Patrick Demarchelier

Patrick Demarchelier was born near Paris in 1943. His stepfather brought him his first Eastman Kodak camera for his seventeenth birthday, this is when Demarchelier learned how to develop film, retouch negatives and he began shooting friends and weddings. By the late 1970s he had shot covers for nearly every major fashion magazine including American, British and Paris Vogue. 

Demarchelier took this photograph of Twiggy, who was arguably the worlds first supermodel. The composition of this photograph is very symmetrical and this gives an effective mood to the viewer. The photograph feels very isolated but intriguing with the way her eyes are staring straight into the camera and that she isn’t smiling or showing any emotion. Demarchelier made this photograph black and white; this makes all of the features of Twiggy more enhanced. The shadow on her face makes her cheeks appear contoured and defined, giving her face more shape and depth.

Although Demarchelier has created a lot of shadows with the lighting, this has made the photograph appear bold and very distinctive which gives a contrasting balance to the colours (black and white) and repetition on her jumper. The designer of this photograph has used black eyeliner to contour the eye and make them look slimmer and more elongated; this expresses a subtle emotion of sadness and isolation. The balance of black and white on the other hand is even and tonal.

Response to Patrick Demarchelier: Initial Photographs | Twiggy Responses

Raw Photographs (Not edited)

These two photographs above were taken as a response to Patrick Demarchelier's photograph of Twiggy. I did a simple make up look, which included a base of foundation, bronzer for contouring and blush to highlight the apples of the cheeks. I also used black eyeliner to contour the eye like Twiggys. To finish off the look I used a strong red lip liner to outline the lips and edges, with a red lipstick over the top. I got my model to wear a patterned jumper, to create repetition with different patterns. I also used a black background for these images because the photograph of Twiggy is quite dark but has a good use of lighting up the model to make them brighter than the background. We also played around with different poses and positions.

Edited Photographs

For this photo shoot I got my model to add some props, such as the glasses and coat. The glasses really standout against the white background and natural makeup. I used a light pink for the lips with a lip liner to make the lips fuller and appear bigger. I used a highlighter to make the cheekbones appear elongated and prominent. I also added come bronzer to the bottom of the cheekbones to create a shadow like effect. The composition of this photograph is central and I like the way her arm creates lines.

Out of the four images I chose for this shoot, this one is my favourite. I really like the lighting and the way it creates shadows and darkness in the corners around my model. I also feel like this photograph has more emotion and feeling to it. The way my model is looking at the camera, it makes you want to know what my model is thinking about or even looking at. I also like the shine/glare from the studio lights on my models glasses. If I was to re-shoot these images I would make the make up a lot more dramatic and less natural. I would also get my model to take her rings off and I would also use more props, like headpieces and more dramatic outfits. (Focus more on the face rather than full body images)

I did a response to the 4 square images of twiggy. I took for of my own photographs, I made sure all of them were the same size and then I put them together into a square and made it black and white. I did a few different arrangements of this so I could see which one looks the most effective.