At first glance, the photograph appears intimidating, with moody green tones plastered throughout the image and low levels of light within the foreground, implying something potentially sinister or disturbing. The man in the portrait appears to be some sort of powerful businessman, as indicated by his pose and his physical age, which creates a sense of seniority.

The photo seems to have been taken in quite a low-light environment inside an abandoned warehouse of some kind. However, it also can be assumed that Newman used studio lights on both sides of the man to illuminate certain features and portray him as a more menacing villain.

In the image, there is large industrial equipment and machines placed in the background, such as cranes and trains – various other mechanical parts and accessories. It could be assumed that the setting of the photo is a factory for trains, and that the man is the owner or manager. The man is placed in the lower centre of the photo, wearing a suit, with white hair gelled to the back of his head, hunched over, interlacing his fingers and making a direct mode of address with the audience. This suggests that he is a man of business, and combined with the low lighting, implies moral corruption.

This photograph is presented as a protest piece against maybe a corporation/company or even the individual in the photo, as shown in the vilifying of the man within the image using various elements of mise-en-scene. Depending on when it was taken, it could refer to many different things – the environment, wars and conflicts, the economy or inflation.

This photograph was taken in 1963. It portrays German industrialist, Alfred Krupp, as ominous and villainous, his body language suggesting he is scheming or has committed some form of malicious act/plot. This is because Krupp was a large arms manufacturer and industrialist, supplying the German armies with weaponry used particularly during the Second World War, which in turn caused millions of deaths and global suffering.

An environmental portrait is taken within the subject’s usual environment, such as their home or workplace, and typically creates a focus on their life and surroundings.

Environmental portraits can tell stories about the lives of the people they capture, but they also conceal certain details about them. These types of photographs also play a pivotal role in showcasing people throughout different eras since the birth of photography, as they showcase clothing fashion, tools and other technology, and improvements in general quality of life.

My chosen artist to research is Alec Soth, as his style when it comes to environmental portraits tends to have quite natural, flowing light throughout the image and large senses of space.

Environmental portraiture is considered a genre of photography. Environmental Portraits are photographed portraits which capture the subject in their natural environment or environments that they’re associated with. They typically highlight aspects of the subject’s life and surroundings.

These photographs are used to tell a story, more specifically details and information about a person or people’s lives. They may include certain objects which portray this, or this could be communicated through the subject’s clothing, pose, or the environment they’re photographed in.

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITURE?

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS?

It is thought that you will be able to better illuminate their character, and therefore portray the essence of their personality, rather than merely a likeness of their physical features.

WHAT DO THESE PORTRAITS REVEAL/CONCEAL?

Environmental portraits reveal much about a persons lifestyle. They show what work ethic and jobs they have as well as sharing possible hobbies of there’s, but most importantly they show the source of income a person gets. Source of income is what can define you and help you in society it reveals your personal life and you way of living, this is how people make opinions about you. However environmental images can conceal the emotions the person is feeling, in the image they could look powerful and dominant, yet we don’t actually know there true feelings. In a photograph people can create an illusion and create a different personality, they can create a new person; in a photograph you can fake your emotions and make the audience receive a completely different interpretation.

WHERE CAN YOU TAKE ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS?

PLACE OF WORK: where a person works shows an aspect of their personal life, an example can be someone working in a workshop.

HOBBIES: hobbies can show the type of personalities a person have, it gives an audience a view of the type of person they are, what kind of values they hold.

HOSPITALITY: taking an image of someone living place can show a persons income, and type of living, what kind of challenges they have to overcome to live.

Emotional Response

The image ensues a slight fear into the viewer, the way Alfred Krupp is standing with his hands clasped, staring at the camera can be seen as quite malicious, this could’ve been done to show he is a bad person.

Technical – how was the photo taken

Arnold Newman most likely chose to take the image in a darker light to make Alfred Krupp look like a malicious or evil person because of the crimes he committed during WW2. He took the image from above possibly showing how his power has changed – from being in power, being the one who makes the trains to having less power, being in jail.

Visual -what can we see in the image

In the middle of the foreground of the image, there is a white man, who looks to be in his 60s, who has his hands clasped together in a pyramid type shape. Behind him there are lots of different things, there are two pillars, making the image quite symmetrical. There are also objects that are almost like barrels, I’m unsure of what they actually are but they could be train wheels due to Alfred Krupp‘s past and due to the fact that there are trains in the background of the image. There is also a row of lights behind him, making his body quite shadowy.

Conceptual – why was the photo taken / presented

Arnold Newman went around taking images of people who enabled/committed crimes against Jewish people in WW2 as he is a Jewish person himself.

Contextual – who, when, where etc…the story, background, impact

Alfred Krupp (the man in the image) was a German industrialist who built the trains to send the Jewish people to different concentration camps. He also sent tanks and ammunition that he made to the Nazi army. After WW2, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for war crimes. Arnold Newman (the photographer) was a Jewish photographer and after WW2, he went around photographing different people who enabled or even committed crimes against Jewish people.

“An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography“, shortened- a photograph that includes the person and the environment, for example behind them.

An environmental portrait is a photographed portrait that captures subjects in their natural surroundings instead of in a studio or other artificial setup. this means for a good environmental portrait photograph, the persons’ immediate surroundings will give the viewer insight into where these people are, what they do, and who they are, the location usually has a link to the person, these could be Locations that help to tell a person’s story could be places where they relax, work. for example a garage for a mechanic or person that spend their time there, either for passion or work or both.

Above I have created a Mood Board showing a rage of different environmental portraits that interest me. What I have found when analysing the mood board is that I have included both portrait in which a person is facing away from the camera or they are doing their job which links to the environment, and photograph that have a person being in a still position, looking at the camera.

One of the most important photographers, which their work linked to the title of environmental portraits are:

• August Sander (1876 – 1964)

• Paul Strand (1890 – 1976)

• Arnold Newman (1918 – 2006)

• Daniel Mordzinski (1960 – )

• Mary Ellen Mark (1940 – 2015)

who, what, where, when, how, why

who: I will photograph a variety of different people in their environment for example my family and people who work with my mum (showing the different roles they place at her workplace). I will capture my siblings interests by taking photos that include them and their hobbies.

what: All the different people will be in their most common place of work/ environment, causing the photos to portray their life in a single shot. I will get some people to hold an object that they often use/ is important to them to further display their story.

where: I will take some pictures in Romerils (where my mum works) and some pictures at home to have a variety of different environments.

when: I will take the pictures throughout the day so that there is enough natural light to enlighten the people. I will do it on different days to capture both warmer and cooler light in my photos.

how: For the pictures at home, I will play around wit different lighting techniques as well as utilise the natural light from the windows. For the photos taken outside, I will use the natural light to illuminate the person, as well as some artificial light from inside the building.

why: These photos will be a way of portraying each photographed person’s daily life/ interests in a single shot, using the environment around them to accentuate this.

My first idea is to go to my Friends gym in St Lawrence. I am going to take pictures of her doing tricks on the bars and floorwork to create a Varity of images. My plan is to take pictures at a multiple views to capture all angles of her body movements and make sure she is the focal point of the image. since the enviorment is closed off the lighting will most likely be artificial, This is not ideal as I would rather take pictures in natural lighting to shadow her body. My next plan is to take pictures of someone lifting weights. For these sets of images I would like to turn them monochrome to better highlight the structure of his body and the equipment that he is using.

Visual

We can see that the photograph itself has quite a dull and cold tone. From first impressions, attention is drawn to the foreground where the subject himself is. This is due to a number of things; his lack of expression, clothing, pose, and lighting that has been manipulated to make him appear even more intimidating. Then, there is of course the two beams which act as a sort of frame and adds lines of symmetry. The rest of the background is slightly blurred. I think this is a good creative choice as the background appears to be the most colourful part of the photograph, if it weren’t blurred it would take attention away from the subject. Nevertheless, it is still clear that there is quite a lot of straight lines. This creates a sense of uniformity, along with the subject’s pose, which creates the impression of power and control.

Emotional response

Without knowing any context, this photograph is very intimidating on its own. Arnold Newman has posed Alfred Krupp so that his head is resting on his hands. This creates a sense of power. This is also created from the fact he is wearing a suit, an assumed expensive watch, his blank facial expression, and even the factory in the background. We can assume that Alfred is in a position of power due to all these factors. It is clear that Arnold Newman has also carefully considered the lighting, as it creates shadowing to make Krupp appear even more sinister and intimidating.

Technical – how was the photo taken

The subject, Alfred Krupp, is centred in the foreground. This is where the audiences’ line of view lands, which is important as it allows the meaning to be portrayed as Arnold Newman intended. Alfred Krupp is the main subject and so the attention should be on him, the background should not draw away from him but should add to the meaning being created. Arnold Newman has achieved this.

Conceptual – why was the photo taken / presented

In 1963, Arnold Newman was offered commission by Newsweek magazine for taking photographs of German industrialist Alfred Krupp. Newman refused at first due to the individual’s background, however he eventually proceeded with the job.

“My hair stood on end,” Newman later said. It was considered one of the most important photos by the man who became known as the father of the environmental portrait.

Contextual – who, when, where etc…the story, background, impact

The subject is Alfred Krupp, a German industrialist who ensured a continuous supply of tanks, munitions and armaments for the German army. After the war, he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and the forfeiture of all property.

The American photographer, Arnold Newman, was well known for his environmental portraiture. Arnold Newman said in an interview that “It turned out to be one of my best photographs,” and that “It was my impression of a Nazi who managed to survive yet killed millions of people, not all were Jews”. This must’ve been a considerably meaningful photograph to him, considering he grew up in a Jewish family.