Mihaela Ivanova is a photographer based in Bulgaria however, it was difficult to find in-depth information about her and gain knowledge on why and how she takes images the way she does. Here are some really simple photograph's produced by Mihaela Ivanova. The selection of images were found on her blog and are the ones I found very infuential. The reason I chose the following images is because the style and the message fits in with my theme of culture and identity and I found the meanings within the images very interesting. Through looking Mihaela's work i ahve foudn that she has multiple meanings within her work such as hding your identity through covering with something else you desire such as a feature or even different gender and expressing a side of your character that you may be afraid to let out to others.
All these images hold certain similarities in the way they are taken and in the style they are produced. Even though they may be hiding different features of the face they all are still trying to relay the same message. In this image you get the idea of that the girl is trying to hide a certain feature of her self that she may dislike of want to change. The eyes also look a lot younger then the face underneath does which make you think that the girl may feel younger on the inside then she does on the outside. We all have dislikes about ourselves to the point we wish could change and this can actually effect the way we act, it can be shown through our personality that if I person dislike something out them selves that it will effect their confidence and ability to be their selves.
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With these images you can instantly tell different genders in both the images, the face behind the coverup paper are two completely different people. The photographer chose the images vitery wisely because they are very different it how the person looks for example a girl covered with the bottom half of a males face and a teenager that has used a baby picture to cover her eyes In the image before you could tell that it was just a certain feature of them selves that the person wanted to change but in this one you can tell that it is every aspect of them selves that doesn't feel right and that isn't them. This may be due to them wanting to change their identity for example chaning their gender or just a feature. You can tell by the positioning of the cover up, the models are holding the cover up strongly and passionately and that the person truly believes that this is the role they want.
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In this image it is not necessarily some one trying to change a feature that they dislike about themselves because it the same man holding the cover up however, a different facial expression is being exposed to us and this may mean that he is hiding how is truly feeling and this may be because of many aspects such as fear of other people therefore he holds it in which doesn't reveal his true character and personality The eyes are full of anger and rage. Ivanonva's images are all done in black and white, no colour has been enhanced within the images and I think she has done this because adding colour would act as a distraction and take away the seriousness from the images. The mysterious atmosphere created through the dark and dull background adds emphasis to the images making it very effective.
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My outcome
Here is one of my successful responses created prior to Mihaela I have gotten my model in a very dark location and used a black back drop. The props I used which acts as the subject on the image because it is what catches our attention as it stands out and makes us question the image and what is happening. I tore out an eye image from my other model in black and white and used it as the cover up of the models real eyes. The torn effect on the eyes adds emphasis the thought that it's not hers but she desires to have it in a forceful way and the is shown through the way she has torn it our roughly. The white paper contrasting against the black is what makes the image captivating. Because the place was dark and I had no strong lighting I used the flash to show what was in front of me and it was worked exceptionally well.
I used the same concept however, similar to Lorena Cosba where I have styled it into my own and added an element of culture to them image. For the following response I used a cut out image of a woman that's covered up and represents some muslim women through her dress wear. The way in which my model is holding the veiled woman over her face shows us what she may look like from underneath and this image is sending out a very strong message, which is that muslim woman that choose to cover up are normal humans to just like you and me and just because they choose to cover up this simply doesn't mean that they are oppressed or should be treated any different. This goes for anyone and everyone, we should be able to dress and present our identity in the way that we feel comfortable in.
Furthermore, within this image, the same message is being sent out however in a contrasting way. The model is found holding an image of a girl that is present to be naked and topless and the image reveals things to us from another perspective for example, without any clothe items and on the top image, many clothe items worn. It also shows us the different types of people that are out there and types they wish to dress according to culture and other upbringings and belief.