Arnold Newman (1918-2006) was an American photographer, remembered for his environmental photography. Newman studied painting and drawing at The University Of Miami. Due to a high costing tuition, Newman had to leave the university and started working at a studio in Philadelphia.

Arnold Newman gained his love for photography through the empathy he felt for artists and their work. Newman is often credited with being the photographer who articulated and who consistently employed the genre of environmental portraiture, “The surroundings had to add to the composition and the understanding of the person. No matter who the subject was, it had to be an interesting photograph. Just to simply do a portrait of a famous person doesn’t mean a thing.”

Newman’s Career in photography was very successful, he photographed icons such as Marlene Dietrich, John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Mickey Mantle, and Audrey Hepburn. Most of his portraits were shot on large format view cameras however, some photographs were captured on a 35mm SLR camera, where the additional freedom is an advantage.

I have chosen to photograph Newman because i love the style of his images, they are minimalistic in black and white, but, paint a whole new picture through, objects, art and expression.

I have also chosen Newman as his photography links closely with the style I am hoping to create within my environmental portraits.