Afro Surrealism Photography Brief: Shot List, Lighting and Locations

Q: What shots should I get for a Afro Surrealism photo shoot?

For a Afro Surrealism shoot, capture: Frontal portrait of a Black woman in a velvet chair under tungsten light, her face and shoulders a hard-edged collage of magazine skin and machine parts; Wide shot of an ordinary living room, television on, family on the sofa, and a door in the wall opening onto a field of wheat; Medium shot of a man in a full-body suit of buttons and raffia standing in a laundromat, nobody reacting; Close crop of gold leaf, lamé and wax print fabric under a single warm lamp, a hand resting on them; Wide street scene in documentary daylight where one house is upside down.

Q: Where should I shoot Afro Surrealism photography?

Good locations for Afro Surrealism photography include: A family living room with the television on, A laundromat, barbershop or church hall, A velvet-upholstered studio set with tropical plants, A street in documentary daylight.

SET

The setup

Shoot briefHD[afro surrealis]00:00:00:00Stop ■
Brief Int(afro-surreal.BRF)
✎Afro Surrealism
01 LightPractical tungsten lamps, television glow and window light, in complete photographic fidelity. The impossible element is lit exactly like everything else. No haze, no glow, no dream filter.
02 WardrobeReal clothes with one extraordinary garment: velvet, lamé, satin, a full-body covering, or a collaged mask. Church clothes, work uniforms and house clothes are all correct.
03 LocationA family living room with the television on
04 Palette
SetupNoteFinderShotsLightSave

DIR

Director's note

Fidelity first. The world must be completely believable, and then exactly one rule is broken, and nobody in the frame reacts. The break should carry a point, not a mood. Avoid gold frames and palm fronds as shorthand; avoid the horror register.

All 151 director’s notes, printable: Director’s Briefs, $8 →

Viewfinder

Live

Four controls on the brief's own plate · the meter is real, so you can blow a frame

Standby50mmf/5.6 · 1/125 · ISO 400

Aperturef/5.6Shutter1/125ISO400White balance5200K

Use your own photo

Running the list sets the camera for every shot in turn. Load your own photo to light and expose a frame you actually shot.

LGT

Light the set

3 lamps

Drag a lamp and watch the frame above change. The brief's own note is the preset

KeyThe light that makes the pictureSoft, farEye level

FillHow far into shadow you can seeMediumEye level

BackRound at the front, where it is just another fillOffEye level

On the brief

Contact sheet

00 / 12

Nothing on the sheet yet. Set the camera, then take a frame.

SEQ

Shot list

00 / 05

Tap a pad to mark the frame shot · saved on this device

Frontal portrait of a Black woman in a velvet chair under tungsten light, her face and shoulders a hard-edged collage of magazine skin and machine partsportrait85mm

Wide shot of an ordinary living room, television on, family on the sofa, and a door in the wall opening onto a field of wheatwide24mm

Medium shot of a man in a full-body suit of buttons and raffia standing in a laundromat, nobody reactingsetup50mm

Close crop of gold leaf, lamé and wax print fabric under a single warm lamp, a hand resting on themsetup50mm

Wide street scene in documentary daylight where one house is upside downwide24mm

Rolling

Take it to set: all 151 briefs as one PDF · $8

LOC

Locations

A family living room with the television onA laundromat, barbershop or church hallA velvet-upholstered studio set with tropical plantsA street in documentary daylight

REF

Explore the aesthetic

Part of the Mystery & Intrigue mood, alongside Surrealism and Dreamcore. Began in the 1970s, on the style timeline.

Style guide Color palette

DOC

About this brief

How do I photograph the Afro Surrealism aesthetic?

Photograph the room exactly as it is, then let one thing be impossible.

Director's note

What shots should I get for a Afro Surrealism photo shoot?

Leave with every frame on this list.

Shot list

Frontal portrait of a Black woman in a velvet chair under tungsten light, her face and shoulders a hard-edged collage of magazine skin and machine parts
Wide shot of an ordinary living room, television on, family on the sofa, and a door in the wall opening onto a field of wheat
Medium shot of a man in a full-body suit of buttons and raffia standing in a laundromat, nobody reacting
Close crop of gold leaf, lamé and wax print fabric under a single warm lamp, a hand resting on them
Wide street scene in documentary daylight where one house is upside down

What lighting works for Afro Surrealism photography?

Practical tungsten lamps, television glow and window light, in complete photographic fidelity. The impossible element is lit exactly like everything else. No haze, no glow, no dream filter.

Light

Where should I shoot Afro Surrealism photography?

Scout these before anything else.

Locations

A family living room with the television on
A laundromat, barbershop or church hall
A velvet-upholstered studio set with tropical plants
A street in documentary daylight

What wardrobe works for Afro Surrealism photography?

Real clothes with one extraordinary garment: velvet, lamé, satin, a full-body covering, or a collaged mask. Church clothes, work uniforms and house clothes are all correct.

Wardrobe

Omoro Studio · Creative System

Generate shoot references in the Afro Surrealism style

Omoro reads your visual references and generates images in your exact aesthetic. Build a mood board before the shoot or create composite references for your client.

Join the waitlist