Saturday, May 16, 2015

Visual Themes: A Touch Of Red by macpics


'When in doubt... wear red!'


Or, in the case of Melbourne photographer macpics, when naked, be surrounded by red! I have been featuring the work of Ian from macpics for awhile now, and often when doing multiple post of a photographer's work, visual themes arise. In many of Ian's shoots, some of my favorite shots were his placement of models in front of the deep red sheet of material he used.


Red is without a doubt one of the most eye catching colors. There is reason stop lights and stop signs and most logos and signs to indicate danger or emergency are colored in red. Red is also a color most synonymous with both life and death, heart, love and passion, and extreme anger and rage.


I love the dramatic effect Ian creates using the red material and the dramatic contrasts created with lighting, especially between the red back drop and the skin of whomever is in front of it. When I asked Ian about the theme he kind of laughed. Although he initially did love the color, and texture of the material, Ian shared he is getting a bit tired of using the same background. It is not as much a choice, but a necessity... at least for now.


Red has the ability however, to create drama and elegance, even if it is all just a charade. The red backdrop in these images, masterfully camouflages all that is behind, in front and around it. It doesn't matter whether the model is being shot in a huge warehouse, on a roof top, a hi-tech studio over looking over a Melbourne beach, or a tiny artist's apartment. All that matters is the model, their body and the touch of red.








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