Mystery Inspired by Magritte
Using Art to Bring a New Lens to Photography
By Owen Biddle Photo School + SeeingHappy
Rene Magritte (1898-1967)
“Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist.”
Magritte’s paintings are extraordinary for the way the artist combines common object in totally unexpected ways to deliver a reality that could never be. These impossible juxtapositions make us think and often make us smile.
"Considerations" to think about different elements of a composition that can reproduce the feeling of a painting:
- Interiors
- Sets
- Backgrounds
- Clothing/costumes
- Cosmetics
- Hair
- Props
- Poses
- Colors
- Lighting
- Symbolism
- Attitude
- Mood
- Pallet
- Psychology
- Tonality
- Focus
- Perspective
- Scale
- Shadows
- Shape
- Form
- Composition/framing
- Lines
- Texture
- Viewpoint
- Motion
Double Exposure Creating Mystery
Take a few photos – anything that catches your eye.
Edit them as you please on your phone and then grab the Snapseed app.
There is a wonderful tool under “Tools” (of course!) in which you can take one photo from your library, edit it in Snapseed, then select “Double Exposure”. You can then select another photo from your library and place it on top. There are various ways to combine the two – we like the default but experiment and see what you like. Experiment with the opacity also and where you place the second photo over the first.
You can add as many photos as you like!
Experiment with editing – turning the photos and then adding them, expand the photo, use the perspective to give a really different look.
The Snapseed photo editing app is perfect for creating a Magritte.
