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

Here I went round my school to take some photos of Environmental portraits, I made the photos black and white to recreate Alys Tomlinson photos she had created herself, having photos in black and white really changes the perspective of the photo as it could change the tone and mood of each photo, normally when I see a black and white photo I feel quite low and down however it could suggest that the photograph is modern, or even old as they didn’t have coloured photos back in the day, these little details change so much about the photograph and makes the viewer want to explore so much more about what this photo could actually mean, and what it represents.

Here I went round school and took photos of students and teachers to get a perspective of what they do during the day and to get a different environment behind each model. I chose to take pictures around my school as there are any different people inside of a school, For example I could take pictures of the canteen staff as they would be in a kitchen and wearing different clothes. However taking pictures of students would be slightly different as half of the students are wearing their own clothes which makes it slightly difficult to identify that they are students but we do know that they are young people. I also went to the science lab and took pictures of some of the technicians around the science rooms to show the chemicals and the different equipment they use. This helped me to identify that different people go to different surroundings each day to do different things they may enjoy or not. The pictures that i took of the students were mainly of them walking around school or sat down however if I were to recreate this I would have a student sat at a desk with a text book in front of them to really show that the are studying and engaging in school although students don’t just study at school we also explore friendships and many different things.

This is my final outcome I haven’t included any photos from my original shoot as I wanted a small selection of the best few shots which happened to be three photos from the second shoot. I chose to contrast the dark and blue tones of the photos with brown wooden frames to also make sure the photos don’t feel too flat on the wall. I placed the two landscape shots next to each other and the portrait one on a wall by itself as the photo is busier with it being a closer cropped shot I didn’t want it to take attention away from the landscape shots.

Comparison to August Sanders Work

These two images in particular and interesting to compare, as they are very ear appropriate with Sander’s work featuring old fashioned bicycles in full suits and my photo which is a motorbike and motorbike jacket and boots. A large part of Sander’s style is having the model have a blank facial expression, which similarly I have asked the model to do in my photo. I also used the same framing ideas while I only had one model which is more common in environmental portraits but I kept to using the rule of thirds and keeping the subject in the middle ground in the depth of field. Something unusual for portrait work is keeping the background in full focus around the subject however due to the style it is very common to and like Sander’s work I kept a slightly cropped out background look to focus in on the subject. Unlike Sanders work I chose to keep my shots in colour as while it was a choice Sander made as colour cameras were common at the time I felt it would take away from the image unless it was a high contrast version but even then I would rather use the colours in the photo to my advantage and help tell the story in the photo and help describe the subject.

Final Image Analysis

This is my favourite image of this project. It’s a particularly strong image compositionally. For example I place the model under the point of the arch as when looking at the photo the first thing that draws your attention is the motorbike and then the castle ruins, by placing the model in the middle of the two I have not only used the rule of thirds to my advantage I have also put the model in natural eyeline when looking between the two major parts of the image. Continuing from this I have used the rocks on the right of the frame to add depth to the image, however by having the rocks out of focus it removes any of the rough texture that could distract from the subject. I chose to use this location because it is very representative of the models hobbies and due to the nature of it and the props used (his motorbike) it is obvious to the viewer what the models interests are and it’s not too complicated to work out some context to the image and learn about the person which is the intention of environmental portraits. By lightening the granite I have pulled out the grey and pink tones, typical in Jersey granite, without making the texture too smooth for the rough rock. To contrast this I darkened the black plastics and jacket to make the subject stand out against the blue sky background framed by the granite.

Inspiration –

For my Environmental Portraits my main inspiration were on the Photographers: August Sander and Alec Soth.

Comparison –

Inspired by Sanders use of full body shots I aimed for that effect in some of my photos.

Sander can also be seen to use a low F-stop on his camera, this creates a blurred back ground effect, highlighting the features of the subject. In the photos of my dad, I aimed to try and mimic that.

Seeing how Alec Soth had his subjects hold props in some photos I tried to replicate that when me and my friends played airsoft.

With the one of the key features of this project being to capture a story within a photo, I looked at some of Karen Knorr’s photographs where she had taken photos of someone in a military uniform.

Seeing how I am apart of the Air Cadets and my dad had a career In the army I had my own attempt at her genre.

Evaluation –

To improve my photos I will play around with the settings some more to create other desired outcomes in my photos. I believe I could improve on how I manage the exposure as some of my photos came out either to dark or too bright, which wasn’t what I wanted.

Overall, I think I created some good final outcomes that can be seen to fit the Genre of Environmental Portraits.

Out of all my photos these are my best edited.

Photo shoot 1:

Photoshoot 2:

Photoshoot 3:

Photoshoot 4:

Photoshoot 5:

Photoshoot 6:

Photoshoot 7:

For this photoshoot, we went around the school to experiment in taking our environmental portraits because the background effect of education and learning significantly added the effect to make it a successful environmental portrait. We tried to get each adult or teacher to make eye interaction with the camera to make it fit in the theme of environmental portraits. This gave us the opportunity to investigate how to make the subject the main focus in the image however the background is definitely a large factor to add to the image, either way one without the other would not make a successful environmental portrait. Overall this photoshoot deepened my understanding of environmental portraits and how props and backgrounds can deepen and add more value to the image itself. My favourite photoshoot is probably photoshoot 2 and the last 2 images of photoshoot 5 as the background is emphasizing and overpowering the main subject as the photo is in full frame meaning the effect of the props are significant. My least favourite is photoshoot 7 as they isn’t really a good background to make the image full, there isn’t much eye catching features apart from him as the main subject. However, if I look at the photo on another aspect that may possibly be the aim. Another least favourite are the last few photos of photoshoot 3 as they are slightly out of focused and also saturated and made him look shiny. Although, a way to reduce this is editing in light room which may change my opinion on this photoshoot.

• who you are photographing

1. Sandwich shop workers
2. receptionist
3. hairdresser
4. a child in the park

• what/why you are photographing

1. Sandwich shop worker: I want to reveal how important their job is, they provide people with food without the buyer having to make a mess making the food. They allow people to have something they can grab and go. I want to reveal their hardworking.
2. Receptionist: receptionist are constantly busy and deal with different kinds of customers, rude, kind, ignorant etc. They are under appreciated and need more acknowledging. I want to appreciate and acknowledge their hard work.
3. Hairdresser: hairdressers endure a lot. They have to be hairdressers, therapist and basically a best friend to their customers. As someone who has worked and still works in a hairdresser, watching my boss have to deal with so much is exhausting. They change life’s. They make people feel good in their won skin through the use of hair.
4. A child in the park: I want to photograph a child in a park because it shows the true nature of a child. Seeing a child enjoy themselves in a park is kind of rare nowadays as lots of kids just want to stay home with their phones. I wanted to show what being a kid should truly be. Being a child means that you should enjoy the little things, not being aware of the bad in the world and having this innocent vision. I wanted to portray the true happiness of a child when they are in a park.

• when you are conducting the shoot

I plan to take these environmental portraits all in one day to get it out of the way. I will do it in a day where it isn’t rainy but isn’t too sunny. The day must be dry not humid s it doesn’t make the photo look weird. I will do it in a Saturday because its a day where people are still working and I’m off school

• where you are working/ location

1. sandwich shop workers: I will take the picture in the sandwich shop with two workers.
2. receptionist: the receptionist is also a hairdresser so will be taking the picture in a hairdresser where the reception is located.
3. hairdresser: I will take the picture in a hairdresser where the photo of the receptionist will be taken.
4. a child: the child will be taken photos of in a park.

• how you are going to produce the images (lighting / equipment etc)

1. camera
2. natural lighting and artificial lighting from inside the buildings
3. a whole park
4. Ipad for the receptionist
5. hairdryer
6. sandwich bar
7. adjusting aperture, shutter speed and ISO depending on how lit up the room is and basically changing all the above depending on the environment.

Contact sheets:

Photoshoot 1:

Photoshoot 2:

Photoshoot 3:

Photoshoot 4:

Photoshoot 5:

Photoshoot 6:

Photoshoot 7:

For this photoshoot, we went around the school to experiment in taking our environmental portraits because the background effect of education and learning significantly added the effect to make it a successful environmental portrait. We tried to get each adult or teacher to make eye contact with the camera to make it fit the theme of an environmental portrait.

Photoshoot 1:

Photoshoot 2:

Photoshoot 3:

Photoshoot 4:

Photoshoot 5:

Photoshoot 6:

Photoshoot 7:

About the photoshoot:

For this photoshoot, we were in small groups and went around the school to experiment in taking our own environmental portraits. This is useful because the background effect of education and learning significantly added the effect to make it a successful environmental portrait. This gave us the opportunity to investigate how to make the subject the main focus in the images, and how much of the environment to include. We mainly visited teachers, as the use of their desks or other key backgrounds added to the effect.

My favourite photoshoot I completed was photoshoot 2. This is because we managed to capture the canteen lady from different angles, where she is doing different things. this created a successful set of images because it gives the viewer an insight o n the specific duties canteen workers need to do in order to carry out a successful canteen for schools. I like how she is interacting with the camera in different ways, such as pretending to advertise, rather than just smiling. However, I did make a few mistakes when carrying out these photoshoots. Such as not getting enough of the background in compared to the model. This was a drawback because it means we cannot get a clear understanding of the profession if we cannot see it. Another mistake I made when taking these photos is not focusing the camera, leading to some images being clearly more blurred than others. This looks unprofessional as it seems I was in a rush, subtracting effect from the image. The final big mistake I made was not adjusting the aperture and shutter speed. This was another reason for some of my images being blurry, and also it meant the lighting was affected.

Overall these photoshoots deepened my understanding of environmental portraits and how we feel closer to the subject by seeing their background.

Sian Davey’s photography explores the psychological, social and political surroundings of herself and the people around her. Davey was born in Brighton in 1964. She studied Fine Art painting at Bath Academy of Fine Art in 1985. She was a psychotherapist for fifteen years before becoming a photographer, and her training in psychotherapy fundamentally informs and inspires her work, which often feels intimate and features themes of depression and grief.

Many of Sian Davey’s photographs are environmental portraits, which tell a story about the subject’s life and usual location. For example, in her project ‘Martha’ she has photographed her step-daughter in various locations, either by herself or in groups of her friends.

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Image Analysis

This is a digital photo by the photographer Sian Davey. There are 5 subjects in this photograph. The focal point is the person sitting on the bed in the foreground, and the composition follows the rule of thirds. In this image, the lighting appears to be natural daylight, creeping in from the window in the background. Some parts of the photo are overexposed, for example, the subject closest to the window, whilst some are underexposed. The depth of field is shallow, as the background and midground is blurred. The shutter speed appears to be fast at around 1/250, the image is a bit grainy, so I believe the ISO is around 1600.

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This is a digital photo by the photographer Sian Davey. The focal point is the 1 subject in this photograph, who is holding a newspaper and is sitting on a moving vehicle. This composition follows the rule of thirds. In this image, the light source appears to be strong and heavily contrasting natural daylight from the window on the left of the photograph. The depth of field is shallow, as the background and midground is blurred. To represent the movement of the vehicle the subject is sitting in, there is a horizontal motion blur, obstructing the details in shadowed areas even further. Because of this, I believe the shutter speed is slower and around 1/30, and the ISO is around 100.