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SHAMEKH BLUWI

I studied Architecture in college and it helped me get exposed to both arts and many technical aspects such as aesthetics of the Human body measurements.

Shamekh Bluwi

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Shamekh Bluwi is an architect, visual artist, and fashion illustrator from Jordan. He gained a lot of popularity after he took images of his sketches of women whose dresses were cut off so that the background is seen. He uses many different backgrounds, such has his hometown Amman, other cities such as New York, to naturistic backgrounds and vibrant mosaics. This gives an abstract impression and makes his work unique and different from the rest as the combine two images in a non-digital kind of way, as he holds the cut outs up to his chosen background himself, without editing.

MY RECREATIONS

I like this photo because it takes exactly the same approach as Bluwi - taking an interesting background and using it as the initial image for this final shot. I really like the background I've chosen as light wicker and not only is it very interesting, it strongly includes the element of texture therefore making the overall image a lot stronger and more unique. For the paper sketch I am holding up in this shot, I decided to go down the exact same path again as Bluwi and I used a fashion sketch and cut out the dress so the background could be visible through it. I think this really interpretes his style into my recreations as he is a fashion illustrator and this is what he focuses his photography on. I also made sure to take the image so the background of the image was completely wicker, no bare edges or endings of the texure to tie the final shot together and give the same impression as Shamekh.

For this image, I decided not to have the background completely green grass as I think this would make it quite boring as grass isn't extremely textured. For this shot, I decided to hold it so the grass came through the iris but also included the real background of a field, just as displayed in one of Shamekh's pieces of a city when he had the city skyline coming through a dress but also included the whole city in the background. Also, for this, I decided to put a bit of my own style onto this shot, as I mentioned previously, Bluwi only uses fashion sketches in his photography, I used a sketch of an eye and cut out the iris for a background to visibly come through. This still uses Shamekh's style of photography and his intentions, but I have included some of my own ideas to make it a bit more unique and personal, rather than completely fashion.

This shot is using the same cutout image as the last one I shown - the sketch of the eye with the iris cut out. But this time, I have held it up to a different background that I think also works as well as the grass field, and this is quite a colourful bush or plant. I chose this background for the final shot as there are a mix of tones and colours i the plant as you can see - a mixture of lighter yellow-greens and darker greens. I think this makes the overall image very unique as a normal eye doesn't have that eye pattern but I think it works well as the colours are similar to those of natural irises. I also held the cutout so it was in the direct middle of the shot, as this draws your eye to the eye and emphasising the fact that it is the central image and main focus of it. I decided not to do what I did in my last image of holding it so you can see the background too, as I think having the background and just the bush brings it all together.

This photo is of a similar concept but this time it is a cutout of a woman running and holding a blanket-type item behind her. I think this would be a really good concept to use, especially with the sky, which I have done. I think this works well as the sky and wind connotate to each other due to weather, so having a blanket blowing in the wind is appropriate as they all have the same semantic field. I also did the same as in the last photo where I have held the cutout in the middle of the shot so your eye is drawn to it, but I noticed in quite a few of Bluwi's shots that he took the photo so the bottom or the top of the paper was cut off but the sketch was still fully in front of the camera lens. 

I really like this one as it is a cutout of a girl's dress when she is facing away from the artist, so the plait and open back creates a lot more diversity. I used the same technique of making the entire background of this image the same pattern included in the cut out dress, which is a multi-toned brick wall. I chose the most interesting part of the wall to use as the girl's apparent dress, as it includes the most colours, shapes and tones. I chose this because your eye will be drawn to the dress more than anything as it will be immediately recognised as the most interesting and worthy-to-look-at part of the image. Again, I held this in the centre of this shot so your eye is drawn to it even more and it stands out. Although multi-toned, the background is pretty dark-toned, so the white of the drawing creates contrast in the photo.

For this photo I decided to change my technique. As at this point in the day and I was trying to hold up paper in the increasingly powerful wind, I decided to try something else and lay it down and take a photo above it instead. This way, it takes out the slightly distracting feature of my arm and bright burgundy coat. I thought this quite vintage, rustic plank board was a brilliant background as it has a quite pale plue colour which is pleasing to the eye and works as a fashion colour, but the overall background with the planks and leaves is very interesting and unique. I also think the fact that I included two leaves in the background is great because it adds another eye-drawing point to the image as they are quite bright and colourful but compliment the bright white drawing that creates contrast against the background.

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