht the correct colouring and added objects it is far more successful!

Final presentation:

I wanted to create an old fashioned photo album for the 5 images I have chosen to include in my final hand in. I am really happy with how this has turned out!

STYLINGDIARY: Photoshoot day

Today was the big day! We picked up the two models and the photographer from their respective houses around 12.30 and arrived at the hotel shortly before 1pm, my alloted time.

Once we got in there it was all about getting the models dressed and hair and accessories sorted. For the woman, Abbey, the hair was quite challenging as we did not have a hair/make-up artist. However I did take a lot of examples of Victorian hair styles of the period for instance:

For the hair in the photo I chose to copy the style of the second drawing down from the top in the image, but the added my own twist by clipping in a hair decoration I had made. I feel that this linked it back to the Arnolfini as in the original there was a white veil on the head of the woman.
For my man, Ryan, hair was not an issue as it was to be hidden underneath his top hat in the image.
Both of their costumes worked so well for the feel of the image, the setting and their link to the original.
My fantastic Photographer, Charlotte Dart (www.charlottedart.co.uk/) understood exactly what I wanted out of the shoot and took such brilliant photo's for me to work with.
Here are just a few of the unedited images from the day:

The King's Room

The Models and my wonderful Assistant Charlie Bestwick

This has to be my favourite shot.
It really looks like a still from a film!

I thoroughly enjoyed today and I found it very exciting to be in charge of a historical shoot, even if it was for only a few photographs!
After we had finished and I had settled up the £25 for the room hire:

We moved onto the second location for Charlie's photo, on which I assisted. At the Miramar Hotel on the sea front. The setting was in the hotel lounge and was so perfect for her remake photograph!

Unedited

Her chosen image and her final edited photo!

Charlie Bestwick (www.clbsdp.blogspot.co.uk/)

It's absolutely incredible! I just hope I get get mine to such a high standard!

I really enjoyed the whole process today and the planning that went into it. Organising the shoot was really fun and I hope to do it again sometime even if it is just in my spare time.

Final Setting Choice: Styling

The Lillie Langtry Manor Hotel was my setting of choice for the remake photograph section of Paintings as Inspiration. Upon my initial visit I was struck by how fantastic the hotel was, they have kept a strong Historic sense aboout the place and this helped with chosing it as a set.
I was aware that there may be a charge for the use of the King's Room for my photo which I am more than happy to pay for such a perfect room!

This is the area in which I plan to set my photo up!
I am very excited for tomorrow as it will be the first photoshoot I have set up myself. fingers crossed it goes well!

Setting: Research #4

After my tutorial today I felt a lot calmer about my setting fiasco! I was suggested a few locations in Bournemouth to check out; three hotels.
The first hotel I visited was the 'Hotel Miramar' over looking the sea.

 This Hotel was lovely and had a lot of great features, however it was not of the right period for my photo shoot. I am still looking for the Victorian style room or around that era as it is integral to the theme of the photo.

The managers of this hotel were very nice indeed, offering the use of their rooms or library free of charge as long as we like, as long as they were free. For another project I would defiantly consider the Miramar Hotel.





The second hotel I visited was 'The Lillie Langtry Manor' hotel.



This hotel was absolutely beautiful. When I visited there was a wedding party there preparing for the reception so it was pretty chaotic, however the receptionist still took me to a few rooms as examples, which were wonderful. However I also saw 'The Kings Room' (right) which it totally perfect for my photo and is available on Sunday evening! I am so excited now that I have a location that is pretty much exactly what I was looking for and I am now in the process of organising my two models for the day, the photographer and hair and make-up!

I visited a third hotel just to be sure and it was stunning from the outside! 'The Tudor Grange' hotel is also near the sea front.

This hotel was stunning from the outside, a Tudor style in a lush green garden setting, it didn't feel like I was at the seaside at all anymore! Inside was all dark panelling which could also have been really nice only the bedrooms have been renovated to a modern standard.
Also a down side to this venue for any future projects is that they asked for a us to pay a fee if we did want to use it at anytime. Which neither of the others did.








Today was really interesting. Using hotels as settings was something I hadn't initially thought of so it really opened up another route for me to find the bedroom that I needed! I can't wait to get it done now!

Setting: Inital research: 3

The third space I found as a possible setting is a bedroom at the National Trust property, Kingston Lacy, Wimborne Minster. This 'striking 17th-century house is noted for its lavish interiors. The outstanding art collection includes paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian and Brueghel, with the largest private collection of Egyptian artefacts in the UK.'

I have visited this property a few times before and I love the progression of styles from the exterior to the interior.  The bedroom I had my eye on was of a very Victorian style:

I felt that it would be ideal due to the look and the proximity to university, being only a short drive away.
Unfortunately after I sent an email to the estate manager of Kingston Lacy asking their policy on photography inside the house i recieved this email:

'Thank you for your enquiry, however we do not allow this type of photography within the house. You are very welcome to do this photography in the gardens though. Please let us know if you do decide to visit and take your photographs outside.'

Property Administrator

Kingston Lacy House

Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 4EA'

 

This has certainly made this unit slightly more difficult as I will now need to find a new setting but I will find somewhere new soon.

Period Setting: Final Decision

My final decision as to which era I will set my remake of 'The Arnolfini Portrait' is Victorian England. And upon further research I have found that my choice of this period goes far deeper in linking with the original than I could have anticipated! I found a completely brilliant book called 'Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait' by renowned Art Historian, Carola Hicks, this book is a bible of sorts for the image and discusses all the themes and mysterious factors in the painting. The symbolism, such as the oranges being a symbol of wealth etc. fits incredibly well in both eras and can be altered accordingly when necessary. Hicks begins by explaining that, student of the Royal Academy Schools of Arts, William Holman Hunt, upon visiting the gallery 'was enthralled by the combination of realism and religious symbolism in Flemish painting' and that these methods 'effortlessly [achieved] the truthful morality that he...sought to restore to Art'. He was particularly taken aback by The Arnolfini Portrait and it can be argued that it is one of the resons he created the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood.
A painting by Hunt that is particularly interesting with regards to Van Eyck's peice is 'The Awakening Conscience' (1854):

A strong theme for the Pre-Raphaelites was 'the fallen woman' within stories and poems and it seems that Hunt 'tackled the same theme more rapidly and effectively under the immediate inspiration of the National Gallery's Van Eyck, a work he had known and admired since it's aquisition'. In the image we see a 'couple in a well-furnished room with a mirror on the back wall. The contents symbolised their relationship and the contemporary status symbols of piano, carpet, chair and ornaments were all as minutely detailed as the bed, chest and settle in' Van Eyck's. However with Hunt's image the underlying theme was different. In his was a kept woman trying to escape from the man whio has 'ruined her'. A far cry from the stable marriage of The Arnolfini Portrait. It has been argued that the large mirror on the back wall allows us to see her escape, she is rising off the chair to get out of the relationship, it is a message of hope.
Other elements to consider in this image is 'instead of the faithful dog, a cruel cat toys with a bird just as the man toyed with the woman; instead of the orderly patterns and slippers, a soiled glove is tossed on the ground, just as he will toss her aside'

'Hunt had absorbed Van Eyck's symbolism as much as his realism' This is what I want to take forward as inspiration for my own version of the Arnolfini Portrait.

Hicks, C (2011). Girl in a Green Gown, The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait. London: Chatto & Windus (pg172)

Setting: Inital research: 2

The second space I found as a possible setting is a bedroom at the stunning Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton, commissioned in 1887 by Theodore Mander; the wealthy industrial paint manufacturer. He filled it with William Morris decor, wallpaper, carpets and furniture. After his death, his son added his collection of Pre-Raphealite art (including works by Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Millais) which is now one of the most impressive collections in the world.

Wightwick Manor. (Copyright Yolanda Collins)

Inside the manor is just amazing, I really love this house. The three rooms that stand out for me are the Drawing Room, the Great Parlour and the Oak Room.

The Drawing Room (Top)
The Great Parlour (Bottom)

The Oak Room is a bedroom at the top of the house (the door can just be seen on the right of the mezzanine in the image of the Great Parlour) The decor is typically extravagant and in keeping with the Arts and Crafts style of the entire house. Again (as in the previous setting research) the composition of the room is ideal:

The Oak Room

(The window has just been cut out of the left of the image)
The bed itself is very interesting and is a status of wealth itself as was the bed in 'The Arnolfini Portrait' as it is a 'folding-cupboard bed'! The insides are decorated with panelled murals depicting individual Pre-Raphealite scenes. This room could also very apt for my photograph as it is where a wealthy Victorian couple may have lived.

AUCB: Costume Archive

Once I decided upon a Vicorian period for the remake, I contacted the UNI costume store to see what range they have for the costumes I need. For the male character a good dark suit with a hat is key, and it has to be of a high quality as it was in the original as they are described as a wealthy couple. The woman's costume is slightly harder as the green of her dress is very important for the composition of the image as well as sybolism. Fortuneatley, after correspondance with the Costume Store I found that UNI has a small selection of green, Victorian highend dresses. The greens are not as bright as that one in the original, however this doesn't matter as I wanted to transfer everything to the Victorian style which also includes the colour palette and colours were more demure and muted in this period.
Some of the Female Costume Store garments in the online catalogue [1]:

 [1]https://mycourse.aucb.ac.uk/bacss/files/2011/10/FEMALE-COSTUME-CATALOGUE-201112-small.pdf

Setting: Inital research: 1

The setting of the painting is, in my view, is as important as the characters themselves. Therefore I have been looking around National trust homes and museums to find rooms that could fit the criteria for my photograph in both composition and period.
The first place I have visited is Wimpole Hall estate, Cambridgeshire. The estate was begun in the early 1600's and repeatedly revitalised until 1938 when it was bequeathed to the National Trust. I have decided to set my photograph during the mid Victorian era and therefore the mansion itself, with Georgian facade, would be quite appropriate:

Georgian Facade: Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire

My room of choice as a possible setting is The Red Room. A beautifully homely bedroom on the 1st floor; it has all the personal feel of that in the Arnolfini Portrait. While it is not intrinsically 'Victorian', a couple of that period would not look out of place in this setting, more like the setting is from the recent past of a wealthy family.:

The Red Room

The Red Room

 Most important for me is the placement of the window and the bed in the image and this room is perfect for that, the fact that the bed is red as well is a real bonus. I am seriously considering this as a potential setting for my photograph, even though it may be hard to organise. However, I will continue my research closer to Bournemouth to find another just as good.

Colour Palette

When remaking The Arnolfini Portrait I feel the best place for me to start it by creating a colour palette for the entire image. I will then try to replicate these colours within my remake while still inkeeping with the styles of the Victorian era in which I wish to set my own image. I want the outcome of this exercise to show how although the two images will look different in style and period set, that the colouring will bring it all back together again, allowing for them my image to be obviously influenced by van Eyck's.