Photo Montage Collage

“A montage i did of my bedroom, it's a bit messy but it adds to the image, i think. It took 83 photos to make and around 3 hours” 

• "I've no doubt that those photographs I took will make people look at everything in a more interesting way--the little tear on one piece of paper, the shadow on another. But good painting has always done that--made you see things. And the most ordinary can be the most extraordinary." --David Hockney

• Born in Bradford, England, Hockney is associated with the unique landscape subject matter and sun-drenched color palette he devised in Los Angeles, where he has lived and worked since 1963. He first achieved international renown in the early 1960s for his drawing, printmaking, and painting, which were associated with the Pop Art movement that derived its subject matter and name from references to popular culture. In the early 1980s, Hockney began to produce photocollages, which he called "joiners," first of Polaroid prints and later of 35mm, commercially processed color prints. His subject matter ranges from portraiture to still life, his style from representation to abstraction. In addition to photography, Hockney's diverse media include printmaking, painting, drawing, filmmaking, and theater design.

To Create a Photo Montage Collage…

• Compose a photo with a strong center of interest. Since you are taking pictures of a very wide area, you should keep your center of interest very close.

• Remember, never to move from your spot until you’re done. You may tilt the camera up and down during the shoot, but never change your shooting position.

• Practice shooting first. The idea behind Hockney’s approach is to photograph a large scene by breaking it up into many smaller ones. You must think of your scene as having an invisible grid with overlapping squares placed upon it. Begin shooting with only your waist turned three-quarters to the left. Continue to shoot your first horizontal row of photos, remembering to always overlap the photo you just took, until you reach a position where your waist is turned three-quarters to the right.

• Begin to shoot the second row of horizontal photos as you did previously, but you must also overlap the top of this row with the bottom of the last row.

• Continue to shoot the entire scene always overlapping both vertically and horizontally until you complete the scene.

• Shoot the real thing when you feel comfortable. Bring the film in for processing. Ask for matte finish and an extra set of prints.