Ghosts of Tomball:
For Norm Lanier, Halloween lasts
365 days a year
By Langley McKelvy
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"The Phantom Ship", a
work of Norm Lanier |
Mary Shelley would undoubtedly recognize Norm
Lanier. She might even say that Victor von
Frankenstein would find in him a kindred spirit.
Like the fictional Baron, Norm constructs his
creations from the dead, stitching them together and
bringing them to life in his laboratory. Though it
is but a short walk from his home in the Tomball
area nearest to the graveyard, Norm uses a computer
instead of a shovel and digs for his components
online.
Norm is the proprietor of Haunted Portraits, an
Internet-based photography studio specializing in
lenticular photography, an art first demonstrated in
1908 by the Nobel Prize winning physicist Gabriel
Lippman. Basically, the process allows a photograph
image to shift based on your perspective. If you
hold the photo in your hand and slowly rotate it
from side to side it shifts, giving you a new image
or sequence of images.
The lenticular technique is now widely used, but
it is Norm’s choice of subject that sets Haunted
Portraits apart. On the walls of his studio live
some of the most fiendish villains you will ever
see, all of whom have back stories filled with tales
of horror and mayhem. There is also a rather
sinister ghost ship that really must be seen to be
believed.
As you might expect, Norm has a strong background
in photography and art. Since lenticular photography
has moved into the 21st century, one would think
computer skills a definite plus. No problem. His day
job is as a Graphic Designer for Hewlett Packard and
he is a member of the Professional Photoshop Users
Association.
He first became interested in this type of medium
in 1988, but found it extremely time consuming. He
put it away until several years ago when personal
computers made construction time more reasonable,
and the Internet provided a way to get his art to
the public. His first offering was a piece entitled
Shirley and it took nearly a year before he was
satisfied with the results. This attention to
quality remains a cornerstone of his business. Norm
cites many sources of inspiration for his work: a
love of classic horror films, Disney’s Haunted
Mansion, and Tim Burton’s animations. In 2004 he
launched his website and the rest is history.
I asked Norm about the process he goes through
when developing his artwork. He explained that his
first step is to hunt down an inspirational picture
on eBay by browsing through their extensive listings
of antique photos. The next step is to determine how
he wants the image to change so as to deliver the
maximum shock to the viewer.
After deciding on a scene, Norm creates a haunted
version of the image by manipulating a scan of the
original photo using Adobe Photoshop. Both images
are digitally cut into thin strips, stitched
together (or interlaced) and printed on high quality
paper. Finally, the lenticular lens is applied like
a laminate over the composite image to create the
shifting effect. The work is tedious and exacting,
requiring accuracy down to less than a thousandth of
an inch. Depending on the complexity of the change
he wants to bring about, images can take from two to
sixty hours to produce. The results are startling.
Norms latest venture is called Ghost Portraits,
wherein he places you into a haunted portrait. You
can choose to appear (and disappear) in a variety of
spooky stock backdrop images, or supply your own. He
chuckled when he told me that wedding photos are
very popular for this type of treatment.
Haunted Portraits is a year-round business with
the season peaking around Halloween, of course. Norm
ships his creations worldwide and has mailed his
portraits to collectors as far away as Europe and
even Hong Kong. His wife and daughter are also part
of the Lanier family plot. They help out with the
packaging and shipping, and provide suggestions for
back stories and inspiration for new portraits.
You can visit
www.hauntedportraits.com to see the gallery of
Haunted Portraits, including video clips that show
the images changing before your eyes.
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