The Clown

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,
make them happy, and forget momentarily,
all the unpleasantness in their lives.
From The Clown's Prayer.

Entered for this weeks digital photography school competition on costumes.

More clowning around and the concept on my my blog

---UPDATE--
This was the first runner up photo in the competition!!!
"Our first runner up was ktlindsay for the clown shot, which again, was a good idea with good lighting and tone to create a really well put together image."

Thank you!!!

P.S And made explore :-)

To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and
install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player.

Comments

Smoothfoote says:

Cool! Very creative & I like the side light and whatever you did with the colours.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Garrettc says:

As much as clowns creep me out (and they do *really* creep me out, thanks Stephen King) there's something very compelling about this shot. I think it's the split between clownness and normality.

But yes, I'm still a little creeped out.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Manthos says:

I like this image.

Clowns do not creep me out at all.

Nor do they amuse me very much either.

Nonetheless I do so like the concept behind this image. The idea of dressing up and assuming a role outside the mundane confines of one's everyday life. There are times I wish I too could do that.

Yet I do find a bit disconcerting the fact that even though your eyelids - as far as I can tell from the available tonal range - are merely rather lightly covering your eyes here the actual impression given is almost - and this is creepy! - as if they have been gouged out.

Where one expects to see eyes one sees only darkness.

After all as you wrote in your blog the "... clown face is not a mask it exaggerates features rather than hides them". Here there is no exaggeration of a feature. Rather there is a total masking out, a concealment from view of one of the most visible and characteristic features not only of a clown's but anyone's face.

So if I had a choice to make between the photographs that I had the opportunity to view from your clown-like efforts I would so much prefer to be seeing the photograph in your blog as more representative not only of such efforts but also of the face whose features I would expect to see exaggerated if the "clown face" as such was applied to your face.

Below I've added a convenient link to this photograph for anyone who would like to view it.

3.bp.blogspot.com/_GJAFLt2T1ck/SN_eakh3uhI/AA AAAAAAAck/xx...

By the way I find that eyes such as yours are too expressive to hide so perhaps my opinion of this image may be slightly biased yet what opinion of any image if honestly held by anyone is not simultaneously subjective?
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

olga_sgr! says:

I like it, very emotional!

As seen in the Female Self-Portrait Artists' Support Group.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Lilia's photos says:

Oooh creepy and awesome. Love the lighting!
--
Seen on digital-photography-school.com (?)
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

lxsocon says:

Maybe I think in too obvious or straightforward terms, but I think a traditional clown's outfit would have worked best for me - I guess you didn't have access to one?! Good work all the same :-).
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Fifi Patchouli ☠ says:

Amazing shot! Congrats!
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

donbyatt says:

I assume that's you beneath the makeup, Kate? I like the sad expression...just feel the left side of face has blocked up a bit, at least it appears very dark on my screen. Perhaps that was your intention, but personally I would like to see a tad more detail
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

philipjoyce says:

a very stark image that challenges interpretation - i like the sad/sinister clown face superimposed over a normal figure
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

xarma says:

terrifying, frightening...
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Doug Vernimmen says:

Q: In terms of lighting: is the side lighting not supposed to be on the subject only and not the background ? I really wonder, because I did a very similar with my model Lianne, and I never succeed to get it accepted somewhere and I wonder why ?
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

kT LindSAy says:

It's natural lighting (i have no lamps and didnt think about using a desk lamp) - lighting is something i need to think about more for sure.
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

daybeezho says:

Congrats on being runner up for the costumes assignment at DPS. I really like your shot!
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Oliag0 says:

Congrats on the runner up pic in dps! Great picture even tho clowns really creep me out too....the creepiness of the pic enhances it ....
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

mrlee_1979 says:

awesome shot.. so emmotive, this IS really what clowns feel all the time i rekon.. congrats on the DPS mention too!
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Zero1o1 says:

great shot... love the lighting and mood. very nicely done!
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Angel Tirado Conde says:

Excelente!!
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

owlgardens says:

i. love. this. so. much.
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

manuc66 says:

Thanks for your picture in Creative Commons. I Used it to illustrate a tehcnique to print by your own your identity card's picture : manuc66.blogspot.com/2009/02/imprimer-ses-pho tos-dindenti...
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

Would you like to comment?

[?]

	kT LindSAy's photostream
		386 uploads

This photo also belongs to:

	Portfolio (Set)
		49 items

	Explored (Set)
		53 items

	A piece of vanity (Set)
		51 items

	Oxford Uni Photographic Society Competition 2009 (Set)
		6 items

	FlickrCentral (Pool)
		0

	1000 Views (Pool)
		0

	Clowns (Pool)
		0

	FlickrToday (only 1 pic per day) (Pool)
		0

	Views: 1000 (Pool)
		0

	The Flickr Portrait Gallery (Pool)
		0

	Female Self-Portrait Artists' Support Group ;-) (Pool)
		0

	Visual Candies (Pool)
		0

43 people call this photo a favorite

Additional Information

Some rights reserved Anyone can see this photo

Taken with a Canon EOS 450D.
More properties
Taken on September 28, 2008
Viewed 3,125 times

Add to your map

Yay location removed

...

(Some formats are OK.)

Or, remove it from the map.

Go to the map

You	Sign in \| Create Your Free Account
Explore	Places \| Last 7 Days \| This Month \| Popular Tags \| The Commons \| Creative Commons \| Search
Help	Community Guidelines \| The Help Forum \| FAQ \| Sitemap \| Get Help