Henri Carter – Bresson

Technical: The type of lighting which was used in this image is natural lighting, here this is shown as there is no glare from the street lights and where there are no buildings, light is shown on the ground. The position of the camera was held quite low down at about waist level which is shown as there is more street shown before the man than above the man, which I believe was done to shown the man’s shadow. The tonal range is widely present with the darkest point being the shadows in the building windows; and the lightest point being the suns reflection on the ground which I assume has been freshly rained on.

Visual: Here Henri Cartier – Bresson, used black and white photography, which works well due to the tonal range that has been created. Texture is shown further down in the image in the foreground, in the tarmac of the road and the bumps on the sides of the roads to help the blind. There is repetition shown in the cars showing the fact that it’s a busy day, and the man due to his reflection. The eye is being lead straight to the man and his movements, and then onto the mans reflection, here this is interesting as all though it’s the same man in the reflection due to the shadows, he looks slightly different in the image.

Contextual / Conceptual: Similar to some street photographers, Bresson tries to create images that he thinks best represents the countries he is travelling in. To do this he immerses himself in the culture that he is staying in, here he tries to become accustomed before taking his first few images.

Vivian Maier

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Henri Carter – Bresson vs. Vivian Maier

• Similarities:
  • Both use Black and White Photography in the majority of their photos, here this as there is “no colour” the critical elements of the image stand out and become more visible. This technique is quite powerful as the majority of people see the wold in colour therefore a black and white photo is instantly more eye-catching and different.
  • The pair use outdoor lighting from the natural sunlight, this helps as they don’t need to carry around heavy equipment with them all the time and can easily capture their photo instantly.
  • Tonal Range is present in both photographers works which allows a larger amount of contrast to be shown in the image.
  • Both photographers share the passion of photojournalism / photo documentation; here they try and photograph the world around them and what they find interesting.

• Differences:
  • Bresson doesn’t usually use peoples faces as he focuses more on their bodies and body language. This differs to Vivian Maier’s work as she utilises peoples facial expressions and interesting facial expressions.
  • Maier uses spot reflections, frames & windows to include in compositions whereas Bresson focuses on the people in their environments.
  • Bresson tends to take pictures at a low angle in order to capture people and what’s around them; however, Maier tends to be more creative as she takes photographs above, below, or behind the subject to capture a more interesting perspective.
  • Bresson cares a lot shadows in his images and it adds more tonal range and contrast, which is different to Maier’s work as her main focus is on the people themselves.

Red: Very Blurry

Green: Bad Angle

This was my favourite image following the work of Vivian Maier. The main thing that striked me about this image is the man’s expression, I found it interesting as it makes the audience wander what the man is thinking about or what he has seen. Here the repetition of the tiling created a semantic field which brings the attention onto the man in the photo. I think that the tonal range worked well as its clearly shown as the darkest point being the gap for the doorway near Fox and Whistle and the lightest points being the lights in the shop and the brightness in the sky.

I think that this image well resembles Henri Carter – Bresson’s work. Here I wanted the main focus of the image to be on the texture of the ground and the man’s body language. Overall I think that this is a successful photograph as I tried to keep the angle in which this image was taken, similar to his work; however I still managed to capture the mans body language and his environment. I again quite like the repetition used with the tiling on the floor as although the eye is lead firstly to the different type of tiling on the floor it is then lead onto the man. I find that is resembles this image in which I analysed earlier.

Portrait photography is usually a photo of a person and captures their personality, this can be done with the help of lighting and backdrops.

There are 4 main approaches to portrait photography, Constructionist, Candid, Environmental and a Creative approach.

Constructionist: This is when a the photographer builds an idea behind then image; for example a romantic couple, a happy family and many more. This is usually done in a more professional setting such as a studio. this type of photography is well known for its use in marketing and advertising.

Candid: This photographical technique is when the photographer takes images without the people who are being photographed knowing about it. Paparazzi is an invasive example of candid photography as it generally shows celebrities at their worst. However; when done correctly, candid photography can paint an ideas of what society looks like in that particular region, this can also show many things that happen in the public eye that may be otherwise ignored and “brushed under the carpet”.

Environmental: This is about the environment in which the person being photographed spends their day to day at. This can be a place of work, hobby, family and even leisure. Examples include, singers in a recording studio, student in a study room, a butcher working at a butchers. These also generally show a bit of culture or class in which that person lives in, showing the history behind the image and the person being photographed.

Creative: This is generally done through the manipulation of digital software, this can create an infinity of options and allows the person who is being photographer’s characteristics stand out. This is a more modern approach to portrait photography as it uses the photographers camera skills and also their editing skills in order to create a striking outcome.

Contemporary Portrait Photography

This is a more modern approach to portrait photography, here images often follow a more abstract/ unusual approach.

Here are some examples of Contemporary Portrait Photographers:

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The Art of Portrait photography / The history of Portrait photography:

Different types of Portrait Photography and their meaning. (Website)

https://expertphotography.com/types-of-portrait-photography/

Environmental portrait photography: This is about the environment in which the person being photographed spends their day to day at. This can be a place of work, hobby, family and even leisure. Examples include, singers in a recording studio, student in a study room, a butcher working at a butchers. These also generally show a bit of culture or class in which that person lives in, showing the history behind the image and the person being photographed.

Examples of Environmental Portrait Photography:

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My Chosen Photographer

Anthony Kurtz

Anthony was born in the USA in 1979, He started off as an artist who had a Masters of fine art in the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. This was when his passion for photography began, His work is often described as “rich, cinematic and painterly”.

Anthony Kurtz has had many achievements over the years and also many opportunities to publish and share his work for example; in Photo Disctrict News, Wall Street Journal, Design Taxi, Common Ground Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Annual PX3 Book, Annual IPA Book, Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler.

Anthony has also displayed his images in several galleries in Europe and USA such as, including Galerie Acte 2 in Paris, 111 Minna and Artworks in San Francisco.

Kurtz has similarly won countless international photo awards such as including multiple First and Second Prizes at the International Photo Awards (IPA), Photo District News (PDN) and the Prix de la Photographie de Paris (PX3).

Lastly, he now owns his own website in which he shares his photos so that the public eye can see: http://anthonykurtz.com

Examples of Anthony Kurtz work:

Technical: Here natural lighting has been used as this image has been taken outside, this allows the texture of the clouds not to be lost as everything can be clearly seen. The position of the camera has been placed parallel to the the man in the image. The focal point is clearly on the man as he has the most focused part in the image, however the cars in the background are still shown allowing the audience to see a “bigger image” of what the man works with. The white balance is is just leaning on the cold side which is shown as the warmer tones t=in the images such as his yellow and red shirt is hardly shown, which allows the audience to focus on the dirt and the blue roofs of the buildings. Here the saturation of the image has been somewhat turned down allowing the audience to focus the centre point of the image which is successful as its a environmental portrait.

Visual: The tones in the image is generally dark matching the dirt shown throughout the image, which allows the audience to see the true reality of the working environment in which the man is living in, here he doesn’t try and sugar coat the image but simply presents his environment how it is. Again the element of dirt gives texture to the image, showing that he doesn’t work in a nice mordernised mechanics office that many people in the “first world” are used to. The pattern of the cars is present suggesting that he needs to work through many cars each day in order to make the amount of money that he needs to survive. The shape of the image is 3D due to the different depths in the image with the main cars shown at the foreground and then the buildings shown in the background. Here the Rule of Thirds is used effectively as as they eye is lead to the centre third and onto the man.

Contextual: This image was part of a a selection of images that Anthony Kurtz took in Senegal. Here he joined as a volunteer in a high school-lead trip where he did community work. Here most the images were taken in the village of Dindefelo (south of Senegal). He also went to “Dakar to do more “strobist” style, street photography and worked on different personal projects.” Anthony talks about the connection he created with the people he photographed as many people turned him down however he kept asking people and ” made sure people in Dindefelo received copies of their portraits and I hope they enjoy looking at them” he talks about still being able to keep in touch with the people, showing the bond he grew as he didn’t just take pictures of them and then moved on but he worked with them and spoke to them to made sure they felt comfortable. (Quotes from Anthony Kurtz found on: https://www.behance.net/gallery/11984331/Part-2-Senegal-Street-Portraits-Africa )

Conceptual: I think the overriding theme to this image is the work that Anthony Kurtz has put in to approach and speak to the people he has photographed, here he spends as long period of time with these people, getting to know them as a person and their experiences. I think that this is important as Kurtz didn’t just take pictures of rich celebrities that are already in the public eye, but he wanted to show the true environments in which people live in.

Candid: This photo graphical technique is when the photographer takes images without the people who are being photographed knowing about it. Paparazzi is an invasive example of candid photography as it generally shows celebrities at their worst. However; when done correctly, candid photography can paint an ideas of what society looks like in that particular region, this can also show many things that happen in the public eye that may be otherwise ignored and “brushed under the carpet”.

Anthony Kurtz also does Candid photos, here he takes pictures of people as they are going about their lives, this is why I decided to follow his work again as I thought I could show the contrast between his two styles

Technical: Here the lighting is natural which is shown as the source of light is coming from outside the window, here it looks like the the picture was taken in the morning due to the almost white light that the sun is producing. Here the camera is placed at around chest level as about half of his body is shown and you can see some of his tools making his image look more informal. The image has a low ISO showing the detail in the image and everything that is going on in the image. Here Kurtz approached a warm tone approach to this informal image which works well with the different tones of the woods and the red objects in his photograph.

Visual: Here there is clear texture between the the different types of wood shown, I also like the texture added to the workers hands as it brings attention to what he is doing. I think that the photo is well exposed as it creates a dramatic effect onto the image which makes it more striking. Here the mans tools are randomly placed making the photo more realistic and informal. Kurtz decided to maintain the tools in the foreground which I think works well due to the depth that it creates as in this example the main focus/focal point is on the man in the mid ground of the image; furthermore this works as there are tools in the foreground, midground and background, which makes the man stand out visually. This makes for next to none negative space due to the semantic field of the tools.

Contextual / Conceptual: I think there is a very strong family theme to this picture as it reminds me of my own family members that use to use tools similar to these in order to build/fix things. I can also see the passion in this mans face for what he does, as he is so focused and almost in his world, which allows the audience to think as if the photographer took this image by chance making it again seem candid and informal.

Who? I will be photographing people who are working such as employers and employees

What? I will be photographing pictures of people in their working environments, posing in a formal manner at the Camera

When? I will take these photos on Friday 15th November 2019 at around 4/5pm as this will cause a more dimmer lighting so that the artificial lighting of the inside of buildings will stand out.

Where? I will go to many places around town such as the market, clothing shops, book shops and more in order to get a variety of people working in their usual environments.

Why? I think that this will work as because I have a good idea of which shops and sections I want to visit this should cut down on any wasted time.

How? I will be taking these images on a Cannon EOS 1200D, and will be manually adjusting the lighting depending on my setting

Who? I will be photographing a variety of people of the public

What? I will be photographing them in a formal and a candid format.

When? I will be conducting this photoshoot on Monday 18th November 2019 as this isn’t generally a busy day therefore wont be too many people around them making it easier to be able and focus on one person.

Where? I will again try and take my photos in a variety of locations such as jewelers, make up shops, toy shops and more, as these generally have busy settings which will hopefully eliminate a lot of negative space.

Why? I think that this strategy will work as I will end up with a variety of mini photo shoots giving me many photos to choose from, this will also allow me to experiment my images due to the different lighting’s.

How? by letting them continue with their task whilst I wait for a specific moment which I think will work well for my photoshoot. I will also be using the Cannon EOS 1200D