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Arnold Newman – Portrait Analysis

November 15, 2018 Niah D Leave a comment

Arnold Newman

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.

This is a photo of Alfried Krupp taken in 1963 for Newsweek .

Image result for arnold newman alfred krupp portrait — g Arnold Newman – Alfried Krupp 1963

Emotional Response:

My first thought when I saw this image was that Krupp looked like he was scheming or plotting something. The picture gave me a very creepy and eerie vibe to it, as Krupp looks very sinister and evil. I also like how the background almost frames him. Also, the way he stares directly at the camera gives a sense that he has power, as it looks like he is looking down on us. Krupp is wearing a suit which shows his wealth and power, which creates a sinister feel again. The feeling of him being in a clean and well made suit against to the derelict and abandoned behind it also shows a contrast of rich and poor. That contrast gives off a feeling of Krupp showing that he is better and richer than everybody else.

Technical Response:

The picture is in colour so it shows more of the derelict and dirty factory, which also shows more texture in the photo. In the photo it appears that Krupp is being framed by the walls, which shows the difference between the background and him. The photo has a high aperture and a large depth of field, and the lighting is dark and dim, which also correlates to the darkness of the abandoned factory.

Contextual Response:

Newman overall idea for this photo was to portray Krupp as an evil and corrupt person for his environmental series in 1963, as he was transporting weapons and materials during the second world war to the Nazis and also using slave labor in his factories during the Nazi reign, and he had been imprisoned after World War II for his central role in Hitler’s war machine.

Conceptual Response:

The most evident message in this photo is that you are made to believe that Krupp is scheming something evil and cruel. You could also interpret as Krupp is the owner of the derelict factory behind him and Krupp is trying to show that he is bigger and better than the abandoned building behind him.

Street photography

November 15, 2018 Krystian S Leave a comment

Last week I went into town and did an urban photo shoot, these are my best images which I have slightly edited (added filters,cropped etc.).

The sunlight in this photo creates a bold outline around the people in the photo. This creates strong shapes and therefore makes the photo as a whole pop more. The bright part of the photo is down the middle, the rest is predominantly shadows and dark areas. This gives the photo a focus point (the middle). The photo is also split into thirds (left, middle, right), the structure prompts the viewer to focus on the man on the left, down the road in the middle, and the tree trunk on the right.

I particularily like the strong shadows and ligh highlights of this photo. Because it was taken near the ‘golden hour’ the sun was low which created these elongated shadows. It also gave a nice outline/shine to people on the street as there wasn’t any cloud cover.

This is a photo of a market trader, I have chosen it because of the contrast between the man and the products for sale behind him. I have cropped it so that the strongest points of the photo (in terms of structure) are visible. It’s just a pleasant photo to look at because: the bright colours which the photo is composed of are naturally attractive to the human eye. The products are stacked symmetrically, this both pleases the eye as well as gives the photo structure. Finally, the trader is smiling and appears very open to conversation, this makes the photo pleasing to look at because seeing other people smiling has been proven to lift your mood and change brain chemistry.

I like this photo because its very simple, it shows the daily commute of people whilst keeping their anonymity. Although it is a simple photo it isn’t boring, this is due to the shadows caused by the sunset, which give the photo structure, the angle at which the photo was taken, and the texture/shapes of the trousers near the centre of the photo. Another aspect of this photo that I like is that both people in the photo are only visible from waist down, it gives a different perspective to the world as it differs from standard photos of whole people taken at head-height.

This is a very similar image to one further back in this post. It doesn’t have the same effect as there are more elements without strong shapes but I have kept it in because it captures the work environment and daily tasks of these market traders.

This is my favourite image out of the whole shoot, it has the right exposure, vibrance, structure, and it captures the work environment as a whole. This photo has a warm white balance, this makes it more relaxing to look at as warm lighting as it feels more natural than cold lighting. The photo also has a variety if colours thanks to the products on display out front. There is also a lot of structure and symetry throughout the photo, the bottles on display and crisp packet boxes for example.

AO3 Record Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Portraits, Environmental Portraits – Homework 1

November 15, 2018 Niah D Leave a comment

Environmental Portraits

“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. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography”.

Here a some examples of environmental portraits:

Image result for environmental portraits — https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/6924775578_d8a5a1533f_b.jpg

Arnold Newman

Biography of Arnold Newman on http://arnoldnewman.com/biography

“Arnold Newman was born March 3, 1918 in New York City. He was raised and attended schools in Atlantic City, N.J. and Miami Beach, FL. He studied art under a scholarship at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL from 1936 to 1938. He died in New York City on June 6, 2006. Generally acknowledged as the pioneer of the environmental portrait, he is also known for his still life and abstract photography, and he is considered as one of the most influential photographers of the 20th Century.

Newman began his career in photography in 1938 working at chain portrait studios in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and West Palm Beach, and immediately began working in abstract and documentary photography on his own. In June of 1941, Beaumont Newhall of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Alfred Stieglitz “discovered” him, and he was given an exhibit with Ben Rose at the A.D. Gallery in September. There he began working on experimental portraiture, developing an approach that is widely influential in portrait photography today. In June of 1942, he returned home to Miami Beach, FL because of the war. In 1945 his Philadelphia Museum of Art one-man exhibit, “Artists Look Like This,” attracted nationwide attention. Well established, he moved to New York in 1946 and opened his studio and became a member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP.) Newman’s new approach to portraiture began its influence through key publications in America and abroad. Exhibits and purchases of his work by major museums quickly followed. In 1949, he married Augusta Rubenstein, and they had two sons, Eric, born 1950, and David, 1952. His wife died in 2009. They are survived by their two sons and four grandchildren.”

Examples of his photography:

Image result for arnold newman photography — Arnold Newman Erhard Weyhe 1948

Mary Ellen Mark

“Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were “away from mainstream society and toward its more interesting, often troubled fringes”. – Wikipedia

Examples of her photography:

Edward Simmons, Halloween, South Bronx H.E.L.P. Shelter, New York, , 1993

My Plan

For my photo shoot I plan to take photos of my friends, teachers and peers in their every day environment, so at school doing what they normally do. This photo shoot will take place at school. I will put these photos into black and white as I think it will make the photos stand out a bit more. I will use natural lighting and the portrait mode on my canon camera. I will design my photos like this as I want to show what happens in peers and teachers school lives.

Contact Sheets

Red – No

Orange – Maybe

Green – Yes

Final Photos (Unedited)

I really like how these turned out originally but I edited them into black and white for the final outcomes.

Final Photos (Edited)

I’m really pleased with the final outcomes of these edited photos and I will revisit this style of photography.

AO2 Explore Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation, Unit 2 Portrait

Paul M. Smith Case Study – Tableaux

November 15, 2018 Maksymilian K Leave a comment

Paul M. Smith is a photographer who’s photography mostly consists of an unconventional interpretation of tableaux vivants as his images depict modern scenes with Paul Playing the part of every subject in the photo. A lot of his photography explores the idea of ‘lad culture’. His images feature several frames merged together carefully so it appears that Paul is in several places in the image at once, This is likely done using a tripod and remote in order to avoid any movement to camera, this creates a seamless transition between the images which in some cases, one of his photos will contain as many as 8 frames in a single image. He often pushes the boundaries of what is possible with this type of photography, often featuring interaction between the subjects in the photos, which will often look awkward and it is difficult to be spacially aware of subjects that of course, aren’t actually there however if done correctly can make the images much more convincing. The image below is an example of this, you can see 6 subjects very close together overlapping in different areas, with some of the subjects even touching in areas.

Image result for Paul M smith

There isn’t much technically special with these images as they are made to look like a typical photo to document a memory etc. This helps to make the image look even more convincing. It is taken using very flat lighting (likely using a flash) to help hide any seems between the images and there are visible drop shadows interacting with the various subjects in the photo likely added in post processing in a program such as photo-shop.

Image result for Paul M smith

AO2 Explore Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

An Introduction to Portrait Photography

November 15, 2018 Kimberley N Leave a comment

What is portrait Photography?

Is a photography of a person or a group of people which captures the personality and the subject, using a series of techniques to create different techniques.

AO2 Explore Ideas, Uncategorized, Unit 1 Abstract, Unit 2 Portrait

Arnold Newman- Environmental portraits

November 15, 2018 Eren G Leave a comment

About Arnold Newman and his photography

Arnold Newman who lived from 1918 to 2006 growing up through the war where some of his most famous pieces were produced. His career really began to develop when he began to focus his photography on to a particular type of photography called environmental photography in which he primarily worked for magazines. He would walk around carrying his camera and light to his subjects, capturing his participants in their surroundings. Newman was a renowned for photographing the distinguished famous faces at the time. Newman’s images often left plenty of room for interpretation from the viewer, allowing all types of opinions to flow in.

In 1963 after the war was over, Arnold Newman was commissioned by Newsweek magazine to take some photos of a German industrialist – Alfred Krupp. Which is now one of his most famous pieces at its said to capture an array of emotions and feelings to each individual looking at the image.

Image result for Arnold Newman alfred krupp

Emotional Response

When firstly looking at this image I was initially drawn to the strange man in the center, who was the German industrialist – Alfred Krupp. The photograph presents the man in the center of the image, with his hands clasps resting- fingers intertwined- resting his head on them. With his eye view looking straight into the camera, giving strong eye contact to the viewer, almost giving the impression of a threatening face. The way the shadows are formed demonstrations the mysteriousness radiating off Krupp face. The image helps represent the age of the man with his thin grey hair, brushed to one side and wrinkles speed across his forehead. Krupp is dressed in a smart suit grey suit and looking very presentable, giving the idea of high power and class at the time. He is sat at the front of what looks like a train station which is no longer in action. This is showed through the low maintenance and quality of the back ground functions. The contrasting in light shining through from the back emphasizes even more Krupp sat in the front of the trains, and helps darken Krupp’s even more, adding to the idea of curiosity of why Krupp is in the train station.

Technical Response

For this image it is color based which helps show the key details, for example textures and strongly emphasizes the differences between the foreground and background. There is a clear contracts between the foreground and back ground. With the background showing high exposure and there is an excess of natural sun light flushing in through the windows on to the old run down train station. This presents a more clear view of the train station and all its details, like the copper rust. These high quality leading lights seeping in assist the textures and colors used demonstrate rusting and really presents the idea of the station being extremely run down. This could lead our thought trail to why Krupp was photographed there. Due to the over exposure in the back ground somewhat draw or attention to the fore ground where Krupp is sat in much darker conditions. Thanks to the over exposure in the background and under exposure in the foreground help present the image with a range of shadows, which I believe aids the feeling of the image. The lens was most likely to be a wide lens to the varse amount of item and things in the image, the wide lens also shows the camera was facing pretty much straight on however the position of Krupp could suggest that it was a slightly higher up view.

Contextual Response

Knowing full well that Krupp was a strong Nazi follower and had preciously used his factory for slave labor in the Second World War in order to supply the army with Nazi war machines. Later on Krupp then got convicted of a numerous about of crimes and was due to serve twelve years in prison in which he was released after the third year. Newman initially turned down the offer from Newsweek commission however after a long debate with the editor Newman finally agreed to participate. On the side Newman had promised himself to portray Krupp for who he truly was ‘the devil’. On first appearance with a group of men associated with Krupp and his factories the portrait was canceled. Newman beloved this to of happened due to his appearance, this was an issue for Krupp as Newman was a Jewish. But after a long time convincing Newman finally persuaded the Krupp company to go on with the portrait. Newman’s ‘revenge’ was satisfied when the image was published and fully represented the evil behind the man.

Conceptual response

The concept of this piece was simply Arnold Newman’s revenge on Krupp for what he believed to be a ‘monster’ causing immense pain and chaos throughout the period he was upcoming. Newman intended to create this portrait in order to fully represent Newman’s true colour to the editors of the magazine and the public by producing an intense piece centred around Krupp himself being shined in a dark light.

Photographer Arnold Newman,

See the source image

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Component 1 Personal Investigation, Component 2 ESA, Unit 2 Portrait

Henri Cartier-Bresson

November 14, 2018 Jade B Leave a comment

He was a French humanist photographer who worked within street photography and it well known for his ‘decisive moment’ technique.

Decisive Moment-In 1952 Henri Cartier-Bresson, a founder of modern photojournalism, proposed one of the most fascinating and highly debated concepts in the history of photography: “the decisive moment.” This moment occurs when the visual and psychological elements of people in a real life scene spontaneously and briefly come together in perfect resonance to express the essence of that situation. Some people believe that the unique purpose of photography, as compared to other visual arts, is to capture this fleeting, quintessential, and holistic instant in the flow of life. For this reason, many photographers often mention the decisive moment, or similar ideas about capturing the essence of a transitory moment, when they describe their work.

Born in Chanteloup-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, Henri Cartier-Bresson developed a strong fascination with painting early on, and particularly with Surrealism. In 1932, after spending a year in the Ivory Coast, he discovered the Leica – his camera of choice after that moment – and began a life-long passion for photography. In 1933, he had his first exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. He later made films with Jean Renoir.

Taken prisoner of war in 1940, he escaped on his third attempt in 1943 and subsequently joined an underground organization to assist prisoners and escapees. In 1945, he photographed the liberation of Paris with a group of professional journalists and then filmed the documentary Le Retour (The Return).

In 1947, with Robert Capa, George Rodger, David ‘Chim’ Seymour and William Vandivert, he founded Magnum Photos. After three years he had spent travelling in the East, in 1952, he returned to Europe, where he published his first book, Images à la Sauvette (published in English as The Decisive Moment). He explained his approach to photography in these terms, ‘”For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”

From 1968, he began to curtail his photographic activities, preferring to concentrate on drawing and painting. In 2003, with his wife and daughter, he created the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris for the preservation of his work. Cartier-Bresson received an extraordinary number of prizes, awards, and honorary doctorates. He died at his home in Provence on 3 August 2004, a few weeks short of his 96th birthday.

Behind the Gare St. Lazare 1932

Image result for Place de l'Europe Gare Saint Lazare (1932)

Technical

This photo was purely natural lighting, no flash, it appears to me it was bright day due to the definite shadows. The contrast is prominent between the light and dark areas created by the black and white filter. Due to Henri’s use of the decisive moment approach he doesn’t appear to have huge amounts of control over the positioning of the the people in this shoot and what they are doing. On the other hand he could control the lens which was 35 mm, also he positioned himself in a way in which the mans reflection was captured. He had a relatively slow shutter speed as the man appears to be slightly blurry as hes running, but at the same time it’s not too low as the ripples in the puddles are clear. The colour cast is dark, creating a cold tone to the photo. In some areas its slightly over exposed but the black and white makes its hardly noticeable. The focal point for me is the man running as Henri only took this photo at that decisive moment in which the man was running otherwise it would be bare. The blurriness of the mans silhouette works well in contrast with the sharp detailed surrounding.

Visual

The texture in this photo varies throughout, for instance the water ripples, the pile of rubble, the wall plastered in photos and the metal railing. Although there are many different textures in this one image they work well, there doesn’t appear to be any tensions between them, as well as the background and foreground there is harmony between them and they merge into one another effectively. There is a clear black and white filter on this photo, as well as that there is a rule of thirds which creates an element of structure and timing to the photo. I wouldn’t say there is a leading eye but the first thing that attracts me to this image is the blurred mans so there is an area of interest in the photo.

Contextual

The Gare Saint-Lazare (St Lazarus Station), officially Paris-Saint-Lazare, is one of the six large terminus railway stations of Paris. It is the second busiest station in Paris, after the Gare du Nord. It handles 275,000 passengers each day. The station was designed by architect Juste Lisch, and the maître de l’oeuvre (general contractor) was Eugene Flachat.

AO2 Explore Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Introduction to Portraits in Photography:

November 14, 2018 Emily C Leave a comment

Portraits have been an important and popular form of art throughout history, and even before the invention of photography, sculpts and paintings of people were used to convey messages and meaning, and to make the artwork more relatable.

Ancient Egypt is an example of a well known era that made use of creating human portraits to express meaning ans stories through artwork.

Cave paintings depict portraits of human figures, showing that the fascination with creating portraits of humans has been an important part of human history.

Portrait photography began in the mid 1800’s, as the development of cameras meant that the necessary exposure time dropped from 15 minutes to 10 seconds, making it possible for a human subject to have their photograph taken. Portraits at the time were expensive, and so most portraits of the time depict more wealthy, upper class members of society.

The relatively long exposure time meant that the poses held by the subjects were often unimaginative, as anything else would be difficult to maintain for 10 seconds, and portraits typically involved the subject maintaining an expressionless face (holding a natural, steady smile for 10 seconds was difficult).

With the development of technology during the 20th century, the way that portraits were taken also developed. Cameras became more widespread, and portraits became increasingly popular and more widely available. Exposure time yet again decreased, opening u the opportunity for subjects to try out more interesting poses, smile, and therefore create more natural, engaging photographs. Photography could now be used for things such as advertisements, and people grew more aware of portraits.

Modern portrait photography is no longer limited by things such as a long exposure time, black and white film or bulky cameras. The development of editing and special effects has allowed for portraits to become more experimental, and where they once portrayed a subject how they really were, they can now be used to convey messages and meaning.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Environmental portrait — Shoot Plan

November 14, 2018 Jack T Leave a comment

For my photo shoot I plan on going into the market in town as there are many vendors who have big displays and who show their products and things. Something that will make my images different, as others will likely have a similar approach, I will be using a 35mm film camera and the roll of film that I will be using has been expired for about 15 years, this means that there will likely be imperfections in the images like black spots and the grain will be much more apparent. I plan to go to places like butchers, florists and green grocers as they will likely have the most aesthetic displays.

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait