Friday 16 March 2012

Rankin Destroy

Rankin is a photographer who is most famous for his portraits of celebrities and famous icons. His most prestigious subjects were The Queen and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
He photographs celebrities for magazine covers and advertising campaigns, most famously Kate Moss.

His recent project 'Destroy' yet again features famous faces, but it has a different twist. The celebrities were encouraged by Rankin to 'destroy' their photos in any way possible, but with it still being possible to see who and what the image is of.
Some people chose simplicity, and simply drew or wrote a slogan on their image (Example and Florence and the Machine) ...




Others decided to smear make-up, rip, pour ink and stitch & sew their photo. I think this is more creative and fun which is what the project is all about. An interesting idea which I saw on this project, is the effect the photo has after it's been ripped and placed back in a similar (but not completely the same) shape. This works particularly well when the shot is very close-up and the features are clearly visibly altered.

There were a few more far-fetched ideas, such as Basement Jaxx's. They decided to completely fantasise and changed half their faces to animal heads. The background is filled with jewellery and beads in front of a blue sky with clouds. I think this is quite interesting because it shows they have big imaginations and because you can see half their faces, I think it works quite well. 

I think my favourite 'Destroyed' image is of the band All Saints. Their idea is pretty simple but really effective. They decided to change themselves to caricatures, with them looking powerful and like Superheroes. Despite the simple idea, I really like it because they are all standing in exactly the same positions and stances but they look so different; which was the desire of Rankin when he began this project.



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