August Sander biography:

Sander has been described as “the most important German portrait photographer of the early twentieth century”. His work includes landscape, nature, architecture, and street photography. however, he is best known for his portraits and his series ‘People of the 20th Century.’

The environmental factor of August Sander’s portrait meant that the subjects in his photos would always be surrounded by the environmental they work in, in the background of the full-body shot, so their occupation was clear to the viewers.

His photographs:

After photographing local farmers near Cologne, he was inspired to produce a series of portraits of German people of different lives. He was committed to ‘telling the truth’. His portraits were usually 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 ‘Face of Our Time’.

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 to help the audience know who they were , 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. Each photograph is a portrait of an individual, and at the same time an image of a type.

With this photo, you can easily see the leading lines which are the walking sticks, leading lines help direct your eyes to the main focus of the photo. in this photo there are three wealthy men standing next to each other with walking sticks and suits, this signifies that they are wealthy and posh compared to other people that August sander has photographed. the posture of the men also help to create the idea that they are smart men due to them standing up straight and not slouching. the men are also looking straight into the camera to help with the firm eye contact.

• Who is in the photo?

– August Sander – Handlanger (Bricklayer) – 1928

• how are they posed?

– formal (posed) with relaxed facial expression

• how are they framed?

– Full body

– Deadpan angle

• what is their gaze?

– Eye contact > engagement with the camera

• Colour

– Black and white

Typologies

what is a typology?

• Typology is a a term that we use in photography that, in simple terms, is the study of types. It can be used to see and represent similarities and differences in images.

This is an example of August sanders typologies.

this is my environmental portrait mood board.

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.

This is my contact sheet from all of the photos I’ve taken, with different people in their different environment, such as the canteen, offices, classrooms ect.

Final photos before and after editing.

with this photo, as I was using one of the new cameras i used the ‘P’ setting, therefore the photo didn’t come out as good as I expected. to edit this photo, I cropped round the main focus of the image which was Millie, then I made the background blurry, using the blur tool. I changed the photo to black and white and changed the contrast. I also edited the photo to make the background smaller.

With this photo, I also made the background blurry on photoshop. I made sure to keep the ‘cold drinks’ sign in the photo which helps the audience understand that she is a canteen lady.

I did the same with this photo, using the blurring tool on photoshop, to enhance the main focus. I cropped the image to get the unnecessary background out of the photo. again like the other photos I made it black and white so it would fit in with my theme of black and white photos.

My evaluation of my photos.

throughout this photoshoot, I personally took many photos up to standard however I think I could have explored with the ISO and aperture more to create better and more clear photos.

Arnold Abner Newman was an American photographer, noted for his “environmental portraits” of artists and politicians. He was also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images. In 2006, he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

Visual:

In the photo the man is the main focal point as the photo is Central as he’s in the middle of the photo in the background. The photo is Framed by concrete pillars which is also showing the cold and industrial environments. Sitter is leaning forward into the photo he has clasped hands and strong eye contact this shows he is confident and sinister. The Background is industrial. It looks as though the sitter is in ownership or in charge of the environment due to the firm look on his face and as he is in the middle. There is Leading lines, from the top of the image, lead to the sitter’s portrait which draws your attention to the man. the Light on the top of the photo, contrasts the dark on the bottom – creating balance between the contrast which exaggerates the sinister atmosphere.

Technical:

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

Contextual:

in 1963, a Jewish photographer Arnold Newman was commissioned by Newsweek to take a portrait of Alfred Krupp, a convicted Nazi war criminal.

Alfred Krupp was a German industrialist who ran the Krupp empire, a major arms manufacturer during World War II. Convicted as a war criminal for his company’s use of slave labour, the majority of the men and boys who perished were Jewish and Krupp holds a particular place of hatred amongst its people, he was later pardoned. Despite his pardon, Krupp remained a controversial figure, and his reputation as a ruthless businessman and war profiteer followed him.

At first, Newman refused, but eventually, he decided to take the assignment as a form of personal revenge. The resulting portrait became one of the most controversial and significant images of its time.

When preparing to take the photo, Newman asking Krupp to lean forward slightly, when Krupp did this he also clasped his hands together under his chin. When he moved, the light hit his face perfectly and when Newman saw this he stated that ‘he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck’.

after this, the photo came one of his most iconic photos.

Concept:

The portrait captured the essence of Krupp’s character, making him look evil and in charge . Upon seeing the portrait, Krupp was furious. Nevertheless, the image was published and became one of Newman’s most famous works. The portrait served as a powerful reminder of the atrocities committed during World War II and the individuals who were responsible for them. The circulation of the photo brought Krupp out from the shadows and allowed Newman to share his hatred for his man with the world.

Jaroslav Rössler

Jaroslav Rössler was a Czech photographer. He was a pioneer of Czech avant-garde photography and a member of the association of Czech avant-garde artists Devětsil. Today he is considered an important exponent of Czech modern photography and avant-garde art. He often photographed objects against stark backgrounds, or used long exposures, to reduce subjects to their elementary lines and geometric shapes.

In the first photo he uses paper to create geometric shapes using the shadows and the light. the lines are straight and sharp causing the photo to look neat and put together by him.

However the second photo looks more natural and has no significant shape, you wouldn’t be able to tell what it is unless someone told you.

Formal elements.

LINE:

Objects in the photograph that act as lines, they could be straight curvy, thick or thin. They could create different effects on the photograph.

SHAPE:

Shape elements are often found in photography in the form of patterns. There are two basic types of shapes: geometric or regular and organic. Geometric shapes are – circle, square, triangle ect.

SPACE:

positive space is the actual subject while negative space (also called white space) is the area surrounding the subject. E.G a boat in the middle of the sea.

This is an example of when space is used in a photo, it highlights the tree as that is the boldest part of the photo

REPETITION

Repetition in photography refers to the technique of integrating recurring elements, patterns, or themes in a composition to produce a sense of rhythm and balance in an image.

In this photo, the repetition of the pillars helps makes dramatic rhythm

TEXTURE

texture helps role in adding depth and a tactile dimension to images by emphasizing the surface quality of the subject.

The detail/texture of the lizards skin makes the photo have more depth, as the image is highly focused.

COLOUR

Colour in photography plays a major role in composition, affects balance, and determines the weight of visual elements. Bright colours, for example, are perceived as happy, fresh, and joyful. Dark colours may evoke sadness, fear, or repulsion.

This photo of a sunset is really nice to look at as the many different colours energise the photo. The composition in this photo helps create the mood. it also creates a lot of visual contrast.

VALUE/TONE

In any painting, photograph or design, the area of highest contrast between light and dark will always demand maximum attention.

As this photo would also look good in colour, the tone makes a nice silhouette of the horse and the tree, it helps highlight them in the photo. The tone also creates visual interest to engage the viewer.

My paper photoshoot

This is my contact sheet. I’ve colour coded it so I can easily find the photos which I prefer. All of these photos are taken by myself. I went into the studio and used the ring lights to help create the shadows which helps add effect to the photo. I used a table with a white background and placed my cut up paper and put it into different shapes.

This is the presets, which helped me quickly auto edit my photos.

Strongest Images:

Soft focus / Long exposure photos:

This is my photos before editing

Editing:

This is the before and after of my soft focus photos. I cropped both of the photos and enhanced the contrast and the tone to make it look better. the tone helps create visual interest and helps set the mood of the photo.

Sharp Focus:

Editing

I edited this photo however I don’t like it as the ISO was too high, making the photo too grainy / too much noise.

I edited this photo into black and white, therefore next to my other photos they will look neat.

I really like this photo as its clear and has no photo noise. This is before and after editing one of my photos. I have changed the colour of this photo to black and white. The variations in tone in this image also allows the elements of shape, texture, and pattern of objects to be distinguished.

My Final Photos.

TEXTURE

This is my contact sheet for texture, i added them all into Lightroom and edited my favourite ones.

Ive added a collection on Adobe Lightroom and called it natural forms texture.

This is the presets, which helped me quickly auto edit my photos.

I edited this photo 3 different times.

1. the first photo I added a monotone overlay and then adjusted the brightness and saturation. The black and white stops people from getting distracted by the colour of the photo
2. I added a gradient map, colour overlay then adjusted the contrast, brightness and saturation.
3. On the third photo I changed the colour balance and added some blue tones, however it looks quite dark and hard to see the details.

before editing

After editing.

Fast shutter speed

Fast shutter speed freezes the motion in your image. Fast shutter speed is 1/125 sec or faster. 1/1000 sec is super fast shutter speed. Fast shutter speed lets less light into your camera and will effect exposure making your images darker.

This is an example of a fast shutter speed, the photo is very precise and you can see a lot more detail than you would be able to see with a slow shutter speed.

medium shutter speed

This is example of medium shutter speed, some parts of the photo are blurred, but some are more focused

slow shutter speed

A slow shutter speed can help you illuminate a darker scene, as it allows more light through the lens. the slower your shutter speed, the more motion blur your camera will capture whilst shooting a fast moving object.

This photo was taken with a slow shutter speed, in the night with long exposure/slow shutter speed. the photographer would have had to have a steady camera

Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge is best known for his photographic studies of motion of humans and animals, although he was also a pioneer in landscape photography. To capture the first action shots of a galloping horse, he used multiple cameras in different positions. Their shutters were triggered by electricity, enabling a shutter speed of one thousandth of a second. 

This is one of Eadweard Muybridges photos with a high shutter speed, showing a horse galloping. The camera has photographed the moment where all four of the horses legs are not touching the floor.

My own work.

In this photo we used a slow shutter speed in a dark room to capture the lights blurring to make those shapes.

This is another example of using slow shutter speed, me and my friend span round in circles to create this photo that looks like were not in one position

This is where my photos are saved in the video data drive

This is my contact sheet. After importing my images onto Lightroom from my documents, I now have a display of all of my images. I have flagged the photos that I prefer so its easier to find my best work.

This is my final flagged images.

After finding a picture I want to edit, on the left side there is a ‘Presets’ option which allows me to automatically edit my pictures with settings that are all ready made.

On the right side of the screen it shows me the histogram which tells me the ISO, shutter speed, and focal length.

Below the histogram, there is all he filters that help edit your photos such as colour, shadowing, exposure, highlights and more.

This is one of my photos that I have edited. the picture on the left is before editing and the picture on the right is after editing. I used lots of the different editing techniques on Lightroom to be able to change the colour of the photo whilst also making it more blurry.

what is ISO and how does it affect your camera

ISO controls the amount of light your camera lets in, and therefore how dark or light your photos will be.

Low values, such as ISO 100, are best for a sunny outdoor shoot. For shooting at night — or indoors with dim lighting — use an ISO of 1600 or higher.

What does a high ISO / low ISO mean? What effect can this have on your photos? What is meant by visual noise?

The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture.

The lower the ISO number, the more light is needed to properly expose the image

 higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.”

visual noise is when the photo is grainy and is effected by bad lighting conditions

This is an example of a high vs low iso

My photos

IOS = 100

IOS = 6400

IOS = 100

IOS = 6400

These are all examples of photos i’ve taken with different ISOs. we went around the school finding different textured things

Camera Obscura  

Camera obscura is when the rays of light pass through a small hole into a dark space and shows an image where they hit the surface, which makes in an inverted and reversed projection of the view outside. And because this camera obscura uses a lens, which creates a relatively large aperture, you get a sharp, colourful image on the paper.  

Nicephore Niepce 

Nicephore Niepce was the first person to make camera obscura a permanent image, which is now the oldest photograph ever made. However he was unwilling to give any specific details about how he made the photo, therefore the royal society rejected it. Then before he suddenly passed away he gave his specimens to Baure. 

• enhanced version of Nicephore Niepces first photo

Henry Fox Talbot

Cameraless images were another version of photography. He used a sheet of fine writing paper, coated with salt and brushed with a solution of silver nitrate, Henry Talbot found that the paper would darkened in the sun. He set a pressed leaf or plant on a piece of sensitized paper, covered it with a sheet of glass, and set it in the sun. If it was light outside the paper darkened, but wherever the plant blocked the light, it remained white. This is now called photogenic drawing.

The mousetraps are sturdy little wooden boxes with a brass tube housing a lens at one end, and a sliding wooden panel at the other. Into the wooden panel at the back Talbot would stick a piece of normal writing paper that he had made chemically sensitive to light. On some you can still see the traces where successive pieces of paper have been stuck in place.

However, While Talbot quietly continued his experiments, he discovered that he had a rival. In January 1839, Louis Daguerre was finding own method for fixing the shadows.

Daguerreotype

Daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. The process required great care. The silver-plated copper plate had first to be cleaned and polished until the surface looked like a mirror. The daguerreotype process made it possible to capture the image seen inside a camera obscura and preserve it as an object. It was the first practical photographic process and ushered in a new age of pictorial possibility.

Richard Maddox

Richard Maddox invented lightweight gelatine negative plates for photography in 1871.  photographers could use commercial dry plates off the shelf instead of having to prepare their own emulsions in a mobile darkroom. Negatives did not have to be developed immediately.

Ernst Hass was a colour photographer born in
march 1921 in Vienna and died on 12th September
1986.

Just after the war Hass took up
photography. After being recognised
he started photographing for LIFE,
Vogue, and Look.
Ernst Hass’ parents always encouraged him to pursue his
creative talents and gave him confidence to start his career in
photography. He saw the world in colour, and refused to copy
most photographers back then so started taking photos in colour.
He bought his first camera at the age of 25 and since then he became an avid
documentarian. He was the first person to publish a colour photo essay for
LIFE in 1953 on Returning Prisoners of War. After that he joined the circle of
celebrity photographers. They helped him to pursue his dreams.

Focusing on a camera

AF (auto focus) is more typically used when taking photos as the camera will focus its self. MF (manual focus) is more effective when trying to get a specific light or focal point.

Aperture

the aperture setting controls the size of the lens opening that allows light into your camera. You can blur the foreground and background that bracket your subject (known as shallow depth of field) by opening up the aperture with a low f-stop number; alternatively, you can keep your photo sharp from the foreground through to the background (known as wide depth of field) by closing the aperture down with a high f-stop number.

Focal length

The focal length of a lens is the optical distance (mm) from the point where the light meets inside the lens to the camera’s sensor.

Depth of field

The photographer can change the settings on the camera in order to alter the amount of light entering the lens. This directly affects the depth of field of the subject being viewed

ralph Eugene Meatyard

Ralph Eugene Meatyard was a visionary photographer known for his dreamlike black & white photographs of family members in masks, elegant portraits of bohemian friends and radical experiments in abstraction. As he had an interest in Zen Buddhism it guided his intuitive process for making photographs