The Afghan Girl

elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
edited March 8, 2007 in People
Howdy friends!
A few days ago, I had a photosession with a girl called Johanna. She came over and we went along by improvisation, just for the fun of it. Suddenly, I felt like trying something different. So, I got this idea trying to do a plagiarism of Steve McCurry's "The Afghan girl" - a picture of Sharbat Gula taken in Afghanistan back at 1983. It later became a National Geographic icon after it was published on a cover at 1985. Great image with a interesting story behind.

I did a total plagiarism of the cover, but I figured posting it would be crossing the borders of the copyrights a little to much. So, I did another cover plagiarism but with another text, instead of "National Geographic". Would that still be considered breaking the ©'s? Anyway, so here is the image, just the pic without the cover part. I'm rather happy with the result, sure it fails in a few aspects, rather critical in one, but please remember that this idea came out of the blue and Johanna has never seen the pic before. (She proabably has, but she didn't recognize it) C&C are welcome!

Regards / Matty

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Comments

  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited March 3, 2007
    That is awesome. When I first opened the thread, I thought "why did he post that old shot". Then I realized you'd recreated it. In retrospect, your model is younger and more tender looking. Great job on the costume and eyes. thumb.gif

    -joel
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited March 3, 2007
    you could probably get away with changing the title a little which I guess would be satire, or something-

    like 'NATIONAL PORNOGRAPHIC'-

    or

    'IRRATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC'-

    anyway, neat idea and neat pic-
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2007
    Thanx! Haha! Cool! I just love that effect, then the pic "does what it was meant to do", fool at a first glance. Actually, Johanna is 20, but when Steven snapped this pic, Sharbat was only 12.

    Matty
    kdog wrote:
    That is awesome. When I first opened the thread, I thought "why did he post that old shot". Then I realized you'd recreated it. In retrospect, your model is younger and more tender looking. Great job on the costume and eyes. thumb.gif

    -joel
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2007
    Thanx! Hahaha! I think "National Pornograpic" would be sorta blasphemic, I couldn't do that. rolleyes1.gif

    Matty
    gefillmore wrote:
    you could probably get away with changing the title a little which I guess would be satire, or something-

    like 'NATIONAL PORNOGRAPHIC'-

    or

    'IRRATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC'-

    anyway, neat idea and neat pic-
  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,952 moderator
    edited March 3, 2007
    they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?

    Excellent repro work... those eyes! oh, those eyes!!! thumb.gif
    Since 2004...
  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2007
    Really FANTASTIC....I, at first thought it was the original also......Great Job.....bowdown.gifthumbthumb.gifbow
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • Yuri PautovYuri Pautov Registered Users Posts: 1,918 Major grins
    edited March 4, 2007
    Mattias
    Great idea, Mattias!
    Just 2 points:
    1. (For me) Too much red on her face
    2. Her chin could be a bit higher...
    But must say that you are filled with creativity :-)
    I love your photos, my friend!
    Maybe time has come to visit your Russian friend Yuri?
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,262 moderator
    edited March 4, 2007
    Wow, Mattias, what a fantastic recreation! How did you get the eyes to resemble the original?
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  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited March 4, 2007
    Wow Matty,
    Long time no see! iloveyou.gif

    I was wondering what were you up to, old dog! mwink.gif

    Great, awesome, fantastic "plagiarizm":-) clap.gifthumb.gifbowdown.gif

    At first glance I thought it was a joke (like with that HCB bicyclist shot on flickr) but then I looked further... man, you did pull it, 300%! deal.gif

    Cheers! 1drink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • DavidSDavidS Registered Users Posts: 1,279 Major grins
    edited March 4, 2007
    Wow! That's an incredible recreation of an awesome photo.
    David Snook

    www.davidsnookphotography.com

    www.davidsnookphotography.com/blog





  • booboo Registered Users Posts: 11 Big grins
    edited March 4, 2007
    Did you
    Copy the eyes from McCurry's photo? The catch lights are identical. They don't look quite real here...Just wondering
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Matty,
    I looked at the original and I got puzzled: how on Earth did you manage to reproduce the same worn rag on her right shoulder (the one that is on the bottom left of the picture). It's pretty much identical...ne_nau.gifheadscratch.gifeek7.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • Ted SzukalskiTed Szukalski Registered Users Posts: 1,079 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Steve McCurry is one of very few photographers I can genuinly say I admire and would love to come close to his results. Trying to replicate his works is a tough order mostly due to circumstancial differences - his photographs were taken in places and times fullfileld with drama.

    You came close to the colours, poses and light. Kudos on that. To expect you to come close on expression is unachievable.

    Ted Szukalski - Gallery of Digital Photography
    Vote for me on Cool Photoblogs

  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Thanx! Yes, I totally agree with you! mwink.gif I did cheat a little with her eyes, reducing the pupils a little and I painted the catchlights.

    Matty
    DoctorIt wrote:
    they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?

    Excellent repro work... those eyes! oh, those eyes!!! thumb.gif
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Thank you Art! Then I have pulled of what I was going for. My goal was to make a copy that instantly is recognized - I mean, that it's obvious what picture I have imitated.

    Matty
    Art Scott wrote:
    Really FANTASTIC....I, at first thought it was the original also......Great Job.....bowdown.gifthumbthumb.gifbow
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Thank you, Yuri! Yes, I agree - the imitation fails on may aspects. But it was a sudden whim and I didn't want to use the whole session time to make this pic. We spent ca 10 minutes on this idea, then we went on. :D I spent a lot more time on pp, though, working on details like eyes, dirt, changing the color on the scarf, it was more like pink etc.

    I'd love to come visit you, Yuri! :D Who know, maybe one day I will. Keep the coffieecan hot, man!

    Matty
    Yuri Pautov wrote:
    Great idea, Mattias!
    Just 2 points:
    1. (For me) Too much red on her face
    2. Her chin could be a bit higher...
    But must say that you are filled with creativity :-)
    I love your photos, my friend!
    Maybe time has come to visit your Russian friend Yuri?
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Thank you! Well, I had to do some corrections like making her pupils smaller, then I painted the catchlight. So, I cheated a little. mwink.gif

    Matty
    David_S85 wrote:
    Wow, Mattias, what a fantastic recreation! How did you get the eyes to resemble the original?
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Howdy Nikolai! Haha! Thank you! Thaaank you! Yes, it's been a while! You know - work, family bla bla bla. A little less at the computor, but the camera still follows me wherever I go! mwink.gif

    I'll try to stop by more frequently, stirring things up here at dgrin! *Haha* rolleyes1.gif

    Matty
    Nikolai wrote:
    Long time no see! iloveyou.gif

    I was wondering what were you up to, old dog! mwink.gif

    Great, awesome, fantastic "plagiarizm":-) clap.gifthumb.gifbowdown.gif

    At first glance I thought it was a joke (like with that HCB bicyclist shot on flickr) but then I looked further... man, you did pull it, 300%! deal.gif

    Cheers! 1drink.gif
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Thank you, David! thumb.gif
    DavidS wrote:
    Wow! That's an incredible recreation of an awesome photo.
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Haha! No, I did not copy anything from the original. I made the the eyes a little bigger, more "open" so to speak, and made the pupils smaller, then I painted the catchlight. Cheated a little! :D

    Matty
    boo wrote:
    Copy the eyes from McCurry's photo? The catch lights are identical. They don't look quite real here...Just wondering
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    It took me ca 10 minutes to take the pic, but hours of post processing. What took me the longest time was the eyes and to imitate the rag, I think I spent atleast 2 hours trying to get it as alike as possible. It turned out quite alike, but it's not identicall. Before I snapped the pic, I held the original pic in my hand (ripped out from a paper) and folded her sweater where the rag was supposed to be as similar as I could, it turned out surprisingly okey, but not perfect. So I had to pp quite some.
    In my work plan, I desided to focus on 3 things a little extra - the background, the eyes and the rag.

    Matty
    Nikolai wrote:
    I looked at the original and I got puzzled: how on Earth did you manage to reproduce the same worn rag on her right shoulder (the one that is on the bottom left of the picture). It's pretty much identical...ne_nau.gifheadscratch.gifeek7.gif
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    Thanx! Yes, I know I (we) failed big time on the expression part and that sorta ruined the whole idea, but I feel quite happy with the rest. :):

    Matty

    Ted Szukalski wrote:
    Steve McCurry is one of very few photographers I can genuinly say I admire and would love to come close to his results. Trying to replicate his works is a tough order mostly due to circumstancial differences - his photographs were taken in places and times fullfileld with drama.

    You came close to the colours, poses and light. Kudos on that. To expect you to come close on expression is unachievable.
  • binghottbinghott Registered Users Posts: 1,075 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    thats really impressive!clap.gif
    binghott.com
  • SkippySkippy Registered Users Posts: 12,075 Major grins
    edited March 5, 2007
    elfving73 wrote:
    Howdy friends!
    A few days ago, I had a photosession with a girl called Johanna. She came over and we went along by improvisation, just for the fun of it. Suddenly, I felt like trying something different. So, I got this idea trying to do a plagiarism of Steve McCurry's "The Afghan girl" - a picture of Sharbat Gula taken in Afghanistan back at 1983. It later became a National Geographic icon after it was published on a cover at 1985. Great image with a interesting story behind.

    I did a total plagiarism of the cover, but I figured posting it would be crossing the borders of the copyrights a little to much. So, I did another cover plagiarism but with another text, instead of "National Geographic". Would that still be considered breaking the ©'s? Anyway, so here is the image, just the pic without the cover part. I'm rather happy with the result, sure it fails in a few aspects, rather critical in one, but please remember that this idea came out of the blue and Johanna has never seen the pic before. (She proabably has, but she didn't recognize it) C&C are welcome!

    Regards / Matty

    Wow Matty .... you produce some of the most incredible shots clap.gif
    Your imagination is taking you to places so many of us will get to.
    Excellent work Matty :ivar .... Skippy
    .
    .
    Skippy (Australia) - Moderator of "HOLY MACRO" and "OTHER COOL SHOTS"

    ALBUM http://ozzieskip.smugmug.com/

    :skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin
  • ShimaShima Registered Users Posts: 2,547 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2007
    That is a gorgeous and stunning reproduction. I just can't get my eyes off of her eyes!
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  • photogmommaphotogmomma Registered Users Posts: 1,644 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2007
    You know a photo captures you when you have dreams about it! Laughing.gif! rolleyes1.gif This girl was standing in the kitchen quietly during whole dream. Odd, eh? Laughing.gif!

    Anyway, great rendition! Beautifully captured!!!:D
    Andi

    www.tippiepics.com
  • JenGraceJenGrace Registered Users Posts: 1,229 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2007
    You did a really great job in setting it up and post! Wow! clap.gifclap.gif
    Jen

    Gallery of mine...caution, it's under CONSTANT construction! | Photo Journal

    In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose
  • cocasanacocasana Registered Users Posts: 150 Major grins
    edited March 7, 2007
    Hi Matty,
    needless to to tell you how beautiful this shot is, and how amazing the idea to replicate McCurry's photo is.
    Reminding her eyes a tad sharper I've been googling around looking for higher definitiion copy of the shot. I didn't find it, but I found this
    http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/mar/girl/index.html
    that I found interesting!!!
    Great work!!!
    Carlo
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 8, 2007
    Thank you, thaank you! thumb.gif
    binghott wrote:
    thats really impressive!clap.gif
  • elfving73elfving73 Registered Users Posts: 941 Major grins
    edited March 8, 2007
    Cheers Skippy! thumb.gif Maby it's the other way around, that my imagination is rather limited - after all, I simply "stole" the idea! :D

    Matty
    Skippy wrote:
    Wow Matty .... you produce some of the most incredible shots clap.gif
    Your imagination is taking you to places so many of us will get to.
    Excellent work Matty :ivar .... Skippy
    .
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