With my final images that I found were most effective I open each image in photoshop and copied them on to an empty gallery room where I distorted the images to get them to fit on the walls and aligning them to the ground. Edit > transform > distort. I then put a light drop shadow behind each photo to give them the affect that they’re on the wall.
The word PORTRAIT is defined as a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, of the face or head and shoulders. A portrait is designed to capture someone in there own self such as there personality , lifestyle , glamour ect. In modern day this is can be done by using high tech lighting equipment , backdrops, poses by the models themselves and of course Photoshop where editing skills can change a photo. The first portrait ever to be taken was in 1839 were an American photographer , Robert Cornelius , took the first ever portrait photograph of a person. He removed the lens cap, ran into the frame and stood still for ten minutes, before returning the cap to its position.
Contemporary Portrait Photography – is a photograph from our own time, compared to an image from a much earlier period. It can be described as an image that shows and reflects are values and challenges to this day.
Environmental Portraits
Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were away from mainstream society and toward their own personality and what they do from day to day life. Whether that be a working environment or a hobbies , she loved to take photographs of people who supposedly look like they are happy.
In the 1960’s , Mary decided to take on photography as a side carer as the passion for it grew. These images above in black and white are effective as for they bring out the mood and personality of the model . A good example would be the image below…
This iconic image gives off an uncomfortable feeling as the girl to the right seems to be in a calm and resting state whilst the hippo next to her reaches out with its great big mouth , bigger than her , and in a sense showing some aggression towards her. The mouth seems as it could swallow her whole , but to prevent this she defends herself with only a stick. With her short shorts, boots and gloves , standing outside what it seems to be a tent , this looks as she and the hippo are part of a circus. The girl seems confident in herself as she stands proud with a brave face and a relaxed standing posture. This links to environmental portraits as she’s in her element , she’s doing what seems to please her and make her happy.
Photoshoot Plan
Who – I will be taking photos of family members and public people in their work environment.
How – Using a DLSR camera with a 500mm lens. Photographs will be taken with a natural white balance for the biggest range while editing.
Where – The market in town, small businesses, the hospital ect.
When – The day time to capture natural lighting , but this doesn’t really matter to what I am going to be photographing as they are going to be taken inside.
What – People in their work environment – environmental portraits.
Contact Sheet
My Best Selection Of Images
These images above I cropped and edited on photoshop to bring out the best quality of them. In photoshop i simply heightened the contrast and lowered the brightness level a tad just to make the image more intriguing to look at.
These images give a range of different types of jobs and carers which make people happy in their working environment.
I feel like these photographs link to Mary Ellen Mark’s images as the majority of the people are looking straight at the camera with a relaxed mood to them. I chose an image to represent Mary’s work more and changed it into black and white to see the similar style between the two…
These two images have similarities as both men have a relaxing , no posture facial expression. This implies that their mood/personality has a slight importance to their job. Both of their body postures seem to be relaxed and confident in themselves. This can be seen as the butcher boy has his hands resting on the sides of the table which can suggest that he is proud of his job. On the other hand the actor sitting in the dressing room seems to have a more chill vibe as for his legs crossed over themselves.
Both photographs capture these men in their working environment which links to the fact that they are environmental portraits.
‘Henri Cartier–Bresson (1908-2004), arguably the most significant photographer of the twentieth-century, was one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos in 1947 and champion of the “decisive moment”. He brought a new aesthetic and practice to photography, initiated modern photojournalism, and influenced countless followers.’
Henri Cartier-Bresson is well known for his street photography, here are some of his most significant images:
This image was shot in natural light on a sunny day, which created strong defined shadows on the dround. This creates a large tonal range from the light whites of the highlights to the darkest blacks of the shadows. This high contrast makes the subjects and image as a while pop out. The image is also perfectly exposed with no sun glare or over whitening of surfaces. The aperture of the photo seems to be around the f.11 mark, a medium to high aperture to let most things in frame be in focus and sharp. There is a slight vignette around the edges of the image to create a more moody feel and to draw attention to the centre of the image. The shutter speed was probably above 1/120 as the subjects were moving at the time the photo was taken and the sunlight was bright. There also seems to be a slight grainy texture to the image indicating a higher iso.
The light coming from behind the people give a silhouette effect. This along with the dark shadows being cast on the brightly lit road creates an ominous and almost uneasy, moody feeling. As the people get further away from the camera and further down the road, their silhouette becomes less distinguishable from the background, creating a greater sense of depth in the image.
The peoples faces are not clearly seen. This might symbolise how each person in the image, weather they know each other or are strangers, is living their own personal life (sonder). Them being unaware of the photograph shows the natural way of living and people getting on with their daily tasks.
In early 1947, Cartier-Bresson, with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger founded Magnum Photos. Magnum was a cooperative picture agency and aimed to use photography in the service of humanity, and provided arresting, widely viewed images.
William Klein took many street photography, and ill compare the above image with Henri Cartier-Bresson’s images
Similarly to Bresson, the image has a large black and white tonal range, with no over exposure or under exposed parts of the image.
Contrasting to Bressons image, this was shot with a lower aperture, maybe about f.5. This is because the Gun that is being pointed at the camera in the foreground is blurry and out of focus, but the subjects behind it are in focus and well detailed. There is also not a vignette in this image.
There seems to be a high iso, similarly to Bressons image, because of the grainy texture.
Contrasting completely to Bressons image, there is immediately a lot of emotion and meaning in this photo. The use of a gun symbolises danger and destruction. Along with the boys emotion with shows anger and sadness. This contrasts to the unidentifiable, shadow filled faces of the subjects in Bressons image. Also, in the image the subjects are aware of the camera.
‘Street photography, also sometimes called candid photography, is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places.’
I like street photography because of the natural, non staged flow of the images. It captures a second in time where everyone in the image is focused on their own thing and has not acknowledged the camera, making the image feel almost like a window into another persons life.
i particularly like this video by Pierre T Lambert, who is a photographer and videographer ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR329XWJzo8&ab_channel=PierreT.Lambert ) because he uses the rain and bad weather to his advantage to create moody and more impactful street photography images.
Here is one of the many images that he took while out in the rain.
The dark tones and reflections on the wet ground create a moody feel which i really like.
Bruce Gilden’s street photography is in black and white which draws attention away from colour and more to the actual contents and meaning of the image. This photographs tend to have a lot of emotion in them and are usually quite busy with many people. Here are some examples:
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person
What makes a portrait a portrait?It should say something about the person you are photographing or the person you are creating with the camera
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.
The best to take an environmental portrait is to spend time getting to know the individual you’re photographing, chose the perfect location, use props if you need to, posing, direct eye contact to make sure the subject is engaged with the camera and use good camera settings.
LOOKING AT ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS-
“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.
Examples of some well known environmental photographs –
The photographer I chose to look at – Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were “away from mainstream society and toward its more interesting, often troubled fringes
Analyzing one of her photographs–
In this portrait you can see that the young boy isn’t posing and it’s not a formal shoot as he’s leaning back on the camper van behind him. It’s a half body portrait and it’s been taken further away than a normal head shot would be taken. The portrait is taken from the same angel as the boy’s perspective. It’s in black and white which in some way creates a sad effect and mood as there’s no bright colours.
An environmental portrait can tell you a lot about the subject being photographed, for instance, in this photo you can assume that the boy hasn’t been raised in a wealthy area due to the background around him and the dirty clothes. The boy is holding an animal which implies he might have been raised on the countryside. On the other hand the dove he’s holding may symbolize innocence and hope as he’s only young and is living in poor life conditions. He isn’t directly engaging with the camera as there’s no eye contact but his facial expression is sad as he isn’t smiling which might indicate fear.
Composition- in the photo the black and white lines behind the boy on the camper van are drawing the attention directly towards the boy as they’re slightly slanted and go directly towards him making him the main subject. The campus he’s at is quite dirty and depressing as there’s nothing pleasing to look at.
My photo-shoot action plan-
MY CONTACT SHEET-
I went into town , to the market and fishmarket, to take photos of workers in their working environment. I photographed a few different sections of the market to get a variety of different backgrounds.
Some of my favourite and edited photos;
These are my favourite photos I took because I think they all capture the working environment perfectly as well as it being a portrait. Only one photo I took was a full body shot and the rest you could only see half of their body as they were behind desks. I wanted them to smile to create the mood of a happy working environment instead of them looking sad.
Street photography, also known as candid photography, captures unstaged incidents often in public places. Street photography can focus on people and their behaviour in public, or used to record people’s history. However, people being featured in the image is not a necessity within street photography. For example some photographers often produce photos without people included in the frame, but their presence is suggested by the subject matter.
Helen Levitt, born in Brooklyn, NYC, in 1913, was known as “the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time”. Whilst teaching art classes to children in the 1930’s, Levitt became fascinated by chalk drawings that were part of the New York children’s street culture at the time. This led her to buying her first camera to capture the drawings and the children who made them. This resulted in her publishing these images in 1987, naming them “In The Street: chalk drawings and messages, New York City” (1938-1947). Levitt continued to take photos throughout the 30’s and 40’s, with her work first being published in the Fortune magazine’s 1939 issue. Helen Levitt received her first grant in 1946 from the Museum of Modern Art in 1946, and received two grants in 1959 and 1960 from the Guggenheim Foundation fro her colour photography work. She then published her first major collection, “A Way of Seeing”, in 1965 and became a Photography Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Helen Levitt started her career by taking photographs of the inhabitants of poorer neighbourhoods in New York, such as the Bronx and Harlem. Here she photographs children in the streets of their neighbourhood.
The lighting used in this image is very low and dull. This suggests natural lighting was used as there is little representation of shadows or highlights. The use of natural lighting adds a sense of rawness to the image, as she captures the scene in its pure form, almost without purpose but simply to capture the moment.
There is little example of line within the photograph, however it could be argued that the placement of the pavement can be seen as a leading line to direct the viewers eyes to the focal point of the children, and the frame.
There is no form of repetition in the photograph as the composition is not purposely set up. There is also no use of echo or reflection in the photograph for the same reason.
The only use of shape in this photograph is the geometric square shape in the centre of the frame that the children are holding in the centre third of the image. Otherwise, the shapes in the photo are all organic and don’t have any relation to each other.
There is a wide depth of field within this photograph as both the background and foreground are in focus, this provides a strong sense of depth as the environment further displays the culture and meaning behind the focal point of the children.
There is little sense of texture in this photograph, however some may say the leading line of the edge of the pavement has a more uneven and rough surface, giving the overall image a harsher texture. However this is contrasted with the smoother surface of the pavement, on which the children stand.
There is a limited range of tones in this photograph as the image has a monochrome filter. The lightest parts of the photograph are the lighter-tones clothing of the people, which is juxtaposed with the harsh, black frame in the centre of the image. The dark frame takes up the majority of the photo, causing the image to tend towards the darker tones.
There is a lack of colour in this photograph, which is a common factor for Helen Levitt’s earlier work. This is most likely because colour photography was only made accessible in the 1930’s, therefore the majority of Levitt’s work was black and white until her later work in the late 1960’s. The lack of colour accentuates the strong contrast between light and dark.
The composition of the image is unbalanced and unorganised. This is because Levitt’s main focus in this shoot was to capture the joy and interest of the children in the poorer neighbourhood’s of New York, therefore the image is not set up and captured in the spur of the moment. Although there is a lack of thirds in this photograph, the focal point (that being the black frame) is coincidentally placed in the centre of the image.
What Is Portraiture?
Portrait photography draws attention to the subject. This is normally achieved through some combination of a shallow depth of field, composition, color, and lighting. It is aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people.
Mood Board
These are photos are inspirational, and I plan to take some of my own in a similar style.
Complementary Photography
Complementary photography is marked by the current time period, and reflects our values and, challenges at that point in time.
Environmental Photography
Environmental photography is when you take a photo of someone working in there environment, wearing there uniform, to create a more informative and dramatic photo.
Steve McCurry
He is an American portraiture photographer, he was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He made many trips to India and Pakistan, he was also smuggled into Afghanistan. He is best known for his evocative colour photographs that document both human struggles and joy. Having travelled the globe for over thirty years, McCurry has photographed warzones, burning oil fields, refugee camps, ship breaking yards and monsoons all over the world.
Photo Shoot Plan
I plan to go into town and ask people that are working if i can take photos of them working naturally or stage a quick photo shot with them.
I plan to ask post men, bakers, shop assistants, fishmongers, and anyone else working in there environment.
I can take photos of them from the other side of the counter, which means the products they’re selling will be on display. Which helps the viewer understand their work environment.
My Photos
My Favourite Image
I like this because it shows the fishmonger in front of his filleted fish. The colours are vivid and they pop out as the rest of the image has a cold atmosphere as there are mostly cooling blue colours. The subject is centered, which sets the image up nicely. The whole image is in focus as it hows the work environment off. To take this photo I had to ask if it was ok to photograph them, I had to take it quick so it wasn’t to staged, although there is eye contact with the camera.
Paul Strand tried to communicate the sentiment of the land and its occupants straightforwardly, truly, and with deference. His prints are excellent in detail and resonance, and his methodology has affected American photography incredibly. Strand supported “straight photography,” and shot road representations to city scenes, machine structures, and plants with his particular clearness, accuracy, and mathematical structure. From 1904-09, he studied photography under Lewis Hine at the Ethical Culture School in New York, where he was born. Hine acquainted Strand with Alfred Stieglitz, who supported him and gave him a presentation in 1915, and distributed his work in the two last issues of Camera Work. Dynamic as both a still picture taker and a producer, Strand has been incredibly compelling.
Strand teamed up with Charles Sheeler in 1921 on the short film Mannahatta, and from 1923 to 1929, he functioned as an independent cinematographer. He filled in as head of photography and cinematography for the Mexican government’s Department of Fine Arts from 1932 until 1934; he administered creation of the government supported documentary The Wave. In 1935 he went overseas with directors of the Group Theater to Moscow, where he met movie chief Sergei Eisenstein. Upon his return, he dealt with Pare Lorentz’s film The Plow That Broke the Plains for the Resettlement Administration. Strand got comfortable in Orgeval, France, in 1951; there his thoughtfulness regarding “the world at his doorstep” moved to the basic excellence of his nursery. He distributed a progression of books on his movements around the globe.
My interpretation
| Who | Someone wearing a sign saying “BLIND” around their neck. |
| What | Stairs with the rail making a line shadow down them or buildings with interesting shadows to take photos of. |
| Why | Paul Strand liked to take photos using the natural lighting making interesting shadows on the ground, which he focuses his photos on. So the photos I’ll be taking will be focused on the shadows the rail makes and the shadow behind the person wearing a sign. |
| When | Near the end of the day or the start as I get more shadows going across the ground. With the photo having someone wearing the sign saying blind I want to do it before midday so the lighting would be on the person casting a shadow behind them. |
| Where | For the stairs photos I will go to millennium park to take photos of the stairs leading up to the park as the sun gets to the rails easily so the lighting will be natural when taking the photos. I will also go around town when the sun is setting to get some abstract photos of buildings casting shadows. |
| How | With the photo of the sign, I will make it using a piece of card or paper which I will write in bold BLIND or something different like DEAF then punch two holes in the corner of the paper and attach string which the person can then put around their neck. |
Paul Strand
Paul Strand was born in New York in 1890. When he was 17 years old, he began taking photography courses. His photographs moved from soft-focus scenes of modern New York that reflect the energy and movement of the city and its inhabitants more sharp, focused expressions of objective reality.
Laszlo Maholy Nagy
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy , born 1946, was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism.
Analysis Between Both Photographers
Natural light floods both image from left to right. Pauls work has a strong tonal range from light to dark. Hard shadows are formed from the pillars and stairs and overrules the amount of light take in in both photographs. Laszlo’s image has a higher quantity of objects that create detailed lines , especially when photographed in black and white. These lines are a much softer tone than Pauls work as The pillars form more harsh and thick lines which are repetitively in line with each other along the floor and the left hand side. This refers back to the topic of reflection as the pillars in Pauls work reflected downwards onto the floor. Pattern is found in Laszlo’s work as the thin shadow lines cross over each other forming some sort of chequered pattern. The darkest tone in Pauls image is the nearly completed border that is nearest to the colour black whereas Laszlo’s work has a blurred light formed at the top of the image that fades down to the darkest part of the photograph , the first steps on the bottom left. As both photographs are taken in black and white , the dominant colour black, surrounds the natural light in Pauls work. As for Laszlo’s work , the black and white colour quantity is equal throughout the whole photograph. Both images being in black and white gives a subtle appearance as not too much is going on in the images.
My Photoshoot – Contact Sheet –
I think these images I took of buildings down the waterfront , St.Heiler , are similar to both Lazslo and Paul’s work in a sense that they have pattern and repetition in the structure of the buildings and streets. I took a few of these images into photoshop and changed them into black and white to refer back to both photographers above’s work.
This last image with the mental rails relates back to the theme of patterns and repetition as for the same railing is repetitively put in a straight line and is photographed at an angle that captures a good quantity of the rails. White bricks with dull, contrasting black lines in between , lay on the floor of the image creating a simple, easy pattern.
In all final Photos , a bit of editing such as changing the contrast/brightness levels. As well as darkening the shadows that are formed by the natural light and a bit of toning/cropping/rotating, they came out in my opinion pretty decent.
