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.

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.

Studio portraiture is an incredibly versatile genre of photography: images can be anything from bright, punchy, high-key images full of light and energy, to dark, intense images that draw the viewer to the subjects eyes. Studio portraits are widely used for many things, especially media.

When taking the photos, I began with a few test shots using 1 point lighting and instantly chose to include a stool- I feel like it made my photos a little more interesting. I began testing different lighting for example light, dark, warm, cold. I had previously taken photos using coloured lights and they always added a dramatic effect, so I added blue and red gels on either side of the model, creating 2 point lighting– I really liked the outcome.

When editing these images, I slightly cropped each side as my original images had the sides of the studio showing. I sharpened the face a little and increased the exposure to lighten them.

I chose this image as the final image as the composition turned out well- I like the smooth transition of colour in the background and the strong shadow on the bottom right. The focus is still drawn to the face due to the bright colour and contrast which is what I was going for.