As an introduction to portrait photography, I focused on the theme of “Modern Day Heroes”. This project involved taking photographs of essential workers who helped to save and serve the public during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Photoshoot plan
Modern Day Heroes inspired photoshoot
I decided to take pictures of my mum, as she works for the Jersey Hospice Care Shop, although they were unable to open during lockdown, they were one of first retail shops to reopen in order to raise money for the Jersey Hospice Care.
I took photos of her wearing her uniform to represent her essential work and captured her wearing a face mask, as the workers were made to wear masks throughout their entire shift to keep the public safe. I thought this was an important aspect of essential workers as it proves that in a time like this, we all have to be considerate of others which proves the sense of unity that COVID-19 brought to the world, despite the tragedies occurring daily.
Technical – Straight away the main focal point is defined in the image by using highlights, due to the subject being close to the camera, the natural light illuminates the front and top of him from the slots in the ceiling of the factory. – The overall photo is dark, this contrasts with the highlights, and sets a mysterious mood. – There is a high depth of field (example f.24), as everything in the foreground and background is in focus. The lights have a starburst like pattern which means, that there’s a small aperture, which allows more light into the camera. – The image has warm tones, the orange train and the exposed skin, such as the head ans the hands. – The shadows are more dominant than the highlights, which makes the mans face more detailed, the shadows appear under his eyes, which makes him look evil. This could be a reference to his criminal past.
Visual – The man is sitting down with his chin resting on his hands, which are interlocked. His head is slightly tilted down, and has a sly grin. He is staring into into the camera, which is intimidating. This body language, makes him look like hes plotting something evil. – The background of the image is framed using concrete pillars that are just behind the man. They are dirty and covered in a moss-like coat. The frame draws our eye to the abandoned factory. – The fact that the abandoned factory is behind the man, is like his past has been left behind, as the man is Alfred Krupp, who was a factory owner, and made equipment for the Nazi’s. This is reinforced, as he is looking away from the abandoned trains, and instead hes looking directly into the camera. – The photo has been thought about because, there is no empty space, and the image is split in two. The bottom half is the foreground which features the man. Then, the background which features the background, which is the abandoned factory.
Contextual – Arnold Newman, was an American photographer, who was born on March 3rd, 1918, and later died on June 26th, 2006. He was known for his environmental portraits of artists and politicians. Additionally, he was even know for his carefully abstract still life portraits, such as the portrait of Alfred Krupp. – Alfred Krupp was born on August 13th, 1907, he was in a family company, know formally as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, it was a key supplier of weapons and material to the Nazi regrime and the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was later arrested for slave labor, which he served 3 years in prison. Then he died in 1967.
Conceptual – He man is old, which means he been through a lot. This means his life is mostly behind him, which is why the factory in in the background as it was his job and responsibility to manage it, but now it isn’t. – His hands are positioned close together as if he had hand cuffs on, which represents his time in prison. – He is dressed smart as it contrasts from the dusty factory in the background, – Alfred used slaves to build supplies for him. They probably had back problems from working a lot, which is why he is leading over, as it connotes pain and exhaustion.
Contextual : The photo was taken around 20 years after the end of the Second World War. The photo was taken in an old factory that made all things from railroad cars to trains and in the Second World War his family made ammunition for the Nazis. The photo was taken in 1963 by Jewish photographer Arnold Newman.
Conceptual : The image was taken as a form of payback for the Jewish community on the Krupp family after supplying the Nazi’s with ammunition for the entirety of the Second World War. Newman made Krupp look evil and have shadows around him with light in the background. He makes Krupp look sinister and mysterious but also not in power as the photo was taken looking down on his subject. This references the Krupp family power when the Nazi’s relied on them during WW2 and how after the war ended their power had gone.
Technical: The lighting in the photo is harsh and has a very large depth in the photo. The photo transitions from a very dark and sinister tone to a free and light one. The photo is deep and is taken to make the sinister figure in the centre of the image look below the viewer as if he is not in power.
Visual: The color pallet of the photo are dark and mysterious with a lot of dark colors and then quite white and bright colors swell. The darker and more mysterious colors are in the foreground of the photo near the man and the brighter and more normal colors are in the background of the image. The photo is clearly three dimensional and the different layers of the photo can be seen clearly. The image has some symmetry and very straight lines.
Arnold Newman was a Jew who took environmental portraits of influential people such as Bill Clinton and Pablo Picasso. Alfred Krupp was a German steel manufacture and inventor. He made ammunition for the Nazi’s and used the Jews from the concentration camp as slaves. Arnold was very hesitant to work with Alfred because of the type of man he was and because of his beliefs.
This image shows a sinister looking man in the foreground of the image with an industrial background. As a viewer we can only see from Alfred’s torso up and he is lent forward with his hands linked , making him look more intimidating
The lighting of this image is a mixture of natural lighting and artificial lighting. Arnold set up artificial light on each side of Alfred so the the lighting hits the sides of his face and deepens in the middle of his face making his eyes look menacing.
The overall consensus of this image is very negative and leaves the viewer feeling quite uncomfortable as Arnold has portrayed Alfred as a very powerful looking man and the fact Alfred is looking directly into the camera gives the viewer the feeling that he is looking straight at them leaving them with an uncomfortable feeling.
Street photography is made for art or enquiry that that features random chances of encounters or incident’s that occur within a public place.
Diane Arbus
Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks
Martin Parr
Robert Frank
Saul Leiter
Viviane Maier
William Klein
William Eggleston
As you can see from the pictures above that have been stated with the names of the photographers, every single image above has their own personal value to them and their own story behind it which makes street photography special because the picture almost becomes a story to tell, due to the pictures being captured in random moments of an incident that has occurred. Moreover, their could be some context behind these images for example, with the Gordon Parks picture on the top right would could imagine what it could be about like maybe people having fun on a hot sunny day, however in reality the picture is a gang fight that was captured in the middle of the streets.
This portrait image taken by Newman displays a sinister and authoritative man as the vocal point of his work. The photographer’s positioning of the elevated camera angle causes shadows to fall beneath his eyes, cheekbones and nose due to the artificial lighting coming down from the roof beams, setting an unsettling mood as the man stares down the camera lens.
There’s a drastic contrast between the light and dark tones, in the foreground, there is a lot of shadows and dark areas with very dull colours. Further back looking into the background, there is a lot more light overhead, from each side and a window at the back, these point of lighting make the colours of the equipment and objects more vibrant and brighter.
The man seen is in fact Alfred Krupp, who’s family owned the factory he is seated in front of. The Krupp family were German industrialist during WWII, using the factory to made and distribute warfare weaponry made by prisoners from the Jewish camps. The importance of his background is important as the photographer religion is Jewish. Relating to the camera angle, the fact that Newman is looking down on Krupp shows how far society has come since the religious segregation during WWII and that the authority has switched.
This colour Image, taken by Arnold Newman, showcases a portrait of Alfred Krupp. The photograph displays Krupp centered in the foreground of a train factory, framed by the pillars either side and above him. These pillars also lead your eye up to the skylights of the factory, which also lead your eye into the background of the image. In the background you can see trains being produced and made in the long dark room. The tone presented in this piece appears to be quite dark and moody, due to low exposure. The angle in which this image was taken, seems to look down on Krupp as if to belittle him, therefore creating a tense photograph.
The lighting of this piece appears to be natural, originating from the sky lights, and slightly underexposed. This light contrasts with the harsh and dark shadows, which are surrounding Krupp, further intensifying the image. Due to the clear and defined image, not only in the foreground but the the background too, you could say that this image was taken with a low aperture and a fast shutter speed. This allows for you to not only to see Krupp clearly but also the trains in the background, meaning they must be of some significance to the story of the image.
Newman took this particular image specifically of Krupp due to his participation in the Holocaust. This included Krupp supplying Nazi forces with weapons and ammunition during World War Two, using slave labour in factories. Meaning that as the war grew bigger so did Krupp’s profits. For this Krupp was sentenced to only six years in prison. In addition, this image is personal for Newman due to him being Jewish, which is seen in the belittling camera angle.
The message behind this image could be aiming to showcase the evil of Krupp and his actions, and from the way he is posed his lack of remorse. Furthermore, it may be an indicator of how people like him are still in power positions to this day, making a statement on the justice system and how it should be improved.
The man himself is harmless, he is old and weak looking but his eyes are looking directly at the camera which is unsettling and emits an emotional response. In reality he aided the Nazis is committing mass genocide. His body language shows power as the pose he is doing is common among business men. The photo is an environmental portrait which shows people in a place they are associated with. In this case its one of his factories that produces trains. The portrait was done by Arnold Newman, a Jewish photographer who was helped bring environmental photography into mainstream media. The portrait led to public backlash and Krupp was imprisoned for crimes against humanity and he died soon after his release from prison.
The focal point of the portrait is Alfred Krupp which suggests his power and importance. Everything in the photo is tied to him. This includes the triangular leading lines that all join up to him and the lighting that centres on his face. The shadowing blacks out his eyes which evokes a sinister feeling as the eyes are often known as windows to the soul and by blocking this window you so not know someones true intentions.
The colours in this photo are more vibrant at the back of the scene but begin to dim as you look closer to Krupp. The bright orange of the industrial machinery is a stark juxtaposition to Krupp’s bleak businessman attire. This could suggest that its Krupp’s workers that are full of life whilst Krupp himself is void of life. The darkness of Krupp in the portrait connotes evilness which is likely on purpose by Newman to expose him.
In this image the lighting is very dark which gives the image a sinister atmosphere. This contrasts with the saturated warm toned colours in the background which makes the colours stand out to the eye. The light is coming from multiple places in the image which creates a sense of reflection in the photo, this also means that the light is most likely artificial lighting shinning onto his face but natural light coming from the ceiling.
The image overall has a range of light and dark tones.the overall image is dark which makes the focus the light tones which highlights the light reflecting off the multiple surfaces.
The focal point of the image is the man facing towards the camera which is located slightly below the middle of the photo. The photo also focuses on the background of the image which continues through to the back which creates a deep field. The dark edges create a vignette effect making the center of the image significantly brighter drawing the viewers attention to the middle.
The image has natural lighting coming from the windows above, the main points of the image are defined by the highlights, the photograph has many warm tones such as orange. His fingers are interlocked implying hes secretive which relates to the dark, mysterious lighting. A high depth of field was used as everything in the foreground and background is in focus.
The way the man is dressed, smart and sophisticated, contrasts with the worn and ragged train station.
Alfred Krupp was a key supplier of weapons and material to the Nazi regime and the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was later arrested for slave labour, which he served 3 years in prison. Arnold Newman was known for his environmental portraits of artists and politicians.
