Emotional response

I like this image because It looks like a photograph that would have an interesting story or meaning behind it. I feel this way due to the almost sinister feel to the image. Lots of things help to create this atmosphere in the image, like for example how the image is quite dark and also how the man in the image is presented. His pose makes me feel that he may be quite evil, or thinking of something dark.

Visual

This image is really interesting visually too due to lots of aspects. Firstly, the long depth of field means that there is a lot going on in the photo, and it also means there is a lot of detail to notice, which means you are engaged for longer. The lighting also makes this photo successful as it is dark and adds to the mysterious feel of the photo, which also makes the figure look even scarier.

Context

The man in this portrait was Alfried Krupp. He was known for using slave labour to make weapons for the Nazis. Krupp contacted Newman for a portrait but later found out he was Jewish, he no longer wanted Newman  to take his photo. Newman insisted that he take the portraits, and showed Krupp his portfolio of images. After seeing his work, Krupp agreed to let Newman take the images. They both then went to one of Krupp’s factories, where Newman made sure to make Krupp look as evil as he possibly could. When Krupp saw the image he was very angry, and Newman said that as a Jew it was his “own little moment of revenge”.

concept

When I first saw this image, I got the sense that the man being photographed looked quite evil just by the techniques used and without knowing any context. Perhaps Newman was trying to create an underlying concept of trusting your initial feelings about things. I think this because Newman made sure he made Krupp looked sinister so we would all get a gut feeling that something wasn’t right about him, and when finding out the context it turned out to be correct.