Ayla Graham

DIGITAL PORTFOLIO
Concealment

Part 1 of 4
 Artist Investigation
Christian Hopkins
4: My work
I will relate this to my work when I create my own photos linking with the
1. Basic Information idea and connotations of concealment and strong emotions. I want to link
Christian Hopkins is a photographer feelings of sadness and loneliness with concealment in my photo. I will
in Pennsylvania who bases his work think about the surreal element to these photos and attempt the same in
off of strong emotions he can not my editing.
explain in words.

2. Visual Qualities
This photo shows a person curled in a ball under a sheet showing concealment as
the person is hidden from us, and they are hidden from the world. I like this
picture as I think it reflects ideas of loneliness really well.

I would like to experiment with

the idea of concealment through
sheets and material covering the
hole body. I want to use a birds
eye view like shown in this
picture, as well as other angles. I
am trying to explore the use of
materials to conceal the body.

3: Camera settings
Christian Hopkins takes self-portraits using a remote shutter release and uses
editing to manipulate his photos. He describes the editing process as “building
the background, then cut out and add all of the subjects, then match their hues
and tones to the background”.
Christian Hopkins is an artist who started his journey as a photographer at the young age of 16 when
he was diagnosed with depression. He was given art therapy which he said saved his life. Through
photography, he found a way to express how he felt in a way words could not do. While he could not
describe how the depression felt, his work managed to reflect this and was a way to ‘fight my
depression’. While beginning with a camera on a school trip, looking for small stories to tell and
emotions to display, Christian says that ‘eventually I started looking for the hidden beauty in the
world’ to photograph instead.
Christian Hopkins started a depression series which depicts strong emotions of loneliness, fear and
pain. This appeals to an audience perhaps feeling similar emotions where the photos feel strongly
relatable. He says that he wants his photos to ‘remind people that they're human’. Within the photo
you may see yourself or a friend, ‘whoever may lie within the frame, you are seeing a human being’. It
is described as ‘beautiful and haunting’, something about the photos appeal as a stunning display of
emotion.
This picture is very powerful and hypnotising with the surreal element. When looking at the picture, it
feels as though there is always more to see, whether this be the actual shapes in the image or
searching for the meaning behind it. It shows the modal, Christian Hopkins himself, with his back to
the camera, head tilted to the side and hugging his body tight. This creates a canvas, the back, where
he has hands and faces seeming to push against the skin. What's interesting about this photo is rather
than the modal being the focus of the photo, it is the shapes in the back that the viewer is drawn to.
He calls this photo, Inner Demons, and he says that its his favourite. He says that he made each photo
a ‘manifestation of some specific demon’.
The image uses the rule of thirds as the modal is positioned to the left of the frame leaving the right
empty, using the technique of negative space. This draws all focus to the modal and also creates a
sense of emptiness. The modals head is turned to the left, away from the space, drawing all of the
focus to this side of the page and emptying the right. This is effective to the themes of depression
linking with loneliness. The void in the picture contrasts to the busyness shown in the demons inside
the modal. This is were the atmosphere feels more crowded and the thought of being trapped is
shown. This contrast is important to the photo as it shows a conflict in feelings.
To create this picture, Christian used a remote shutter speed to take the self portrait. Starting with the
modals body position, he took the photo and then moved to the demons. For this, he used sheets to
create the force on the skin. The sheets moulded to the shapes he created which have then been
edited to appear inside the body. They look trapped in the body, looking out into the world trying to
escape, putting force and stress on the person, causing pain and linking to the chaos and hollowness
felt.
1: Concept Planning a shoot
For my shoot I will be experimenting
with the use of fabrics to conceal a In the style of Christian Hopkins
person. This links to the idea of
concealment as the person will be
completely hidden from the viewer and 5: Modals/people
they will not be showing any identity, I will be using a modal for this shoot
just a body, just a human. I want my however they will remain anonyms within
picture to reflect thoughts of loneliness the picture.
which can be linked to concealment, 6: Composition
ideas of being hidden away and I will be experimenting with angles and
anonyms. In the editing process I want to want to try taking my shoot from a birds
change my photos to black and white eye view. In contrast, I also want to see if a
help create a more downing mood to the shooting from floor level would also work.
photo. When doing this I will test different
4: Lighting settings of aperture however for birds eye
2: Link to photographer
The shoot view will keep it low.
I am using one of Christian
will be
Hopkins images as inspiration
done using
where a person is curled up
the natural
with a sheet covering them. I
lighting.
also want to experiment with
the birds eye view and the 3: Equipment and location
black and white, as shown in To do this shoot I will be using sheet fabrics to cover over the
the picture. modal. I want this to fill the whole frame.
 This worked how I had wanted using a
close up lens and a birds eye view. I
copied my sketch having the modals arms
folded and having the sheets reach to the
edge of the frame.

I used the features in the

sketches to influence my
photographs using the
shapes I had sketched as
This was my practice shoot to see what I needed to well as some others. The
do for my real shoot. After taking these I made some idea of using the sheets
changes. The sheet worked and outlined the shape of to cover the body is
the person however it wasn’t very big and therefore shown in all of my
left the background shown. This is distracting and not images and I use a birds
what I wanted. For my next shoot, I used multiple eye view in many of
sheets. I also changed the colour of the sheet to them.
white.