What is street photography? Street photography is about documenting everyday life and society. However street photography does not have to be taken in the streets. You can shoot at the airport, at the market, at the beach, at the park, in the bus or harbor, in the doctor’s office, in the grocery store, or in any other public places. Some examples of street photography are:From this mood board I chose the two images I thought were most effective.
These images highlight everyday life in certain parts of cities and countries. What I think makes them both so effective, is that in the top one taken in a construction site, has a clear pattern which leads to the central figure, where the eye is drawn. This use of using everyday sites to create pattern through contrast etc, allow for a more visually pleasing style of street photography. However the image beneath that image, focuses on a completely different aspect, as instead it chooses to focus on a poorer place in which sites like that are common. What makes it so effective is that there is a clear contrast between the blue wood, and the white dog, where the photographer uses the bike as a golden ratio to draw the eye to the head of the dog.
Daily Archives: November 10, 2017
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Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a form of journalism the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast that uses images instead of words to create a news story.
Normally photojournalism refers only still images that are used to tell a story, however in some cases the term also refers to video used in journalism. Photojournalism is also connected to many other types of photography documentation e.g., documentary photography, social documentary photography, street photography, candid photography.
The main role of the photojournalist is to be a visual storyteller. By photographing, editing, and presenting images, they tell a story in a way that no other media can. Some photojournalists work for a local publication, while others will travel nationally or abroad, putting themselves in constantly changing or even dangerous situations to capture a photo. The photographs serve the purpose of enhancing the story for the reader or viewer
Links about photojournalism
Street Photography
street photography is unmediated, documenting every day life. The subjects in the photos are often not expecting to be photographed or do not notice it at all. They are often taken in the street but are not limited to this, as long as they are un-staged pictures that tell us more about a persons life, personality and story. It originated from people documenting time when cameras were first invented and is now used as an educational and creative way to give people a different perspective on the society. Street photographs aim to capture a persons emotions and often portray a certain class or group of people.
What is Candid Photography?
Candid photography is photography of people who are not posing, they are often minding their own business of interacting wit other people. the subject may be aware that a photo is being taken however they will not be directly interacting with the photographer. This style of photography is achieved in many ways, for example when the subject is in motion, or surprised in a situation. One of the first photographer to take candid photos was Dr. Erich Salomon a German photographer who took candid photos of wealthy men and politicians in the late 1920’s.
https://digital-photography-school.com/11-tips-for-better-candid-photography/
Studio Lighting – Homework Assignment
Planning
Task – Produce 100-200 images showing your understanding and control of studio lighting.
Models/props – For my model I will use somebody from my class.
Camera settings – I will use a fairly low shutter speed of 1/10 to 1/60 to allow more light to enter the lens from the dark environment when using a black background. I will use a higher shutter speed of 1/60 when using a white background. I will use a low ISO of 100 or 200 to keep the image high quality. I will use a shallow depth of field to create a soft blur in the background.
Lighting – I will be using red head lights, spotlights, natural light and flash to capture a wide range of images. I will be using red head light for soft light, white backdrop for some lighter images, a black backdrop for darker images, a spotlight for harder light, a reflector to reflect light into the model’s face and gel filters to change the colour of the light
Location – School studio
Context – I will be using the school studio to capture a range of images in different styles and different lighting.
Concept – To capture studio photographs in the style of David Bailey and Irving Penn whilst incorporating chiaroscuro.
David Bailey
David Bailey (born 1938) is an English fashion and portrait photographer. Bailey is considered one of the pioneers of contemporary photographer. He is credited with producing some of the most interesting images of recent times. He has captured images of some very iconic people such as The Rolling Stones and Kate Moss.
I like Bailey’s photographs because of the strong contrast in the images. As you can see in the images above, the subject is contrasted against the plain white background and this helps the viewer focus on the small details in the subject.
David Bailey Favourite Photo
It appears that flash was used in this photograph as the faces of the subjects are over-exposed. This creates contrast in the image between the white faces and the black details, almost in the style of Andy Warhol’s pop art. It also increases the tonal range in the photograph. A deep depth of field appears to have been used also because all of the photograph is in focus. A quick shutter speed will have also been used because the image is focused and sharp. It appears that a medium/high ISO has been used as the image is quite light but there is some noise in it. The grey background creates a slightly cold undertone to the image.
There is no colour in this image as it has a black and white filter over it. This increases the emphasis on the contrast and boldness of the image. There is a wide tonal range in this image but the tones quickly range from dark black to bright white, there is not too many tones in between. There is a slight 3D effect on this image as one of the subjects are placed behind the other, this makes the photograph more interesting to look at. Both subjects have been placed along the horizontal lines of the rule of thirds, this makes the photograph more appealing to look at.
This image was taken in 1965. It shows Reggie Kray and Ronnie Kray, two London gangsters. It is a widely recognised image and is of historical interest in terms of representing Bailey’s style of artwork and also the Kray twins, who were iconic and infamous.
From doing this shoot with the Kray twins, I think that Bailey is trying to show that he does not only work with high-profile celebrities with good reputations – but he will also work with the gangsters that have bad reputations. This shows the diversity in Bailey’s photography and what he is capable of.
Irving Penn
Irving Penn (1917-2009) was an American photographer best known for fashion photography and portraits. Penn’s work included work at Vogue magazine and independent work for clients including clinique. Penn was among one of the first photographers to pose subjects against a plain white or grey backdrop. Penn experimented with many printing techniques including prints made on aluminium sheets coated with platinum emulsion rendering the image with a warmth that untoned silver prints lacked. His black and white portraits stood out due to the high contrast he used in them.
I like Penn’s photographs because of the angles and poses of the subjects. This creates an interesting photograph that captures the eye of the viewer because most photographs aren’t taken from so close up and at these creative angles.
Irving Penn Favourite Photo
In this image, studio lighting was used coming from the right side of the image. This has created a wide tonal range in the image as it has created shadows and contrast. It appears that a deep depth of field has been used as the whole image is in focus, not just the subject. A quick shutter speed of possibly 1/60 – 1/200 will have been used as the image is sharp and in focus. It appears that a low/medium ISO has been used as it is a slightly dark image with low noise levels. The image has an underlying warm tone to it.
There is no colour in this image as a black and white filter has been applied to this, this has allowed more contrast and shadows to be introduced into the image to create a more eye-catching photograph. There is a wide tonal range in the photograph ranging from the white of his sleeve cuff to the black of his suit. There is a slight 3D effect to this image as the lens is so close to the subject so the hands and glasses are obviously closer in the image. The subjects face is at one of the points on the rule of thirds grid, creating a more visually appealing image. The eye is drawn to the subject’s facial expression straight away as it is unusual and eye-catching.
This photograph is of Truman Capote and was printed on a platinum palladium print in 1976. This would have been from a photoshoot that Penn did with Capote as Penn would often photograph celebrities in his studio as he was a very well known photographer.
In this photograph, Penn has gotten Truman to take an unusual pose and an unusual facial expression. This is a common recurrence in Penn’s photographs as Penn tries to catch the viewers eye with his abnormal style of portrait photography – it is what makes him stand out so he tends to play to this strength.
My Response
My Edits
My Favourite Photo
In this photograph, I used the soft light from red head light against a black background so that I could incorporate chiaroscuro into the photograph. I used a deep field of depth so that all of the image was in focus. I used a slow shutter speed (1/20) to allow more light to enter the lens from the dark environment. I also used a low ISO of 200 to keep the quality of the image as best as possible. I decreased the saturation in the image to create a slightly faded and colder effect.
The main colour in this photograph comes from the red coat which fades into the background, I reduced saturation in the image to help it fade into the black more. There are not many light tones in this image as it is mostly dark, this creates a mysterious setting in the photograph. It is quite a 2D photo as the only think that you can see is part of the model – there is nothing else in the image to compare her position to. I have placed the model along the right vertical line of the rule of thirds to create a more appealing image.
I set up this photograph in the studio, to get this photograph I had experimented with spotlights, red head lights, reflectors and gel filters. I took multiple photographs in this style but this one stands out to me because of the more gradual fade into darkness and the softness of the light.
I took this photo with the intention of experimenting with chiaroscuro and to me it was successful. I took inspiration for the dark tone from Irving Penn’s work. I chose a black background as I thought it would create a more dramatic image.
Compare and Contrast
Saul Leiter – In Saul’s image we are looking at a man who is the main focus of the mage through a fogged up window. The lighting is coming from the other side of the window however it is slightly muffled due to the fog in the window. 
The image would have been taken on a normal shutter speed as the man is in focus, which suggest that the had stopped walking or was concentrating on something, whereas the truck that is in the back if the image is slightly blurry/out of focus. The image has a very neutral colour palette, which could be due to the snow which has blocked out the colour of the street colour palette the only real color in the image is the yellow from the truck on the street.
Henri Cartier Bresson – This image is a massive contrast to the image taken by Henri Cartier Bresson, in his image we see a boy jumping over a puddle and his reflection appearing in the puddle so by having a person as the center focus of the image seems to be the only thing that the two images have in similarity. 
Technically the image is very different from Saul’s the first reason this being is that Henri’s images is very sharp and clean, the image must have been taken on a very quick shutter speed to capture the boy jumping in mid air and not to get any blur from him jumping. Henri image is also in total black and white and nearly features the full scale of Ansel Adam’s zone system.