Photographer Research - Rosie Hardy

Rosie Hardy is a world-wide photographer based in Manchester, UK.  She uses light to effectively capture colour and form as well as to create and implement shadows within her work.  Her work envelopes a few different themes and includes a lot of self portraiture as well as photos of other people both famous and less well known.

This photograph shows both colour, through the vibrant flowers as well as her shirt, and form to a certain extent although this would be clearer in black and white as the shadows are not that well emphasised as the bright colours distract from them.

This photo uses some interesting lighting effect which is hard to determine wether this is a editing effect or the actual lighting of the photo although I would be more inclined to say an editing effect.  This photo also shows form quite clearly with the highlights and shadows on the subject as well as the shadow cast behind her.

This photo clearly shows form partially due to its black and white nature but also for the fact that the light appears to be coming from a single direction, the top left, which emphasises any shadows created. It is a fairly different and interesting composition that I haven't seen much as the subject is filling the entire frame there is no background visible.

I like the way that within this photograph there are shadows of hands and arms that appear to be interacting with the subject that has been minimised into one corner of the frame.  obviously a bright light has been used to cast the shadows of the arms and then the model is pretending to be scared.  form is shown through the use of the model and the way that one side of her is lit while the other is in shadow.

Rosie Hardy has influenced me and the way I work as she does't seem to be afraid of trying really different compositions and ideas to create a unique style that is hers alone.  I also like the way that she occasionally uses things like shadows cast by things out of frame to change the feel of a photo or add another layer of meaning to it.

In summary Hardy is a skilled photographer who applies her talent in a variety of different ways to produce both self portraits and portraiture of others, creating some mysterious and dark photographs with several layers of meaning as well as some really bright, colourful and cheery photographs.