Rineke Dijkstra is a dutch portrait photographer, born in 1959, best known for her work capturing small specific groups of people or communities, such as teenagers, mothers and soldiers. Dijkstra has claimed she does this as, “With young people everything is much more on the surface—all the emotions,” whereas as we grow older we tend to know how to conceal them. Usually, Dijkstra accompanies her portraits of these types of people alongside a seaside landscape.
Rineke Dijkstra: Beach Portraits – 2002
This colour portrait taken by Rineke Dijkstra displays a young girl positioned in the centre of the image among a seaside landscape. This positioning of the subject of the photograph creates an almost symmetrical looking image, which could be said to cause the portrait to look very formal and unnatural, combatting the background. Furthermore, the tone of this image appears to be very cold with blue being the prevailing colour of the photograph, seen in the sea, sky and the girl’s dress. In addition, the lines presented in this photograph seem to all be horizontal, for example the horizon line, the dived between the rocks and the sea, and the lines going across the girl’s dress. These lines lead your eyes across the image, allowing for not only the subject to be focused on but also the background.
Here you can also see that the lighting of this portrait, like most of Dijkstra’s work, is clearly natural, due to the seaside setting. This allows for very few shadows, meaning it was most likely chosen to be taken at midday. This light also means that this image was most likely taken with a low ISO, so that the camera would not be over responsive to the large amount of light flooding the lens, meaning the photograph would not be over exposed. Moreover, the aperture used for this image appears to be low, allowing for a large depth of field, showcasing a defined background behind the subject. It can also be said that the shutter speed used here was fast, also due to the defined and clear photograph.
Photo-shoot
Plan
Contact Sheets
Edited Images
Final Image
I believe that this is my best photograph from my natural light photo-shoot due to the fact that the subject of the portrait is well centred and displays a seaside landscape in the background, similar to Rineke Dijkstra’s work. Furthermore, it is also one of my sharpest photographs out of my edited images. I do also believe that this image displays my understanding of how to capture a clear portrait with the tool of natural light best.
Photomontage first became popular in 1915 when people started protesting against the First World War.
Years later, photomontages became a form of propaganda allowing world leaders to sway the general public’s mind. For example Adolf Hitler used montages to brainwash the Germans into thinking Concentration camps were nice places.
Examples of Photomontage
unknown
Martha Rosler
Soviet Propaganda
Jerry Uelsmann
Image Analysis
Jerry Uelsmann
The image is in black and white which contrasts my interpretation of this image. I believe that it shows that nature can sometimes be cruel, however humans can care for the things that have been neglected by its own family.
Family isn’t necessarily blood, it’s whoever cares and love you like you’re their own
For the 2 x weeks leading up to the Year 12 PHOTOGRAPHYCONTROLLED CONDITIONSMON 25TH – THURS 28TH you will need to refer to this resource pack for ideas and inspiration…
“SELF -PORTRAIT and IDENTITY JAC PDF”
(to find it just copy and paste the link below into the top bar of the folder icon on your screen)
M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Portraiture\TO DO
We have included a mini-unit to help you explore opportunities with self portraiture in photography as this may become essential to your project outcomes. We will spend 1 x lesson looking closely at this and discussing ideas for you…
Remember…your stimulus for the month of January is…
IDENTITY and PLACE
Dates and arrangements for your Controlled Conditions
12D Mon 25th Jan in Photog 2 upstairs Periods 1-5
12E Tue 26th Jan in Photog 2 upstairs Periods 1-5
12C Wed 27th Jan in Photog 2 upstairs Periods 1-5
12B Thurs 28 Jan in Photog 1 downstairs Periods 1-5
define “identity” and explain how identity can be influenced by “place”, or belonging, your environment or upbringing /gender identity /cultural identity /social identity / geographical identity /political identity /lack of / loss of identity / stereotypes / prejudices etc
Add a mindmap and moodboard of ideas and trigger points
Choose a range of photographers that you feel explore identity as a theme and create a CASE STUDY on Claude Cahun and then compare Cahun to a chosen artist (that will have an influence on your final outcomes re : MOCK EXAM)
Organise and carry out your photo-shoots !!! You MUST complete a minimum of 2 PHOTO-SHOOTS in readiness for the mock exam itself
Decide whether or not YOU will become a feature of your work…will you point the camera at yourself? (how important is self-portrait to “identity”?)
Show your experiments and outcomes as a response to chosen artists over the next few weeks…and begin to plan how to finalise and display your ideas.
Some suggestions for you to look at…
Carole Benitah…memories of childhood, loss and belonging
Jessa Fairbrother…mother and daughter relationship
Phillip Toledano…loss, death, memory, grief
Laia Abril…loss and memory, eating disorders and body image
Diana Markosian…cultural, geographical and political identity
Rita Puig Serra Da Costa…death, grief, loss and family identity
Yoshikatsu fuji…relationship breakdown
Nancy Borowick…relationships and support
Julian Germain… people as individuals vs community
The daily grind can be a test of endurance. In Tokyo Compression, Michael Wolf recorded the extreme discomfort of Japanese commuters pressed up against windows dripping with condensation on their journeys to and from work.
In Harlem Trolley Bus, Robert Frank showed the divisions within American society in the mid-20th century. Dryden Goodwin took pictures of exhausted travellers on London night buses and wove a protective cocoon of blood capillaries around them.
Connections with film making…
The idea for this project comes from Luke Fowler‘s series of half-frame photographs recently published in the book ‘Two-Frame Films‘. The project is intended to encourage students to concentrate on the editorial aspect of photography, the selection and juxtaposition of photographic images and how this might affect the ways in which a viewer engages with the work. Fowler is better known for his work in film but has used a half-frame camera as part of his practice. This work explores the relationship between two juxtaposed images. A half frame camera exposes two shots on each 35mm frame. A roll of 36 exposures therefore produces 72 images in pairs. The resulting diptychs are still images but reference the theory of montage, first articulated by Russian film makers in the 1920s, specifically Sergei Eisenstein
An example of two frames from Sergei Eisenstein’s film ‘Battleship Potemkin’, 1925
A diptych
A triptych
Diorama / pop-out book layout
Using projectors / clear acetate and transparencies
Making a Virtual Gallery in Photoshop
Download an empty gallery file…then insert your images and palce them on the walls. Adjust the persepctive, size and shape using CTRL T (free transform) You can also add things like a drop shadow to make the image look more realistic…
CONTROLLED CONDITIONS : Essentials
You will have 5 hours to complete this unit…focus on selecting and editing your final images / set of images
Remember to label each JPEG in the print folder with your name
Minimum 1 x file per A3, A4, A5
Ensure that your final images are a direct response to your chosen photographer (s) and show a clear visual link
Print size images = 4000 pixels on LONG EDGE
BLOG SIZE images = 1000 pixels on LONG EDGE
Always ensure you have enough evidence of…
moodboards (use influential images)
mindmap of ideas and links
case studies (artist references-show your knowledge and understanding)
Henry Mullins is one of the most famous Jersey photographers producing over 9,000 portraits of islanders from 1852 to 1873 at a time when the population was half of what it is today (55,000).
Mullins would produce a Diamond shape cameo to show 4 different angles of one subject.
In photoshop I made 4 ovals and put them into the shape of Henry Mullins diamond cameo, then I put the 4 images on top of the ovals, then made them a clipping mask so that they went into the oval. Then I increased the contrast and brightness on each of the 4 images so that they popped more.
Close up portraits give the most detail and in depth details of a person’s facial features.
‘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.’
2 Point Lighting – This style of lighting usually consists of 2 main light sources, a key light and a fill light. The key light illuminates the subject while the fill light removes any unwanted shadows that the key light has created. It is important to note that the second ‘light’ could actually just be a reflector or wall that allows the light to bounce off it onto the subject.
My plan for this photoshoot is to have a 2 point lighting set up in the studio at school, I will photograph my friend who is comfortable in front of a camera in hopes of capturing images of a professional standard. I am going to use a spotlight to the left of my subjects face and a panel LED light to the right. I plan on using different coloured gels over my two lights to experiment with complementary and contrasting colours. Additionally, I want to explore using different camera angles and compositions. For example, I plan on taking headshots, close-ups, mid-shots and long-shots in hopes of producing a range of images with different compositions and seeing how the camera angle effects the lighting and atmosphere of the photo.
Contact Sheets
Selected Images
Final 2 Point Lighting Portrait
I chose this image for my final 2 point lighting portrait due to its highly saturated colours and clear abstract lighting. My image was taken using artificial lighting, with gel colours providing a contrast in tones. I really enjoy the way the red lighting highlights the subjects face, creating an effect similar to sunlight shining through a window. As I had set up this light to the left of my subject, it allows the warm colour to fall across the photograph and gradually gradient to a less saturated tone. Additionally, I used red and purple gels in this image to experiment with clashing colours. I love the way the purple lighting provides a subtle background colour while emphasising the bold red highlights that fall across the subject. Moreover, I believe this contrast in colour forms a warm inviting mood in the image which is furthered by the subject’s direct eye contact with the camera. Furthermore, due to the harsh lighting of my photo, several dark lines can be seen on the subjects clothing and neck which contrast with the bright red surrounding them. The dark areas of this image clearly direct the observer’s focus, for example as my subject has dark hair and eyes they stand out against the pastel background, creating a clear focal point in the centre of the subject’s face.
Double/Multi-Exposures
I decided to experiment with creating some double/multi exposure images from this photoshoot, similar to the work of photographer Man Ray and his work during the Surrealism movement- more info on Man Ray can be found here https://www.manray.net/ and examples of his work are below. I produced these images by layering different photos, and sometimes the same photo, from the shoot on top of each other on Photoshop. I reduced the opacity of one layer to produce the ‘multi exposure’ effect which I believe creates a more abstract atmosphere in my images. In addition, the bold colours of these photos mixed with the strange composition created by the multi exposure editing makes the subject appear alien-like and resembles something you may see on a sci-fi movie poster. I really enjoy the way this editing has created such a contrast in mood and context from the previous in this shoot, I like how the repetition of the subject gives the impression she is moving quickly. Furthermore, the repetition in these photographs symbolises echoes of the past, especially in the top right image where it seems as if the subject is leaving her body behind, conveying the idea of time moving swiftly on.
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.
Illuminating a studio configuration, portentous lighting is important. Portentous lighting can be created by adding a lot of contrast. Dark areas are just as important as light areas. This type of lighting requires a number of light sources located in a way that produce very light areas and some very dark ones. The most basic studio lighting uses a main light (1), a fill light (2), and a backlight (3). This is the most common lighting setting for studio-independent objects. A three-point configuration will immediately work well and is an excellent starting point for creating special effects. Light bulbs are useful because they allow you to control your direction and incident points to provide drama to the scene.
Thomas Ruff
Thomas Ruff
Alec Soth
My pictures :
3 Point Lighting :
Three-point lighting is a standard method of three-source lighting, I only use this technique with a few images This technique does not please me too much
1 Point Lighting :
I had a lot of fun with one light, I love the shadows found behind or on the faces of people in the pictures. I often ask people on the cheek picture with their hands their arms their body basically to create more shade.I create different types of lights just by placing the main flash in several different places.
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.
