Personal Background- David Newton is an American photographer. He started as an illustrator in college and then began experimenting with photoshop. This led magazines like Bazaar to hire him as a scanographer which eventually led to him equipping a camera. He is completely self taught and has not studied photography in college or apprenticed under an industry professional. He simply gravitated towards fragrance and product photography and has been producing photos for household names like Commes Des Garcons and Adidas since.
Name- David Newton
Date of Artists Life- Current/Alive
Style- Newton's photos pose extreme detail and accentuated colors. They often contain metaphors that reference a key characteristic of the fragrance or product by incorporating an ingredient used to produce it like honey or a particular flower. His photos are hyperrealistic. They are often still lifes or object photos. Many appear to occur on a microscopic scale that is being magnified.
Philosophy- Newton simply shoots fragrances because he is a cologne/perfume enthusiast and enjoys the bottle design. He doesn’t believe in a particular set of rules or principles besides ensuring his photos highlight the company's product. He is a “massive fan of accidents” who tries to approach his sets without a plan. He loves to zoom in on specific details of the fragrance bottle. Newton avoids following mainstream trends and advises photographers to break the rules!
Inspiration- Newton inspired me to focus on specific details throughout my photography. Additionally, I have a business background and was thoroughly impressed by the marketability his photos give to companies. If I ever take a marketing class in college or start my own business, I can use the skills I gained from emulating Newton to sell products. He himself is inspired by still life photographers like Robin Broadbant and Koichiro Doi. Ultimately, he suggests photographers look inside themselves for their greatest inspiration.
#1- My image has a different fragrance than the original. The water stained filter in Newton’s is possibly from a rain covered window pain while mine is more a fogged mirror. Theme and lighting-wise the two are very similar.
#2- This image was extremely difficult to recreate. Newton definitely dove into his hyper realistic skill set in order to capture the original. I’m presuming the avocados in his video were drawn or printed on his canvas paper. I did a mixture of layering and physically placing avocados with the product to produce my image.
#3- In the original, a BOBBI lip liner is used but I framed a red colored pencil and edited the body to be black. The positions of the pencil shavings aren’t identical but are similar. It was difficult to clear the tiny pencil specs while manipulating their position which is why my image has a few.
Artist Statement- This collection of images represent businesses' marketing of their products. The YSL is simplistic and calm which the layer of water is meant to convey. The scalp product features a seemingly abundant backdrop of avocados and communicates a main ingredient of the product while continuing the packaging color theme. The angularity and sharpness of the pencil is meant to resemble the sharp look the lip liner can give users' lips. All of the images are supposed to appeal to consumers and encourage them to purchase product.
Sources-
1. https://www.dnewton.com/4gauv389uojc8nd254n6fqlzlelbzu
2. https://thecandyperfumeboy.com/2017/10/10/perfume-people-an-interview-with-david-newton-photographer/
3. David Newton (@davidnewtonphotography)
#2- This image was extremely difficult to recreate. Newton definitely dove into his hyper realistic skill set in order to capture the original. I’m presuming the avocados in his video were drawn or printed on his canvas paper. I did a mixture of layering and physically placing avocados with the product to produce my image.
#3- In the original, a BOBBI lip liner is used but I framed a red colored pencil and edited the body to be black. The positions of the pencil shavings aren’t identical but are similar. It was difficult to clear the tiny pencil specs while manipulating their position which is why my image has a few.
Artist Statement- This collection of images represent businesses' marketing of their products. The YSL is simplistic and calm which the layer of water is meant to convey. The scalp product features a seemingly abundant backdrop of avocados and communicates a main ingredient of the product while continuing the packaging color theme. The angularity and sharpness of the pencil is meant to resemble the sharp look the lip liner can give users' lips. All of the images are supposed to appeal to consumers and encourage them to purchase product.
Sources-
1. https://www.dnewton.com/4gauv389uojc8nd254n6fqlzlelbzu
2. https://thecandyperfumeboy.com/2017/10/10/perfume-people-an-interview-with-david-newton-photographer/
3. David Newton (@davidnewtonphotography)