Erik Almas Photography

As I get older I get more and more intrigued by authenticity and how to achieve this in my images.
What makes an image honest?
What is real about a 2 dimensional representation of what we see?
Now add Photoshop to the equation and what’s authentic becomes even more questionable.

In 1817 the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge suggested that if a writer could infuse a “human interest and a semblance of truth” into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative.
He coined this Suspension of Disbelief…

In composite photography, even though the image is not real, one can still create an authentic emotional response to the image. One can craft something that in the execution feels authentic and honest to the eye and on a visceral level feel real.

Disbelief suspended and authenticity achieved?
It’s a big subject that is best solved over a good bottle of vine.

Till then I will explore authenticity in both the simple portrait and the larger composites…

I will leave you with a couple of my recent composites.
One done for Sky promoting the TV show 24 and another for Dassault Systemes.

The background image for 24 was shot over 2 days on Westminister Bridge. We locked our cameras down and shot a few frames every 10 minutes or so till we had captured beautiful weather and light and frames without people for the 24 hour time span we needed. We then had 20 minutes with Kiefer Sutherland. We set up a backdrop next to the stage where they were recording the show so Kiefer could just walk onto our set during a break in filming.

In the below image for Dassault Systemes we shot designer Julien Fournier in Paris.
In this composite the idea was an interactive experience being so close to the real thing one can step right into Julien Fournier’s design studio…

Cheers!

Follow