Emotional Response

Straight away this image portrays power and makes the viewer feel inferior and intimidated. The lighting, composition and subject creates an overall evil feel to the image and creates an uncomfortable situation for the audience.

Technical – how was the photo taken?

This photo has been carefully created and composed to present the subject as superior. The lighting is a mixture of natural and artificial. The backlighting is projected from the roof and back wall, which without artificial lighting would make the subject a silhouette. The photographer has strategically lit up the sides of his face to leave the main facial features dark, adding to the evil and intimidating theme. The photographer would have probably used a large aperture to create the short depth of field, focusing on the subject. I would suspect he also used a tripod to make sure the image was sharp, but have used a shorter shutter speed as the large aperture would be letting in more light. I think he would have used an ISO of 100-200 as it is quite a dark image. The temperature of the image its quite cold, although there are warm hues mixed in. The overall image has a green tone.

Visual – what can I see in the image

The photographer has used rule of thirds to create a strong mise-en-scene. He has placed the subject in the centre to be the main focal point. The two pillars on either side create a frame within a frame which gives the image more structure and depth which produces more intensity. The background then follows on, with lines that lead directly behind him to the end. The light is focused in the centre of the image, with a dark vignette to create more focus. All this makes the image more intense. There is a lot of different high detailed texture in the photo, from the wrinkles in the subjects skin to the columns behind him. The texture slowly fades as the depth of field is short.

Conceptual – why was the photo taken / presented and its story/ background?

The photo was taken by Arnold Newman in 1963, when Newsweek magazine wanted to commission him to photograph the German industrialist Alfred Krupp (the subject of the portrait). Newman declined this offer at first because he saw Krupp as the devil due to the fact he was a convicted war criminal (although later pardoned). Newman decided to go ahead with the job and photographed Krupp seated in his factory. Newman stated “My hair stood on end”. This photo was later considered one of the most important photos, and Arnold Newman became known as the father of the environmental portrait.

Environmental Portraiture is a genre in photography and the photos under this genre feature people in their working environments, typically with the person in the foreground facing the camera head on and with elements of their occupation/lifestyle in the background.

Here are some examples:

The purpose of environmental photography is to capture and illuminate each individual’s character and portray the essence of their personality. It is a way of expressing the person from the way they live and what role they play in our society. It is also good that these photos are taken in real places so it has a sense of realness, as opposed to being in a studio where it isn’t in the real world.

The background is a key element and plays an important part in the photos too because it gives even more detail and information about the person. For example, the picture with the woman and the child is seen in, what appears to be, the middle of nowhere with rubbish scattered everywhere, a wasteland. You can see very clearly that the woman is unhappy, not too different to the area around her. It is also implied that these people are in a third world country if you look closely at their clothes, the baby being makeshift-strapped to the woman’s back and the dirt on their bodies. I believe the purpose of this photograph is to show us the different parts of the world and how different other people’s lifestyles are in comparison to ours.

What is environmental portraiture? It is a planned portrait photoshoot that captures subjects in their natural surroundings instead of in a studio or other artificial setup.

Plan:

• My first idea is to photograph a surfer I know at St Ouens Bay. I would take it from a low angle view to portray the subject as powerful and the main focus (like the example). I would probably choose a day with dramatic weather (storm building) or sunset. This is because the lighting would be dramatic and from behind the subject to add to the image.
• My next idea is to photograph a friend at the skate park. I would take a variety of photos, from basic head to toe images to action shots of them skating. For this I would use a fast shutter so the image is sharp whilst they’re moving.
• Other ideas I have are to go to the market and ask shop workers if I can take their portraits, or photograph a family member of mine who owns motorbikes.

How does this image make me feel?

At first look, this image makes me feel intimidated, as the man is looking straight down the camera lens with a dark industrial room behind him. The man in the image also looks quite sinister with how his fingers are interlocked while he is resting his chin on them.

How was this image taken technically?

This photo was taken with a wide view lens, this is shown by the ceiling light and how it starts to get more narrow towards the back of the room, and how there is space either side of the man.

As well as the lights from the ceiling, i believe that there was some artificial lights being used too coming down from the top corners of the image due to both sides of his face being illuminated creating a shadow in the centre of his face around his eyes.

What can I see in the image?

The image seems to be taken in an industrial building, possibly being used to fix trains or store them, as in the background appears to be some stationary trains. Furthermore, there are think rows of sky lights allowing in natural light into the building with what seems to be wheel like cogs behind the subject of the photo.

The subject of the photo is directly looking into the camera while clasping his fingers together underneath his chin creating a pyramid shape with his hands which could imply strength as it typically is a strong structure.

Why was the photo taken?

I believe that the photo was taken to show how the subject of the photo is powerful and it shows his dominance. Someone could also perceive this image as its intensions to prove and show people how the man is evil.

What is the story behind this image?

Alfred Krupp, the man in the photo was a German industrialist figure and was convicted and later pardoned war criminal. his family were responsible for using 100,000 Jewish people from concentration camps for slave labour. Despite his dislike for Jewish people, he was fascinated by the photography work of Arnold Newman who was Jewish, and decided to hire him to take photos of him. However, Arnold decided to make him look sinister and evil as a type of revenge.

Environmental Portraits are photographers portraits of peoples natural surroundings whilst including the person in the image, instead of being in a studio or with artificial areas.

For me personally I could go out and take images of people in their natural working condition / their natural habitat you could say. I know some people who I personally know and who would be willing to have their picture taken in their working condition. Not only that but even talking to people I know, and asking their favourite activity or hobby etc.

Why do We use These Types of Images?

They seem to show a lot about the person being imaged, and their specific skill they might be “mastered in”. Not only that, but these images show a type of section in life. For example the latest image shown above, it shows a labour worker, who works with metal and possibly electrics, so that links to his personal life but also to everyone else who works in electrics/metals.