Photo Montage
Lesson Objectives
Aim:
Use digital processes to combine images
Objectives:
• Define the meaning of image montage
• Experiment with layers and/or digital cloning
techniques to discover how to combine multiple
image parts seamlessly to create a montage.
• Review & reflect on production process (write an
evaluation) and complete reflective log
Montage is the technique where different
images are combined to create a single new
composition.
Montage is similar to collage in which various
image elements are stuck onto a single
ground*
* ‘ground’ is the term painters use for the surface of the canvas or other
material which they paint on.
A collage
using
photographs
and paint.
Richard Hamilton, Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different,
so appealing? 1956
Henry Peach Robinson, Fading Away, 1858
Photographic montage is not a new technique
Henry Peach Robinson used at least 5 black & white negatives
to make his montage in 1858.
Man Ray, A l'heure de lobservatoire Les amoureux, 1934
Before digital image manipulation,
making a photographic montage
required many hours of skilled
work in the darkroom.
Angus McBean, Photo montage,
1940
This press photograph
purports to show actress
Jane Fonda with politician
John Kerry, speaking at an
anti Vietnam war rally in the
1970’s.
In fact the photograph is a
montage of two separate
images.
What ethical issues does the
use of image manipulation in
news photographs, such as
this montage raise?
Photo montage has often been used
by artists to express a political opinion
or idea, as in the works here by John
Hartfield.
John Hartfield, Adolf the Superman, 1932
Montage is a useful narrative technique.
By using several images, each with its own
meaning, a more complex ‘story’ can often
be told than by using a single image.
To work out what
Hannah Hock means
in this montage …
First deconstruct the
image to identify the
individual images –
what are they of what is the title?
Then try to think what
each image might
signify (stand for or
mean)
Finally, try to
construct a narrative
around the image,
based on your above
observations.
Hannah Hock, High Finance, 1923
This montage was used as a ‘single’ cover by
the band The Sex Pistols
Sometimes a
montage will utilise
text within the
image. Text can be
helpful in directing
or anchoring the
meaning of an
image.
The title can also
sometimes help us
understand the
artist’s intended
meaning.
What might the
artist be trying to
say about former
Prime Minister Tony
Blair?
David Hockney, Mother 1, 1885
Artist David Hockney used
photographs to create photo
montages which he has
termed joiners.
Pablo Picasso, Dora Maar Seated, 1941
How might Hockney’s
joiners have been inspired
by Picasso & Cubism?
Montage in Moving Images (TV & Movies)
In film and television the term montage can have two
different meanings:
1. The editing of various scenes so that they momentarily
overlap, as in the fade down from one scene while
simultaneously another scene fades up.
2. A type of editing in which lots of different scenes are
shown one after another, but which all contribute to a
unified or single meaning.
For example, montage scenes in the Rocky films:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu00RiPjaa4
Using Photoshop
to create a Montage
Open the images
which you want
to combine (to
montage)
Choose the magnetic
lasso tool.
Set: feather 3px
Width = 3 px
Contrast =10%
Frequency = 99
Using the lasso tool,
carefully go all the way
around the head to select
this area.
You will see the “marching
ants” around your
selected area.
Select the ‘Move’ tool and
drag your selected area
onto the other image.
Tip: remember to press
the TILE button to show
both images.
The OPACITY of
the eraser is set
here – try around
60% to start with.
Select the eraser tool and
use it to gently erase any
background left around
the edges of the moved
image.
Remember to erase the
correct LAYER.
Click on the layer which
you want to work on – it
will then be highlighted in
blue.
Tip: To show layers:
WINDOW - LAYERS
Tip:
The Eraser and ANY tool
size can be varied using
the [ and ] keys.
When you are happy with your image …
LAYER – FLATTEN IMAGE
SAVE AS …
give it a suitable name and choose your
memory stick for the save location
Stretch …
Try using FILTER - BLUR GAUSSIAN BLUR
To blur the background
layer
Now experiment with your own images to
produce at least one montage.
Print out for mounting into your sketchbook.
Lesson Objectives
Aim:
Use digital processes to combine images
Objectives:
• Define the meaning of image montage
• Experiment with layers and/or digital cloning
techniques to discover how to combine multiple
image parts seamlessly to create a montage.
• Review & reflect on production process (write an
evaluation) and complete reflective log