RE-CREATION Assignment, Part 1

Selected location for the re-created photo shoot: Strong Vincent High School on West Eighth Street, Erie, Pennsylvania.

In order to more realistically re-create the selected famous photograph, I took several shots of the columns while holding a branch in front of the camera, because a branch will need to be added to the top corner of the finished re-created photograph.

I also took several photos of grass and other greenery, to be used to edit the photo, since the columns at the high school did not extend into the grass, like the photo of Bill Clinton entering the White House Rose Garden.

This is my main photograph, prior to Photo-shop edits. The columns were cleaned up, the thumb removed, the bottom greenery added, and the branch in the top corner was added. I decided to ask my subject to wear a cap, since there was not an easy way to "re-create" Bill Clinton's hairstyle. This had the added advantage of shading his face, so he didn't squint into the sunlight.

Here is the Photo-shopped version of the re-creation assignment. If my Photo-shop skills were better, I would shorten the shadow on the subject's left shoulder, darken the suit, and change the alignment of the columns to more closely replicate the original famous photograph. Because of the landscaping in front of Strong Vince High School, I was unable to stand where the columns would look more similar to the photo below.

AP Photograph by J. Scott Applewhite
December 11, 1998

After President Clinton apologized to the country for his conduct in the Monica Lewinsky affair and said he would accept a congressional censure or rebuke, Applewhite shot this photo of the President entering the White House Rose Garden.

RE-CREATION: For this assignment, I selected a Pulitzer-prize winning photo taken by then AP photographer J. Scott Applewhite.

I scouted out locations in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania for the re-creation. Strong Vincent High School on West Eighth Street, the Erie County Court House on West Sixth Street, and the Erie Art Museum on State Street at Fourth all seemed likely prospects. I anticipated the need to take a budding branch with me to recreate the upper left corner of the photograph, or Photo-shop one in later. The bottom grassy area in the original photograph needed to be added also, since none of the locations mentioned above have similar ground level grass near the columns. I selected Strong Vincent High School for the venue, since there were six smooth columns, parking was readily available, and pedestrian traffic would mostly be light on a weekend.

I alerted my husband to dust off his dark suit, and be prepared to pose this coming weekend, when optimum weather conditions are expected.

Saturday, April 10, 2010: I enjoyed this assignment, although my husband who portrayed an older, bald and bearded Bill Clinton, is glad the photo shoot is over! My Photo-shop skills are severely limited; hence the shadow is still present on the final version, and the columns are a bit uneven and not exactly like the original photograph.