Portrait Photography
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 maybe artistic or it maybe clinical, as part of a medical study. Portraits can serve many purposes, from usage on a personal website to display in the lobby of a business.
There are many types of portrait photography genres- These can be:
- Traditional Portrait. 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.
- 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.
- 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 rather than set up.
- Glamour Portrait. The term Glamour Portrait refers to portraits where emphasis is given to highlight the sexy romantic appeal of the subject.
- Lifestyle Portrait.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.
4. Street Photography
Street photography is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.
Street Photography is a sub-genre of photojournalism…
Street photography does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. The concept of the “flaneur” or people watcher is often referred to…as is the candid portrait.
Blog Post 1 : Define, describe and explain street photography.
And what is a candid photograph?
Include images, moodboards, hyperlinks to relevant articles and URLs and add a video or two on street photography…
- Add quotes about street photography
- add THRESHOLD CONCEPT # 7
Blog Post 2 :
Henri Cartier – Bresson and
“The Decisive Moment”
Create a blog post / case study about HenriCartier-Bresson that includes…
- Brief biography
- Mood-board of key images
- Select one image and apply Technical | Visual | Contextual | Conceptual analysis
- His contribution to MAGNUM Photo Agency
- Add any other relevant research / insights
Then Compare and Contrast Cartier- Bresson to one (or more) of the following street photographers…
- William Klein
- Diane Arbus
- Vivian Maier
- Robert Frank
- Bruce Gilden
- Martin Parr
- Saul Leiter
- William Eggleston
- Gordon Parks
- John Bulmer
- Trent Parke
- Garry Winogrand
- Raghubir Singh
- Lee Friedlander
- Joel Meyerowitz
- Tony Ray-Jones
- Bill Owens
Discuss in detail the differences / similarities / intentions / outcomes and of course the photographer’s technical and visual approach.
Technique : Taking street photographs
- Be more aggressive
- Get more involved (talk to people)
- Stay with the subject matter (be patient)
- Take simpler pictures
- See if everything in background relates to subject matter
- Vary compositions and angles more
- Be more aware of composition
- Don’t take boring pictures!
- Get in closer (use 50mm lens or less)
- Watch camera shake (shoot 250 sec or above)
- Don’t shoot too much!!!
- Not all eye level : try holding the camera at waist level
- No middle distance
Article on Trent Parke’s Techniques
Article On Japanese Street Photography below
https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/photography-2/tokyo-street-photographer-mikiko-hara/
Bruce Gilden
‘What do artists do all day?’ – Dougie Wallace, Featured on BBC. from Wren Agency on Vimeo.
Think | Answer | Discuss
- What are you expecting to see / encounter on your photo-shoot?
- How do you think you will deal / cope with your expectations?
- Can you devise a photo-shoot plan for street photography?
- What would include / exclude in your plan?
Suitable locations to position yourself…
- airport
- school
- bus station
- cafe
- restaurant
- street corners
- road crossings
- shopping centres
- supermarkets
- markets
- harbour terminal
- school
Environmental Portraits – Action Plan
Who: I decided that I will take images of shopkeepers at their counters at various shops/ stalls.
Where: I will be visiting the market in town as well as the fish market.
Why: I believe that the best environmental portraits show the subjects livelihood and small factors in these images can show how they feel about their jobs and lives as a whole. I also believe that the lighting in these areas will create some good opportunities for photos, especially the fluorescent lighting in the fish market, the lighting is a very cold tone there and will help compliment pink skin tones.
Environmental Portraits – image analysis
Emotional
This portrait provides me with a sense of intimidation and lack of authority. Yet I do think it is a very impressive photo with a message behind it. I like the contrast between the dark area at the front and the light area at the back, which adds great amount of depth. although the photo is busy, I can’t get away from the fact that the man (Krupp) is the focal point, his stern looking face is hard to move away from.
Visual
There is a clear foreground and background which are emphasized by the change in light. In the foreground there is a Caucasian man aged around 65, wearing a suit, with his hands joint together and his chins resting on top, he has little to no emotion on his face, the dark areas around his eyes create a demonic silhouette. In the background it’s light which is flooding in via the windows on the ceiling, below there are trains of different colours and sizes. The warehouse behind him seems eerily quiet and dingy, there doesn’t seem to be an areas of interested in terms of beauty.
Technical
Their is a clear leading eye in this photo, from the man your eye is lead by the symmetry of the windows, this also represents pattern and order within the photo, this creates a large depth of field. The exposure is very well down and is correctly balanced between the dark and light areas. In the background Newman has used natural lighting, whereas to highlight Krupp’s face it appears he has used natural lighting this is indicated by the shadowing on some parts and glowing light on other parts of him, his light may have occurred via an office lamp. Krupp’s direct eye contact with the camera has a big impact making it much more personal and its as if hes staring you down creating more and more intimidation.
Conceptual
The photo was taken by Arnold Newman, a Jewish photographer in 1963. Alfred Krupp was hesitant at first to have his photo taken by Newman but he eventually came round to the idea and thus this photo was taken. Krupp in World War II held much power as he took over his fathers company which he then used as a place to assign Jewish prisoners at the time to work there under slave labour to create Nazi weapons. Krupp’s background story is clearly represented in the photo by Newman and the fact that he was Jewish emphasizes his intentions even further. He made Krupp to look like a demonic figure with the lighting, expression and body language to expose the injustice of the Jews and how much evil people in the time of the war exploited them and such horrific factories. As well as that the rule of thirds also create a sense of structure, which symbolises the the strict regime of the Nazi’s and how they locked up Jews in tight uniform concentration camps similar to how Krupp forced them to work in rows in his factories for hours on end.
Portraits – Mood Board
Street Photography – mood board/mind Map
Artist Study – RaysCorruptedMind
13. Arnold Newman:
Arnold Newman was an American photographer who was born in New York City on March 3rd 1918. Newman was best known for his environmental portrait photography.
Alfred Krupp portrait:
Context:
In 1963, Newman photographed German factory owner, Alfred Krupp whom helped make weapons for the Nazis during the second World war.
Concept:
Newman took this photo in this way to make it look like Krupp was in charge. The image also has a green hue to it that makes Krupp look rather menacing and evil.
Technical:
It is clear that Newman has used a wide-angle lens to capture this image. The photo is also symmetrical and the green lighting shows off the intimidating nature of Krupp.
Visual:
The photo shows an old man (Krupp) with his hands intertwined. The man has his chin resting on his hands. On his face is a grin that makes him look evil. The image shows the man in an old factory that is used to manufacture trains.
Experiment – Aleatoric Photography
Aleatoric Photography:
Aleatoric photography is the incorporation of chance into the process of taking a photograph. The word comes from the Latin word ‘alea’, which means the rolling of dice. “Aleatory” should not be confused with improvisation as it relies purely on chance instead of quick thinking.
One example of aleatoric photography would be smoke photography. Relying heavily on randomness to give it its spark. Photographing smoke is easy although it takes multiple shots for the shapes and swirls of the smoke to look the way the photographer might like. It also depends on what else may be in the photo and how the smoke reacts with the other subjects in the image.
Mood Board:
My Response:
Best Images:
