As Spherehead, back in 2006, I created videos to accompany my tracks. Often I would mask out certain parts of a video and overlay it with another. I could create interesting effects, for example fish, swimming in a museum. I enjoyed making videos, they would take me everywhere, looking for locations and captivating content.
A very good friend encouraged me to pursue a career in photography. At the same time, my grandfather had passed away. We had a good connection and understood each other well. He always told me, ‘do what you like to do’. I liked working with cameras, so I applied for Photography High school Sint Lukas in Brussels. I passed the intake exam and started working on composite images, heavily used in advertising. With an interest in fashion, I got to work with models, landscapes and plastic animals.
To achieve the right light and shadows, I brought everything to the scene and, if needed, took images from different angles. That technique alone turned out to be very useful for 3D scanning, as it turned out later.
Spherehead - From Video to Photography
Mark Florquin - Composite Image Gallery (2008-2010)
In Sint Lukas, I was more interested in the technical side of things, not so much the artistic appeal. I found it hard to create images required by the school and spent way too long at exams trying to convey deep meaning for my images, when there wasn’t. Engineering blood runs in the family and that’s why, after the third year, I left.
But my work never stopped. I scoured the internet, looking for techniques regarding combined images, and it is then my eye fell upon Panoramic imaging. A 360 photo was used as a source for lighting a 3D object. That was unheard of, for the photoshopper I was at that time, and I began exploring capturing my own.
Some time later, I discovered marker based 3D scanning. A rotating disc with dots, on which an object was placed. Capturing was done while the object rotated from 3-5 inclinations. After processing, the result was a 3D object that could be placed in a scene anywhere, with any rotation. It was digital freedom and a big step up from traditional 2D layer compositing. So, I decided this was going to be my next pet project. And a it turned out, I still practice it until tody.
Panoramic Images
3D scanned Models
So far my transition from music, to, video all the way to 3D and 360. Of course, it doesn’t end here. A big topic for me, is 3D Game Engines, since there I can put all media (photos, video, 3D scans, etc…) to good use. You can choose how to view them, either on a 2D Screen or in Virtual Reality. But that will is already discussed in MFPM.
Hope you enjoyed this journey, see you in the next project!
Mark Florquin