Connecting Essay 3

Online Image:

Composition of the image shows purely the females face. The rest of her body is not shown in this image and it is simply a portrait shot. The photographer has chosen a black background, making the gold much more prominent and enhances its colour due to the massive contrast between this and the background. The image has been heavily sharpened, making the gold leaf stand out and also giving it the formal element of texture. This makes the gold seem like it is thing, however enables the flakes to come off of the females face, giving the image more of a shape and directs the eyes to the outlines of the females face. The model is looking directly into the camera, with her eyes glaring. They appear to be wide open, almost frightening in her look towards the audience. However, this is a positive as it makes the image unique and memorable in its appearance. The gold leaf has been extended into her hair, making her hair line appear more difficult to spot. All that is left of the females face is her ears and her eyes. The colour of the eyes is much duller than the rest of the image, but enables the gold to stand out. The gold is also very reflective with it appearing metallic to the audience. It is not perfect and holds many flaws but it also gives the image texture. 

Own Image:

A medium closeup shot used to show the females face and also her hair. It allows the audience to see more of the female instead of just her face. There are dark shadows underneath the models face, as a result of a lack of reflection. Should a reflector have been present, this would have drawn attention to the models neck and the rest of her body.  The model is alternatively shown to be illuminated from the front and the sides to light up her hair and make her stand out amongst the background. This works well as it explores the colours shown. The gold leaf is sharpened and gives it clarity, it also gives it texture amongst the models airbrushed skin. It makes the image feel as though it is beauty for the upper class, as gold is a symbol of wealth and purity.  The composition of the model is placed with a tilted face, emitting the feeling of power and stance and gives the impression that the model understands what she is doing. The models face is smooth, with dark makeup around the eyes but also colour on the eyelids. This draws attention to an aspect which is widely explored in the beauty industry. The lips are also covered in gold, which explores the gold leaf on the eyelids and around the base of the eye. 

These two images relate via the use of makeup. In both of the images, the beauty topic is explored via the gold leaf which is placed around the facial features which are heavily relied upon in the industry. These are the eyes, the lips and also the cheeks. In the Internet image, the models facial expression is much more bolder than my own image. This is because she is exhibiting a shocked expression, whereas mine looks more powerful and in control. The portrait of the first image also purely focuses on just the gold, instead of the models face. Whereas in my own image, the model is shown to be striking a glamorous pose as she is looking directly into the camera and her hair is lit up from the back.