Technique for a Trick Photograph(Transparent Hands over the Face)

Question

I am trying to search on internet the technique for the following image but I can't seem to get the much info on it. How did the photographer managed to capture this.

Can anyone here plz suggest some guidelines how to achieve this?

Answer 1

It is the composite of three images, a pair of hands, a face and a rough textured wall or floor.

Whilst composite images can be done in camera, a classic double exposure is only capable of adding images together. In a double exposure the whites of the eyes would be visible in the dark areas between the fingers, strongly suggesting a more complex blending process (multiply, overlay etc.) performed in an image editor such as Photoshop.

Answer 2

I'll skip trying to explain the sample photo. The following was not used in making that sample.

When you want one photo over another, it could be easiest done with a slides projector. Have a slide projected on the surface of your choice and place your camera very near to the projector for photographing the combined view of the slide and underlying surface. The underlying surface could be hands, like in the sample photo, or practically any other surface that reflects light well enough to be photographed.

For an example of this, take a look at Craig Walsh's surreal 3D projections show in Huffington Post site. Slides of different faces were projected on trees in a park, making the trees look like large heads.

If the sample photo was made with this technique (it is not) then the wording would not be "transparent hands over a face", but "transparent face over hands" ;)

Answer 3

To me it looks like it is a painting. The face does not appear to be a photograph to me. If it is in fact a painting, then it was accomplished by painting. The texture in the background appears to be the texture of the canvas it is painted on.

To accomplish a similar look would be impossible in camera as you would need to apply blending that isn't possible through multiple exposures and would need to apply effects to get a painted look. In Photoshop, it is a much simpler case of using layer blending and masks to blend the images together however you like, possibly with a multiplicative blend and some masks for the fading it out. You would also need to apply painted effects to the layers to get the same feel and would have to split the face to properly space it on the hands as it is in the example shot.

Update: Hmm, I did find the same image on a stock photo site, however the sample there doesn't seem to have the background texture of this one. The artist page is here. Most of his other work appears to be photography, but some of it does seem to have painted elements, so it's hard to say definitively one way or the other.