I’m aiming to take at least 2-3 photoshoots exploring the themes of identity, masculinity and femininity, I’d also like to incorporate my ideas and inspiration from the photographers I have researched, Claude Cahun and Tsoku Maela, such as some of their dramatic but elegant poses but I would like to add my own style into them so that I’m not just directly copying the artists.

The theme I really want to focus on is identity, however I would also like to explore both femininity and masculinity. I’d like to do this by using poses, makeup and other items to try and challenge stereotypes and gender role. I would also like to include my own views and opinions of society and identity within my work to make it more personal and something I can relate to even more.

I might include a younger model such as my brother to represent modern society and this generation, I want to do this to convey a message that shows how more accepting this generation is when it comes to identity and stereotypes, however there is still some kind of discrimination among society against the ideas of identity. I also want to show how confusing and complicated identity can be for younger people as they start questioning who and what they actually are.

Photoshoot:

Best photos

Experimentation 1 – Diamond cameo

I have experimented with different colour backgrounds as well as a drop shadow and border around the images.

I have made these images by using the drop box that appears after you double click on one of my selected images;

I used this to adjust the border thickness and colour, as well as adjusting the drop shadows. I then right clicked on my edited photo and pasted the adjustments onto my other images;

Experimentation 2 – Vignette portraits

Other experiments

Evaluation

I have taken various pictures of different angles of my subject like how Henry Mullens did with his portraits.

I’ve experimented with various textured backgrounds for my images to try and add to an old or worn down look, I have also tested different borders around the background and image itself.

I have used warm browns and beige to add more colour and make my images more interesting and not as flat. I have also attempted to combine Vignette portraits with a Diamond cameo format as well as some other formats.

Who was he?

Mullens was an English photographer that moved to Jersey in July 1848 where he set up a studio called the Royal Saloon in what we know as the Royal Square at number 7.

The population in Jersey was around 55,000 and he had managed to produce over 9,000 photographs during his 20 year stay. He photographed a range of different social class people, ranging from bailiffs to ordinary people, he had recorded his photographs in 4 albums which he had organised in a social hierarchy arrangement, he had placed the most important people he had photographed, like a bailiff, at the front of the album and as the album descended there were more people with a lower social class.

He took portraiture photographs and mainly focused on headshots, he did however take some full body shots as well; Mullens had also taken numerous Vignette Portraits.

What did he use or do to create his image?

Mullens had printed his photographs on a carte de visite using a method called albumen print. The size of the carte de visite was  54.0 × 89 mm which was normally placed on card which was 64 × 100 mm, which he then mounted into his albums. He had used this method because it was relatively affordable to keep reproducing and it had become popular among visitors and others who had started trading the cards with each other.

He took different ranges of angles and poses of his subjects, he also used different formats such as a Diamond Cameo.

Definitions

More examples of his work:

Inspiration for own headshot photoshoot

I have decided to incorporate some ideas from Henry Mullens such as taking different angles shots of my subject’s face and body.

I am also going to experiment with the format of my photos by using a diamond cameo just like Mullens did with his portraits. Also I plan on trying to recreate a Vignette portrait on photoshop by feathering the edges of some of my photographs.

Definition: Chiaroscuro lighting is a high-contrast lighting technique that utilises a low-key lighting setup to achieve contrast between the subject and a dark background.

Examples of this lighting:

This lighting is used for balancing high-contrast light and shade to give the appearance of depth, creating an enhanced or more dramatic effect. It illuminates the subjects and emphasizes them.

The photographs taken with this lighting technique are often monochrome. This is because it works well with the high contrast.

It originated in Italy where it started off as an art movement and was developed by Leonardo Davinci, Caravaggio, Vermeer, and Rembrandt during the Renaissance period.

Setup

Light – The way to set up this lighting is by placing a single light source at an angle to the subject.

Own response to this lighting technique

Definition – Butterfly lighting is a lighting technique that uses a key light is placed above and directly centered with a subject’s face.

Examples of this lighting being used:

This lighting is used for taking soft, flattering and glamorous portrait photos. The lighting forms a butterfly-like shape under the subject’s nose which gave it it’s name.

It is also very good to use for portraits because it highlights the subject’s main features such as their cheekbones and nose. This lighting has versatility for almost all types of faces which makes it easy to use on any subject.

It originates back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was widely used by Hollywood glamour photographers in the 1930s and 1940s to capture the beauty of Hollywood stars.

Setup

Light – The way to set up this type of lighting is by using a single light source which goes directly in line with the subject’s face and the camera. Sometimes the shadows can be a bit too deep/dark so you can use a reflector which can be placed below the subject’s face.

Lens – Because this lighting is mainly used for portraiture, you should use a 85mm lens. This focal length will help to compress the features of your subject and make them look more flattering. 

Own response to this type of lighting

Definition – Rembrandt lighting is a standard lighting technique that is used in studio portrait photography and cinematograph. This lighting technique is identified by the triangle that is formed under one eye, (this is known as the Rembrandt Patch).

Some examples of when this lighting is being used:

This lighting is used to create a mysterious or moody portrait, it is mostly used for portraits of subjects that have a more round or full face because it creates a slimming affect, however it can be used on anyone.

By using this type of lighting you instantly create shadows and contrast. The triangle of light, that forms under the eye, also adds more emphasis and helps draw attention.

It originates from when a renowned movie director, Cecil B. Demille coined it in Hollywood in the 20th century.

Setup

The light – You can create this type of lighting by using a single light source and placing it on a 45 degree from your subject and keeping it around 5ft away. The light should also be around 2ft higher than eye level and slightly angled downwards, the lighting needs to hit the side of the subject’s face that is the farthest from the camera.

The lens – When using the camera you should use a 35mm lens if you’d like a wider point of view which will fit more of the subject’s body in the image, and if you’d like to take a portrait and have a nice depth of field you should use a 50mm lens.

Own response to this type of lighting

Analysis of environmental photographer Mary-Ellen Mark‘s work

Marginalized people are people who have been historically disempowered and oppressed by influential and discriminatory groups. These people are usually women, people with disabilities, people of colour, LGBTQ+ folks, Indigenous peoples, people of a lower socio-economic status and many more.

I’d rather pull up things from another culture that are universal that we can all relate to.

– Mary-Ellen Mark

She says that the style of her work is somewhat in between a documentary and portrait photography and prefers to use black-and-white film, “for the immediacy and abstraction of it.” However she did occasionally use colour. Her primary tools that she used to take her photographs were plastic, pinhole, and vintage film cameras as her primary tools.

In the mid or late 1960s, Mark had also taken photographs of several important events and places including Times Square, the women’s liberation movement, and the Vietnam War demonstrations. 

She was inspired by photography and film when she had first looked through a lens, as well as being inspired by two men named  Henri Cartier-Bresson (A French artist and humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography) and Irving Penn (An American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still life). They had inspired her to take photographs of people that she refers to as “infamous”.

Below are examples of Mark’s environmental portraits;

In this photo we can see a family sitting in a car. Their miserable, upsetting expressions can suggest that they aren’t living a nice life and are maybe outcasts or living in poverty.

In this image we can see a young girl in dirty and torn clothing, and other people standing on what seems like a table with also torn clothing, which can suggest that she comes from a poor background. Her pose expresses that she could be feeling uncomfortable or shy or afraid, her eyes can also suggest that she’s uncomfortable because she isn’t looking at the camera directly.

Her surroundings can suggest that she’s living in a poor environment because of the broken table, she could also come from quite a chaotic background too because of the people that are standing on the tables

Interpretation

In these few examples of Mary-Ellen Mark’s work, we can see a variety of marginalized people who have been photographed in their natural environments. Each of these photographs tell a bit about the background of the subjects by using their surroundings, clothing, facial expressions and their poses.

The majority of the subject’s faces have a blank or melancholy expression and in some of the pictures the subjects don’t even look directly into the camera which can suggest that they are ashamed and/or upset by their living conditions as well as how they are being treated by society.

Mark has wisely used a variety of different angles in her photographs, instead of having the camera face straight on, this makes the images have more life and keeping the camera further away from the subjects shows us more background which give us a better image of what the subject’s environment is like.

The use of black and white films further adds to the sad, melancholy mood that we can see on the majority of the subject’s faces as well as their poses. Most of them have a more cowardly or afraid pose which adds to their sadness.

Mind map Plan For Photoshoot

Environmental portraiture is a photograph in which shows a person in their natural environment.

I have written down a few ideas of what type of settings I’d like for my photos, I’ve been inspired by Mary-Ellen Mark’s work so I plan to add elements of her own style in my work such as making some of my images in black and white to make my images more abstract which will make them more interesting.

I also plan to take photos of people in their familiar environments, for example, inside their homes or on a childhood street.

Environmental photographers

Letizia Battaglia was an Italian photographer and photojournalist. Although her photos document a wide spectrum of Sicilian life, she is best known for her work on the Mafia. 

Another example of a photographer that takes environmental photos is Henri Cartier-Bresson. He was a humanist photographer influenced by surrealism. His work had helped establish photojournalism as an art form.

As seen in both of these photographers’ work, environmental portraits are photos that capture people in their everyday lives/environments and almost tells the story of how they live or work by their surroundings and maybe clothing.

We use this genre of photography to try and capture the personality, identity, soul, and emotions of a person by using the background, atmosphere, poses and lighting. They capture a part of a persons life and tells a story about their backgrounds and how they are living their lives.

Evaluation

I have experimented with a range of different layouts in artsteps. I’ve also used a variety of images such as single objects, triptychs and diptychs to make the layout more interesting.

I chose to take pictures of these objects because I was inspired by their unique shapes and textures. I was also inspired by all the different components that are needed to create these objects certain objects especially the hand drill.

I wanted to place the objects in a certain way in which it complemented and combined their shapes together kind of like how Darren Harvey-Regan with his montage of Walker Evans’ photos of tools.

I had intended for the objects to be in black and white because it gives an older look to them and because I was inspired by Walker Evans’ own work; his images were quite old and since he only had access to black and white cameras I chose to make my images in black and white.

I have learnt that lighting is a key element when taking photographs as it can affect the different shadows and tones of the objects, it can also affect the white balance. The types of lighting can also affect the objects, for example, using a warmer toned lighting will cause the objects to have a more warmer look or glow to them.

Single Object

Diptych layout ideas

Triptych layout ideas

Overall I have experimented with the different settings and layouts of my images to make them look more appealing and organised. An example of what I have done is I’ve experimented with a filter which adds texture to the background as seen in the last image.

Photoshop Gallery