Taken from Digital Photo Pro Magazine
Issue number 8, June 2007

Seamus Ryan used his regular Sunday Shoots to originate a series of silhouettes of members of the public, which were then combined into one giant landscape

The Sunday Shoots which take place at the studio of Seamus Ryan in the heart of the Columbia Road Flower Market in London have already acquired legendary status. Seamus invites the public to step inside his studio on a regular basis to get involved in a number of specific shoots that explore various themes. These can range from anything from jumping, screaming and pulling mad faces through to posing for a silhouette. It's a personal project that has thrown up a huge wealth of great material, and it's also demonstrated the willingness of the public to throw itself full length into the creation of very individual works of art.

Where did the idea for the silhouette sequence originate?

The silhouette has been part of our visual culture for many centuries: it could be even be argued that this graphic form goes right back to early man's cave drawings. Long before the invention of photography silhouette artists created miniature portraits of people using only black card and a scissors. Like most young boys of my generation I was always captivated by the dancing girl at the start of every James Bond movie. Music videos and advertising continue to use this simplified graphic form. They are all around us. As a photographer I wanted to see how much or little of a person's character comes across in a silhouette.

How does it fit into the idea of the Sunday Shoots?

The Sunday Shoots project is an ongoing exploration of the whole genre of portrait photography and visitors to the Lupe Gallery (hundreds each Sunday) become very willing subjects. Portraiture, to my mind, should reveal aspects of identity, spirit and personality. In the silhouette project I invited the public to bring its own creativity to the shoot. As an incentive a free print was offered to the most original silhouette. The results exceeded all my expectations: even the most imaginative of minds would struggle to come up with so many scenarios. The most enjoyable aspect of this collaboration with the public is the spontaneity. As an advertising photographer I am used to shooting to very tight briefs answering the sometimes disparate requirements of clients and agency creatives. In a Sunday Shoot anything can happen.

Are all the subjects all members of the public?

Absolutely. No models were harmed in the making of this project.

Technically, how are these shots achieved?

A silhouette is one of the simplest photographs to take. The background needs to be bright while the subject needs to be shielded from this light. In the landscape this can simply be a person in the shade against a bright sky. In the studio we achieved the same effect by lighting a large roll of white paper and then asking the subject to stand a long way forward of this to avoid any wrap around lighting. They were further shielded from light using black polyboards.

How was the larger image put together and how is it going to be used?

The silhouette landscape came as an afterthought. The project was shot over two Sundays and resulted in hundreds of different images. Although they each have their own merits I wanted to somehow reflect the diversity and individuality of my adopted city, London. Anyone who has been to a London park on a nice day will recognise this scene. Although teeming with people of every creed and nationality, everyone seems to find a space to do their thing, to be themselves. This acceptance of others is one of the city's most attractive qualities. The image is initially intended to hang in our gallery space. It would be nice to have the projects published as a book at some point but right now my focus is purely on the photography.

Was it quite a challenge to fit the smaller images together to make the final composite?

As composite images go this one was very simple to put together. As a silhouette is pure black and white, cutting out the images was all done using standard selection tools. The simulated landscape is purely two areas of colour laid down as a background.

Quotes:
'The results exceeded all my expectations: even the most imaginative of minds would struggle to come up with so many scenarios'
'Anyone who has been to a London park on a nice day will recognise this scene'