Portrait No 1

The first cut-out portrait I tried was based on this photo I took of Mark F, when we were on tour in Cornwall with the Magnificent AKs.

The first step was to find a suitable threshold point to convert it from grey-scale to just the two levels black and white:

The thresholded image is not particularly smooth so I traced the edges in a vector graphics package. Through trial and error, I discovered that when the scalpel-cut edges were cleaner on the reverse side of the image so the outline was reflected, sprayed with a low-tack glue and attached to the heavy-duty black paper. After cutting, the template can be peeled off and the cut-out turned over thus presenting the cleaner cut and also hiding any residual glue.

The cut-out can then be sandwiched between two pieces of glass and floated above a watercolour paper background. From the front of the picture the layers are:

• front layer of 2mm glass,

• black paper cut-out,

• second layer of 2mm glass,

• 6-8mm gap using black foam card,

• piece of watercolour paper, and

• hardboard backing piece

There were two main challenges during the assembly: firstly, keeping dust off the cut-out and away from the internal glass faces, and secondly, determining the optimal gap between the cut-out and the watercolour paper backing for optimal shadows.

Once the glass had been thoroughly cleaned, I repeatedly applied a Nagaoka roller cleaner from my distant vinyl days until no dust remained.

The final portrait is shown below, however, I've really struggled to photograph these - trying to show the layers and shadows. And it's hard to convey the subtle shifts as you move your viewpoint around. The image in real life is a lot more striking.

The most interesting part of this portrait was how the identity of the subject was immediately clear to anyone who knows him, despite the minimal information in the image.

April 2015