John Rankin, known as Rankin is a British fashion and portrait photographer and director. He’s taken portraits of Kate Moss, Heidi Klum, Madonna, David Bowie and even Elizabeth II. His work has appear in magazines like Vouge, Marie Claire and GQ.

 

“I see the person, not the celebrity”

– John Rankin

 

While Rankin was at school he decided that school wasn’t for him and actually he had other interests and other things he was more passionate about, and so he dropped out. Instead, he started to study Photography at Barnfield College, Luton.

During the time he was studying Photography he met Jefferson Hack and the two created a magazine together, called Dazed & Confused in 1992.

Rankin’s photography is used for advertising as well as fashion and sport magazines. His work has allowed him to gain business from some well known, popular, companies. Rankin uses different methods of photography depending on the purpose of his photographs.

Analysis

This is a portrait of David Bowie taken by Rankin.

In this image it seems Rankin has aimed to get across David Bowie’s character. David Bowie was known for having a quite outgoing personality full of character. This image is very close up which could imply that Bowie had nothing to hide. His smile also takes up a lot of the image, consequently making it one of the main focal points of the photograph in a sense.

There is also some technical elements to this photograph. David Bowie was photographed here on a white background making the subject the center of all attention. The image was then edited into black and white, with a high contrast. The black and white effect compliments the reflection of personality in this photo as it is also very powerful and catches attention quickly. Although the image is in black and white, it is still very sharp, bold, and clear. It does also compliment facial features as it makes them the focal point of the whole image. The contrast and saturation of the photo has also been manipulated to give it a stronger and deeper appearance. The camera seems like it has been angled a little bit lower looking upwards at Bowie portraying him as a more powerful character but also giving a more in depth look.

I think that this is a very effective photograph as it captures loads of personality by only using one persons face and some technical skills, whilst still remaining a very professional looking photograph.