Technical

• Lighting – The majority of this lighting is very shaded in this photo with some natural lighting coming from the windows at the top of the building. Some of the photo is under exposed e.g. the foreground but towards the background the photo becomes more exposed.
• ISO – The light sensitivity is low in this image, hence why it’s sharp.
• White Balance – This image has mostly warm tones and the colour of it looks accurate.

Visual

• Visual Elements – The tones in this photo are very dark making it look more intense and gloomy and the colours look like they’ve been washed out slightly making the most eye catching thing the white lights coming from the windows in the ceiling. You can see a lot of the textures on the man in the foreground e.g. his hair, wrinkles and freckles. The symmetry of the pillars either side of the man frames the photo better making the man the main focus of the photo. The space above the man makes the building look like it’s towering over the man, although the man already looks quite evil and powerful due to his posture and the way he’s looking straight into the lens of the camera as if he was looking into the eyes of another person which would be considered intimidating, the building being greater in size gives the whole photo an intimidating feeling.
• Composition – The photo looks like its been cropped as the photo looks longer that a normal length photo, as well as this the space at each sided of the man looks like their the same size meaning it’s likely it’s been cropped or it’s been arranged that way. The eye is automatically lead towards the man in the photo because the light is hitting certain points of his skin therefore highlighting him as well as him being in the centre of the photo. The light from the top third of the photo contrasts with the bottom third of the photograph as well.

Contextual/Conceptual

The photographer, Arnold Newman, was an American Jew, giving the photo a string meaning because the main focus in the photo is Afried Krupp who was a German who was accused of slave labour (manufacturing trains) in the Nazi regime. The inspiration for the photo most likely came from this and the reason as to why he made the man in the image look so evil and why he made the photo look so ominous. The negative image Newman gave Krupp was to show Newmans hatred towards him and the Nazis overall.

Welcome to the course!

During your first lesson or two you will be expected to submit and display your summer task. As a group we will discuss the merits and limitations of the mini-projects, and your work will be assessed soon and you will receive feedback too. Your Summer Task will then form the start of your coursework (Component 1 / 50% of overall mark).

(If you have not completed a Summer Task as a new recruit…then you have until Friday 13th September to complete the task appropriately.)

We will also discuss your thoughts and feelings / knowledge and understanding of…

Photography’s function(s)

Photography as an art-form

Photography as a science

The difference between the study of photography and the practice of photography

Henri Cartier-Bresson once said…”Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”

What do you think Cartier-Bresson meant by this…? Discuss

Other…

Blog Overview

Sharepoint Overview

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Lightroom

Demonstrating a critical and contextual understanding of photography can be tricky, especially if the subject is relatively new to you in Year 12. The following activities have been designed to encourage you to reflect on what you know already about photography. Hopefully, some of the prompts will encourage you to further develop your understanding of photography through additional pondering and research.

In small groups, discuss the following questions and create a poster / brainstorm with your findings and answers…

• Why do people take/make photographs?
• Why is photography important?
• What skills do you need to be a good photographer?
• How many different kinds of photography can you think of?
• How does photography help us see the world?
• Can photographic images be trusted?
• What are the similarities and differences between photography and other types of visual art?
• When would it not be OK to take a photograph?
• How do you know when you’ve made a good photograph?
• Are photographers also artists?
• Where is the best place to see photographs?
• What kind of photography interests you most?
• What confuses or frustrates you about photography?

Watch this short film in which the photographer William Klein discusses his contact sheets. Make some brief notes. What does he help us to understand about photography?

https://vimeo.com/22187134