Content from 12 Months of Hope, Empire & Jedi

5/12 | Leia Leading The Rebels

nobody@flickr.com (egerbver) — Fri, 31 May 2013 19:21:05 -0700

egerbver posted a photo:

The fifth photograph in the series is entitled “Leia Leading the Rebels” and is based upon Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, a painting that was created to commemorate the French Revolution. Delacroix has created a triangle composition bringing focus to Marianne; the woman who personifies Liberty.

Liberty leads the people of France over their fallen friends and family; similarly, Leia leads the Rebels after the Battle of Hoth. Both Liberty and Leia are atop of a mound of corpses, acting much like a pedestal from which our leading ladies stride. Liberty holds the tricolour flag of the French Revolution while Leia holds a flag that symbolizes the Rebellion. Notre Dame can be seen in the background of Delacroix’s masterpiece. Similarly, the Power Generators of Hoth can be seen in the background behind the smoke. The addition of the X-Wing was my way of adding Luke into the scene. During the Battle of Hoth, Han and Chewbacca take Leia and Threepio in the Millennium Falcon after a passageway collapses and she is unable to make her rendezvous. Luke than proceeds to Dagobah in his X-Wing. As this was the case, it made sense that Luke would not be in the photo. Based upon this logic, Artoo should have been replaced with Threepio. In an ideal World this would have been the case, however, Threepio was too tall and the composition did not look right. I replaced him with Artoo and the shot seemed to flow a little better. Threepio has not been forgotten, he has been placed behind Han and Chewbacca.

Enjoy!

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4/12 | The Death of Obi-Wan Kenobi

nobody@flickr.com (egerbver) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:04:33 -0700

egerbver posted a photo:

The fourth photograph in the series is entitled “The Death of Obi-Wan Kenobi” and is based upon Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Socrates. David focuses on the story of Socrates death. As the history books tell it, Socrates is given the option of death or exile, he chooses death... Like most Renaissance paintings, The Death of Socrates is open to interpretation.

After looking for countless hours for a painting or photograph that depicted a one on one fight, I could not find one that I thought would have translated well to the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Instead, I have taken a little creative license to show this critical moment of A New Hope. Although this is not true visual recreation of the infamous lightsaber duel, it does contain all of the same meaning. Kenobi replaces Socrates in the centre of the scene at the moment before his death. He is surrounded by the usual suspects so to speak; Han, Leia, Artoo, Threepio and Chewbacca. Similarly, Socrates is surrounded by many of his followers. Luke, Kenobi’s last pupil, takes the place of Socrates’ most well known student; Plato, and sits in shock, perhaps questioning his master’s choice of death. Finally; Vader holds his lightsaber in place of the deadly hemlock, both items chosen by the soon to be dead.

Enjoy!

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3/12 | Cantina

nobody@flickr.com (egerbver) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:18:41 -0700

egerbver posted a photo:

The third photograph in the series is entitled “Cantina” and is based upon Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Hopper’s painting depicts a couple, a solitary man and of course a diner worker in a New York diner late at night. There has been some discussion over the years in regards to the meaning of Hopper’s painting, but to most Historians it has remained very ambiguous...

I have decided to recreate the infamous Cantina scene from a New Hope. It is at this point that our Hero; Luke, has found his droids, discovered who Obi-Wan Kenobi really is and has lost his aunt and uncle to the Empire. Kenobi, Skywalker and the droids are looking for a means of escape and as a result end up in the Mos Eisley Space Port and more specifically, the Cantina. I have chosen to only include the needed characters for the recreation of this important part of the film. Skywalker, Kenobi, Wuher (the bartender) and of course Ponda Baba. This was done for a couple reasons, but mainly because the original painting only has four characters in it. When I was a child, I remember watching this scene over and over. It was one of the turning points of the film for me. The Cantina was what really introduced me to the wonderful universe of Star Wars. All the different characters and creatures where truly unique and who could forget that Cantina Band? Mos Eisley and the Cantina were also where we first saw a Jedi; Kenobi, and the Force in action!

Enjoy!

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2/12 | The Fourth of May

nobody@flickr.com (egerbver) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:47:09 -0800

egerbver posted a photo:

The second photograph in the series is entitled “The Fourth of May” and is based upon Francisco Goya’s The Third of May. Goya’s painting commemorates the Spanish resistance to Napoleon’s armies during the Peninsular War of 1808. It was during this time; 1804-1814, that Napoleon’s official title was “Emperor of the French”. In many ways, Napoleon and the French could be compared to the Emperor and the Empire from the Star War universe; similarly, the people of Spain could just as easily be seen as the Rebels; both resisting an imposed authority.

In my recreation, I have chosen to replace the Spanish civilians; the resistance, with Owen Lars and Beru Whitesun; more commonly known as Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Although it was not depicted in "A New Hope", it is my belief that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru fought bravely to protect their adopted son; Luke, as well as his newly purchased droids from the Empire. Similarly, the people of Spain resisted against the Napoleonic armies by ambushing and sabotaging them in every way imaginable. The Rebels approach against the Empire was very similar. By using guerrilla warfare strategies, they became the itch that the Empire could not scratch. In Goya’s original, the French army has been set up as a firing squad on the right side of the painting; perhaps this was symbolic of the French invading Spain from the East? In my recreation, Napoleon’s firing squad has been replaced with an Imperial firing squad of Sandtroopers.

The content of Goya’s painting has been considered groundbreaking by many art historians as it diverges from traditional Christian art as well as the traditional depiction of war. Goya’s positioning of characters, scenery choice as well as the story behind the painting has allowed it to be the influence behind the second tableau in my retelling of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It should also be noted that Goya’s “The Third of May” has also bee said to be the first painting of its kind and is acknowledged as one of the first paintings of the modern era.

Enjoy!

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1/12 | The Calling of Obi-Wan Kenobi

nobody@flickr.com (egerbver) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:12:21 -0800

egerbver posted a photo:

Over the past two years I have been overwhelmed with the interest in my various photographic series. When I first began my 365 Days of Clones series, my goal was to create, photographic, edit, and post a new photograph online each day. Similarly, my goal with my 52 Weeks of Star Wars series was to create a new photograph and post it online weekly. This year I have decided to create a monthly series entitled 12 Months of Hope, Empire & Jedi. Once again, the goal this year is to simplify my photographic process; quality over quantity. 12 Months of Hope, Empire & Jedi is a series of 12 images that tell the tale of original Star Wars Trilogy through the recreation of historical paintings and photographs. There will be four images for each of the original films; A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Like my 52 Weeks of Star Wars series, 12 Months of Hope, Empire & Jedi will also be creations for my Cloned Photos mini-series.

The first photograph in the series is entitled “The Calling of Obi-Wan Kenobi” and is based upon Caravaggio’s The Calling of Saint Matthew. Caravaggio’s painting depicts Jesus and Saint Peter entering the room on the far right. I have chosen to depict Artoo entering by himself. Matthew is depicted at the table with a group of men. Although there has been much debate, it is widely accepted that the bearded man with the surprised expression on his face is Matthew. I have replaced Matthew with Obi-Wan as Matthew was being called by Jesus to follow him. Similarly, Obi-Wan was being asked to help Princess Leia with the assistance of Artoo of course. I should note that Princess Leia’s hologram is seen twice in the film; once by Luke, Threepio and Artoo and then a second time by Obi-Wan. Although Han and Chewbacca did not see Leia’s cry for help, I have decided to add them to the photograph for a couple of reasons. Both characters play very important roles in the rescue of Leia from the Death Star as well as Caravaggio had painted five men sitting at the table, not three.

Enjoy!

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