IDENTITY

Identity is the set of qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, and/or expressions that characterize a person or a group. Identity emerges during childhood as children start to comprehend their self-concept, and it remains a consistent aspect throughout different stages of life.

FEMEININITY

Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered feminine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors.

MASCULINITY

Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed. and there is also evidence that some behaviours considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent masculinity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is distinct from the definition of the biological male sex. as anyone can exhibit masculine traits. Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods. In Western cultures, its meaning is traditionally drawn from being contrasted with femininity.

how can identity be found…

In a place:

An important mechanism that supports place identity is the attachment to a specific place. Individuals often develop an emotional bond to their life space, essentially their home and the neighbourhood, but often also urban places and spaces on a larger scale.

in a belonging:

Who and where we belong influences our sense of identity. Other people may believe they know our identity, but in reality, they may not know us at all. Where we belong is influenced more by family than friends. The identity of one changes with different relationships. The sense of belonging is one of our basic human needs. It helps us orient each other in an ever-changing environment.

Your environment:

When we are in familiar surroundings, we tend to feel more secure and strengthen our sense of identity. We feel more in control of our lives and boost our self-confidence. On the other hand, when we lack an established place, a home, we may feel lost and disconnected.

upbringing:

Many of our emotional ties, and even our relationships with money, people and God are influenced by our childhood experiences. Role models have a massive effect on a child’s self-identity. Many of our emotional ties, and even our relationships with money, people and God are influenced by our childhood experiences.

gender identity:

Gender enters into all our social relations. When people interact, their view of themselves, including their identity and their rights and possibilities, comes up against the way they are perceived by other people, and the way that others behave towards them.

cultural identity:

Culture is a defining feature of a person’s identity, contributing to how they see themselves and the groups with which they identify. A person’s understanding of their own and other’s identities develops from birth and is shaped by the values and attitudes prevalent at home and in the surrounding community.

social identity:

 Our family, upbringing, environment, genetic makeup (psychological and physical), and social interactions all play a role in identity formation.

geographical identity:

We can speak to how our geographic locations shape the languages we speak, the practices we engage in, our relationships to the people around us, and how we imagine the future

 political identity

 This can include identification with a political party, but also positions on specific political issues, nationalism, inter-ethnic relations or more abstract ideological themes. Political identities develop in individuals and evolve over time

Cynthia Morris Sherman is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters

Cindy Sherman is among the most significant artists of the Pictures Generation to make the art analysed.

In 1972, Sherman enrolled in the visual arts department at Buffalo State University, where she majored in painting. During this time, she began to explore the ideas which became a hallmark of her work: She dressed herself as different characters, cobbled together from thrift-store clothing.

her main goal in photography was To portray the various roles and identities of herself and other modern women. Though Sherman is both the woman in front of the lens and behind it, she appears masked through make-up and costume, disguised to resemble familiar female stereotypes; her women are images of women, “models of femininity projected by the media to encourage imitation and identification”

She is adamant that her photos are not self portraits, this may be because they are different identities of her, therefore she may not count this as self portrait as it is not who she is as she is roleplaying a housewife.

image analysis:

Cindy Sherman is trying to adopt the character of a housewife in the kitchen. you can see that she is near kitchen apparatus and wearing an apron. Cindy is staring away from the camera with a dull looking expression on her face. this could because she is looking at someone or something. she is cramped into the side of the photo, which could mean that she’s not important. she is also holding her stomach which could either to make her feel protected if she may be pregnant. The title to this photo is ‘Untitled film still #3’ this could mean that she is so un unimportant therefore the film is too.

• the aperture in Cindys photo is large
• The Shutter speed is fast as the photo is focused as we can see the details.
• The photo has been taken from a low angle. this makes it feel like she’s in the same room as us.
• it is a half body shot which makes her look smaller and less important. it also makes it more intimate as we are closer to her.

Contextual

It was a time where there was many stereotypes in mass media. Historically, media narratives have constrained women to traditional roles, depicting them as caring figures or hostile antagonists. Girls were often portrayed as focusing more on their appearance, as well as being judged for their appearance. Entirely fictitious, these “stills” deftly encapsulate the images of femininity that, through the media culture of movies, had a hold on America’s collective imagination at the time.

This photograph from early in Cindy Sherman’s artistic career indicates a burgeoning interest in what has become a lifelong investigation into using herself as subject. Produced in 1975, during her time as an art student at the State University of New York, Buffalo, the work prefigures her famous Untitled Film Stills series by two years. In it, the artist references Claude Cahun, an early Surrealist photographer whose androgynous self-portraits inspired a later generation of feminist theorists to think about gender as a social role that is performed rather than innate—ideas that would become central to Sherman’s oeuvre from the mid-1970s onward.

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun, first named Lucy Schwob, was born in 1894 and died in 1954, was a French surrealist artist, photographer, and writer, best known for her exploration of gender, identity, and self-representation. She is recognized as a pioneer in challenging traditional gender norms, often presenting herself in androgynous or ambiguous ways in her self-portraits. Cahun’s work questioned fixed gender roles long before such ideas were widely accepted, making her a significant figure in early feminist and queer art.

Cahun’s connection with Jersey began early, with childhood holidays spent in Jersey and Brittany. They were born Lucy Schwob in Nantes, France to a wealthy Jewish family. But in their late teens and early twenties Cahun had been looking for a new, gender-neutral name for a while. They fixed on the name Claude Cahun in 1918. At that time they was in a same-sex relationship with Suzanne Malherbe, who used the pseudonym Marcel Moore. They had become step siblings in their mid-teens and at some point a closer relationship developed.

Cahun’s goal was to challenge the societal norms surrounding gender and identity. She used self-portraiture as a tool to deconstruct and explore various personalities, often presenting herself in androgynous or fragmented forms. Through costumes, makeup, and props, Cahun blurred the lines between masculinity and femininity, demonstrating that identity is not fixed but rather fluid and performative. Her work aimed to provoke viewers to rethink conventional notions of gender and self-expression.

‘I am training don’t kiss me’ by Claude Cahun

In this photograph, Cahun is sat facing the camera, however her gaze is directed downward, with her face partially obscured by her hands. This creates a sense of mystery and ambiguity.

Cahun’s outfit is simple and androgynous which helps contribute to the blurring of gender boundaries in the image. She wears a loose, neutral outfit, steering away from the traditional feminine dress of the time. this challenges the social norm of what woman would wear back then in the 1920s

The object Cahun holds in her hands is a dumbbell weight, an unexpected item for a female figure during the 1920s, a time when women were often portrayed as delicate and wouldn’t lift weights. The dumbbell symbolizes strength, power, and physicality, which is in stark contrast to the more passive, ornamental role often assigned to women.

on her shirt it says : “I am training – don’t kiss me.” This statement is both a literal and symbolic declaration of independence. It suggests that Cahun is focused on personal growth or training—whether intellectual, artistic, or physical—and rejects traditional romantic or sexual roles.

Creative Portraiture often refers to images that go beyond a single frame taken within a camera. Often creative portraiture combines images and other elements to create a final result also known as composite images.

DOUBLE/ MULTI-EXPOSURE:

Multiple exposures are photographs in which two or more images are superimposed in a single frame, and they’re super easy to create using your analogue camera.

Tiffany Sutton:

JUXTAPOSITION:

juxtaposition photography involves combining two or more elements in the same picture, highlighting the interesting contrast between them, to create an eye-catching and thought-provoking image.

MONTAGE:

Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image.

Man Ray:

Man Ray was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known for his pioneering photography, and was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called “rayographs” in reference to himself.

These are some of Man rays photographs with surrealism.

My Edits:

This one of my edits that I have made with a photo of Nicha and another photo of a painting which I have then layered together and changed the opacity so your able to see the painting on top of her which makes it look like a reflection of the ocean.

This is a two photos of Chanel i have put together which makes it look like their is a ghost behind her. I layered the two photos together and changed the opacity of the photo in the background photo and added a filer onto it to have the translucent blue.

This is another photo of Nicha that I’ve taken, one with the scarf on her head the other without a scarf.

what is studio lighting and why do we use it?

Studio lighting in photography happens when a photographer uses an artificial light source to either add to the light that’s already there, or to completely light their photograph. Setups can range from using a single flash that you mount onto your camera, to multiple off-camera lights. Studio light is created artificially by flashes, strobes, or other sources, whereas natural light is the light that comes from the sun, moon, or stars.

It gives you complete control over the illumination of your scene, eliminating the unpredictable nature of natural light. The proper lighting setup ensures uniformity, improves visual clarity, and spotlights the subject effectively.

1-2-3 point lighting

What is butterfly lighting?

Butterfly lighting is a form of studio lighting that is usually used within portraiture photography, as the name suggests the lighting used forms a butterfly shape under the nose of the subject of the image. This is because the light comes from above the camera and you face creates the shadow.

Why should you use it?

Who created it?

Butterfly lighting was not created by one specific individual but rather developed over time in Hollywood back in the 1930’s, it was mainly used on a person called Marlene Dietrich who was a Hollywood star.

How to create a butterfly lighting setup:

Lighting: Butterfly lighting requires a key light that can be a flash unit or continuous. If continuous, it can be artificial or natural. In other words, you can use strobes, speed lights, LEDs or even the sun.

If continuous, it can be artificial or natural. In other words, you can use strobes, speed lights, LEDs or even the sun.

A butterfly lighting effect refers to the setup and not to the quality of light – it can be soft or hard light depending on the effect you want.

Before editing

After editing

What is Rembrandt lighting?

Why use Rembrandt Lighting?

By using Rembrandt lighting you instantly create shadows and contrast . it helps add the characteristic ‘triangle of light’ beneath the subject’s eye to help make the photo more dramatic. Rembrandt lighting adds an element of drama and psychological depth to the character of your sitter.

It also helps give an individual ‘look’ to your portrait photography, but also acts as a photographic device to draw the eye.

You canh use Rembrandt lighting to create not just dramatic portrait photography, but also portrait photography that grabs the viewer’s attention and draws their eye to your subject.

setting up rembrandt lighting:

The person taking the photo should be behind the light and the reflector. the person should be in the middle of the light and the reflector looking preferably forward.

Before editing

This is an example of Rembrandt lighting with my friend.

chiaroscuro lighting

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

Chiaroscuro is not only a storytelling technique but a handy way of creating real depth and intrigue in our frames. Just like the Renaissance painters who pioneered the technique, filmmakers are working with a two-dimensional canvas. Chiaroscuro lighting is a great way to create a three-dimensional effect in our films.

This is an example of  chiaroscuro. the light is shown on half of her face and the other half of her face is covered by the shadow. the shadow then blends into the black background.

This is before editing, my own example of chiaroscuro lighting that i tried in the studio. we used a light and placed it to the right of him so the right side of his face was lightened.

This is after converting my photo into black and white and adjusting the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast.

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.