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Image ANALYSIS

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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.

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Image Analysis – Alfred Krupp

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The man in this photograph is Alfred Krupp. Alfred was as an ammunition and steel manufacturer who supplied products to the German Nazis during the war and was later sentenced to prison for war crimes. The Photographer, Arnold Newman, was a Jewish American who traveled to Germany as he felt he needed to know more about the horrific oppression of Jewish people. The dramatic irony behind this photo is that a Jewish Photographer got a Nazi sympathizer to pose for this iconic image.

In this Image, slightly below the centre of the shot, is a medium shot of a Caucasian man who looks to be in his late sixties. He has a balding head with slight tufts of grey hair sprouting near the back of his scalp. He has fairly dark coloured skin littered with wrinkles. He has bushy brown eyebrows, a long pointed nose and large, deep, brown eyes. He is gazing straight at the lens and has a serious and sinister expression on his face. He is dressed in a dark grey blazer with a white shirt bearing silver cuff links underneath. He is aslo wearing an expensive looking metal watch tucked underneath his blazer. In the background there is two large concrete pillars eaither side of the man. There is a blue train to the left of the man and a rust coloured one to the right. There are two rows of metal beams above the trains running paralell to eachother leading to a set of windows positioned directly above the mans head. There are also multiple columns of ceiling windows running along the roof of the builing. Also in this buidling are a series of moving metal machines/parts.

The lighting in this image is a combination of natural and fabricated light, the natural light is coming from above and behind the subject. The natural light coming from the windows give the subject a glow above his head almost like a halo. The fluorescent light is coming from behind the camera. This light brightens the outside of the subject but creates deep shadows in the centre of the subjects face and body which make him look mischievous. The image has quite a narrow portrait crop on it. Arnold used quite a high aperture as both the foreground and background are very clear. The image is slightly underexposed and has been given a vignette around the edges to create a mysterious feel. The image has a warm tone and a dark tone. the texture of the image is quite rough which is not created by grain but is rather associated with the old mysterious man and his surroundings. There a large depth of field aided by the metal beams running longitudinally down the factory roof in this image. The photographer has also framed the subject between the two pillars.

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Image analysis and interpretation

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Arnold Newman | Portrait of Alfred Krupp | 1963

Substance:

  • This photograph was taken by Arnold Newman in 1963. Arnold Newman’s family was Jewish
  • The image is a portrait of a businessman as seen by the uniform and position of the hands, interlinking together supporting his head. This could suggest that he’s supporting this business or that he is the boss. This man is the business owner of Krupp industries.  
    • Krupp industries was a major weaponry supplier to the Nazis during World War II. 
  • Arnold Newman took this portrait for a sort of revenge as he was Jewish and Krupp industries supplied machinery and weaponry to basically kill thousands and thousands of Jews (Arnold Newman’s ancestors). 
    • In an interview, Arnold states that when someone suggested that he should do a portrait of Alfred Krupp he immediately said no, when asked: “Why not?” Arnold immediately replied with “I think he was the devil.” 
    • In this same interview, he says, “I wanted to use one of the rare times, I wanted to put a knife in his back.” In a way, Arnold succeeded in this as a few years after this photograph was taken, Krupp got imprisoned.

Composition:

  • The main focal point / where the viewer’s eyes draw to first is the man in the mid-centre of the image.
  • The rule of thirds has successfully been used. This is evident as the man would be between the 2 bottom points if the image was on a 3 X 3 grid.
  • The man is the main subject in this image as he is lowered centred in the photograph. The heavy machinery and materials are also subjects as they aren’t blurred out so the photographer clearly made the sharp and clear so the viewer has an idea of what the place was.
  • The photographer has purposely used the lighting technique to show the model’s face crystal clear with a sense of intimidation and fear as portrayed by the harsh shadows around his face and photograph in general. In addition, the photographer used the lighting technique to light well the background so other subjects like the trains being built are visible.
  • The main colours used in this photograph are mostly harsh shadows and the vibrant orange train.

Lighting:

  • The light is coming from the windowed rooftop.
  • It consists mostly of natural lighting with harsh shadows surrounding the subject and the surrounding around him.
  • The image is slightly under-exposed giving the impression of power, obscure and intimidation.
  • As the natural light seem quite bright, it may be assumed that this photograph was taken during midday hours.

Techniques the photographer used:

  • The photographer has used a quick shutter speed as movement and detail has been recorded to a crisp sharp focus.
  • It has a large depth of field as the majority of the image is in focus.
  • The author has purposely underexposed the are around the subject to create a sense of obscurity. On the other hand, the author underexposed the background in order to have the objects in focus and well lit.
  • The camera in this picture is shown to be stationary as it isn’t a moving image.

Editing:

  • The image is in digital format and could have been edited to adjust the light to make it more natural so it isn’t too bright but not too dark.

Atmosphere:

  • This photograph makes me feel lowered and intimidated by this businessman as his facial expression and the way he seems to be in control of the factory makes me (the viewer) feel relegated to him in a certain way.
  • The photograph appears to be showing a message of how the Krupp industries were evil in a certain way. I think this because the model has an evil grin on his face and taking into consideration the historical side of Krupp industries people may argue that they enabled/gave what the Nazis needed to kill thousands of people.

Response:

  • I like Arnold’s work as it has a significant meaning behind it and it’s quite personal to Newman having to photograph someone who to a certain extent took part in the killing of many Jews when Arnold himself is a Jew.
  • The image is successful to an extent as Arnold did indeed get revenge as Krupp went to prison after this picture and the meaning behind it were revealed.
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Image analysis INTERPRETATION

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The Reel Foto: Arnold Newman: The Environment Is The Portrait | Environmental portraits, Still life images, Portrait
Alfred Krupp portrait by Arnold Newman

Arnold Newman was an american photographer mainly known for his environmental portraits. The photo above is very unusual, This is due to the way in which he is the main focus point of the photograph as well as his eyes are looking up at the photographer making him feel intimidated by the view point of the photographer. Furthermore we don’t seem to pay as much detail to the background as its the non-focus however it looks like this photograph was taken in a train station of some sort which adds details to the overall mood.

Additionally I also feel that the way the lighting comes from above adds extra detail and contrast to the photo as the lighting adds harshness creating more tones. Overall this photo may make the viewer feel very sympathetic towards Alfred Krupp as he looks concerned due to the way he is looking up. secondly the mood of the photo is very unpleasant as the dark tones have a drastic effect on the mood overall.