I stumbled onto Ellen McDermott’s blog while browsing some surreal photo portraits after writing an article about making a surreal photo portrait. Ellen is an award winning fine art photographer and high-end professional retoucher living and working in Wicklow, Ireland. Her style is so unique and inspirational, it motivated me to share her work with my readers.
For the background in the image above she used a stock photo of a room (which appears to be CG). Then she duplicated it and flipped it, creating a symmetrical background which served as a perfect compliment to the posed model. [I’m not a big fan of centered compositions, but this image is the perfect example of when a centered composition absolutely works!] Her technique is clean and balanced - perfect blend of fiction and reality. The monochromatic color scheme is complimented by the bright red flowers on the bottom, which is a nice touch!
Ellen has several surreal photo portraits on her blog, displaying consistency in style which for many photographers is something to strive for.
While I can talk about the technical aspects of the image with ease, I can’t describe the emotion that this image evokes. The words I would use to attempt to describe what I’m feeling could be: calm, solidity, worry, uneasy - another words - mixed emotions ;)
Ellen is represented by Clic Gallery, Soho, New York City, where she will be holding an exhibition of her work there in 2012.It’s definitely worth checking out!
I also recommend checking out The Irish Arts Blog for more unique and creative artists from Ireland.
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