Self Portrait Experiments

To begin with these set of experiments, I took a series of self portraits and these were the 5 I concidered the best to begin experimenting. I decided to add ones with the smoking in as its adds an extra layer and I wondered how the smoke would look using the glitch effect.
To begin I wanted to start with the first photo as its the simplest, I wanted to use GIMP to edit as I'm a fan of the use of layers and wanted to experiment more with that.

For this edit, I used the layer tool to create 2 layers, one red and one blue, but used the darken only feature so it only darkened the photo, giving it a more creepy and dark look. I then moved the top layer to expose the red and blue layers between.

I then created a layer from visable and brought that to the top to add the distortion. I used the curve bend tool as I've used it before and know how its works. I wanted most the distortion on the face across the eyes, giving a dehumanising effect. I liked how the left eye is more distorted then the right, so to still look human but just slightly warped. I then added a few more curves further down below the shoulders to break it up a bit and continue the theme of glitching.

I originally wanted to stop there, but then decided to experiment with another tool called wind. It drags colours from the photo cross in different directions and adds another layer of movement and depth. After playing with the sliders I came out with a piece I liked.

Overall I'm pleased with how this piece turned out, the background of the leaves stands out and the way the colours are dragged down give it the illusion they're melting.

Moving on from this, the third photo peaks my interest due to the way the smokes leaving the mouth. It looks rather fluid and I want to incorporate that into this next edit.
For this one I used 2 coloured layers, red and green, before adding the curve bend distortion. I increased the saturation of this also to make the red and green more vibrant against the background leaves, I also added a Pattern on top of this which is the small bars across the piece, giving it a more retro feel. I feel my intentions were to focus on the smoke, but I feel it looks a little washed out and doesnt stand out as much as I would of liked it to.

Moving forward from this, I want to take some more photos of different people and work into those too, I might also try printing out my photos and working onto them, giving me the oppotunity to used different materials and meduims.