Surreal swimming
Elena Paraskeva combines art and multiple exposures to stunning effect
She conceptual work of DC’s Photographer of the Year 2019 winner Elena Paraskeva is both a mixture of vivid and bold colours for the eyes, and thought-provoking ideas for the brain. This image, which is the finale piece from a body of work called ‘The Lost Swimmer’, represents a character who is drowning in self-doubt.
“The character in the series serves as an allegory for a self-conflicted individual,” says Elena. “To the observer, fulfilment in the form of swimming is easily within reach – but to the character, it is unattainable. Eventually, it becomes easier to repress the longing, but inevitably this leads to her emotionally drowning, and a complete inability to grasp on to the life rings that come her way. This is what the image here represents.”
Elena has used a multiple-exposure technique to create this impressive result. If you want to see more of Elena’s project, go to her website. www.elenaparaskeva.com
1 Planning
When you shoot a multipleexposure portrait scene like this, it’s important to plan, to get the lighting and each position of your model lined up correctly. Use a piece of chalk and mark on the ground where you need to move your model to for each frame. (It can help to number them.)
2 Colour palette
One of the most striking things about this series of images are the colours Elena has selected to use. This image is only made up of three main colours – pink, blue and yellow – and they all work together to create a bold statement.
3 Equipped for the job
For this shoot, Elena used her Nikon D810 with a wide-angle Nikkor 1635mm lens. She used three external lights and mounted her camera onto a tripod. Use consistent lighting for each frame of a multiple exposure, so the images blend together easily.
4 Multiple exposures
To ensure your images all line up and stitch together flawlessly, mount your camera onto a tripod and lock it firmly in place. You want to ensure the camera doesn’t budge at all during the shoot, so if you have a remote shutter release, use it to avoid any movement.
5 Editing tips
You’ll need an editing program such as Photoshop to blend all your exposures together into one final image. On each layer use a layer mask to reveal/conceal the correct parts using a black or white paint brush. As long as you’ve lit your image consistently you shouldn’t have a problem using this technique.