Portrait photography consists of photos taken of a person or group to convey a message associated with the person or to capture a certain mood. Portraits can serve multiple purposes, such as present a person, tell a story or to capture imagination.
Portrait photography stems from the late 19th century portrait painters whom painted many great monarchs and dukes. With the arrival of new technology such as cameras, The lengthy process of a painting session was cut short and the door then opened for more creativity.
Three Point Lighting
Three point lighting is a photographic technique that utilises 3 different lights to help capture and portray the subject. The diagram below explains this in more depth.
Here are some examples of 3 Point Lighting
Natural Lighting
Natural lighting involves making the most of the light available in the shooting environment. This can be using direct sunlight, Street lights or light through a filter such as a curtain or blinds.
Here are some natural lighting examples.
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro is a photographic technique that involves using a wide contrast between dark and bright. this affect is usually achieved by utilising a light on one side of the subject and leaving the other side in darkness. This effect is demonstrated in the images below#
The next set of blog posts will be about portraiture. Portraiture is creating images that involve other people in some way, maybe by showing their faces or by other means by showing things that present them. There are many different ways to do this that many different artists and photographers have come up with to display different emotions or show the lives of people.
Below is a mind map all different things that we may cover ahead and things that may come up within those topics, such as lighting and the emotions of people.
I may use inspiration from images like these below. These have been created by all sorts of different artists and photographers like, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Sian Davey and Alec Soth. I may also look at scenes from films or drawings, like the image of Snow White in the image.
Clare Rae is an Australian photographer who has recently done a Photo shoot in Jersey based on the work of Claude Cahun, A local photographer who lived on the island during the 1940s and 1950s. The photo shoot explored both Rae and Cahuns love of nature and their position within it in terms of the association of the female body with the natural environment
The shoot itself was taken in rural spots around the Island, with many easily identifiable coastal scenes throughout the piece of work. Gorse bushes and lichen strung rocks play an important part in the shoot. The images are essentially of a self portraiture nature as they highlight the individuals association with their environment and tell a story
Here are a few pictures of the visit
A large amount of images, all themed on coastal fauna and the artists association with them. The images were taken at various locations around the island such as Le Hocq, Grosnez castle and Beauport headland.
This image is a particular favourite of mine due to the abstract nature of the image. The image depicts rae, Placing one arm through a hole in a piece of old ruin and hiding behind it
In this image, Cahun is seen with a Nazi eagle badge in her mouth. This can be seen as representative of the local environment at the time of the shoot due to the Nazi occupation of Jersey, Which lasted from late 1939 until may 1945.
Each Picture tells a different story, yet all explore the unique association both artists have with their natural environment
M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Portraiture\TO DO
TASK 1
You must introduce the new topic : PORTRAITS
Ensure your blog posts are clearly CATEGORISED
Remember… your images must include a caption…this is especially important if they belong to someone else (copyright etc), and helps clarify which images are yours for assessment.
Try adding hyperlinks to use websites / blogs / video URLs or embed relevant YOUTUBE clips to help illustrate your key points
CREATING A VISUAL MOOD-BOARD
Choose a range of portraits / self portraits to develop a grid of images to show your understanding of what a portrait can be…
You must include a range of approaches to portraits in your mood-board…
Define what Contemporary Portrait Photography is…
formal (posed) and informal / candid / natural
head-shot / half body / three quarter length / full length body shot
high angle / low angle / canted angle
colour vs black and white
high key (light and airy) vs low key (high contrast / chiarascuro)
archival imagery (past / historic)
current / contemporary approaches
futuristic approaches
3. Develop a blog post that includes your imagery and label the images accordingly
TASK 2 CREATING A MIND-MAP
We will be studying the history, theories and concepts of portrait making…their purpose and role in our day to day lives too.
Design a mind-map / brainstorm / spider-gram / flowchart of portrait based ideas
Think about the ways in which we use portraits, and what they can say about us / reveal / conceal
define what a portrait actually is
Add your mind-map to a blog post
HALF TERM HOMEWORK TASK (1)
We will begin the unit by looking at ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS, which depict people in their…
working environments
environments that they are associated with
“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 are some examples…
Arnold Newman
Mary Ellen-Mark-Circus Perfomers
Look at these influential photographers for more ideas…
August Sander (1876 – 1964)
Paul Strand (1890 – 1976)
Arnold Newman (1918 – 2006)
Daniel Mordzinski (1960 – )
Annie Leibovitz (1949 – )
Mary Ellen Mark (1940 – 2015)
Jimmy Nelson (1967 – )
Sara Facio (1932 – )
Key things to consider with formal / environmental portraits…
Technical= Composition / exposure / lens / light
Visual= eye contact / engagement with the camera / neutral pose and facial expression / angle / viewpoint
Conceptual= what are you intending to present? eg : social documentary? / class ? / authority ? / gender role ? / lifetsyle ?
Contextual=add info and detail regarding the back ground / story / detail / information about the character(s) / connection to the photographer eg family / insider / outsider
Take 100-200 photographs showing your understanding of ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS
Remember…your subject (person) must be engaging with the camera!…you must communicate with them clearly and direct the kind of image that you want to produce!!!
Then select your best 5-10 images and create a blog post that clearly shows your process of taking and making your final outcomes
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)
Lissy grew up in a small town in Canada between a cornfield and a tall forest, and frequently played pretend in between them. Her interest in photography began at the age of 12, spurred by the obsessive fear she would one day forget her entire life were she not to document it.
As a teenager she became far less fascinated with documenting life, and far more intrigued with escaping it. By creating surreal landscapes and building elaborate blanket forts, she hid from the trials and tribulations of teenage life until, at the age of 18, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in photography.
Now her work focuses on the combination of her two loves; documentary and surrealism. Combining forces to create whimsical imagery that still centres around every day life. Her work is often inspired by the vivid colours of early childhood, reoccurring dreams, the blurry way we see things when we are either too happy or too sad, and the soft hands of the high renaissance.
Her work has been exhibited in New York, London, Toronto, Boston, Munich, Detroit and Guatemala City.
