Tommy Ingberg
Background to Ingberg
Tommy Ingberg is a self-taught photographer and visual artist from Sweden known for his surrealist photo montages. Ingberg creates what he calls 'self-reflecting, surreal photo montages dealing with human nature, feelings and thoughts.'
Before becoming an award-winning photographer, Ingberg was a computer engineer. During a turbulent period in his life photography became a form of therapy for him and his work grew from there.
Style
I would describe Ingberg's style as minimalist. I think the use of black and white makes his images more dramatic and surreal.
Mood
I feel that the mood of Tommy Ingberg's work is profound and personal - almost like his own visual diary and I find them both stirring and thought provoking to look at. Like this image, many of his photographs feature a man in a dark suit, who seems to be struggling against different forces or emotions, which makes me think that they are mostly autobiographical. I think the dark sky adds to the dramatic feel of the work and the way the man has his arms outstretched pushing against the fists gives an impression of strength.
Photographic techniques/process
Ingberg sketches out how he wants the picture to look before shooting the source images for his compositions. He shoots his material in a studio as well as outside and then arranges the images digitally using Photoshop. He places a lot of importance on camera work and producing high quality photographs and not over-relying on editing.
Composition
I think the composition of this image is very clean and uncluttered, which seems to be a key characteristic of Tommy Ingberg's work. He has altered the size of the subject matter - the man pushing against two clenched fists - enlarging the fists to create a surreal image. Ingberg has placed the man in the centre of the frame, so that the viewer's eye is drawn to the main focal point of the picture.
Personal reflections
I really like this particular image, as it's a unique and distinctive interpretation of the theme of 'Out of Place.' It has inspired me to experiment with creating a thought provoking, self-relective image.
https://www.lensculture.com/tommy-ingberg
Photoshoot Plan
Equipment needed
Things to consider
Like Tommy Ingberg's work, I wanted my image to be self-reflective. A man in a dark suit features frequently in Ingberg's photos, but to make my image more personal, I chose to use a female model.
To recreate the anonymity of Ingberg's man figure, I styled my model in a black hoodie and black tracksuit bottoms, which are more relevant clothing to my peer group. In my photo montage, I was aiming to communicate the concept of fighting against dark or intrusive thoughts.
To show this, I considered using either a dispersion effect (see image below), or inserting an image of a jumbled mass of wires inside the heads of the silhouettes, superimposing dark clouds over the faces of the silhouettes, or layering manic looking hand-drawn scribbles around their heads.
To replicate Ingberg's composition, I decided that my model would have her arms outstretched appearing like she is pushing against the silhouetted heads.
Creative idea
I cut out the profile of the model using the "Quick selection tool" and "select subject". This created a very accurate outline due to the subject being shot against a neutral background. This was a learning from the Anna Stiegler project (cat photo).
I used the Quick Selection tool again to outline the model with arms outstretched, then selected "inverse" to delete the background.
I copied the profile layer and flipped the image vertically, using "image/image rotation/flip canvas vertical" to create an inverse copy. I then positioned these on the right and left side of the background using "transform / scale."
I imported the clouds as a background image and experimented with the position and sizing of the model with arms outstretched in relation to the profile images, using "transform / scale."
I brought in the road image as the ground and experimented by adjusting the depth of this, using "transform / scale" to get the right perspective.
I put a grey colour "darken" overlay on the road image to make it blend more with the clouds. I then watched a PhotoshopCafe tutorial video on how to blur one image against another. To do this, I created a layer mask for the road surface layer.
I then selected the brush tool, increased this to a large size, turned down the hardness and then painted across the line between the road surface and the clouds which took away the harshness of it, allowing it to blend more.
I dragged in the cloud images and used the quick selection tool to select the subject of the picture which created a relatively good outline of the cloud. I then deleted the sky using "inverse/delete."
I then zoomed in to clean up the outline of the cloud. I created a clipping path with the pen tool to remove remaining sections of sky.
I also used the clone stamp, and eraser to clean up the edges of the cloud and remove any remaining blue. I also experimented with the "spot healing brush" for the first time to remove a couple of spots.
The final step was to change the clouds to black and white using "image / adjustments / black & white" and experiment with the size and position of the clouds in relation to the model profiles to create the desired effect.
Conclusion
Getting the composition of this image right was a very difficult process. Sizing the headshots correctly in relation to the main figure took multiple attempts and making the shape of the cloud formations work with the headshots was extremely challenging. I think the styling of my model worked well and created the feeling of anonymity I was aiming for and by blurring the pronounced line between the background shot and road surface I was able to make the two shots blend better, reducing the harshness of my first attempt.
EBI
Although overall I'm quite happy with my final image, I think the clouds could perhaps have been a little darker and more intense, to communicate the idea of dark and intrusive thoughts more clearly. To achieve this, I could experiment more with colour adjustment layers in Photoshop.
Final image
Composition
I chose to use a female model dressed in black clothing as the main subject of my shoot. I decided to position her in the centre of the frame, with head down, so that her facial features were not visible. Situated on either side of the model, I chose to position black silhouettes of her head, to communicate the idea that she was pushing away dark thoughts. I envisaged that these images would be set against a dark sky to create a dramatic mood.
Equipment
I used my Canon digital camera to take my photos and shot my model against a plain white wall, as this would make editing easier further down the line.
Location
I photographed my model indoors, in a room with a large expanse of wall. To create the background, I took a range of sky/cloud shots outdoors and photographed a cracked road surface which would provide the ground in my image.
Editing
Before editing my images in Photoshop, I converted them into black and white. I experimented with brightness and contrast levels, blurring and hue/saturation to create the dramatic look that is characteristic of Tommy Ingberg's work.