Alfred Krupp Image Analysis

Examining Arnold Newman's Environmental Portraits - The New York Times

The image above is a portrait of Alfred Krupp in Essen, Germany, 1963 taken by the photographer Arnold Newman.

The image above shows an older man (Krupp) with strong fluorescent lighting from both he left and right side (and behind), creating a strong shadow in the centre of his face. He has a sinister look on his face and has his head resting on his hands which are shut together- this represents a sense of power within him.

The background looks very industrial. There are 2 almost symmetrical pillars on each side: the on eon the left having a slightly warmer ton and the one on the right having a slightly colder tone. There is a field of depth to the image, yet the focus is still on Krupp’s face which also indicates power.

Who was Alfred Krupp?

Also knows as the Cannon King, Krupp was a German industrialist noted for his development and worldwide sale of cast-steel cannon and other armaments. Under his direction the Krupp Works began the manufacture of ordnance. It was with the advent of railways that the rise of the firm really began. At first, railway axles and springs of cast steel were the only products made in this field, but in 1852 Alfred Krupp manufactured the first seamless steel railway tire. Later he adopted three superimposed railway tires, the “three rings,” as the trademark of the firm. He was thought to be a war criminal but was later pardoned.

“In 1963 Newsweek magazine wanted to commission photographer Arnold Newman to take a picture of German industrialist Alfred Krupp. At first, Newman declined the offer. The Jewish American photographer saw the convicted (and later pardoned) war criminal as the devil and wanted to put a knife in his back. But Newman did proceed with the job. A sinister-looking man, Krupp was seated on a platform with his factory in the background. Newman asked him to lean forward. Krupp clasped his hands together under his chin. “My hair stood on end,” Newman would later say. It was considered one of the most important photos by the man who became known as the father of the environmental portrait.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-arnold-newman-photographer-20190613-story.html#:~:text=In%201963%20Newsweek%20magazine%20wanted,a%20knife%20in%20his%20back.

Headshots- Diamond Cameo

I began by taking normal portrait headshots: one of the right side of the face, one of the left, one of slightly below and one straight on.

On photoshop, I began by selecting the Elliptical Marquee Tool, held left click and dragged from approximately where I drew on the blue X for an even and symmetrical cut (shown on image 1). I then pasted this cut-out onto a new, plain white document and sized it down – I repeated this step for all four images and placed them in a diamond shape (as seen in the examples right at the top). One by one I changed eash of the images to black and white and changed the colour balance levels to ‘45,0,-30’ as seen in image 2. This was to create a vintage-like tone. Lastly, I dropped an inner shadow with a distance of 20 and a size of 60 as shown in Image 3. This was to create a sense of depth.

Headshots – Diamond cameo, Deadpan Aesthetic/typology, Closeups

HENRY MULLINS – DIAMOND CAMEO

Henry Mullins started working at 230 Regent Street in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in July 1848, setting up a studio known as the Royal Saloon, at 7 Royal Square.

He was known for presenting his images in a diamond shape, in oval frames:

My Diamond Cameo

Subject – Michael Kenealy

Deadpan Aesthetic/typology – Passport

In summary Deadpan photography is a cool, detached, and unemotional presentation and, when used in a series, usually follows a pre-defined set of compositional and lighting rules.

Thomas Ruff wanted to mimick the setup for a having a set of passport images taken, here are some of his images:

Typology:

These images are also classed as typology. Typology is ‘a single photograph or more commonly a body of photographic work, that shares a high level of consistency. This consistency is usually found within the subjects, environment, photographic process, and presentation or direction of the subject.’ In this case it is the deadpan aesthetic, framing of the images, colour tones and background.

My Deadpan Images

Because of the social distancing rules of the time of this shoot, these photos were taken at home with natural light and one front facing directional light source.

Up Close

Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene or the whole image.

Satoshi Fujiwara: Code Unknown: In Michael Haneke’s 2000 film Code Unknown, there is a scene in which the protagonist’s lover, a photographer, secretly snaps pictures of passengers sitting across from him on the train.’

My Closeups

Because of social distancing rules at the time of this shoot, it had to be shot at home with one directional light.