Photographer Research - David Gilliver

David Gilliver

Why I've chosen him

David Gilliver created the campaign "Little People" which is his area of work that I have been drawn to the most. He captures a handful of other topics, however the little people approach to his work is the most fascinating. I have chosen this photographer for this particular reason because I feel as though there is a lot of potential with this technique in my advertising topic. I touched on the little people approach slightly in my previous topic last year after finding a photographer similar to Gilliver, however I'd like to explore it in more depth during this uni. Not only does Gilliver add little people to his images, but he creates a whole setting, with action taking place all around. For example, he has people drawing a face on a pumpkin and calving it it and passing down the chunks they calve to their friends who are keeping guard on the seeds from the pumpkin. Gilliver brings life to something that has no life at all, through the use of miniature characters. He explores a variety of compositions and formal elements which adds extra diversity to his work. I feel like Gilliver could inspire me immensely throughout my project which is why I look forward to experimenting with his technique. 

This first photograph of Gillivers is bursting with formal elements, such as colour, depth, shape, form and reflection. All of these elements add to the creativity and successful appearance of this piece. What's being advertised here in this piece is the Halloween season. A store could perhaps use this type of image to create an idea for an advert, or simply use it as an advertisement at a bus stop or on a billboard to inform people of their 'cheap' pumpkins perhaps. It is a very creative piece which has been composed well, however there is perhaps too much of the reflection featured in the bottom half of the frame, the pumpkin could have perhaps been located in the centre of the frame, and a more creative face could have been calved on the pumpkin. Other than that, the use of little people calving this pumpkin has formed an extremely fun and entertaining photograph. I like the use of the black background and having the bright orange pumpkin stand out against it because this is more effective, as Halloween is a dark and spooky time of the year, therefore the use of colours in this piece are relevant and practical.

This is one of my favourites of Gillivers. This piece has been composed perfectly, and the photographic elements featured in the image are extremely effective. Having the blur smother the majority of the photograph except for the two men in the middle cutting up a yellow Smartie was a smart move from Gilliver. By doing this, it reduces the cluttered appearance of the frame because the audience have a focal point when looking at this photograph, instead of being overwhelmed by the mess and action taking place. The action has begun at the bottom of the frame, stretching out into the distance (the top of the frame). There are crushed smarties covered all over the bottom of the frame, but fresh and undamaged smarties sprawled into lines at the top of the frame waiting to be attacked. This results in having the viewer assume that even though this is a moment that has been captured, action has still taken place after this has been shot, and the top smarties have been damaged just as much as the bottom ones. It really brings life to peoples imaginations. I also like the combination of colours in this picture because it presents chocolate in the right light; colours are positive formal elements, and chocolate is a piece of confectionery that brings happiness to someone when they've been craving it for hours. 

I am finding this photograph to be extremely comical and entertaining. There is a large amount of audience that this type of picture will attract because Star Wars has evolved through many generations, therefore allowing it to attract adults, teenagers and children. Having Darth Vader sit relaxingly at a dining room table holding a box of Weetabix is rather surreal, which emphasises the humour in this piece. Weetabix is being advertised here in a way that conveys to their consumers that even characters like Darth Vader (from the dark side) eat Weetabix. In my opinion, this type of approach to Gillivers work is something that would really attract a young audience. Gilliver has also explored a number of other images featuring this villainous character along with Storm Troopers from Star Wars. He has taken his technique of little people to a different level here, and I like it. It has inspired me to use my own characters in my photography, for example, I have M&M characters that I could feature in a photograph of M&M's. I also have Minion characters that I could use for something creative. All of these ideas could be explored in my project, as a result of looking at Gillivers photography.

This is another very creative photograph of Gillivers. I very much enjoy looking at this photographers work simply because of his creative streak. Imagination is the main thing that I aim to explore in many of my photographs, having it ooze out of the frame and into my audiences memory. The composition is different in this piece, as the teeth chatter mechanism has been photographed as a close up instead of having the image be shot from the distance. The light has shone down on this image in a clever way, as it adds to the shine of the teeth, making it look as though the little people in the frame have actually scrubbed them squeaky clean, when in reality, this is just a result of lighting. Again, the black backdrop is effective as it allows the bright red gums and bright white teeth to stand out immensely. All of the little people have interesting roles as painters, working on a set of teeth instead of the walls of someones house. It's yet another fun piece of Gilliver's that I find to be, yet again, wildly imaginative and inspirational. 

How he has influenced me

Gilliver inspired me immensely by giving me the idea to employ miniature people into a frame and mix them up with ordinary objects. For this idea, I wanted to use books and people. As reading is something that can clear your mind and avoid you from thinking about any struggles/issues in your day-to-day life, I wanted to convey this as a form of escapism. By shrinking people to the size of books, I have suggested that they are closer to their fantasy of being in a fictional world in comparison to the real world. I then employed the advertising theme by adding surrealistic and fun features. In the top photograph I pasted pages of books in the background, and in the bottom frame I added a speech bubble with a quote, coming from Danielle. By photographing people with books in this artistic style, it looks more like a piece of advertising in comparison to an ordinary photograph of someone reading a book.

Summary

Ultimately, David Gilliver is a photographer that brings life to unrealistic objects and things and fires up the imagination of the viewer. He makes his photographs extremely fun, pleasant and lively which is the main reason as to why he is an inspirational man, especially for this topic of mine. His work is appealing for a variety of age ranges which is important in advertising to do with food as anyone could be interested in consuming it. Gilliver explores such a variety of formal elements that it is this fact that makes his pieces so vibrant and effective, because there is always something fascinating taking place. The reflections in the majority of his images is a very beautiful finishing touch to his work.