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.

Final Piece Inspirations

Geraldine Georges - Her works of illustration/paint on top of a cut up photograph is really interesting. I like the way her models are very emotive and their really pale skin. Some of the images are black and white, and some show a simple flash of red in the lipstick/nail varnish.
I think I could incorporate this style into my work because I like drawing over the top of images and I think different patterns - like Georges has done - could work really well.

The simpleness of the left image's black and white is really stylish and plain, whereas the near lack of colour in the right image is still as eye-catching.

I like how the model looks like she's dripping in ink and the patterns and lines make the photo a lot more interesting to look at.

I think this is my favourite work of Georges, the pale blue background contrasts with the small amount of red on the lips and nails and the pink flowers make the colours pop even more.

John Thornqvist - His work involves elements of American cities such as water hydrants or lampposts covered in made-up worlds and tiny little created cities with lots of small features and characters. I think I could incorporate Thornqvist's works into my own because I have access to the elements of a city that he uses to create the tiny cities on. I could photograph the material things such as a light or bus, then draw or photoshop in the small characters.

I like this image because it shows a small made-up city, on top of a man-made feature that we are so used to seeing.

This is similar to the one above, the illustrations are seen in a human world.

This looks like a fairytale or cartoon.

Rankin - Rankin's work is mostly celebrities and famous faces but I am planned to make it more personal and shoot my friends of family. I would keep the ideas pretty similar to his 'Destroy' project, by writing, drawing, painting, ripping, making patterns and inking the images, by showing a 'before' and 'after' shot. 

I like how this photo is quite weird and not necessarily a photo of the two members of Basement Jaxx. It's interesting to see what other people's ideas are and how they like to portray themselves, which I could take and bare in mind when photographing my friends and family.

This 'Destroy' photo is quite simple, but is effective and shows what she wanted to get across.

I love the colours used in these separate photos of singer Robyn, although I also like the plain and simpleness of each one and the different facial expressions.

All Saints wanted to create charactertures of themselves...

I like these drawings because it shows how they wanted to portray themselves, and shows individuality.

I like how this photo of Example has informal writing and shows a more fun side.

Jill Orr - An Australian photographer who predominantly works with a lot of writing in her images - which I am intrigued by. However, her work tends to be quite dark and humourless, which I would probably steer away from, although I could take her ideas and change them into more happy subjects. 

This is probably not the most technically correct photograph, (intentionally), but I like the writing on the floor in chalk. (Similar to Rankin 'Destroy').

Virginia Echeverria Whipple - Her images are quite similar to that of Rankin, but in a more playful and tongue-in-cheek way. She takes photos of people in differing positions, and then 'destroys' them, by adding hair, sequins, feathers, beads and background pictures/drawings.

Similar to Rankin, but more vintage looking and something I could relate to more easily.

A few cut-up photos and placed back together in a different order, but it is able obvious as to what the image is. I like this idea and am thinking of taking it further towards my Final Piece.

Similar to the one above, but the face is different and I like the effect of the random placement and slightly irregularity.

The added hair and sequins add a fun mood to what could have been a rather dull image.

Destroy Rankin: My Interpretations

After looking at some of Rankin's work for his 'Destroy' Project, I decided to try destroying my own self portraits. I took self-portraits on iPhoto of me feeling different emotions. I did happy, bored, surprised and in thought. For the first one, happy, I just cut it up into different shapes then put it back together but with gaps. I found this a good starting point but quite dull and boring.

After looking at Rankin's images again I realised the celebrities he photographed changed themselves very drastically. I started to paint my 'bored' photo in quite an abstract way. I was planning on painting the whole image but after just doing the hand, I thought the minimalistic tone could be more effective. 

I painted the background just to make it look more changed than before. 

Encounters, Experiences and Meetings...