Portraits can be used to convey the personalities and emotions of the subject being used. In many instances, photographers use both the context of the image, and the subjects pose, to convey a message.
The below photograph was taken of industrialist Alfred Krupp, and became a very well known image, due to the message that it conveyed and presented.
Emotional Response:
My first reaction to the image, is that it seems to portray a sinister, dark theme. The way the subject is positioned makes it seem like he is mimicking an evil character, and his facial expression is unnerving and lacks emotion. This image is also very full, and the attention of the viewer is moved from the subject in the foreground to the different activities occurring in the background. this makes it difficult to concentrate on a certain part of the image, and so I dislike this aspect of the photograph.
Visual:
The photograph makes use of dark, contrasting colors to present a more sinister and unnerving tone. The setting of the railway station gives the image an industrial, strict feeling, while the graffiti on the walls of the cement pillars makes the setting seem more run-down and decrepit, allowing the photograph to present a more eerie feel to it. The fact that the subject, an elderly man wearing a suit, is positioned in the very foreground of the image, startles the viewer, and makes it seem like the subject is the dominant figure in this scenario, possibly that the subject owns the station, but doesn’t participate in any manual labor due to the presentation of him wearing a suit.
Technical:
This photograph was taken with a camera, at eye-level with the subject. The image has good symmetry, as the subject is centered in the image, and the industrial setting behind him shows a relatively symmetrical layout. The image also has a strong perspective, as the setting behind the subject seems to carry on towards the center of the image, in the distance, showing the length of the railway line. These techniques used allow for the photograph to show the setting as a large industrial area, and allows for the viewer to focus on the subject and his position, as he is directly in the center at the front of the photograph.
Conceptual:
Newman idea behind this image was to present the subject as sinister as possible. The main focus of the image is to draw attention to the subjects personality, as Newman has attempted to portray how bad of a person Krupp was, through positioning him to look like a villain. Newman used both subtle and unsubtle techniques to present this effect, and overall, the concept of the image can be deduced relatively easily by analyzing the setting, the position of the subject, and the context behind the photograph.
Context:
In 1963, photographer Arnold Newman was contacted by industrialist Alfred Krupp to photograph a portrait image for him. Krupp was discovered to have produced transport and materials to assist the Nazis during the second world war, and after learning Newman was Jewish, Krupp refused to see him. After being persuaded through viewing Newman’s impressive portfolio, Krupp agreed to allow Newman to photograph him. Newman took advantage of this, and portrayed Krupp in the most sinister and eerie way possible in an act of revenge for Krupp’s influence in the prosecution of the Jews.
Portrait photography or portraiture in photography is a photograph of a person or group of people that captures the personality of the subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait picture might be artistic, or it might be clinical, as part of a medical study.
Aim: To explore the different kinds and ways of acquiring portrait photos and what methods photographers use for different styles.
Types –
TRADITIONAL PORTRAIT
“Face is the focus”
In this type of portrait photography, the object is supposed to look directly at the camera and the focus is on the face.
CANDID PORTRAIT
“Take as it is”
Candid portraits are generally the real and spontaneous images. Here the photographer has not much control on the surroundings and cannot alter the emotions.
POSED PORTRAIT
“Intentions have been conveyed”
Posed portrait means that the photographer has conveyed the intentions to the subject, by words or by action, and there needs to be a change of body position or expression.
ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT
“At objects own environment”
Environmental portrait means that you are photographing the object in its own environment, where it is comfortable most. Like an Engineer at his construction site, farmer in the field etc.
FORMAL PORTRAIT
“Object with a formal pose”
This is a posed portrait, but with a formal touch, prepared for business and other formal occasions.
COUPLE PORTRAIT
“Highlighting the relation”
In this type of portrait the emphasis of the photographer is to show the intensity of the relation between the people in the photograph. For ex: The relation of child with his parents.
GLAMOUR PORTRAIT
“Highlight the appeal”
Taking portrait of the model is the best example of this, where you want to enhance the appeal of the object.
CLOSE UP PORTRAIT
“Get it close”
These are the images that are taken from very close, using zoom or macro lens.
Examples of some good portrait photographs/Mood Board –
William H. Macy photographed at Sundance Film Festival for Be A Star Anti-Bullying Campaign in partnership with WWE and The Creative Coalition
Traditional or Classical portraiture would refer to an image where face is the predominant element. The purpose of the photograph is to depict visual representation of that person. Subject is expected to be looking directly at the camera. With what is described as a head-shot, two thirds or full body framing can be used
2. ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT.
The term Environmental Portrait refers to an image where the subject is photographed in person’s natural environment. For example, a worker photographed at the construction zone, teacher in the classroom, sculptor in a sculpture studio and so on. Surroundings are used to compliment the subject and to emphasize his character. Subject and setting are chosen by the photographer.
4. CANDID PORTRAIT.
A candid portrait is taken without a subject expecting or acknowledging the photographer. This style used in photo journalism, travel photography, street photography and event photography. As opposed to an environmental portrait this image is captured at the moment rather than set up.
The term Lifestyle Portrait refers to portraits where emphasis is given to suggest the “style of living” of the individuals depicted. Technically it is a combination of environmental portrait and candid portrait. More weight is given to communicate the feeling of life experience of the subject. Style has numerous implications in commercial and fine art photography. Editorial, fashion, pharmaceutical, and food industries often use lifestyle images to evoke emotions in viewers by depiction of desired life styles. It is common to see this style used in wedding and family portrait photography as well.
7. SURREAL PORTRAIT.
Surreal Portraits are created to emphasize the other reality. A depiction of a person’s interpreted subconscious mind. Surrealism is an art movement started in the early 1920‘s and still alive and well. In photography tricks and special effects are used to achieve a surreal look.
8. CONCEPTUAL PORTRAIT.
Conceptual Portrait refers to images where concept adds a fourth dimension. The hidden meaning of the concept will leave the viewer guessing as it is often open for interpretation. Conceptual artists generally get offended when asked what did they mean in their photograph. It is the job of the viewer to decide. Conceptual Portraits are often used in advertising photography but concepts are much easier to understand.
9. ABSTRACT PORTRAIT.
Abstract portraits are created with a purpose of creating art and not based on realistic representation of a person. Collage or digital manipulation is often used.
Portraits in photography are often used to capture the personality of the subject, and to present a thought or feeling through the use of a human subject, making the photograph as a whole, more relatable.
Different camera techniques and editing skills can be used, depending on what the photographer is trying to portray in their image. The following are professional examples of different techniques that a photographer could use when taking a portrait image of a subject:
Posed portraits:
Photograph by Lisa Holloway
Photographers may decide to pose their subjects in order to convey a specific image, or to present an action or scene that would be difficult to capture in a candid photograph in everyday life.
Candid photographs are images taken while the subject is not posing, and is instead completing a natural task in their natural environment. Candid photos are often used to show the personality of the subject, and makes use of the setting how it naturally is in everyday life.
Half-body Portraits:
Photography by Yew Kwang
Half body portraits are often used in professional photographs. They allow for the personality of the subject to show through in the photograph, but in a more professional manner, as the focus is still on the face and upper body posture.
3/4 length portraits:
Photograph by Alan Fisher
3/4 length portraits typically focus on the top 3/4 of an individuals body, leaving out the bottom of the legs. this can be used to present the whole appearance of the subject (including clothes and posture) without minimizing any details that may be left out in, for example, a full body portrait.
Full body portraits are meant to show the viewer the entire posture of the subject, as their whole body is in the image. they are commonly used in fashion magazines, where the purpose of the image is to show a full outfit of clothing on a subject.
High angle portraits are often used to emphasis the small size of the subject. they place the camera in a position of dominance, and thus the subject is presented as smaller.
The canted angle is produced by tilting the camera at an angle, so that the horizontal lines within the image are no longer parallel with the frame of the image, and any vertical lines lie at an angle to the side of the frame of the image. This technique emphasizes the diagonal lines of an image, and can be used to emphasis drama and interest in an image.
Black and white portraits are created during the editing process of an image. Using black and white can help to emphasis the shape, texture and contrasting tones of an image, and can make an image more effective if it uses different shapes and angles.
High key portraits make use of light colors, and images are often taking using lots of artificial light, using neutral colors in the image. High key images help to draw attention directly to the subject, as attention is not diverted by any bold colors or shapes.
Low-key portraits are the opposite of high key, making use of dark tones and a lack of light to create a shadowed effect on subjects. The images typically portray themselves as more serious and harsh, and add mystery to the subject due to a portion of them usually being shadowed in darkness.
Color is often used in portraits to draw maximum attention to the subject. Bold vibrant colors are often used to allow the subject to stand out, and the viewers attention is drawn to the colors and shapes that are emphasized.
low-angle portraits:
By Pixioo Photography
Low angles are often used to present the opposite features to high angles. A low angle image places the subject in a position of dominance, making the subject seem larger, and more threatening to the viewer.
Head shots are often used to place maximum emphasis on the facial expression of the subject. The identities of the subject are often clear, and the image would be used to focus on the subjects reaction to something, or to help identify them easily (e.g head shots are used in passports to identify people) without the addition of any unnecessary features that may draw attention away from the face (e.g bright clothing).
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a french, human photographer, who was born on the 22nd of August 1908. He died on the 3rd of August 2004. He started working on photography in 1930. He was credited with pioneering the genre of street photography. He viewed street photography as capturing a decisive moment. The phrase “decisive moment” is now used often in street photography and refers to when the image represents the essence of the event happening within the image. During Henri-Cartier Bresson’s life he created a few different books, mostly full of images he had taken from different areas in photography, one of these was called “The Decisive Moment”.
Images by Henri Cartier – Bresson
This is a moodboard of some of my favourite images that Bressen took to do with street photography.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Technical: This image uses light very consistently throughout. This can be seen due to the background sky and wall being almost the same colour with the foreground also being a very similar shade of white. This could have been created using natural lighting and a high ISO.
Visual: This image varies the tone throughout, with the majority being very brightly coloured and some coloured areas being grey or black. This image displays form and depth really well. This could be due to the darker colours creating a path of rubble down between the buildings.
Contextual: This image seems to have been taken after some kind of bombing or war. We know this due to the rubble covering the street between the buildings and the big hole that the image is being taken through that is in a weird shape. This image also gives a war-torn impression due to the children all having confused and sad faces throughout the image.
Conceptual: The image clearly displays a place that was destroyed during some kind of war. The photographer may have decided to take this image due to show some of the impacts that war can have on towns. The use of children looking sad makes it seem like these were places they lived, along with the rubble along the ground.
Alfred looks intimidating and scary through his facial expressions and is shown to be a man of some power or authority through wearing a suit which creates a rather threatening character.
Technical:
Symmetry.
Contrast (top/bottom).
Wide angle lens.
Strong sense of perspective.
Visual:
Man in the middle of the image (displays dominance).
Alfred Krupp looks menacing and intimidating, represented also by the darkness and shadow surrounding his figure in the image.
Relatively dull image with dirty colours, no vibrance .
Strong eye-contact with camera (audience).
Concept:
Arnold Newman was a Jewish photographer who took this image as a way of “revenge” on Alfred Krupp.
The photograph was set up to make Alfred Krupp look evil.
Context:
Arnold Newman wanted a sort of revenge on the Nazis, as the train station shown in the background of this image was used transport vast numbers of Jews to concentration camps across the country were many would meet their ends.
It is a portrait where the subject is photographed within an environment that they are usually in, it could be a profession or a hobby. This type of portrait allows the photographer to show what type of person the subject it depending on their environment and it illuminates the their character. By the subject looking directly into the camera, it allows the viewer to feel a connection between the two sources. The environment is always used as a background and it can range from large and busy to small and simple, the background isn’t the main part of the image, its the subject themselves as they draw most of the attention towards themselves as they are telling the story behind the image.
EXPERIMENTATION
These are images I took when experimenting with environmental portraits. In some of these images I used flash to create a dramatic lighting effect. I also regularly changed the shutter speed which was dependent on how dark or light the background was. Some of my images where too exposed this is because my shutter speed was too slow and ISO was to high, which meant the camera was sensitive to the amount of light I was letting into the image, with the image being over exposed it made the image become more white than it was. My images have a wider range of variety, as I went to different environments in a school so this helped with me adjusting the manual settings on the camera. The meaning behind these images it to show the students and teachers in their everyday environment doing their work and where they are mostly seen. With these subject being put in their everyday environment it is easier for the viewer to make a connection and an understanding as the environment it relatable especially for sutdents.
M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Portraiture\TO DO
An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings.
Group Activity | Image Analysis
Arnold Newman | Portrait of Alfred Krupp | 1963
Emotional Response (how it makes you feel / initial reactions):
Technical:
Visual:
Conceptual:
Contextual :
You have 5 minutes to research this image and present your findings as a group…
Blog Post 1 :
define, describe and explain what an environmental portrait is
add a mood board grid of suitable images
include hyperlinks to suitable URLs to help you
add at least one video to create inter-activity on your blog
Blog Post 2 :
Choose either Arnold Newman or August Sander to write a CASE STUDY and create a blog post that includes….
a brief biography of the artist and their aims / intentions
Mood-board of key images
Select one key image and apply Technical | Visual | Contextual | Conceptual analysis
Add any other relevant research / insights
August Sander The Face of Our Time 1926August Sander The Face of Our Time 1926August Sander The Face of Our Time 1926Arnold Newman Igor Stravinsky (composer) 1946
Other environmental portraits to consider
Walker Evans Sharecropper Family 1936
Dorothea Lange Migrant Mother 1936
Sian Davey “Looking for Alice” 2012Alec Soth Sleeping by the Mississippi 2004James Nachtwey Rwanda 1995Michelle SankDavid GoldBlattAnthony Kurtz No Man’s Job series 2010
Resources to help you analyse and interpret the images…
Rule of thirds grid…useful for balance, symmetry and strong compositionsApply the Golden ratio, Fibonacci Sequence to an image (overlay / blend a template)Henri Cartier-Bresson and the use of “The Golden Triangle”
Remember to show your Photo-Shoot Planning and clearly explain :
who you are photographing
what you are photographing
when you are conducting the shoot
where you are working/ location
why you are designing the shoot in this way
how you are going to produce the images (lighting / equipment etc)
M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Portraiture\TO DO
Historical Purpose of Portraits
A portrait is a representation of a particular person. A self-portrait is a portrait of the artist by the artist
Portraiture is a very old art form going back at least to ancient Egypt, where it flourished from about 5,000 years ago.
Before the invention of photography, a painted, sculpted, or drawn portrait was the only way to record the appearance of someone.
But portraits have always been more than just a record. They have been used to show thepower, importance, virtue, beauty, wealth, taste, learning or other qualities of the sitter.
Portraits have almost always been flattering, and painters who refused to flatter, such as William Hogarth, tended to find their work rejected. A notable exception was Francisco Goya in his apparently bluntly truthful portraits of the Spanish royal family.
Francisco Goya : Ferdinand VII of Spain, 1814
Photography 1800’s onwards
We may be used to selfies now, but it’s Robert Cornelius’s 1839 image that lays claim to the first self-portrait. Taken in Philadelphia, Cornelius sat for a little over one minute before covering the lens.
Julia Margaret Cameron & Children albumen print, 1857-1858
Cameras for Everyone (1900-84)
Photography became more common when the Eastman Kodak Company introduced the Kodak No. 1 camera in 1888. Kodak made photography easier for everyone by doing the developing and sending the reloaded camera and developed prints back to the customer. These cameras made photography more accessible to the general public. Their 1900 Brownie Box camera was the first mass market camera. The turn of the century also embraced photography as an art form. The Smithsonian Institution began collecting and exhibiting photography in 1896, and many galleries began to follow suit, exhibiting different photographers and their works.
Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession
This time period also introduced Alfred Stieglitz, one of the first people to become famous for making photography an art form. In 1902, he and a group of friends founded the Photo-Secession movement. This movement sought to make photography less commercial and more of an art form.
Photojournalism and the picture story vs Documentary (long-form) photography
Photojournalism really started to take shape when photographers could easily transport cameras into war zones. The “Golden Age of Photojournalism” is often considered to be roughly the 1930s through the 1950s. It was made possible by the development of the compact commercial 35mmLeica camera in 1925, and the first flash bulbs between 1927 and 1930, which allowed the journalist true flexibility in taking pictures.
For the first time, ordinary citizens could see the impact of the fighting right there in their newspaper. It was a pivotal moment in photography and it became more and more real between the Civil War and World War II.
Yet photojournalism is not just about war or photographers working the beat for a local newspaper. It’s much more than that. Photojournalism tells a story and it often does so in a single photograph. They evoke a feeling, whether its astonishment, empathy, sadness, or joy.
That is the mark of photojournalism; to capture that single moment in time and give viewers the sense that they’re part of it.
Documenting the PublicThe turn of the century continued to use portrait photography for documentary uses. In 1906 Lewis Hine was hired to document the conditions that child labor workers had to deal with in different factories throughout the U.S. His photographs were used to help pass child labor reforms, like the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which banned oppressive child labor.
Lewis Hine photograph of children in an Indiana Glass Factory
In 1914, the U.S. State Department began requiring photographs on all passports.
The stock market crash in 1929 led to the next round of documentary portraiture. In 1935, photographers were hired to document what was going on in the farmlands of America. The Resettlement Administration, which later became the Farm Security Administration, wanted to see through photographs how the farmers were living. The New Deal offered several programs for artists and photographers, such as the Works Progress Administration. People hired for the WPA documented life throughout America. One famous WPA photographer was Dorothea Lange, who profiled the plight of farmers in America.
‘Migrant Mother’ by Dorothea Lange, 1936
The Impact of War Photography
Roger Fenton was one of the first war photographers. He captured images of the Crimean War (1853–1856)
Put simply, photojournalism is about capturing verbs. This doesn’t mean simply taking an action photo. Communicating the verb is much more than that.
Stories are captured in slices while photojournalism strives to convey what is happening in one shot.
Although it is great when it happens, photojournalism isn’t about the best composition, or the best technical details, or a pretty subject.
Photojournalism is about showing the world a story of something that really happened.
“Bearing witness” is a phrase that comes to mind in regards to photojournalism.
Photojournalism allows the world to see through the eyes of the photographer for just a moment. When photojournalism is done right, that one moment conveys volumes of time.
Conveying the full story is part of environmental portraiture where the setting tells us as much about the subject as the subject themselves.
The emotion is often raw in photojournalism. The photographer is not directing the scene as a portrait or commercial photographer would. Instead, the best of them blend into the background and become a shadow figure (unlike the paparazzi). They are there to observe and capture, not become the story or interrupt it.
The photojournalist has a different attitude than other photographers and it’s necessary to capturing those memorable photos. And quite often, that single photo can become a call to action for the millions of people who see it.
Another vitally important part of photojournalism is accuracy. This means that what is in the frame is what happened.
The photojournalist is ethically bound not to change the story (though many fall short of this ideal).
Power lines should not be cloned out. More smoke must not be added to a fire scene. What was captured is how it should be. Sadly, the era of digital photography has made it easier than ever to manipulate reality.
The image should be a window into the event. At most, lighten the shadows a touch to see faces or sharpen the image a bit for clarity but do not change the essence of what you capture in the photo. If you do, you change the story.
Arnold Newman was an American photographer, mostly known to be the one who flourished ‘environmental portraiture’, in which the photographer places the subject in a carefully controlled setting to capture the essence of the individual’s life and work. Newman normally captured his subjects in their most familiar surroundings with representative visual elements showing their professions and personalities. Even without knowing who the subject is, a viewer can identify the artist in his studio, or a musician at the keyboard, or a president at his desk. Newman’s best-known images were in black and white, although he often photographed in colour. His portraits ranged from celebrities, artists to politicians. Newman insisted that a picture of a celebrity or politician by himself wouldn’t be as meaningful as one taken in the subject’s workplace. The viewers can tell that his portraits are planned because of the carefully composed environment and the posed subject.
His style
Although his style evolved, backgrounds always played a leading role in his photographs. Through his environmental painters’ portraits you can see how he carefully chooses backgrounds to fit with the style of painting these painters created. Most of Newman’s personal works were the result of long social interaction with the subject. After getting to know the subject in a broad way, the photographs began to happen. Newman captured images that he had in mind from the beginning, which was the essence of his photographic style. In all his environmental portraits, Newman included representative elements of the subject’s profession. Sometimes Newman’s photographs have different compositional approach in which the subjects is close to the corners of the frame. This was probably a reflection of the great care he took to show as much as possible of the subject’s surroundings.
My response
To respond to Arnold Newman’s photography work, I captured images of people in their familiar surroundings or their workplace. Since Newman is best known for his black and white images I decided to edit the final outcomes on photoshop by applying the black and white filter and slightly adjusting the contrast and brightness. A large amount of background can be seen through my images as this was an important aspect in his photographs to show the viewers the subjects representative elements. I think these images replicate Arnold Newman’s photographic style since they are black and white environmental portraits which have been captured using his techniques. However, to improve I could have photographed more people in their working environments and taken pictures of subjects that I’m not familiar with.
