Marlene Wynn - Weekly Post # 8

Jose Romussi

1. Artist Technical Choices
1.  Berlin-based Jose Romussi takes pictures of models from the fashion and beauty industry and places opaque embroidery over them.  This makes for a very interesting interpretation of the model's face.  While be began by simply painting over the pictures, he soon discovered that embroidery was the only way to show his true concepts.  In addition to the embroidery pieces, he will often write words on the photos.  All photo's appear to be taken with a close zoom in standard lighting.
2.  Artist Conceptual / Thematic Intents
1. In the first photo, the image of a blonde girl in a black and white outfit is completely transformed to look somewhat clownish.  Jose stayed with black, white, and red, keeping the color theme regulated and not too disjointed.  She remind's me of two things:  first a Picasso painting and, second, a character from a Tim Burton film.  :-)
2. In the second photo, the young male model is transformed into what looks like a wild jungle hunter wearing a fierce mask.  I really like this photo and would have loved to see the original to compare.  Jose didn't cover the entire face either, allowing the model's skin tone to show through the embroidery patches.  I love that all the colors in the embroidery and the model are somewhat "cool" except for the eyes.  Those bright orange/red creepy eyes really make this picture.
3. In the third photo, Jose changed his concept a bit by (a) using the same model as in the 2nd photo, and (b) making it black and white.  This time, instead of the wile jungle warrior, we have a Picasso element again where you can just make out facial features like an eye, nose, or ear.  The use of bright jewel-tone colors is striking against the stark black and white of the photo.  Somehow, this photo also reminds me of a quilt!  :-)
3. My Response to the artist's Intents
1. This is such an unusual way to photograph people that it caught my eye immediately and made me want to see more.  As I stated before, I also wanted to see the originals so I could compare each "beauty" face with the new "beauty" face.  I really enjoyed coming across this artist...what a creative way to completely transform a simple picture!