For my environmental portraits, I decided to photograph;
in a field
in my kitchen
in my brothers room
in my friends room
in my nans garage
in my nans living room
in my nans kitchen
Who I am photographing
I decided to take photos of;
my friend, I decided to take photos of her in her room as that’s where she spends most of her time.
my mum, i took pictures of her in my nans kitchen making tea as that’s normal for her.
my brother, I took pictures of him playing his play station as that’s all he does, and took pictures of him making food as hes old enough to look after himself.
my nan, I took pictures of her reading as its what she loves to do most.
Oil distributer, i took pictures of him as he came to fix my nans oil.
When am I conducting the shoot.
I carried out this shoot over October half term around jersey. This was best as I had lots of free time.
lighting is the meaning where the light source can be natural or artificial in relation to the position of your subject.
Why do we use studio lighting?
It allows photographers to enable a significant number of photographs and ensure complete light solidity in colour, exposure, and image quality.
What is the difference between 1-2-3 point lighting and whatdoes each technique provide / solve
If there is only one light available then this will become what is called a key light. This is the priority and the most important light in the setup because it illuminates the subject within the shot.
It’s usually the strongest light that has the most influence on the overall look of the scene. It is usually placed to one side of the camera or subject so that the side is well lit and the other side has some shadow
If there is two lights in the kit then the second light after setting up the key light will be the fill light in your set up.
This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is often used to fill the shadows created by the key light to illuminate the subject. The fill will generally be softer and less bright than the key.
The third light in the kit after setting up the key and fill will become the what is called a back light or can also be known as the rim,shoulder light, or hair.
The back light is normally placed behind the subject and lights the subject from the rear.
The back light is the light that makes the shot taken ‘pop’. it provides definition and fine highlights around the subjects outlines rather than providing direct lighting like the fill and key.
What is fill lighting?
If there is two lights present then the second light after setting up the key light will be what is called a fill light.
This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the so called ‘key light’. The fill is usually softer and less brighter than the key.
Compare and contrast your work to your artist referenceandEvaluation and Critique
As seen from my previous blogs, the one artist that I explored was Vanessa Winship who is the artist I want to compare her work with mine and who’s work that inspired me to produce my own type of work from her work.
Her work is raw. It’s close up, showing the flaws and beauties of a being. Her concept made me inspired so I decided that I wanted to show that rawness in my pictures like she did. Some of her pictures aren’t as close up which I admired because of how she was able to capture the background whilst capturing her subject as a whole.
In colour wise, my picture imitate her’s. I edited my pictures so that they were black and white just like most of her work. I think that the fact that her work is in black and white creates this dramatic effect. However her work has tendencies of showing what the real life looks like, my work wasn’t based off that. In my work i wanted to somehow show that reflection of the past. By using a subject who is a child, i was able to reflect that child figure that people have within them without realising. Showing a child in a park really reflects how things have changed and how missing being a child who went to the park constantly with no worries in the world is very real.
Photographing a subject in a hair salon was with intention of showing an appreciation towards people who work in a salon/hairdressers. I believe that Vanessas Winship’s work shows this sense of under appreciation towards human beings and how unique every single one of them are. As someone who’s mum is a hairdresser, it’s frustrating seeing how under appreciated hairdressers are. How hard working they are and how they aren’t just hairdressers, they are friends and someone who listens to their clients. They give their all and all they get are unrealistic expectation’s. Photographing a hairdresser proudly representing her work shows how genuinely unique and hardworking hairdressers are. I wanted bring awareness to peoples work, especially hairdressers.
Furthermore, I think my work really shows the inspiration that I had from Winship’s work through the use of the subject and the environment they are surrounded by just like Vanessa did. Winship shows the environment that the subject is surrounded by but doesn’t make the environment the main sight. In all her work it is evident that she wanted the subject to be the main attraction and that’s what I did with my work. As seen in my three photos at the start of the blog, the environment surrounding the subject is evident but the main ‘deal’ is the subject. I really liked how Winship did that and I think that I will use that in future projects.
When it comes to my work in general, I think that I did good, of course it can have some improvements but overall my final outcomes were good. One success I had with my final outcomes was how evident the environment related to the subject. For an example, the first picture above where the child is on the slide, I think that it is very clear where the child is and what they are doing. I think that it perfectly represents a child. She is smiling like a child would be in a park and although it isn’t as formal as environmental pictures should be I think that the fact that she’s smiling shows how real the picture is.
Another strength I had with my final outcomes was how still the pictures were. In the three picture above, none of them have blurred parts from movement which is exactly what environmental picture should be like. They shouldn’t show any type of movement. So when it comes to cancelling any type of movement in my pictures, I think I managed to do that.
However a weakness I had within my final outcomes was how in one or two pictures, I felt like the pictures weren’t as focused as they should be. This isn’t good as it doesn’t show this sense of professionality that it should show. This could have been improved by changing the focal lens so that the picture would come out more clear or coming closer to the subject.
The idea for the photoshoot was to take inspired photographs of a subject in their natural environment and/or a place of work they are associated with. Places I looked at for possible locations were general high streets shops, markets, and a less packed place, the beach. Other places could include e.g. butchery, hospitals, governmental areas, banks, etc. Lightning that will be needed with generally need to be daylight as most of the photographs have direct light coming through in the place of work and lightening on the ceiling of the environment.
In terms of what the subject in the environmental portrait would wear would be whatever the place of work wardrobe would dress. I look at differentiation for example one individual would wear all black with a name tag whereas another could wear a pale-like apron with a white chef hat.
The inspiration behind myself taking a photoshoot on environmental portraits is looking at other artists and photographers taking similar themed ideologies such as Arnold Newman, Jimmy Nelson (portraiture of tribal & indigenous people), and Paul Strand.
For the shoot, I want to try and capture people feeling happy and positive in their place of environment/work. I feel like it’ll give the photographs a positive perspective and outcome therefore I believe it’s important to think about this idea of the theme of moods.
The environment added to the narrative of the subjects by presenting what type of atmosphere they spend their time in and how they live daily life. The portrait is of people, strangers, family and friends. I believe that photographing strangers can be even more beautiful and interesting to add as there is this element of discomfort and life to bear finding out about one life and how they spend the majority of their life in a certain place important to them and how they progress.
Above I have displayed the rest of my contact sheet of my own response to environmental portraiture. I believe the photoshoots overall went well, my response to taking photographs of individuals in their area/environment turned out well and I believe that my photographs present it well as there are some individuals having tools and the wardrobe of a worker in that particular work field e.g. cleaner, cheese maker, cashier etc.
I have edited some of my best photography photos out of the contact sheet and they are displayed below.
Presented below are edited photographs without image diagnosis:
Arnold Newman was an American photographer widely known for his “environmental portraiture”. Arnold’s journey began his photography career in 1938 “working at chain portrait studios in Philadelphia, Baltimore and West Palm Beach” (https://arnoldnewman.com/biography.html). Afterwards he immediately “began working in abstract and documentary photography on his own”. With his way of environmental portraiture later on, he placed his sitter representatives of their professions. In his photographic work, he was partially influenced by Flemish Painters. He had mentioned as well that the work of the Cubists, including Picasso had influenced the way that he structured a photograph. Newman was known to use a range of lighting techniques to create “the desired mood” and atmosphere in his portraiture. Arnold’s skills played a part in his use of natural light as well as studio lighting setups. They helped him balance between “the subject and their environment”. In his photographic work, he used a 35mm SLR camera where “additional freedom” was an advantage.
What sparked my interest was when I saw that Arnold was not only a photographer but an author as well, publishing many books throughout the decades. His work has been recognised and profiled in international and domestic magazines. He grabbed the attention of well-known commercial & advertising clients such as Ford, Canon, Eastman Kodak and Polaroid etc.
Emotional Aspect-
Intimidated
A quite a dark atmosphere/ same as the subject
Quite firm and threatening
Alarming and questionable
Feeling uneasy
Visual Aspect-
Can see a late 50 middle-aged/60-year-old white male at the bottom centre of the photograph with his hands locked together in a fist resting underneath his chin.
The middle-aged man may be working in an abandoned and dark factory, maybe a railway/train production factory centre/ place of work.
Technical Aspect-
The lighting may be centred specifically so that the eyelids and central facial features are darkened making the subject of the photograph look a bit sinister and uncomfortable to look at as he is looking directly at the audience therefore making us want to look away.
Conceptual Aspect-
The concept of the photo portrait is that Arnold takes a photograph of a convicted Nazi criminal, who supplied the German government with materials (being a personal supplier). At first, he refused but “eventually, decided to take the assignment as a form of personal revenge” (Newman being a Jewish Photographer) https://aboutphotography.blog/blog/story-of-alfred-krupps-portrait-by-arnold-newman
Contextual Aspect-
“The Jewish American photographer saw the convicted (and later pardoned) war criminal as the devil and wanted to put a knife in his back.”
Arnold “did the iconographic image of Marilyn Monroe, which is a signed photo (used for the Louisiana MoMA poster, signed, too), while the images of Carl Sandburg and Marilyn Monroe are vintage prints”. These photographs were made for an exhibition created by Peri Alcaide. Peri was very active in the film industry from the 1950s. She was a member of the Screen Actors Guild and worked to raise awareness of art and photographic memorabilia from Hollywood. In the late 1960s/ early 1970s, she created the exhibition of Marilyn Monroe.
The photograph of the two, taken in Carl’s home in Flat Rock North Carolina, presents Marylin Monroe having her head tilted to the lift and sitting on a couch, she faces Carl (famed novelist and poet). It is where Marylin gathered “information for a magazine article she was writing about the poet “. Looking from an emotional perspective at the photograph the chemistry between the two recognised individuals can be presented clearly as they both share an intimate glance. Arnold Newman shows the contrast between Marylin’s famous sultry and glamorous public persona and Carl’s more serious and intellectual image and how that is softened and differentiated in the photograph. Newman creates that emotional response by putting two individuals with different outlooks and backgrounds into one showing vulnerability and presenting both individuals underneath one theme, being on the same level (can be status-wise).
Looking for a visual perspective, I can see two recognisable people looking directly at each other with a clear glass (potentially a martini) in both their hands. It is hard to consider what lighting is reflected onto both of the subjects but the light features of the individuals are highlighted lightly potentially showing the natural light peeking through. The textures of the photograph are clear to understand and look at, it’s quite soft.
Carl is wearing a fur coat, presenting the difference in textures of clothing to Marylin, where she is clothed in a smooth fabric status higher/ above than Carl potentially presenting her popularity level at the time when the photograph was taken. The type of backdrop that I can see somewhat resembles a living room, a place of comfort as the two subjects appear to be sitting in the centre of the photograph with paintings presented on the walls and a teapot behind on a table.
The technical aspect of the photograph was that the focus was on both subjects as they are the centre and focus of attention for the viewer. If you were to take the rule of thirds into perspective, the viewer can recognise that the photographer intentionally placed the subject in the middle and centre column.
In the photograph, taken in 1956, Pablo Picasso is captured through the lens, he is seated on a chair in a large room filled with both finished and unfinished artworks. Picasso is dressed in casual attire (he appears to have wearing his house slippers). Arnold Newman catches him in his “natural environment”. The photograph is looked back on as a memorable image that has become ” an iconic representation of his artwork and his legacy”.
Looking at the photograph from an emotional perspective, the photograph makes me feel a bit intimidated and interested as the subject in the centre seems to be dominating as they are seated in a somewhat relaxed and focused position. The photographer created this emotional response to show how much control and status the subject has over the room and everything in it. The fact that the paintings, whether finished or not, are behind him presents the clear division and backstory of the subject himself, his skills and character can be translated onto his work therefore it is presented in opposition to the subject in the centre.
Looking at the photograph from a visual perspective, I can see the photograph in a black-and-white colour scheme. I can see an individual with arms crossed and hunched over a bit forward not looking directly but looking to the left on the photograph, this can mean the viewer feels more calm and less intimidated to look at the subject as they aren’t making eye-to-eye contact.
Looking at the photograph from a technical perspective, I can see the photograph has natural light appearing from the right of the photograph. Half of the face of Picasso is covered from the shadows, contrasting the features on his face.
Environmental Portraiture is a photographed portrait that captures a subject/s in its natural surroundings instead of in a studio or other artificial background setup. These ‘environmental portraits’ can be used to tell a story behind an individual’s place of work, personal history, and daily life especially someone’s connection to a certain place and being able to tell a story through the art of taking a photograph. Environmental Portraiture may reveal about a person their work conditions/ how their environment may impact their daily life (if they look upset/ way they are positioned and the individuals status may present how they feel)
What is a typology in photography?
Typology in photography is a single photograph or more commonly a body of photographic work that has a high level of consistency. Usually found within the subjects, environment and direction of the subject.
Typology can link to Environmental Portraiture as both topics discuss different aspects of change/ nature. Environmental Portraiture shows a collection of numerous characters and careers and contrasts between them, as well as typology presenting changes and contrast in a collage of multiple photographs.
I selected my top 3 photographs presented on the virtual gallery above. I added a layer style –> stoke and layered the outside area of the photograph similarly to a frame.
On this specific website called “artsteps” I experimented with putting up my favorite photographs up on the 3D wall presenting them how I would if it were a real art gallery.
These are the photos I am going to edit for Environmental Portraits because I believe that they are the best photos to show natural environment, especially in a school that provides a wide variety of opportunities for students.
Editing ( photo 1 ) –
For this photo, I want to show the reality of work for students, the rawness of students learning and growing, through my photo. I am going to raise the clarity on this photo to make it more clear to show details and smaller aspects the viewer might have missed. Still focusing on highlights, I am going to experiment with the shadows that could be brought into this photo.
The edits for this photo went really well. I was able to bring the saturation and vibrancy back into the photo while still keeping the shadows and contrast high enough. The realism is also prominent in the photo as you can see the details and small increments you may have missed before.
If I was to do anything different, I would have controlled the shadows a little bit more so that the photo did not have such a dark area to it around the bottom right corner .
For my last edit I wanted to try out the black and white idea again. I feel like its given the photo an almost vintage feeling to it, which I think fits the photo quite well considering the man is a DJ which reminds me of older generations quite a lot.
If I was to re do this edit, I would change the fact that the colour has no impact on the photo. I personally feel that colour brings a lot to a photo and the lack of it makes the photo look slightly dull.
Editing ( photo 2 ) –
For this photo, I’m leaning towards a 50s vibe for the editing style. I want to enhance the clarity but dampen the colour of the photo to give it some originality from some of my other photos.
In this edit, I decided to change the lighting a little bit, making it a warmer looking light instead of a colder light to give the photo a bit more life. I gave the photo more clarity just to enhance details in the photo and so the the model in the photo was more flattered.
If I were to re do this edit, I would defiantly do something a bit more drastic with the colour, something with increasing the vibrancy significantly to give the photo an original spin.
For all of my pictures i kept the editing the same, i decreased the saturation to -100 because i wanted to transform it into black and white to show the inspiration from the artist Vanessa Winship.
Here is the final outcomes for all my pictures that were edited by decreasing the saturation to -100.
experimentation
whilst editing these pictures i decided to experiment with diverse ways of desaturating the picture into black and white using the develop segment of lightroom.
first experiment:
For this picture I decided that I wanted to decrease the whites (-100) to make the colour in the picture look a lot warmer to produce a more smoother black and white picture, blacks (-32) to make the picture darker and saturation (-100) to take all of the colour off of the picture. I increased the clarity (+30) to make the picture more clear and Dehaze (+100) to amplify colour and contrast where the photo appeared a little ‘washed out’. I liked the way this picture was edited but it was too dark for me.
second experiment:
For this picture I decreased, highlights (-89) to recover lost detail and darken the lighter parts of picture, shadows (-39) to make the picture darker, whites (-61) to make picture look warmer, blacks (-39) to make picture even darker and saturation (-100) to completely take the colour from the picture. I increased texture (+37)to add visual interest and clarity (+47) to make the image much more clearer. This picture was slightly lighter than the picture above but I didn’t like how pixilated the picture continued to be and how blurry it was even after adding clarity and interest.
Third/ last experiment:
For this final picture experiment I decreased highlights (-100) to recover lost details, shadows (-70) to make picture darker, whites (-56) to make picture look warmer, blacks (-26) to make picture darker and saturation (-100) to remove any colour from the picture. This picture turned out too grey. i also didn’t like how dark the persons face became and how little shadows are present in the picture therefore i didn’t like the finish product of this picture.
