These 4 images above have been chosen as my final outcomes. In my opinion they successfully show a vast understanding and application of Henry Mullin’s work as we both have used similar techniques, such as: we both have used the diamond shape, have captured our models in 4 different angles, have a similar, old style and our images are similar in colour too as we both have this brown, crème effect.
I have used the Sony Alpha 380 DSLR Camera with the portrait mode to emphasize subjects by blurring away background and reproduce soft skin tones, with a shutter speed of 1/30 and an ISO equal to 400. Additionally, I have used manual focus to successfully bring the subject into focus and blurring out the background. The camera was still during the shoot as I used a tripod
I have edited these images using photoshop to cut and create the diamond shapes on my images but have also used Snapseed to edit my images by adjusting the Retrolux and Grunge tools on the application. Have also used it to adjust the brightness of my images so they are the best they can be.
In comparison to Henry Mullin’s diamond cameo project, as mentioned above, “we both have used similar techniques, such as we both have used the diamond shape, have captured our models in 4 different angles, have a similar, old-style and our images are similar in colour too as we both have this brown, crème effect.” However, Henry Mullins portrays his images in a photograph book whereas mine is digital, his subjects are adults and mine is a young adult, he has a border around his work, and I do not, and finally, his shots kind of fade around the oval shape which in comparison to mine, the images are fixed and aren’t fading.
An environmental portrait is a portrait taken of a person or people in a situation that they live in and a place that says something about who they are. It is often a place of work, rest or play.
Mood Board
This is a selection of different occupations and workers within their environment. This mood board gives an idea of what i wish my final outcomes will picture.
Arnold Newman
Arnold Newman is often credited with being the photographer who articulated and who consistently photographed the genre of environmental portraiture, in which the photographer uses a carefully framed and lit setting, and its contents, to symbolize the individual’s life and work. Newman’s career stretched over the 1940s through to 1960s.
Photo Analysis
Arnold Newman
This photo depicts a conductor Leonard Bernstein in the center of the photo. The under-exposure of the background creates a contrast between the empty chair and the focus point. The angle at which the lens is capturing the conductor from, shifts the authority of the photo, this contradicts the environment as the conductor holds the authority in this orchestral workspace.
Contact sheet
Edited Photos
When editing these photos, I edited them to black and white photos to correlate my response to environmental photos to Newman’s work.
Final Image
I chose this image as i feel it most displays the models environment of his work place. His offset positioning opens up the background to allow the eye to wonder and admire the workplace in more depth. At first look, this photo illustrates a rule of 3 composition, splitting the photo into 3 vertical sections.
I chose these images as my final images as I felt these where my strongest images that fitted into the candid/street photography idea. I liked these images as they were all people in the moment and unaware of the images being taken which means I captured them in their candid moments. I decided to put all my final outtakes into black and white as that is what a lot of street photographers had their images in black and white and I felt it throughly captured the image the best.
Candid portraits is a photograph captured without creating a posed appearance, as the person who is in the photograph is unaware that it is being taken. A candid portrait photograph is one of the most simple types of portraits to take. Similarly street photography is also very simple as you can capture one doing everyday things or even something people normally wouldn’t do.
PHOTO PLANNING:
Who – I’m going to take photos of people that are unaware of me capturing them
What– I’m going to take photos of people who are doing everyday things such as walking through town
When– I am going to conduct the shoot over the next week going into several different places.
Where– I am going to take my photographs town, cafes,
Why– I’m taking these photos to capture people in there everyday life which will make the photos more interesting as well as have more meaning to them
How– I’m going to take these photos in natural lighting or artificial and make sure the people in which i’m photographing do not notice I am taking a photo.
MY PHOTOS:
MY BEST PHOTO:
I feel as if this was the best photo in which I have taken as its more focused on the people in which I have captured rather than the non-focus of the background. The lighting of this photo is natural which adds clear perceptive and details to the photograph.
Candid photography is photography taken without the subjects knowledge or without eye contact.
Danny Santos – UntitledBen Roffelsen Photography – Cycling in the SnowAmlan Sanyal – The Priest
I like the images above because the first two have a good depth and are in black and white. However i like the last image as the background is both colourful and blurry and his eyes are very colourful and the whole image is different from the first two as it is extremely vibrant.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French humanist photographer who has been called a master of candid photography. He viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. He was born on August 22nd 1908 and died on August 2nd 2004.
Children in Seville, Spain, photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1933. Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum
I like the image above because it gives a sense of realism and a completely natural environment in which the children are playing and are unaware of his camera. The children are portrayed as being wild as they are playing in a street which would not be used as a children playground. The street seems to be abandoned with rubble on the floor and broken walls. Also the image has been framed by the broken wall to shows that the children playing are in their own world.
Bill Owens
Bill Owens was born in 1938 and first became interested in photography in Jamaica. He was drawn to the works of 1930’s documentaries. In 1967 he got a job as the staff photographer of a small local newspaper. He worked Monday – Friday using 35mm camera and during free time on Saturdays and Sundays, he took photos for his own “Suburbia” series. It was finally published in 1972 and it sold 50,000 copies throughout 3 editions.
Bill Owens’ photograph of Richie Ferguson in 1971
I think the image above is one of Owen’s strongest portrait images because it really links to the idea of the American dream and the youth of when the image was taken. It shows a small child on a ‘Big Wheel’ tricycle. He is also holding a toy gun of some sort and is wearing a very stereotypical cowboy outfit paired with the boots. He also looks like he is guarding his area with his gun and tricycle.
My Interpretation
Best 5
Final Image
I have chosen the image above as my final attempt at the street photography and candid post. I like the image because the handrails are blurred and create a leading line to frame the image. The worker is operating a roller machine which compacts the sand/ dirt and the machine, high viability jacket, handrail and sand all are both natural and man made colours. The subject is to the right of the image using the rule of thirds and the man is the main focal point of the image.
Photo montage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image.
Select a series of your headshots (between 5-12) and produce a sequence either as a grid, story-board, contact-sheet or typology. Reference Mullins pages in his portrait albums
Henry Mullins: Pages and re-constructed contact-sheets from his portrait albums.
Henry Mullins was a Canadian exporter, farmer, and politician. He was the first professional photographer to arrive to jersey to start taking portraiture business in his early years of taking photographs. He mainly focused on taking photos of the upperclassmen including people who were doctors as well as political people.
Henry Mullin’s Photography
I feel as Henry Mullins’s work is very unique to others as he has changed and adapted his work to create diamond Cameos, which adds more details and focus to the portraits in which he has taken. I’m going to try and recreate a Diamond cameo similar yo Henry Mullins’s as I’m inspired by the work in which he created. I’m going to do this by taking several head shots of a model and edit them to black and white through Photoshop. I’m going to use these head shots below to attempt to recreate Henry Mullins work.
Overall I feel that this successfully portrays what Henry Mullins achieved as my work shows very similar aspects to his. I done this by taking head shots of a model and then edited them in Photoshop by desaturating the images. After I done that I used the Elliptical Marquee tool in Photoshop to draw an oval shape around the subject then I repeated this step another 3 times and added a plain white background layer.
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 would photograph Jersey political elite, mercantile families, military officers and professional classes. He would take multiple portraits of high class people, and narrow his portraits down into a set of 4 images cut into oval shapes, and placed into a diamond formation.
Henry Mullins uses 2-point-lighting in his portrait photographs to gently illuminate the face. He instructs the model to turn themselves at different angles in order to capture multiple perspectives of the face. Mullins uses a white background so that nothing is distracted from the face.
From these photos I chose my favourites from different angles and then using Photoshop I edited them into diamond cameos by using the elliptical marquee tool.
I then opened an image of old paper from google, opened it in photoshop and copy and pasted my cut-outs onto the background.
ESSAY: In the Spring term will be spending 1 lesson a week every Wednesday on writing and developing your essay. However, you will need to be working it independently outside of lesson time.
Objective:Criteria from the Syllabus
Be aware of some of the methods employed by critics and historians within the history of art and photography.
Demonstrate a sound understanding of your chosen area of study with appropriate use of critical vocabulary. – use for image analysis
Investigate a wide range of work and sources
Develop a personal and critical inquiry.
Academic Sources:
Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video .
Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
Quotation and Referencing:
Why should you reference?
To add academic support for your work
To support or disprove your argument
To show evidence of reading
To help readers locate your sources
To show respect for other people’s work
To avoid plagiarism
To achieve higher marks
What should you reference?
Anything that is based on a piece of information or idea that is not entirely your own.
That includes, direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, definitions, images, tables, graphs, maps or anything else obtained from a source
How should you reference?
Use Harvard System of Referencing…see Powerpoint: harvard system of referencing for further details on how to use it.
https://vimeo.com/223710862
Here is an full guide on how to use Harvard System of Referencing including online sources, such as websites etc.
TUE: Essay Question
Think of a hypothesis and list possible essay questions
Below is a list of possible essay questions that may help you to formulate your own.
Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure.
Essay question:
Opening quote
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography, visual and popular culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
Essay question: Hypothesis
Think of a hypothesis and list possible essay questions
Introduction (250-500 words). Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g. what and who are you going to investigate. How does this area/ work interest you? What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument? What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within. Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against. What links are there with your previous studies? What have you explored so far in your Coursework or what are you going to photograph? How did or will your work develop. What camera skills, techniques or digital processes in Photoshop have or are you going to experiment with?
Paragraph 1 Structure (500 words): Use subheading. This paragraph covers the first thing you said in your introduction that you would address.The first sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the subject of the paragraph.
Content: you could look at the following…exemplify your hypothesis within a historical and theoretical context. Write about how your area of study and own work is linked to a specific art movement/ ism. Research and read key text and articles from critics, historians and artists associated with the movement/ism. Use quotes from sources to make a point, back it up with evidence or an example (a photograph), explain how the image supports the point made or how your interpretation of the work may disapprove. How does the photograph compare or contrast with others made by the same photographer, or to other images made in the same period or of the same genre by other artists. How does the photograph relate to visual representation in general, and in particularly to the history and theory of photography, arts and culture.
Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!
See link to powerpoints: Pictorialism vs Realism and Modernism vs Postmodernism here
Paragraph 2 Structure (500 words): Use subheading. In the first sentence or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraph, then introduce the main idea of the new paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraphs subject (use relevant examples, quotations, visuals to illustrate your analysis, thoughts etc)
Content: you could look at the following...Introduce your first photographer. Select key images, ideas or concepts and analyse in-depth using specific model of analysis (describe, interpret and evaluate) – refer to your hypothesis. Contextualise…what was going on in the world at the time; artistically, politically, socially, culturally. Other influences…artists, teachers, mentors etc. Personal situations or circumstances…describe key events in the artist’s life that may have influenced the work. Include examples of your own photographs, experiments or early responses and analyse, relate and link to the above. Set the scene for next paragraph.
Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!
Paragraph 3 Structure (500 words): Use subheading. In the first sentence or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraph, then introduce the main idea of the new paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraphs subject (use relevant examples, quotations, visuals to illustrate your analysis, thoughts etc)
Content: you could look at the following…Introduce key works, ideas or concepts from your second photographer and analyse in-depth – refer to your hypothesis…Use questions in Pg 2 or add…What information has been selected by the photographer and what do you find interesting in the photograph? What do we know about the photograph’s subject? Does the photograph have an emotional or physical impact? What did the photographer intend? How has the image been used? What are the links or connections to the other photographer in Pg 2? Include examples of your own photographs and experiments as your work develop in response to the above and analyse, compare, contrast etc. Set the scene for next paragraph.
Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!
Conclusion (500 words): Write a conclusion of your essay that also includes an evaluation of your final photographic responses and experiments.
List the key points from your investigation and analysis of the photographer(s) work – refer to your hypothesis. Can you prove or Disprove your theory – include final quote(s). Has anything been left unanswered? Do not make it a tribute! Do not introduce new material! Summarise what you have learned. How have you been influenced? Show how you have selected your final outcomes including an evaluation and how your work changed and developed alongside your investigation.
Bibliography: List all the sources that you used and only those that you have cited in your text. Where there are two or more works by one author in the same year distinguish them as 1988a, 1988b etc. Arrange literature in alphabetical order by author, or where no author is named, by the name of the museum or other organisation which produced the text. Apart from listing literature you must also list all other sources in alphabetical order e.g. websites, exhibitions, Youtube/TV/ Videos / DVD/ Music etc.
