At the start of these my environmental portraiture project I decided to focus on the sport industry. I chose to do this as I know many people who par take in sports and think that that area of photography is very intriguing as it captures a section of their performance. I chose to photography dance and cycling as I think that they contrast together. For my dance images, I used some of my friends who dance and photographed them in their dance studio to add more detail to the image. For cycling, I photographed my brother who rides for a team in Jersey. I decided that photographing him warming up would be the best was to do it as I was able to get him to look straight as the camera to achieve the portrait.
Along with my environmental portraiture projects I also focus on studio lighting. For this project I used my model facing in different directions with different type of lighting to make different images. I chose three types of lighting, chiaroscuro, butterfly and rembrandt. For rembrandt lighting I had my model sit on a stool on a 45 degree angle and I placed my light to her left side to create the triangle effect. For the butterfly lighting I asked my model to sit facing me and placed the light facing downwards almost over her to create the shadows underneath her nose. Lastly, for chiaroscuro lighting I had my model sit at a 45 degree angle again, however, this time I placed the light behind her to add the highlight around her head making her quite hidden.
What went well:
Overall, in these two projects I think that my images turned out well. I like how I tried different edits to see what worked well with my images and chose different colours and ideas with them to make them look the best that they could. I think that my final pieces were the strongest as they allow the viewers to see my images presented with the different backing and framing to make them look finished. I think that my environmental portraits were very bold and the ones that I used in my final pieces were very effective. My window mount of the cyclist in A3 ( as you can see below) was my favourite out of the two as it was very engaging with the contrast in colours which made it eye catching. With my studio lighting portraits I like how they turned out and this that how I mounted and backed them made them work well together. I liked my window mount with the three images as I like how they looked together as each image had elements that were the same and elements that were different. Overall, I think that both my projects turned out well.
Possible improvements:
With in both projects I think that there were things that I could have improved on. For my environmental portraiture images I think that I could have photographed either, some more models for example some of the other cyclists, or another industry like stalls at the market for example. If I had done this I think that it would have made my projects stronger as I would have had a wider range on images to work with rather than my limited selection. This would have also meant that I could have made more final prints with a difference rather than mine which were both sport ones. For my studio lighting portraits, I think that I could have also made some more images with different types of lighting by using coloured gels for example or made some more edits with different ideas. This would have also gave me a wider variety of image to use for my final prints so that I could have made more contrasting images. With the images that I did make. I think that they also could have been improved as they all turned out quite dark (as you can see below) which may have been to do with the studio or the lighting that I use. As a whole I think that my projects could have had improvements however I still think that they turned out well.
For my first final piece I took three of my studio lighting images and printed them out on A5 glossy photo paper. I then took a piece of black card and measured out on the back the centre of the card and well as measured it into thirds as I had three images. I measured my images as well to make sure that the frame would over lap the image slightly so that the viewer could not see any of the white on the edge of the image. I then cut out the frame and used masking take to stick my images on the back facing forwards. Over all I am very happy with how this piece turned out as I think the three images together looks good ad they are all the same with different poses. I also think that they window mount brings the images together well as they are a greyish colour and the frame is black.
For my second final piece I printed out another one of my studio lighting portraits where I used chiaroscuro lighting to create the ring of light around the model. I printed this image on A4 glossy photo paper and then used spray mount to back it onto foam board. I trimmed this using a knife and a rule and I made sure that I left a white boarder around the image so that when I then stuck it on a piece of black card using double sided tape it separated the image from the card as they were both dark. I am pleased with how this piece turned out as I think that backing makes it look very bold and simple.
For my third final piece I used two of my environmental portraits. I decided to leave one in colour and edited one to be black and white so that they contrasted together. I printed them both out on A4 glossy photo paper and then also backed them onto foam board however, this time I trimmed it right up to the edge of the image instead of leaving a white boarder. I did this as I thought that the images were already quite light so they would look better without the white boarder. I think backed them on black card to present them together. I like how this piece turned out as I think that they image both stand out with the bright colours compared to the dark tones from the black and white. I also think that both the models contrast with the sports that they are doing.
For my last final piece I used the same environmental portrait as my previous final piece however, this time I edited the image on photoshop to make the image all black and white and then used the eraser tool to add all of the red in the image back in. I did this as I thought that the red with the black and white would make the image stand out and catch the viewers attention. To make sure that it stood out I printed it on A3 glossy photo paper. I then presented it in a window mount like my first final piece. I used the same process as the first one but this time I only made one cut out in the centre of my piece of card. I then stuck it too the back with masking tape facing forwards. Overall I think that this is my best final piece that I produced. I am very happy with how it turned out and this that the contrasting colour within it makes it very bold and eye catching. I like the simplicity that the piece has as it make it a clear for the viewer to see the detail that it holds.
For my first final print I am going to print out three pictures from my studio portraits shoot, using different lighting techniques, on A5 on glossy photo paper. I am then going to use a piece of black card to make a window mount with the three images. I will take my card and measure out three cut outs, in the centre evenly, which it will cut so that I can stick my image on the back with tape so that the card will frame my images. I am going it use a tilted knife so that there will be a tiny white boarder on each of my images.
For my next final print I am also using one of my studio portrait images which uses chiaroscuro lighting. This time I am going to print it out on A4 glossy photo paper as I think it will look better bigger. With this final piece I am going to stick it onto white foam board and trim it leaving a white boarder. I am going to do this so that my image will be lifted off of the card which I am going to back my lifted image onto. The black card will my the image look finished and make it stand out more.
For my third final print I am going to used two of my environmental portraits. I am going to also print these two on A4 glossy photo paper so they the viewers can clearly see the detail and different tones. I am going to stick these two on foam board as well to lift them. However, when I trim them I am not going to leave any white boarder I am going to cut it right up to the edge of the image. Like my previous final piece, I am going to board them onto a piece of black card so that they are presented together.
For my last final print I am going to use one of the environmental portraits that I used in my third one, however, I have edited this one so that the image is in black and white apart from any red that was in the image, for example on his jacket and his bike. I am going to print this image on A3 glossy photo paper as I think that the image will look best is it is bigger and it will make it stand out more. To present this image I am going to use a window mount like my first final piece. I will take a piece of black card and cut the centre out to make it a frame. I will tape the image onto the back of it facing forwards so that the card has framed my image.
For this shoot I have combined taking images for this shoot and my environmental portraiture shoot. For this shoot I have used two models who are dancers. I have photographed them in different positions which shows the viewer what kind of dancer they are. I think that these images turned out well as they are very clear. I like how the background is very plain so that the viewer is drawn into the model instead. I also think that the background represents Rae’s backgrounds as they are also simple so that the image isn’t too busy. If I were to try and re create her images again I would use different locations as well as make more images which I may try and do to add to this shoot to further develop it.
For this shoot I am going to use my sister and/or one of my friends as the models as I think they will look as similar to the ones in Rae’s images. I am going to use an empty room in my house, an art or dance studio or a stair case/ stairwell using props like a mirror and camera to get them to look like hers. I may also go out to the cliff paths or bunkers to try and re create the two of her images that are outside. Hopefully I will make the images look eerie and simple like her are as I think he images are very effective.
Cahun was a French realist photographer, sculptor and writer. She attended a private school in surrey and then university in Paris. In 1912 she began making self portraits and continued throughout the 1930’s. She lived in Jersey with her partner and step sister for many years, which is why the Jersey heritage trust collection have made the effort to keep and protect her work. She unfortunately was sentenced to death in 1944 for some of her activities during the occupation, yet she managed to survive and until the 1980’s she was forgotten about. Much of her and he partners work was destroyed by by the Nazis who entered their home. Claude died due to ill health in 1954 and her partner then ender her life in 1972. Many found Claude to be a inspirational photographer and felt that her image were very powerful with meaningful messages.
I like the style of her images as I think that they portray a strong message that you don’t necessarily only have characteristic of only femininity or masculinity but you can have some of both. I also like how they are in black and white as I think it gives the images more definition and depth, as well as it defined the details. I am inspired by her to take some images like this myself as I think I could put my own twist on them to make them engaging.
Camera obscura also known as pinhole photography is created by using a dark room which has a hole in one of the sides of the wall, after around half an hour to an hour what ever is on the outside of the box will project through the hole and an image of it will be created and inverted on the opposite wall.
The first written account of the technique was invented by Mo-tuz who was a Chinese philosopher. He noticed that the light travelled through to create a replicate of the original image. However there were many scientists involved in the Camera obscura, Alhazen is said to be the main inventor and he did experiments with candles, figuring out that the light that entered the hole traveled in straight lines and inverted. Many artists used the technique to trace the outlines of buildings or trees for example which made it very important back then as it allowed them to perfect their pieces.
In the image above you can see how they made this technique
Nicephore Niepce & Heliography:
Niepce is known as one of the most important figures in the history and invention of photography, the image below is the oldest image that still exists which was taken on a camera which he took. It is a little hard to tell what the image is, but it is a view of building rooftops in France taken from inside his house in Chalons-sur-Saône. He was a French inventor and in 1807 he and his brother invented the world’s first internal combustion engine. Following this he invented a heliographic image in 1827. This was an old process whereby you produce an image on a metal plate by engraving it. The technique is still used today however less for photography and more for engraving etc. Niepce was a very important part of the invention of photography and is still widely known to the day for his work.
View from the Window at Le Gras by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827this was how the heliograph photos were made
Louis Daguerre & Daguerreotype:
Louis Daguerre was also a big name in the invention of photography. He was a French artist and photographer and like many of the others involved he named his invention after himself calling it the daguerreotype. He invented it in 1839 and it was the process which allowed people to create a highly detailed image on a copper sheet meaning they could preserve the image seen inside a Camera Obscura. To produce a daguerreotype the model has to sit still for around 10-15 minutes so that the image comes out clearly and the model is in focus. This being in mind, it makes it hard to produce portraits in such way, and is better for other types of images.
one of Daguerre’s daguerreotypeexample of a daguerreotype
Henry Fox Talbot & Calotype:
William Henry Fox Talbot was a British photography inventor. It was in 1835 when he discovered how to make and fix images through the action of light and chemistry on paper, and produced the first photographic negative to have survived to this day. This process was a big deal at the time because it allowed photographers to make multiple prints of an image. It was called the calotype and it allowed the time of the of exposure for the camera to be reduced to only one or two minutes. The calotype was able to reproduce image by simple contact printing as opposed to the daguerreotype which colour only replicate image by using a camera. The very first model of the calotype was a sheet of silver chloride coated paper that was exposed to light in a camera obscura, the areas of the paper that were hit by light became darker which yielded a negative image.
Henry Fox Talbot with his inventioncalotype
Robert Cornelius & self-portraiture:
Robert Cornelius was an American photographer and was also a big name in the invention and development of photography. He was who designed the photographic plates for the first portrait image taking in the USA in 1839. He then operated two of the earliest photography studios between 1841 and 1843, and within them he came up with way to reduce the exposure time when photographing. To take them image he set up his mini studio in the back of his families store in Philadelphia. He removed the lens cap of the camera and then sat in the frame for a minute before he covered the lens up again.
Cornelius’s 1839 photograph of himself. The back reads, “The first light picture ever taken”. The Cornelius portrait is the first known photographic portrait taken in America.
Julia Margaret Cameron & Pictorialism:
Julia Margaret Cameron was knows for her soft-focus, close up portraits of famous Victorian men and women. she became interested in the topic in in the late 1850’s and began photographing in the 1860’s after she was gifted a camera as a present in 1863 and after that she created a large body of work capturing the men and women’s characteristics and beauty. She was a very inventive woman and used an old chicken coop that she cleared out as her first studio. Whilst her photography career was short she made around 900 images over the time period of 12 years. Her portraits of famous men in particular have been greatly praised for being extraordinarily powerful.
one of her images
Henry Mullins & Carte-de-Visit:
Henry Mullins moved to Jersey in 1848 when he set up a studio in the Royal Square. He worked with another photographer named Mr Millward for the first year and after that he worked alone in the same original studio for the next twenty six years. He also worked in London in 1860 briefly, but most of his work came from locals in Jersey who would pay him to have their portrait done by him. Mullins’ work was also displayed in the form of Dimond cameos, whereby he took different portraits of the same person looking in different directions and then presented them in the shape of a diamond with each portrait in the shape of an oval. This layout became very popular and is still used to this day.
one of his first images he produced
As you can see in the image on the left Mullins took various images of very famous people. On the right you can see his diamond cameo layout style.
William Collie:
William Collie was a Jersey photographer who used the Fox Talbot calotype. Though he was born in Scotland he was in business in Jersey in 1850 until 1878. He started out at a portrait painter, and that is what he first business over in Jersey was for. He was one of Jersey’s earliest photographers and operated until 1972. He took image before this like an image of a market women, as seen bellow, which still exists to this day that is in a private collection. This image was a part of his genre calotype portraits which were of French and Jersey women in the market. The images were later in the London Great Exhibition in 1851. Collie is one of the less known about photographers even thought he was a big name, he took images before he changed his business into art, however, his photography was very well known.
taken by Collie between 1845-1850one of his market women images
I like how this image turned out as you can slightly see the triangle underneath the models left eye, I also think that it is effective as the opposite side of her face is lit up more. If I were to take more of these images I would change the aperture to make the image brighter and less of a dark background. I also think that because my model is wearing glasses it makes it harder to achieve the triangle below her eye and make it clearly visible. Because of this I am happy that you can slightly see it, however I think that the background also doesn’t help with the triangle.
butterfly lighting
For my butterfly images I used a studio light with the diffuser box on it to spread the light. I placed the light centrally above the model to create the shadows underneath her features. I also too the image head on, sitting directly in front of her. I am happy with how these images turned out as I think that they are very effective with the shadows making her face appear slimmer and add some detail to the image. I prefer the colour of the background on these image compared to the rembrandt lighting as it is softer and make the image less dramatic.
chiaroscuro lightingchiaroscuro lighting
Lastly, I tried to re create Chiaroscuro lighting. To achieve this effect I used a studio light with no attachment on it and placed it behind the model so that when the flash went off it created a little highlight behind her. I like how these images turned out as they are quite eerie and dramatic how you can only see the line around her and the left side of her face slightly. I think this makes the images effective as she is almost hidden.
