APS Behind the Lens: A tale of two doctors
I am a member of the Auckland Photographic Society in New Zealand. My image The Tale of Two Doctors was originally created for one of my club’s monthly challenges in 2021, the theme being ‘Old and New’, with the aim of juxtaposing the old and the new to create a comparison or contrast.
I wanted to try and create an image which was a bit outside the box, rather than, for example, shoot an image of an old building juxtaposed with a new building or a baby with their grandparents. I eventually came up with the idea of depicting an imaginary meeting between a medieval plague doctor and a modern doctor.
The two doctors have similarities – for example, they both wear gloves and masks, but at the same time they are very different. For example, the plague doctor treats patients with medicinal herbs, and the modern doctor utilises modern vaccines. As Covid was still etched on everyone’s mind, such an image, I felt, would also be topical.
As I enjoy creating composite images in Photoshop the image was always planned as a composite image.
The image began as many of my composites do, with a rough pencil sketch. I then organised a photoshoot, where the model (my partner), dressed up as both the doctors. I sourced the costumes and props from a number of sources. I am quite the hoarder, so several of the items I needed I already owned, with the rest coming from a local fancy dress shop.
The “herb” was a sprig of rosemary from the garden. I had my partner pose as both doctors in front of a black backdrop in the living room, using the same basic lighting (two studio lights). The two doctor images were then combined in Photoshop with the background sky, graves, and birds, which were images from my archives, using blended layers.
The image did very well in our club challenge, and I have subsequently entered it in a number of national and international competitions. It won the top award in the Photographic Society of America’s PID Individual Creative Competition in 2022, and has also gained FIAP gold medals and other awards in a number of FIAP competitions. ❂
