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.
Case Study: August Sander
AUGUST SANDERS, BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
During military service, August Sander was an assistant in a photographic studio in Trier; he then spent the following two years working in various studios elsewhere. By 1904 he had opened his own studio in Linz, Austria, where he met with success. He moved to a suburb of Cologne in 1909 and soon began to photograph the rural farmers nearby. Around three years later Sander abandoned his urban studio in favor of photographing in the field, finding subjects along the roads he traveled by bicycle.
Sanders set out on a photographic project to document the people of his native Westerwald, near Cologne. Sander photographed subjects from all walks of life and created a typological catalogue of more than six hundred photographs of the German people. Although the Nazis banned the portraits in the 1930s because the subjects did not adhere to the ideal Aryan type, Sander continued to make photographs. After 1934 his work turned increasingly to nature and architectural studies.
MOOD-BOARD:
WORK ANALYSIS:
TECHNICAL:
The image picturing the young farmers is well exposed, slightly on the over exposed side as the bright white sky and highlights are very prominent in this image.
VISUAL:
This black and white photograph is a group portrait of three young men portrayed outdoors on a path in a natural setting. They stand behind each other in single file, their bodies facing in the same forward direction perpendicular to the picture plane, their heads looking to their right straight at the camera. All three of them wear suits and hats and gaze with some self-assurance directly at the photographer. The young man on the left has unkempt hair peeking out from his tilted hat, a cigarette dangling nonchalantly from his lips, and holds a wooden cane at an angle to the ground. The central figure is holding a cigarette in his left hand and clasps a cane in the other, while the man on the right and at the front of the group seems rooted to the spot, his cane held straight to the ground echoing his upright posture.
CONTEXTUAL:
The photograph was taken by August Sander using a large format, glass plate camera with a long exposure time, the kind primarily used in portrait studios. This is one of many photographs taken by him of rural people from the wooded low mountain region of Westerwald in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Westerwald was the region where the photographer was born, and it was where he traveled in search of new clients after setting up his portrait studio in Cologne-Lindenthal in 1910, having returned to Germany the previous year from Linz, Austria.
Arnold Newman- Environmental portraits
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.
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,
Henri Cartier-Bresson
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
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.
Introduction to Portraits in Photography:
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.
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.
PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL SCHOOL CAMERAS ARE RETURNED BY MONDAY MORNING
People in their natural environment
Environmental portrait — Shoot Plan
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.
Introduction to Portraiture
Environmental Portrait — Artist study
Anthony Kurtz
One hour into his first Psychology class at the University of Geneva, Anthony walked out of Science to pursue a career in the Arts in San Francisco. Born in California, raised in Switzerland, Anthony discovered his love for photography while working on his bachelor of fine arts at the Academy of Art University. This marked the beginning of his photographic journey. Anthony specialises in environmental portraiture and creates timeless photographs of people and the spaces they occupy. His cinematic and painterly style seamlessly transitions between documentary and conceptual, capturing the world as it presents itself as well as creating new worlds entirely.
The part of Anthony’s work that I will be focusing on is his environmental portraits, the reason I have chosen his work is because I like the style and composition of his shots. He has the subject in a position and style that they are in day to day, when they are working or going about their business in the environment that they do it in.
I like the style because it is set up to seem like the subjects are unaware of the photographer. 
