Initial ideas:

Environments:

Subject/s: I intend to take photos of my family members.

Environments: Each person will be photographed within an environment that connects to them. E.g:
– Father: will be photographed in his car workshop.
– Mum: will be photographed in her vegetable garden.
– Sister: Will be photographed in her workplace laboratory.
– Cousin: Will be photographed at the rowing club
– Cousin 2: Will be photographed in her band
– Uncle: Will be photographed on his farm

Poses: I intend for the poses to be quite neutral, as if the subject has just paused while in their natural environment.

Gaze: I intend for the subjects to make eye contact with the camera to connect with the viewers more. However, I will also experiment with various different gazes.

Composition: I intend to experiment with various compositions, including central framing and the rule of thirds.

Framing
I will experiment with full body, 1/2 and 3/4 headshots. I will avoid a tighter crop, to ensure that more of the environment is visible.

Orientation:

I intend for most of my portraits to be landscape to show more of the environment.

Aperture.
I will experiment with a small / medium aperture to create a long and medium depth of field. This will allow the background to be recognisable and connect people with the environment more.

August Sander:

August Sander was a German photographer whose work documented the society he lived in. He was one the most-important portrait photographers of the early 20th century.

Short Bio:

The son of a mining carpenter, Sander apprenticed as a miner in 1889. Acquiring his first camera in 1892, he took up photography as a hobby and, after military service, pursued it professionally, working in a series of photographic firms and studios in Germany.

By 1904 he had his own studio in Linz, and, after his army service in World War I, he settled permanently in Cologne, where in the 1920s his circle of friends included photographers and painters dedicated to what was called Neue Sachlichkeit, or New Objectivity.

His Photographs:

After photographing local farmers near Cologne, Sander was inspired to produce a series of portraits of German people from all strata of society. He was committed to ‘telling the truth’. His portraits were usually stark, photographed straight on in natural light, with facts of the sitters’ class and profession alluded to through clothing, gesture, and backdrop. At the Cologne Art Society exhibition in 1927, Sander showed 60 photographs of “Man in the Twentieth Century,” and two years later he published Antlitz der Zeit (Face of Our Time), the first of what was projected to be a series offering a sociological, pictorial survey of the class structure of Germany.

Typologies:

Sanders was one of the first portrait photographer to produce a series of typological studies. ‘The Face of Our Time’ categorised his portraits according to their profession and social class, or ‘types’. As a typology, these photographs prioritized “collecting” rather than stand-alone images. They became a powerful method of revealing a photographic record of the people of his time.

The portraits:

Sanders’ photographs are mostly black-and-white portraits of Germans from various social and economic backgrounds: aristocrats and gypsies, farmers and architects, bohemians and nuns. The portraits often include familiar signifiers (a farmer with his scythe, a pastry cook in a bakery with a large mixing bowl, a painter with his brushes and canvas, musicians with their instruments, and even a “showman” with his accordion and performing bear), but sometimes the visual clues to a subject’s “type” are not so obvious, leaving the title of the work and its placement in one of Sander’s categories to illuminate the subject’s role. The titles Sander assigned to his photographs do not reveal names, and capture one of the project’s many contradictions: Each photograph is a portrait of an individual, and at the same time an image of a type.

“Nothing seemed to me more appropriate than to project an image of our time with absolute fidelity to nature by means of photography,” he once declared.

“Let me speak the truth in all honesty about our age and the people of our age.”

During the war

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, however, Sander was subjected to official disapproval, perhaps because of the natural, almost vulnerable manner in which he showed the people of Germany or perhaps because of the diversity it revealed. The plates for Antlitz der Zeit were seized and destroyed. (One of Sander’s sons, a socialist, was jailed and died in prison.) During this period Sander turned to less-controversial rural landscapes and nature subjects. Late in World War II he returned to his portrait survey, but many of the negatives were destroyed either in bombing raids or, later in 1946, by looters.

Konfirmandin

In the early portraits such as ‘Konfirmandin (Confirmation Candidate)’, Sander portrays pastoral families in their Sunday-best, an insight on how these communities chose to present themselves to the camera.

‘Handlanger (Bricklayer)’.

This photograph belongs to ‘The Skilled Tradesman’, one of seven chapters within his ‘People of the 20th Century’ project. The title and subject of this photograph form an archetype of Sander’s sociological documentation of people from a variety of occupations and social classes. Formally, the portrait’s centrality, flat background and conventional framing demonstrate Sander’s investment in photography as a ‘truth-telling’ device; one which represents reality as it is, without formal experimentation and within the boundaries of the history of photographic portraiture. Sander wrote in his seminal lecture ‘Photography as a Universal Language’ that photography was the medium most able to best reflect the ‘physical path to demonstrable truth and understand physiognomy’.

‘Sekretärin beim Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln (Secretary at West German Radio in Cologne)’,

When Sander developed People of the 20th Century, he included the group ‘The Woman’. Among these subjects is ‘Sekretärin beim Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln (Secretary at West German Radio in Cologne)’, photographed during his work for the German public broadcasting institution ‘Westdeutscher Rudfunk’. The portrait draws comparison to Otto Dix’s ‘Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden’ painted five years earlier. They both depict a new movement of women at work during the time—simultaneously androgynous and feminine, liberated from the domestic sphere. The portraits are important within the rise of the New Objectivity movement in German art—a reaction against the dominant style of expressionism—seeking a more objective and unsentimental portrayal of the human figure.

Image Analysis

Untitled image, from book: The face of our time, published in 1929​

Subject:

​This photo consists of an elderly man using his two walking sticks seen in the foreground. He appears to have paused while walking up the lane in the background. We can tell the man is old by his posture, bent and twisted around stiffly to face the camera, as well as the white facial hair.

The subject of the photo looks as if he has been walking along the road and has paused to face the photographer. The subject is positioned to the right of the frame, facing the centre of the frame and towards the negative space to the left. This draws our attention through the photograph to the building in the background, and gives a sense that this is where the man is walking to. His neutral expression gives a sense that this is a natural pose. As if this is not staged, but a photo of a man in his natural environment. ​

For me, I feel like Sander’s photographical types allow us to connect with the subjects. The eye contact with the camera lures us into the photo, in a neutral and unimposing manner. The subjects seem real, relaxed in their daily routine, and at home in the environment that surrounds them. The photo seems to celebrate everyday types of people, inviting us to get to know the essence of the person in the photo.

The environment:

The house in the background appears to be a traditional Tudor building featuring a façade with white stucco exteriors punctuated with decorative half-timbering or a dark brick-and-stone construction. The traditional building gives a sense that this is a charming and humble environment where the subject lives.

Visual:

This photograph, and all of Sanders’ photographs are black and white. While this is a result of camera limitations of the time, the monotone aesthetic contributes to Sanders’ typographical approach, making each photo appear like it belongs to the same colletion. ​

The monochromatic aesthetic also enhances the tonal values in the photograph. The dark tone of the shrubbery that sits to the right of the photo with the subject, contrasts the lighter  pathway to the left, drawing your eye into the photo and towards the house.​

The unkept and rustic texture of the shrubbery and pathway suggests that this is a rural area.

Leading Lines

The main leading line draws your attention from the bottom right corner of the page, up to the subject and then through to the house. ​

Furthermore, the angle of the walking sticks lead the eye directly to the subject’s face.​

Balance:

The line created by the shrubs in the background and cut through the photo, divide the photo into two halves. The bottom half consists of the pathway, a more empty or negative space, to contrast the weight of the details in the top half of the photo. ​

Composition:

Looking closely it could appear that Sander has used the rule of thirds to construct this image. The subject sits on the intersection of the right third, while the house sits within the top left third. The subject occupies 2 thirds of the photo, making it the primary focus. ​

Angle: ​

The photo is taken from an eye-level direct perspective. This creates a more intimate connection between the subject and the viewer, it gives a very neutral eye.

Technical ​

This photo uses natural lighting, contributing to the genuine nature of the photograph. The balanced exposure is free from formal experimentation.​

The large aperture in this photo creates a shorter depth of field, bringing our attention to the foreground of the photo – the subject.

Context:

This photograph is from Sanders’ book ‘Face of our time’. ​ The book was first published in 1929, with a foreword by German writer Alfred Dublin. On its first publication, it was advertised as follows: “The sixty shots of twentieth-century Germans which the author includes in his Face of Our Time represent only a small selection drawn from August Sander’s major work, which he began in 1910 and which he has spent twenty years producing and adding fresh nuances to. The author has not approached this immense self-imposed task from an academic standpoint, nor with scientific aids, and has received advice neither from racial theorists nor from social researchers. He has approached his task as a photographer from his own immediate observations of human nature and human appearances, of the human environment, and with an infallible instinct for what is genuine and essential.​

Conceptual:

The book is not ‘faces’ of our time, but ‘face’, singular. Suggesting that collectively, these people make one. It could be suggested that Sander’s concept was to unite these people as one collective representation of his time. There is no theory behind the work, just a look at the this period of time, on the face of it. ​

Another analysis layout:

Use the template below to help you analyse photos:

1. Research the photographer

About Arnold Newman:

One of the most important photographers of the 20th century, Arnold Newman is known for his portraits of major cultural figures, such as Pablo Picasso, Aaron Copland, Marilyn Monroe, Donald Judd, and Josef Albers. ​

Newman was credited with popularising environmental portraiture, a style that captures subjects in their surroundings and uses significant details to communicate their profession and personality. ​

Newman’s famous photograph of Igor Stravinsky, for example, is dominated by a grand piano silhouetted against a white wall, with the composer confined to the corner.

 2. Analyse a chosen photo in depth:

Expand on the below bullet points, turn into full paragraphs.

Visual:

• Sitter is the main focal point
• Central
• Framed by concrete pillars – cold – industrial
• Sitter is leaning forward into the photo – with clasped hands and strong eye contact- confident – sinister
• Background is industrial… it looks as though the sitter is in ownership or in charge of the environment
• Leading lines – from the top of the image, lead to the sitter’s portrait
• Balance – Light on the top of the photo, contrasts the dark on the bottom – creating balance
• Contrast- strong contrast…. exaggerates the sinister atmosphere
• The sitter appears raised / elevated above the background – he’s in charge

Technical

• Lighting – Could be artificial – creates strong contrast on the sitter’s face. Making him look more sinister and darkening his gaze
• Aperture – Could be medium aperture – Sharp foreground, slightly softer background. Still able to identify some of the environmental details.
• Shutter speed – could be quite a fast shutter speed as the subject is in focus, with a balanced exposure
• Angle – Eye level with the sitter – feels like we are sitting opposite them. We connect with them more. Maybe we feel more intimidated…. Sitter looks more confrontational.

Contextual

Use the internet to help you unpack more about the subject

• Who is the subject? – Alfred Krupp
• Industrialist who ran war factories manufacturing arms for the Nazi assault on Europe.
• Using slave labour from the internment camps, where the prisoners of war were literarily worked to death.
• The majority of the men and boys who perished were Jewish and Krupp holds a particular place of hatred amongst its people.​
• Arnold Newman was Jewish himself
• Reluctant to take photo but eventually agreed

• When composing the shot, Newman asked Krupp to lean forward slightly, when he did he clasped his fingers together under his chin.
• The light hit the face perfectly and when Newman saw this effect he said ‘That he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck’.
• He took the photo which became one of Newman’s most iconic images.

Concept:

• When Krupp saw the picture he was said to have been furious
• For Newman this was a little bit of revenge.​
• The photo captures Krupp in a sincere and menacing light
• The circulation of the photo brought Krupp out from the shadows and allowed Newman to share his hatred for his man with the world.

​

OBSERVE – SEEK – CHALLENGE

‘Formal Elements’ Photography

Intro: What are the formal elements in photography?

There are several design elements, known as ‘formal elements’, that all photographers should be aware of when thinking about their image compositions. This is what separates good pictures and bad pictures that have been taken of the same subject.

---

Some of the formal elements include (there are others and you don’t have to be limited to this list )

• Line – Are there objects in the photograph that act as lines? Are they straight, curvy, thin, thick? Do the lines create direction in the photograph? Do they outline? Do the lines show movement or energy?
• Shape – Do you see geometric (straight edged) or organic (curvy) shapes?
• Tone –Is there a range of tones from dark to light? Where is the darkest value? Where is the lightest?
• Repetition / pattern: Are there any objects, shapes or lines which repeat and create a pattern?
• Texture -If you could touch the surface of the photograph how would it feel? How do the objects in the picture look like they would feel?
• Space – Is there depth to the photograph or does it seem shallow? What creates this appearance? Are there important negative (empty) spaces in addition to positive (solid) spaces? Is there depth created by spatial illusions i.e. perspective?

---

Your task:

Use a PowerPoint (or similar) to record your summer task. You should include….

1. Research a photographer who will inspire your work….. (see photographers to choose from below)
2. Photography: Take photographs that link to each of the formal elements above. (You will likely end up with more than one formal element in each photo). There are some tips on what you could photograph at the bottom of this PowerPoint.
3. Edit: Edit the images (on your phone, or using your preferred editing software)…. crop and enhance the colour / change to black and white to show you have considered how to achieve the best result. Example photos can be seen below.
4. Present: You can then select how you which to present the images. You should present your final images on your ppt but you may also want to print them out and present them manually. For example, you may wish to present each one in a grid. If you are able to, you may even wish to print the images out and present them in a concertina book.
5. Deadline: Please complete your summer task before you start Hautlieu in September. It can be saved to a USB or email it to yourself so you can log in from school and download the attachment (if emailing to yourself, use a personal email as your school email may not yet be set up).

1. Research: – Choose one photographer to analyse:

Harry Callahan – natural forms

Harry Callahan is able to capture patterns, textures and repetition through his photography. His images have just enough information. He knows just where to place the edges, to leave out unnecessary details, so that we are able to focus on the main idea. He has a fantastic sense of design.

Ernst Haas – water and reflections

Haas pioneered colour photography and is also famous for his images of movement using long shutter speeds. He photographed water throughout his career, fascinated by its ability to reflect light and its dynamic movement. He crops the subject to increase the sense of abstraction. 

Aaron Siskind – natural and urban surfaces

Siskind was interested in surfaces and textures, both from the natural world but also the urban environment. He gets in close to his subjects and fills the frame with detail. There is always a strong sense of design and all over interest for the viewer.

Nick Albertson – repeated forms

These images explore the idea of repetition, rhythm, line, shape, texture and pattern. They are all created with everyday objects which are transformed through careful arrangement and photography. The edge to edge compositions help concentrate our eyes on the formal properties of the objects. Contrast is important. Sometimes we need to consult the title before we’re sure about exactly what we are looking at.

2. Take your Photos linking to the formal elements.

Below are just a few examples of things you can photography for each formal element… but the options are endless!

3. Edit your photos
Here are some examples of student photos:

4. Present your final images

Presentation Ideas:

Please remember that you...

Must have your own SD Card and USB stick

Should buy a camera (DSLR or mirrorless)

Could loan one of our cameras whilst on the course

OBSERVE – SEEK – CHALLENGE