Jeffrey Lacson
School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Transfigured Transformer #1

Objective: During the 70’s, a fantastic new breed of sci-fi objects emerged. Meticulously designed, mass-produced, diecast metal and modern plastic sci-fi toys that transformed from common machines into human like yet mechanical creatures. They populated toy shelves in most nations’ toy stores and captured the imagination of millions of children. As a clever marketing scheme to sell these toys, daily cartoons were produced featuring them in an epic plot where their world is poisoned by technology and they flee their planet to ours. Children focused intensely on television cartoons to see these hybrid forms of man and machine transform into anthropomorphous techno machines, commonly known as “Transformers”. These cartoons and their associated merchandise signify the sweeping change happening within the global, technology driven world we inhabit. They are a part of the new mythology for this time. A time in which man and his machines are inextricably linked, where machines of all kinds have transformed the way we live, conduct our business, communicate, are entertained, transported, and fight our wars. These hybrid forms embody the melding of man and his machines. This piece, of a transfigured Transformer, attempts to deify this object. In the same way that the earliest gods and goddesses were anthropomorphized with animals, “Transformers” manifest machine and human as a single form. This piece attempts to release the mythological potential inherent in these objects.

Tools used: I used a medium format camera to capture the primary images. They were then scanned and brought into Adobe® Photoshop® to be retouched, extracted from their background, and softened a bit with certain filters. I also used curves to give the images a final "pop". Using various Photoshop tools, I selected certain parts of the image then copied and pasted them back onto the main image. I then surgically peiced together the parts using masks to create a new seamlessly transfigured object. Once that was completed a great deal of layering the main image with other shots was done for each panel. Each subsequent layer used some form of masking to blend the other shots together as well as burning and dodging, and color adjustments to add the finishing touches.

Back to 2003 Adobe Design Achievement Awards Honorable Mention: Photography.