2006 Adobe Design Achievement Awards

Digital Photography: Winner

Nils Orth

Tyler School of Art, Temple University

 

Untitled Faces

 

Biography: Nils Orth grew up in a town just south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He found his passion in photography while still in high school and continued his education by attending Tyler School of Art, where he received his BFA. While at Tyler, Nils took the opportunity to study for a year at Temple University's campus in Rome, Italy. Nils uses photography as a means to create representations that reflect his experiences. It is in the nature of photography, where a certain level of both truth and fiction co-exist, that Nils finds an appropriate means for expression.

Objectives: This body of work speaks to the traditions of the photographic portrait. The portraits are not specific to an individual but rather are artifacts that raise the question of individuality. By challenging the terms on which identity is defined, the image's relationship varies with experience. The images transform the familiar into the strange, leaving their beauty subjective.

Tools used: Adobe® Photoshop® was the sole program used in the production of my images. Through the use of many layer masks, I composited several features from various individuals to create a singular face. Once the features were set in place and I was satisfied with the composite, I converted the images from color into black-and-white through the Channel Mixer. Although many layers and masks are used to get to the final image, the result is a seamless portrait of an individual.

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