Master Manipulators: Matt Mahurin
Every photo you have ever seen was altered after the shutter clicked. Although photographers who strive for meticulous realism in their images might eschew airbrushing, most probably can’t keep their hands off that Levels tool. Then there are those who actively tamper with the facts, whether the results are subtle (airbrushing out wrinkles and love handles) or baroque (putting Oprah Winfrey’s head on Ann-Margret’s body on the cover of TV Guide).Herewith, American Photo presents Matt Mahurin who are taking manipulation to brilliant extremes. For each of him, post-production is as important as camera work—and each discipline intimately informs the other. None of this work could have existed before Photoshop, none of their subjects exist in real life, and we find the whole thing terribly exciting.
When you commission a graphic from Matt Mahurin, you never know what you’re going to get. Which is the whole point. Skipping around his toolbox, Mahurin uses whichever media combination will help him create charged images to illustrate difficult stories. No wonder, then, that publications such as Time, Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal hire him to make visual sense of complex topics like Abu Ghraib or the Wall Street crisis.
But while his technique is top-notch, editors and art directors come to Mahurin, based in New York City, for something beyond Photoshop expertise. “They come to me for my point of view,” says Mahurin, who began working with Photoshop soon after its launch in 1990 and personally executes every stage of his photo illustrations. “I walk the line of having an emotional take while working with the point of view of the article.”
Mahurin routinely combines different genres of photography and illustration, but the work itself is seamless. “Everything is of one sensibility and it all bleeds together,” he says. “I want everything to look like it came out of the same world.”
Mahurin’s body of work can be read as a chronology of society’s troubles, from the Cold War to AIDS to domestic violence to Middle East strife. Through it all, though, he retains the same artistic sensibility, consistent as any great photographer or painter. “People see Photoshop as a crutch,” he says, “but I see it more as a modern-day dark room where you strive to create a master print.”
Question: Put in your own words what this quote means from the article, what is he saying. Write your answer in an email to me at rmalik@rbrhs.org
“They come to me for my point of view,” says Mahurin, who began working with Photoshop soon after its launch in 1990 and personally executes every stage of his photo illustrations. “I walk the line of having an emotional take while working with the point of view of the article.”
Next, the Assignment:
- Chose a portrait from the below, right click to save it to your desktop folder.
- Separate the image from background (layers).
- Convert to CMYK
- Begin to experiment:
- Try Image/Adjustment/Hue Saturation tool, levels or curves
- Try: Filters (sample different ones) see screen captures
- NOTE: some options will not show as available unless you choose one channel in the channel menu (windows/channel) select one color channel at a time (hint: just like grain or blur)
- Be creative without losing the face and maintaining the image see the powerpoint.
- Have fun with it!
This is a preliminary exercise. You will complete several before you create your own conceptual photo in a few weeks. For now you will:
- Complete Mat Mahurin blog on a Google doc, share with me (rmalik@rbrhs.org) by December 28
- Complete the portrait exercise (a handout of power point will be given to guide where to locate photoshop filter tools). When you finish save a jpg and place the jpg on a Google doc and share with me by February 1
- Begin the photo montage (a packet to guide you will be provided and photos to use will be on the blog site to download). When complete this will be placed on a google doc and shared with me by February 9
IF you don't have a gmail account you will not be able to save on a google doc. I recommend you create a gmail for this class. Once you have a login you can access: Drive/New/Doc. Change doc name by highlighting top left, share by choosing the person, top right and typing my email rmalik@rbrhs.org.
