There are many different definitions of ‘Deadpan photography’, however the most common one is that a deadpan photography lacks all emotion. Deadpan photography is simply just an emotionless subject within a photo. There is no joy or sorrow, although some view deadpan as an emotion itself. Famous photographers who use this aesthetic seem to be completely detached from the subject that they are photographing. Most commonly, the subject is in the centre of the image, and the photographer is looking at the subject from a straight-on perspective. Deadpan portraits show people in their natural state, typically not showing any sort of emotion. The deadpan photograph simply shows how life is in an honest state as models do not pose, and they are not dressed up for the occasion. The colour of deadpan photographs is commonly de-saturated.

Lewis Baltz

This movement signalled the new approach to landscape photography and demonstrated the influence of conceptualism and minimalism on photography in the 1970s. In this movement a group of photographers including Lewis Baltz documented built and natural landscapes in America and often captured the tension between the natural scenery and the mundane structures of post-war America. Baltz is best known for his monochrome photography of suburban landscapes and industrial parks which brought attention to his commentary of void within the ‘American Dream’. His work focused on searching for beauty within desolation and destruction. Baltz’s images describe the architecture of human landscapes such as offices, factories, and parking lots.

Analysis

In this photo there is an old car which is off-centre which creates an interesting composition which is also enhanced through the way the dark and white wall are contrasted also off centre. The high contrast makes the image appear sharp and the many harsh lines make it look sharp as well as they all tend to be against a lighter background. The image has no emotion as it is taken straight onwards and there is no colour within the photo creating a deadpan effect. The fact the car is old implies that the photo as well is old. I like Waltz’s photography as it all looks neat due to the high contrast of black and white, I also like how there are many harsh shapes and lines in his photographs.

Planning a response

To respond to Lewis Waltz I will take my photos outside of school in the Saint Ouens area. I will use my phone for these photos and I will focus on different buildings such as the splash. I will take these photos during the day to achieve natural lighting and clearer photos. I will then make my photos similar to Waltz’s photographs by editing them to black and white similar to his.

My photoshoot

I took around 70 photographs during my deadpan photography shoot in saint Ouens. I took photographs of the splash building, the white hut, the lifeguard hut and more. I also took a photo of the road straight onwards to explore leading lines in photography.

Best photos:

I have selected the following best photos and I will edit some of them in the style of Lewis Waltz by making them black and white and highly contrasted.

Editing:

Edit 1:

Before making the picture completely black and white I made a few changes to create a better coloured version.

Black and white edits:

I then removed all colour from the photo by decreased the saturation to -100, I kept all other edits the same. By doing this the clouds appear to be much darker and angry giving an effect of the sublime. The building looks emotionless and almost old due to the rust running down the front of it. Due to taking this photo from a straight-on view and the lack of emotion a deadpan effect is created. I like the way the tables are all upside down as it creates an unusual effect and a sense of unknown. I think this is a successful photo as it is similar to the photographers work due to the harsh contrast of light and dark and the angle at which the photo has been taken at.

Best edit:

In this photo there is a lifeguards shack and if is slightly off centred which makes the photo unique. This is my best photo as the clouds look best in this photo as well as the other components such as the architecture. The clouds in this photo almost look as if the weather is storming due to the extreme dark areas which contrast to the light areas making the sky look enraged.

Virtual Gallery:

https://www.artsteps.com/view/662f6e3232b58f6c73e585c7

I chose to place my larger photo in the centre as it fit nicely with the architecture of the gallery. I then placed the smaller ones on each side of it and took a photo at both viewpoints in order to capture the different perspectives. To improve this wall area I will add another photo to the wall on the right as there is quite a lot of empty space.