Arnold Newman is an American photographer born in 1918. studied art under a scholarship at the University of Miami 36-8. he is known as a pioneer of environmental portraiture but also took still life and abstract photos. He started his career working at chain portrait studios in Philadelphia, which helped him gain experience and an eye for portraiture. In his free time he experimented with abstraction and documentary photography which combined with his job helped to create his eye for environmental portraits. His “Artists Look Like This” exhibition in his Philadelphia museum attracted nationwide attention. In 1946 he moved to New York and opened and opened his own studio and joined the American Society of Magazine Photographers. He often took photographs of well know people such as politicians, industrialists and musicians, these photos sometimes had a controversial perspective and told a story about each subject.
photo by Arnold Newman of american layer Thurgood MarshallAlfred Krupp by Arnold Newman
Technical: The light used in this photo is natural and artificial, in the background their is windows letting in light for above and we can also see that his face is being lit up by florescent lights. The shadows are in the middle of his face leading me to think that there is light coming from both sides. this photograph has a high contrast due to the light split on the top and bottom. The whole photo is in focus which leads me to think it was taken on a wide angle lens, we can also tell this because his face is slightly distorted from how close the camera was to the subject. A fast shutter speed was probably used to create a sharp under exposed image. The image has an interesting white balance, in the dark areas it looks blue and in the light areas it looks more yellow.
Visual: There is an unnatural green tint to this image which creates an eerie effect, the dark shadowed tone also adds to this. there is a lot of texture and pattern in the background of this image which adds details to the scene. There is clear repetition of pattern on the ceiling which leads back to a vanishing point, this also helps to create depth. the pillar either side of the subject act as a frame and add symmetry.
Contextual: Aarnold Newman deliberately tried to make Aldried Krupp look bad due to his connections with Hitler in the war. Krupp was friends with Hitler and was allowed to use prisoners as slave labor in awful conditions. As a Jewish photographer Arnold Newman wanted to reflect his views and hatred for Krupp, this was hard because he had to do it without him knowing.
Conceptual: By shining a light from both sides it creates harsh shadows which Arnold said made him look like the devil. the lines on the ceiling down the center of the image remind us of the train tracks at Auschwitz. When we know the story behind this image it becomes a lot more intimidating and evil. The green lighting also reflects this idea and makes the image look cold and heartless.
