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.

“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”

Environmental portraits to me are when a person is a main model who stands in the frame of the photograph with a heavy background behind them meaning its busy and many tings can be observed, this helps us to see what the photograph is about and helps us observe the main properties.

Good environmental portraits will tell strong stories of their subjects. Their immediate surroundings will give the viewer insight into where these people are, what they do, and who they are. Locations that help to tell a person’s story could be places where they relax, work, or play: Their home.

ideas of environmental portraits:

• having one main character with many people in the background doing something, For example, a chef is the main person standing in front of the camera and there are servants in the background running around trying to get the food plated up.
• taking photographs of only the face and nothing else meaning the body is cropped out of the photo. This will put a main focus on the face and possibly the background, I could get the model to go to a beach or maybe a field to really show the environmental aspects.
• taking a picture of on person being busy their main focus isn’t on the camera but on the job they are doing. We could get there whole body in the photograph to help see their body language to really understand the point of the photo.
• I could take a picture of someone’s whole body facing me and looking at the camera and then changing the colour to black and white to add a different perspective on the emotions, or whether how old the photo maybe look like it is.

different ideas to consider:

ARTISTS:

• August Sander (1876 – 1964)
• Paul Strand (1890 – 1976)
• Arnold Newman (1918 – 2006)
• Daniel Mordzinski (1960 – )
• Annie Leibovitz (1949 – )
• Mary Ellen Mark (1940 – 2015)

PLACES TO TAKE PICTURES:

this can include jobs or hobbies, cultures, religions and your mood.

Such as:

• Central Market
• Fish Market
• St Helier Shops
• Hair salons/barbers
• Coffee shop
• Farms
• Building Sites
• Harbour

PEOPLE TO TAKE PICTURES OF:

• Barber/Hairdresser
• Dentist/Doctor
• Postman
• Market trader
• Florist
• Tattooist
• Musician
• Barista
• Fishmonger

Alys Tomlinson’s work is very minimalistic and vey detailed, the backgrounds are filled with details and different surroundings which makes the photo stand out a lot more, if I were to compare this artist to jimmy Nelson I would say that nelson made the models more detailed whether it was to do with their culture, they made the background quite plain and simple to add more contrast to the person however Tomlinson made sure to do the opposite of that, she made the model look more simple but added a detailed background whether the model was standing in front of trees, houses or fences. I really like what Tomlinson has done to the photo making it black and white which makes it more modern effect can also effect the mood of the photo some would say they look quite sad as most of them aren’t smiling and are looking the camera with natural look. Another thing that I quite like that Tomlinson has done is that in a few of her photos she has blurred the background so that the focus is on the model and the model only. However the ones where the background isn’t blurred still looks good although there is less in the background, which makes the model instantly pop out.

PHOTO ANALYSIS.

jimmy nelson seems to take photos of very cultural portraits, he shows that he has a true passion for him and the people around him, he is inspiring people to become who they deserve to be the most and who they desire the most. He is showing us what different religion’s or cultures look like by showing us his, his photographs look really old and ancient which could represent that his culture has been round for a very long time and he wants people to know what it was like back in the day. What I really like about his work is that he involves different aged people to help us understand the culture more, we can see that children are involved as well as older people.

“Together we can love, and when we love we thrive. They are our guides, custodians of ancient knowledge. They celebrate life, free in every waking moment. Within your true identity, your heart is open to others”- jimmy Nelson.

I can see that Nelson talks about love and loving together, its almost a safe space around him, he’s protecting and supporting people, its almost a way of saying that everyone is different but in their own unique way, and we are allowed to express ourselves differently. Each photo has different emotions which can change the photos mood completely. For example a sad expression could represent fear or ashamed that feeling different is a bad thing. However having a person look more relaxed shows that they feel safe and comfortable whether its in themselves to their surroundings. Nelson also refers to your heart being open to other which cold suggest that sometimes you need to let people in to have a special bond and connection with someone but also to help express yourself and heal your inner soul. He could also mean different things such as opening your heart is away of expressing who you are and don’t hide yourself from reality. I personally believe that he is trying to say that no matter what, you always have your heart open for people even if you don’t intend to, which can lead to heartbreaks or happiness.

His photographs tend to have a dark background and the models are also wearing darker colours, there isn’t a bright colour is shown. This also changes the mood of the photographs and makes me feel more calm instead of happy and joyed.

Here is my photoshoot part of nostalgia, These photos represent what I wanted to be like when I grow up. When I was younger I’ve always wanted to be older and grow up quickly. These photos represent what I wanted to be when I was younger and what I have become now.

Some of my photos where a bit blurry and the camera didn’t really focus, net time I would like to take my time and really explore the photo and the way the objects are presented. I could also make the lighting different by adding a colder, more bold look. However I do really like how I’ve used a warm tone lighting as the objects really represent the vibe.

overall I think my photoshoot went really well and really helped me understand what nostalgia and still life is. I got a better understanding of each concept which allows me to expand my ideas and thoughts into a planned photoshoot. Throughout my photos I believe that my photos almost look like an advert or a presentation.

This is my best photo as it has reflections and different lighting, I really like how the colours blend together and they represent the fall season with all the darkish but warm tones.

Adding different filters to your photos can make a big difference as it can add contrast and different textures. There are effects that you can control like the sharpness of the photo and the texture. If you make the texture strong then you will get a photo that looks like it has a gradient effect or if you put it quite low then you can make your photo look like a painting.

photoshoots

during my photoshoot I went down to the studio and placed a few items down, I then proceeded to move them around to see what items fitted best. I believe that the lighting on the items do change a lot, for example when adding a warm colours to the photo it can show a precious moment, almost as if it was a memory however when using quite a bright and bold light that can make the photo look a lot more colder and more modern as more technology and lighting was involved.

Some of my photos:

If I were to recreate this I would have liked to take pictures of some of the tapes individually as sometimes putting too many items can complicate the the photo and the idea of still life. I like to keep my photos quite simple and not too abstract, What I really like about my photo’s is that you can see the reflection of the object, this means that the line of reflection is the perpendicular bisector between the preimage and the image.

The reason I chose to take pictures of tape is because they are really basic and simple, they don’t necessarily hold meaning but they are easy to work with. I managed to get tape in different sizes and colours which make the photo look minimalist.

Photo Analysis

Here I was inspired by Walker Evans, as he had taken pictures of tools and made the photos black and white.

Walker Evans was a renowned American photographer known for his black-and-white images documenting the impact of the Great Depression. As an artist, Evans disliked the formal photography like that of Alfred Stieglitz. Instead, he aimed to capture the quotidian beauty and diaristic events of daily life.

Walker Evans photos:

For my photoshoot I decided to use paint brushes as I found them in different colours and sizes. This therefore makes my photos unique and special to me. Most of the artists looked at use more common tools such as hammers and screwdrivers, so I wanted to use something unique and inadequate to really show that I am engaged in this work, and how I can make it more my photoshoot and not just copying.

My Photos:

I really like how this has turned out as there are shadows under my tools, this makes the photo look more realistic and adds a lift to the shape of the tool. This photoshoot was quite easy in the sense that I didn’t have to position the tools in a specific way since I wanted to make the shoot more personal and specific to me .I really like the background colour as it adds a warm tone. These warm colours evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. It makes me feel some sort of comfort and sense of relief while a cold bright tone could make me feel quite upset as they can also trigger feelings of sadness and indifference. Therefore, I really am pleased in the way my photos have turned out.

If I were to do this photoshoot again I would have liked to move the brushes around to try and experiment what they could look like in different positions. This would open up my imagination and help me create a better understanding of why these tools are so eye catching and inspiring. I feel like some of my photos look blurry almost vivid which completely ruins the theme I was going for. Personally my favourite photo would be the middle on as it has a better angle then the rest and really defines the shape and colour of the paint brush.

before the photos were edited:

After the photo were edited:

here I went to the studio and too some photos inspired by walker Evans, I have already taken some similar photoshoots that involved more items, and different objects however I made this photoshoot more personally aimed towards still life photography and Walker Evans. I really like hoe some of my photos turned out however most of them had become very blurry and vivid, making it hard to work with and edit them, while others looked not centred enough or had a piece of the background in the photo. This made it difficult to chose a photo to edit. However I found a few and made sure that they were cropped to the right size.

Photo Analysis:

walker Evans

Walker Evans began to photograph in the late 1920s, making snapshots during a European trip. Upon his return to New York, he published his first images in 1930. During the Great Depression, Evans began to photograph for the Resettlement Administration, later known as the Farm Security Administration (FSA), documenting workers and architecture in the South-eastern states. In 1936 he travelled with the writer James Agee to illustrate an article on tenant farm families for Fortune magazine; the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men came out of this collaboration.

walker Evans was a known photographer for taking pictures of tools and self portraits, his photographs were all black and white, reasoning for this is because Walker said “colour tends to corrupt photography and absolute colour corrupts it absolutely.”, I personally believe that the black and while effect makes the photo look more old old fashioned and more realistic almost as if the photograph is ancient.

Darren Harvey-Regan

Darren Harvey-Regan is a graduate of the Royal College of Art. His work has appeared in exhibitions and publications internationally and is part of the permanent photography collection at the V & A Museum, London.

Melding photograph and sculpture, Darren Harvey-Regan (b.1974, England) works in the liminal space where flat representation ends, and three-dimensional object begins. And with the photographic medium straddling object and representation simultaneously, such a place seems an astute location for Harvey-Regan to examine where the two meet. Perplexing, and at times humorous, his photographs act as the subject of his scrutiny but importantly also as the tool that he uses to carry out his procedure, constantly attempting to free himself from the constraints of photographic representation.

Harvey’s work is very similar to Evans work but Harvey’s has more colour and more life to the photo which makes the photograph stand out so much more. His work doesn’t look identical to Evans ad the warm shades of the background, Harvey also uses very different and strange shaped tools which changes the photos whole point of view.

Walker evans

Darren Harvey-Regan

Biography

The types of subjects he preferred to photograph:

The types of subjects he preferred to photograph. The ways in which he explored the formal elements in his work e.g. form, light, rhythm, line, texture, repetition etc. Renger-Patzsch work is very abstract and mainly focused on similar patterns being repeated.

Neue Sachlichkeit:The New Objectivity was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. 

The ways in which he explored the formal elements in his work e.g. form, light, rhythm, line, texture, repetition etc.

How does Renger-Patzsch’s work fit with the concerns of artists associated with this movement? The types of subjects he preferred to photograph. The ways in which he explored the formal elements in his work e.g. form, light, rhythm, line, texture, repetition etc. His famous book ‘The World is Beautful’

Historical context

There are numerous reasons why some photographers in the 1920s (along with other artists) began to represent the world with “objective, sober eyes”:

• a response to the chaos of the First World War and a rejection of the culture leading up to it
• a rejection of the emotional and spiritual concerns of Expressionism and an interest in the rational and political
• a response to rapid industrialisation in Europe and America
• a response to the particular qualities of the camera and a move away from painterly effects like soft focus

Photo Analysis: