Plan- As I’m looking at the theme of lack of identity I wanted my first photo shoot to be simple head shots and photographs with a lot of editing. I want to cut out the face of the model and blur it out to introduce ‘lack of identity’ through that way. I’m going to photograph my friend in the studio with very light and bright lighting in the studio.

contact sheet–

I picked out my best photos and wanted to edit them on Photoshop by turning them mostly black and white inspired by the artist I chose to study. I also overlayed my images with different watercolour backgrounds to disguise the face and I cut out each image and layered them on top of each other. I later edited the final edits and digitally drew a line over the eyes as it’s the way I wanted to present lack of identity which is the theme I chose.

different editing to help select my final image;

The first type of editing I wanted to try out is just simple drawing over the face by simply picking out my 3 favourite photos an draw red over the eyes with the ‘pencil tool’ to disguise the identity.

The second option for editing my images I wanted to try out is using the ‘liquify’ tool. I changed the brush to a small size and dragged the face face around till it created this swirl that looked right and completely changed her identity, if not erased it. I was happy with how my editing with this tool turned out because it got rid o her identity.

I wanted to combine the two for my last editing time. I used the ‘liquify’ tool again but this time I only selected and dragged her eyes which is similar to the first edit but dragging her eyes instead of drawing over them.

I used the quick selection tool and selected my friends face completely. I then used the ctrl+t option to select that part and I dragged it out of frame to create this lack of identity idea. I really like how these turned out as doing it digitally was quicker than printing my images out and cutting her face out. This makes the viewer think about what kind of face was there previously and why isn’t it there anymore. I wanted to present lack or loss of identity through loads of editing because as students it can be so hard to figure out who you are or who you want to be in the future as we’re still so young and have so much to yet experience and figure out about ourselves.

Final image and analysis+personal response

I used one-point lighting for these images and edited them in black and white as the photographer I chose (Jack Davison) to link my ideas to photographer their images in black and white. I feel like it makes it the photos look more dull and mysterious which fits perfectly with my idea of lack of identity. I tried to edit it in a way that shows different tones and shades of dark . My friends face is directly composted in the middle of the photo as I wanted her to be in the center and the main eye-catching subject. No distractions in the background helps with making her the only focus. I wanted to use 3 images lined next to each other as I think it gives you more to look at instead of just one image. By using 3 images I wanted to show that everyone has a view different personalities or even identities and it fits into my idea of lack of identity as people try to discover what they’re actually like and why we act different around others.

I like how I used the’ liquify tool’ because it links back to my chosen photographers work. I used more editing in my images whereas he uses more props such as hands and flowers to cover the face already. I only dragged the eyes out as I still wanted some of the face to be revealed, by erasing her eyes it took a big part of her identity away as you can’t really make out what she looks like anymore. I want the meaning behind it to be that sometimes we can be blind towards who we actually are and as young people or students we haven’t yet truly discovered our identity or who we yet will be.

I achieved what I wanted to do and I presented my idea of lack of identity very well through the way I edited my images. I think I linked my work back to my chosen photographer well, as Jack Davison also blurs his models faces out and cuts out parts of the faces into weird shapes. I cropped most of my images down so it’s just very focused on the face instead of the whole body and a background as it’s the style the photographer works with too.

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.

He enjoyed street photography and viewed photography as capturing a “decisive moment”

Analysing one of his images-

Technical- It looks like this photo is taken in natural lighting as there would be no way of getting artificial lighting in at this scene. There’s a lot of contrast between the white and black sections of the photograph especially seen when there are 3 young boys wearing black suits and the rest are in normal white clothing. There’s no colour which creates quite a cold tone and the photo is taken from further away making the whole background visible. Its a sharp and focused photo which was most likely taken on a high shutter speed as it’s not blurry.

Visual – The photo is in black and white with many different tones of light and dark. There’s an oval like shape of the walls which creates a suttle frame for the photo and gives me the illusion of looking through into a different world. The boys standing on the edges makes it easier to look into the photograph.

Contextual- This photo was taken in 1933. This photograph has sometimes been misinterpreted as a document of the Spanish Civil War, but it was made three years before that war began.

Conceptual– Knowing that was this photo was taken 3 years before the Spanish Civil War makes the viewer think about what might have happened to all the young boys during the war- did some of them fight and be soldiers or did some not make it?

Henri Cartier- Bresson was one of the co-founders of Magnum photo agency in 1947. He was the first foreign professional photographer to be allowed into the USSR since the death of Stalin in 1953.

Comparing to Dougie Wallace-

Dougie walks around the British streets and photographs random individuals that he thinks stand out or have interesting characteristics. Once he spots the person he wants to photograph he simply gets up really close to the them and quicky takes a photo with the flash on. He uses the flash because it creates the idea of a busy atmosphere and anxiety as large cities tend to be packed with different individuals and are always very busy.

Differences- Dougie uses flash when he takes his photos whereas Henri doesnt. Dougies work is in colour and there’s more going/ movement in his photos compared to Henris photography which is all in black and white and has a powerful meaning behind each photo. Dougies work makes you think that you’re there in the city as the photos are so close to the different individuals , however Henri’s photographs his work from a lot further away and tries to capture the background as well as the people.

Similarities- Both Dougie and Henri focus on street photography and try to capture how different people live or lived. There’s not many similarities between the two because they have both very different styles of capturing various moments in the streets.

I think that both of Dougie and Henri have completely different intentions when trying to capture street photography. Dougies photos are very vivid with colour and the atmosphere of the photo is chaotic whereas Henri’s photos are dull and black and white which creates a sad atmosphere and as if there’s a meaning or story to tell behind each photo.

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.

My most successful images-

I’m going to display my photography through a set of 3 images, a triptych, I want to make sure all of my photos have something in come- I have picked nature. I made sure my images don’t clash with each other and that they’re not random.

Finalising them on photoshop-

On Photoshop I turned all my 3 photos black and white and adjusted the contrast and exposure slightly to make the photos darker than they were originally. I did this to make the texture more visible

WHY- I decided to chose these photographs because they all fit into the same theme that I wanted to do- which was nature. I decided to turn them black and white to show the tones and contrast more as there’s a variety of different ones.

Presenting it on an empty gallery through using Photoshop-