Any ideas on how this was done?

gone · Sep 1, 2021

I was looking on an old, 25 year old HD and found this file taken from an old photo magazine. Can't find the other photo that goes w/ it, but it was exactly like this photo except it only had one person in it. My memory of how it was done is also gone, but the gist of the write up was that the photographer started w/ that one person and somehow increased them to the crowd size shown here. Everything was done in a darkroom, no P/S or other digital manipulation. The person on the bottom right looks a little different, if that means anything.

]

NB23 · Sep 1, 2021

Paint is highly possible

randyB · Sep 1, 2021

If you look at the knees and shoulders you will see that they are not the same person duplicated over and over. You can also see changes in the lighting on the individual people. IMO, it looks like 27 people in full body stockings that have the markings printed on them. OR, 1 photograph of each person, 27 total, then multi-printed on one sheet of paper, this would require a very, very skilled darkroom printer to make this look as good as it does, lots of very precise masking. There are of course other possibilities.

cramej · Sep 1, 2021

Each person is different. Looks like the pattern is projected from above.

revdoc · Sep 1, 2021

To find the photographer and other works by them: using Chrome, right click on the image (or tap and hold), then select "search Google for this image".

foc · Sep 2, 2021

cramej said:
Each person is different. Looks like the pattern is projected from above.

+1
Look at the line pattern on the ground in the foreground. It appears to match up with the lines and pattern on the people's toes and legs.
The lighting is very directional and focused, see the body shadows of the people in the front.

It could be a lighting set up in a theatre or film studio.

macfred · Sep 2, 2021

The photograph above is from Misha Gordin from his CROWD series - it's called Crowd 54 : http://bsimple.com/home.htm

http://bsimple.com/Crowd54.htm

About the photographer : https://thornwoodgallery.com/artist/misha-gordin

gone · Sep 2, 2021

So there's really a crowd of people, not just one that was duped? No wonder I couldn't find the other pic w/ one person. My memory must have made that one up. I was thinking it could be done by cut and paste, then the whole thing was photographed. The article did mention that the photos were "assembled" by the photographer, whatever that may mean.

Thanks for the link, I'm having a blast this morning looking at some of Misha's other work on there! The tonality of the photographs is just fantastic. Here's another link.

https://trendland.com/misha-gordin-crowd-series/

runswithsizzers · Sep 2, 2021

If the pattern was created entirely by some kind of "Venetian blind" type light source from above, I can't explain the more rectangular pattern just below the subjects' knees. Unless the light was shining through a purpose-made grid rather than just slats - in which case, the grid and the position of each subject would have to be meticulously coordinated.

@macfred thanks for the links; I enjoyed looking at the artist's work.

Kino · Sep 2, 2021

The pattern is probably created by skin tight body suits. Look at where the knees touch on each individual and the shadows from each head fall on the shoulders.

I think the pattern on the floor is also not a projection, but a series of lines of tape or something similar. It's all designed to look like projected light, but I don't think it is projected light.

Any ideas on how this was done?

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency