Patrick Rochon Analysis 'MORA'.

This photograph of Diane Dufresne is part of a series that Patrick Rochon produced for live show 'Mora' as requested by the MX gallery for their own display. Rochon always worked with real human models so the scale of the work was pretty much life size seen as Dufresne was his female model. Rochon's experience in light painting since 1992 has given him a high profiled reputation in the photography/light painting industries. The task was to produce a light painting of each of the shows characters before they went onstage, Rochon was given 5-10 minutes on each one which was a difficult challenge for him seen as he usually spent around 2-3 hours on each of his light paintings. For the simplest process possible Rochon used assistance from his friend Jean Marc Abela to operate the cameras for him and also limited his light tools. Usually using various coloured lasers pens and props such as mirrors and glass to create various forms of light, he used just a few similar colours to create the effects on the pictures. For this one in particular I can see various shades of blue created with slow shutter speed on the camera whilst Rochon draws over her shape, because these are full on coloured lights rather than lines I assume Rochon may have used a spot light of some sort with a blue filter to create this lighted affect, the swirly looking white light around her was created more complexly. The idea of Rochon's work aiming to create a movement of light through time and space relates to the cultural history of the show because of it being created my Dominic besner and the MX gallery, art was a big part, Besner being a painter himself with his work showing various colours presenting a surreal and scary look and partly his paintings of Dufresne's character seen here. You can see the link between Rochon's inspiration to create a similar feeling with different tools, perhaps not so bright but a more dark and theatre related approach to the photographs.
 

 In the photograph i can see elements of space and travel, the darkness representing the sky and bright lights perhaps creating a sort of galaxy effect, the swirls adding to a sense of movement, just like smoke and gases in the galactic atmosphere. The composition clearly shows a well thought threw process, Dufresne's character is wearing the same costume as the show showing relation to it and a fictional character rather than herself, the pale make-up adds to the ghostly and unnatural style of her look and Rochon's painting of it himself. The space is used up well, her being the main focus with the brightest form of light in the picture being on her, but the negative space is also taken over without becoming too overthrowing, duller more relaxed forms of light created by the swirls show a more calm mood compared to the ferocious look of the character. Formal elements such as line, tone, shape, colour and pattern have all been considered for this photograph. The drawing itself needed to be accurate and in shape, the various blue tones also give it a more complex and effective look because it shows Rochon's more complicated process in in. Line and pattern are more important when focusing on the bottom of her dress and the swirls, we can see lines clearly created by laser pen but we can also see a pattern created with their contrast in comparison to the lighter light around them, creating an effect of material flowing in wind, decorative to the image making it seem alive.

I'd associate the work with theatre as a genre, the whole idea of characterising someone to something else and over the top and perhaps even medieval looking costumes springs to mind when I look at this image. The photograph symbolises Dufresne's character and Besner's portrayal of her in the show itself. She looks rather supernatural, rather than their being lots of people there is just her, she looks rather powerful because of the choice of costume and the composition fully showing her lighting up, she looks evil and ferocious in an empowering way rather than any gore being involved. Rochon not only presents his own talents as a professional light painter, and although the photograph is by him, he shows off Besner's talents in the design from his own painting and costume/promotion of the theatre. The interpretations are all very positive, the show is known as 'wowing' its audience and being internationally successful, and along with Rochon's profession, was guaranteed to be a successful masterpiece and positively described on websites relating to both Rochon and Besner. On Rochon's website, his own opinion of this task is written all by him which was a perfect source to hear exactly how it all came about and what a challenge he found it.

I have never seen a piece like this before, although it reminds me of the human depiction of the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland because of the colours in her costume. There is definitely a sense of time in the work, the idea of space associating with night showing the theatre in a night sense opposing to day. Emotionally i think it is quite inspiring because it makes me feel creative because of the various talents that have gone into it, and because I personally like the work, I feel more interested and would like to maybe try something along these lines in the future. I am first drawn to her face because it is the brightest part, my first reaction was it being something evil form a fairy tale. The photograph could present and tell the story of the character because of the movement and the focus on her.