For my photoshoot, I will take inspiration from some of Cindy Sherman’s work and explore gender stereotypes and societal norms/expectations towards each gender.

Who? – My parents.

What? – Hands (stereotypically, male hands bruised dirty from work and female clean), stereotypic environments + outfits + expectations (e.g. boy’s don’t cry, women must cook and clean) – in black and white to give older impression and highlight how stereotypes supress and influence identity.

Where? – Stereotypic environments (male at work, female in kitchen).

Why? – Explore how stereotypes as well as social expectations affect identity, self-perception and emotions (focus on social/gender identity).

Initial Photo Ideas:

1 – Juxtapose photo of my dad’s hands with photo of my mum’s hands, male hands will be significantly more worn because in their time period in Portugal stereotypes such as males being the ‘breadwinners’ and workers whereas women cooked and cleaned were deeply rooted into society. Contrast side by side and present in black and white to create a more serious tone as well as highlighting differences in each hand much more clearly, showing how the social expectations and stereotypes of their time has influenced them physically and therefore shaped their identity/self-perception even now.

2 – Juxtapose stereotypic outfits/environments of males and females, e.g. have my dad in a work environment dressed in construction gear/a suit and contrast with my mum dressed in an apron/cleaning gear in a kitchen. Explore how gender stereotypes have influenced their identity, both their social identity and gender identity due to societal expectations – dull/bleak atmosphere, environmental portraits with a neutral face and presented in black and white. Could also contrast elements of each stereotypic environment, e.g. compare construction gear vs cleaning materials and suit texture vs cleaning gear texture.

3 – Juxtapose social expectations from each gender with each other, e.g. contrast males being frowned upon for crying and expected to be ‘manly’ with females being seen as more vulnerable, emotional and only good for cleaning etc. Could photograph dad in a restricted/uncomfortable environment appearing to be holding back tears to present how these expectations restrict and shape identity.

Cindy Sherman is a contemporary genius in the world of photography that challenges social norms. She plays a significant role in the “Pictures Generation,” which is a group of American artists who gained fame and artistic growth in the early 1980s, a time known for the fast spread of mass media images. Inspired by philosophers such as Roland Barthes, who had questioned the very idea of originality and authenticity in his manifesto The Death of the Author, the Pictures Generation set out to make art that analysed their relationship with popular culture and the mass media.

 Before photography, she was painting in a super-realist style in art school during the aftermath of American Feminism, later turning to photography toward the end of the 1970s in order to explore a wide range of common female social roles, or personas.

Sherman’s artistic practice, while she tends to distance herself from theoretical frameworks, is frequently categorized as feminist. A key focus of her work is the challenge to dominant female stereotypes. By staging and capturing images of herself in diverse contexts, she highlights the objectification of women.

Cindy Sherman uses parody and distortion as techniques to create dissonance, thereby highlighting that the construction of “gender” is heavily influenced by numerous symbolic elements that individuals routinely enact. Her aim is to deconstruct not only the notions and attributes associated with female identity but also the constraints imposed on it within the context of “performance.” Furthermore, she seeks to examine the mechanisms through which “performance” culture shapes and reinforces these concepts.

Her work is characterized by her use of self-portraiture to create fictional characters and explore themes such as identity, representation, and the construction of femininity. She meticulously constructs her photographs, controlling every aspect of the image, including makeup, costumes, lighting, and settings. Through her elaborate and often satirical transformations, Sherman encourages viewers to question societal norms and expectations, particularly those imposed on women.

When questioned about whether she considers her work self-portraits, she stated ‘I guess technically they’re pictures of me, but not, because I’m doing all these weird things to my face so it doesn’t look anything like me.’

‘I always want [my photographs] to be a little off, whether it’s the background not quite fitting in or, in the old work, you’d see the shutter cord, or be able to tell that I’m using fake tits or a fake nose. Everybody knows it’s not real anyway.’

Image Analysis

Visual – In the photo above, Cindy has positioned herself on the right third with dishing liquid, pans and other kitchen supplies taking up the other two thirds of the image (hinting that she is playing the stereotype of a housewife) almost making them seem superior and more important in the image compared to her – furthermore, her being placed in a kitchen (the stereotypic environment of housewives) with nothing but objects relates to the objectification of women and how they were deemed as inferior and nothing but housewives. Also, she is squashed and cramped in the corner, creating an uncomfortable environment which is reinforced with her seeming to be distressed holding her stomach with one hand and glancing over her shoulder looking visibly concerned as if something outside of the frame is making her feel on edge and uncomfortable. As a ‘film still’, the photo subtly challenges the stereotypical female character portrayed in movies at the time.

Technical – A wide aperture has been used to capture as much detail of a housewife’s stereotypic environment, combined with a fast shutter speed to keep the subject in focus as well as keeping exposure balanced. The photo has been taken from a slightly lowered angle since Cindy herself isn’t fully in view with the top of her head exiting the frame whilst most details of her environment and surrounding objects are kept, implying they are of higher importance compared to her linking to how at the time women were treated as inferior. The photo itself is a half body shot since her legs and the top of her head are not fully visible, creating more focus on her outfit which is an apron that matches the environment she is placed in, relating to how easy it is for the media to force women into these stereotypic roles.

Contextual – Historically, women in the media were always presented in their stereotypic roles such as housewives and were always deemed inferior to men, especially in movies when the majority of lead roles and screen time went to men whereas women had smaller roles and much less screen time – implying their only purpose was to fulfil the roles that had become societal norms (cleaning, cooking, taking care of children etc).

Conceptual – Sherman’s ‘untitled film stills’ series intended to resemble the representation of women in the mass media, challenging how the media only depicted women in their stereotypic roles, environment and outfits. In the modern day, Sherman now directs her attention to selfies and highlights how online profiles and presentations of people are not their true selves but rather them trying to be their best selves to impress others and fit in, criticising how people take tens and even hundreds of selfies searching for the perfect one.

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun, originally named Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob, was born on October 25, 1894, and passed away on December 8, 1954. She was a prominent French surrealist known for her work as a photographer, sculptor, and author. In 1914, Schwob adopted the alias Claude Cahun, under which she gained recognition primarily as a writer and self-portrait artist, frequently embodying diverse performative identities.

In her literary writing, Cahun predominantly employed grammatically feminine terminology to describe herself, whilst stating that her true gender identity was fluid. For instance, in her text Disavowals, she articulates: “Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.” Cahun is particularly recognized for her androgynous appearance, which challenged the strict gender roles of her time.

Cahun offered a distinct viewpoint within surrealism by incorporating mirrors, collages, and the concept of doubling in her photographs to challenge societal norms. In several of Cahun’s portraits, she gazes directly at the viewer with a shaved head, often showcasing just her head and shoulders, which removes the body from the frame. This approach blurs traditional gender markers and behaviors, effectively challenging the male perspective. For instance, one image features Cahun wearing a top that says, “I am in training, do not kiss me,” highlighting that her identity and gender can be acknowledged but should not be objectified or fetishized by men. Scholar Miranda Welby-Everard has discussed the significance of theater, performance, and costume in Cahun’s work, suggesting that these elements may have influenced her diverse expressions of gender.

Cahun’s life was filled with actions that went against the norm, and her public persona has turned into a statement that questions society’s ideas about gender, beauty, and logic.

Her work aimed to shake up how people viewed photography, moving it away from just being a record of reality. Additionally, her poetry pushed against the gender norms of her time and critiqued the social and economic limits of the modern world. Cahun’s involvement with the Surrealist group in Paris added a unique perspective to their work, leading to fresh representations. While most Surrealist artists were men who often portrayed women as mere symbols of sexuality, Cahun showcased a more fluid and non-conforming identity. Her photographs, writings, and overall life as a revolutionary in both art and politics continue to inspire many artists today (such as Cindy Sherman).

Image Analysis

Visual – The image is a full body portrait of a woman sitting cross-legged positioned in the centre of the photo, with very little detail in the background making it very clearly she is the focus and subject of the photograph. Her hair has been gelled in the form of an upside down heart and hearts have also been drawn on her cheeks, with another one visible on her thigh as well as her mouth being in the shape of a heart too – this was done to highlight how at the time society viewed women as nothing but a pretty face, with the hearts reinforcing this. Furthermore, the text ‘I am in training dont kiss me’ can clearly be seen on her shirt which contrasts with all the hearts almost subtly going against social norms of femininity and being nothing but an object of beauty, showing her willingness to rebel against these stereotypes. She also has leather wrist bracers of a circus strong man and a barbell laying across her thighs which are stereotypically masculine items, contradicting with the rest of the image and creating a clear sense of contrasting between masculinity and femininity.

Technical – The use of a straight-on angle creates a connection between the subject and the viewer of the image, creating focus on and directing viewer’s attention to the contrasting masculine and feminine elements being clearly displayed to them whilst simultaneously subtly challenging societal norms, expectations and stereotypes of women. Also, the fact it is a full body portrait means there is more room for different contrasting elements all over her body to be displayed to the viewer, whereas if it had been a half body portrait the heart on the thigh and potentially the barbell wouldn’t have been visible so the fact a full body portrait has been used helps to further emphasise her ideas of critiquing gender stereotypes and norms.

Contextual – During the time period Cahun was producing photography, gender stereotypes and expectations were deeply rooted within society and as a rebellious, creative Jewish person her work would have had backlash and been critiqued especially in a post World War One society (hence why her work only began to get public attention and gain relevance 40 years after her death). The contrasting stereotypic masculine and feminine elements in the image also relate to Cahun’s true gender identity being fluid and how she didn’t perceive herself as being either male or female.

Conceptual – The idea behind this particular image was to showcase her gender fluid identity as well as challenge gender stereotypes and expectations of a post-WW1 society which would have been extremely strict but beginning to change as women took over traditional male roles and jobs in society after many left to fight in the war.

What is Identity?

Identity in photography explores how we see ourselves as a person but also how we see ourselves in relation to others. The photograph or image is the physical manifestation of an individual experiencing the indexical world. A photograph acts as a tangible representation of the subject and who they are perceived as/how they perceive themselves.

What is Femininity?

Femininity is typically used by feminist photographers to turn a medium used traditionally to reinforce gender norms into a powerful tool of transformation and emancipation, rethinking what it means to express ourselves through photography, as well as the types of people and places that are considered worthy of being captured in an artistic way.

What is Masculinity?

Masculinity is usually defined as the social expectations of being a man: The term ‘masculinity’ refers to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men in a given society. Masculinity is constructed and defined socially, historically and politically, rather than being biologically driven. Similar to femininity, masculine identity photography can be used to defy social gender norms and stereotypes with powerful images.

Factors That Influence Identity

Our identities can be influenced by place, belonging, as well as your environment or upbringing.

Gender identity – Gender identity refers to an individual’s internal understanding and experience of their own gender. This identity may align with the sex assigned to them at birth or may diverge from it. For the majority of people, the biological factors associated with sex are in harmony with their gender identity. Gender expression, which encompasses the behaviours, attitudes, and appearances that convey one’s gender, often mirrors an individual’s gender identity; however, this alignment is not universally applicable. Consequently, a person may exhibit traits and behaviours associated with a specific gender role without these expressions accurately representing their true gender identity.

Cultural identity – Cultural identity constitutes a significant aspect of an individual’s overall identity, encompassing their self-conception and self-perception. It is intricately linked to various factors such as nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generational influences, geographical location, gender, and any social group that possesses a unique cultural framework. Consequently, cultural identity reflects both the individual and the collective characteristics of a group of individuals who share similar cultural backgrounds or experiences. This identity is not static; rather, it is a dynamic process that evolves in response to social, cultural, and historical contexts. Individuals may experience varying degrees of change in their cultural identity, with some undergoing more frequent transformations, while others maintain a more stable cultural identity.

Social identity – Social identity is the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. Social identities are shaped through a process of differentiation that is defined in a relative or adaptable manner, depending upon the activities in which individuals participate.

Geographical identity – Geographical identity, or place-based identity, encompasses a collection of concepts related to the interrelationship between place and identity across various disciplines, including geography, urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, interior design, spatial design, environmental psychology, ecocriticism, and urban sociology.

Political identity – Political identity is a type of social identity that shows a person’s connection to groups fighting for a specific kind of power. This can involve aligning with a political party, but it also includes views on particular political issues, feelings of nationalism, relationships between different ethnic groups, or broader ideological ideas.

Lack of/loss of identity – Loss of identity is personal psychosocial conflict (especially in adolescence) that involves confusion about one’s social role and often a sense of loss of continuity to one’s personality. It can be caused by a wide range of factors, including but not limited to beginning/ending relationships as well as loss of loved ones, traumatic events and moving to a new place.

Stereotypes – Stereotypes are traits that society automatically assigns to different groups of people based on things like their age, weight, job, skin colour, gender, and more. Examples include men not being allowed to cry due to it being perceived as weakness by society and women typically being associated with house roles such as being in the kitchen and looking after children.

Prejudices – Prejudice is a judgment formed against someone, typically of a certain appearance/skin colour/culture etc without any real evidence or personal experience.

Double/Multi Exposures

Double/multi exposure is a technique that combines two different exposures or images that are layered on top of each other; the image overlaid is less than full opacity so a bit of both images can be seen, producing an almost ghost-like image. Double/multi exposure can be created in-camera with certain settings or with editing programs like Photoshop/Lightroom using layers.

Double exposure can be used to make abstract, creative images that explore themes such as time, memory, and identity. By combining multiple elements and layering them into a single image, double exposure allows us to create new interpretations of reality and dream-like imagery.

One of the most renowned multi exposure photographers was Man Ray, an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He contributed significantly to the Dada and Surrealist movements, and produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He is most famous for his surreal dream-like multi exposure portraits, and is credited with increasing the popularity of this style of photography.

Above are two example double exposure images from Man Ray, where a person has been photographed twice in two different positions and/or expressions – these two photos have then been layered on top of each other as well as being made black and white to which results in a creative, surreal portrait with somewhat gloomy undertones.

Deeper Image Analysis – Man Ray

Technical – The lighting in the image appears to be natural light coming from the window to behind the man, creating light on the forehead of one layer and the side of the head on the second layer which consequently leads to shadows cast on the other half of his face. Furthermore, a low f/stop was likely used as the background is less in focus with more details and texture highlighted on the subject, contributing to the surreal atmosphere the image is creating. Finally, the ISO was likely low such as 100 or 200 since there is little to none visual noise apparent in the background which adds to the emptiness of the background and therefore the dream-like mood the image presents.

Visual – The image is presented in black and white, which when combined with the clash of light and dark tones between the two layers strengthens the contrast in shadows and lighting and adds more to the surreal aspect of the photography. This is also reinforced further with the lack of texture in the background in contrast with the texture present on the man’s face in form of wrinkles, making it seem like the subject photographed has been presented in a dreamy environment. Furthermore, there is clear use of form and 3D elements seen with the two different layers which combines with the other visual techniques mentioned creates a very captivating and intriguing surreal environment.

Conceptual – Being part of the surrealist movement, the reasoning behind this image was to spin a creative twist on the traditional portrait using multi exposure and an abstract background to create a dream-like effect which creates interest.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is having two photos presented side by side to show contrast or highlight similarities. This can tell a story about a person and a place/person/memory associated with them, for example juxtaposing a builder with the construction site they are working in allowing the viewer to make a clear connection between the two images.

In the example image above, a portrait of an old man with a visibly distant and sad expression looking down from the camera has been juxtaposed alongside a picture of what seems to be a living room, with a mirror alongside a clock and some old pictures. From the man’s expression, a connection can be made between the two pictures as we can assume it is his room and the mirror represents reflection, with the clock and old pictures suggesting that the man is reflecting on his youth and past memories and seems to regret or miss them due to the lack of eye contact between him and the camera and his dull, depressed expression.

Photomontage

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

Photomontage is often used as a means of expressing political dissent. It was first used as a technique by the Dadaists in 1915 in their protests against the First World War, and one of the most famous examples of photomontages is Aleksander Rodchenko’s work during the Russian Constructivism – an artistic and architectural theory that originated in Russia at the beginning of 1913 by Vladimir Tatlin. This was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art by constructing it, and the movement supported art as a practice for social objectives.

Rodchenko was a highly adaptable artist who played a significant role in the constructivist and productivist movements following the Russian Revolution. Initially, he focused on painting and graphic design, but later shifted his attention to photomontage and photography. His photographic work was deeply connected to social issues, breaking new ground in style, and rejecting traditional painting techniques. He believed in the importance of analytical and documentary photography, often capturing his subjects from unusual perspectives – either from high above or low below – to surprise the audience and delay their understanding. He wrote: “One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again.”

His photomontages often had the subjects presented in black and white with text and different images such as hands or other faces layered on top of/around the subject, creating unique and intriguing images.

My Multi Exposure Work

To replicate the multi exposure effect, I took two of my studio portrait images to import into Photoshop.

After I had chosen my two images, I then layered them on top of each other as seen below.

I then experimented with the different options available to see which one I liked most.

After deciding to use the subtract setting, I then tried changing the opacity to different levels and editing each layer separately (e.g. making the main one black and white while keeping the other one in colour) to see how this would affect the final outcome of my image.

I think this image turned out really well since the dull black and white colours as well as the hunched over pose of the first layer create a melancholic mood which clearly contrasts with the more intriguing atmosphere from the second layer due to the more vibrant colours and upright pose.

More Multi Exposure Experiments:

I then tried using images which were different to each other (e.g. some were headshots whereas some were half-body and some had Finn gazing directly at the camera whereas some had the gaze off to the side) and tried layering these images with each other and adjusting opacity to see what effect it would give my images. I found the most effective image was the last one, where I took I picture of Finn staring straight at the camera with a Rembrandt effect and put it in the foreground combined with a black and white, slightly motion blurred side profile shot in the background which clearly contrasts with the foreground and creates a dull and melancholic mood.

My Juxtaposition Work

For my juxtaposition experiments, I tried contrasting two images which were very clearly different to each other (e.g. one looking left and one looking right) and if needed editing one of the images to further highlight contrast.

For this juxtaposition, I took two portraits where Finn was looking in different directions and placed them side by side to contrast this difference. I thought this wouldn’t be enough so I took the right image where his face was slightly darker due to the lighting and made it black and white to amplify these shadows as well as further contrast from the left portrait, and finally added some motion blur which works really effectively to make the two portraits stand out from each other even more.

I then tried a similar idea, taking two portraits with contrasting positions and making one different from the other to highlight contrast. With the image on the left, I felt the subject’s body language and position had dull undertones to it so I made it black and white and copy and pasted the image while stacking it on top of it but moving it slightly to the left and right which created a blur/distortion effect. I found this worked really well since there is a clear difference in colour, lighting, composition and body language in both images which I was able to highlight using juxtaposition.

My Photomontage Work

For my photomontage, I decided to try and replicate the Russian Constructivism style of photomontages used by Rodchenko.

I first got my background and got the head of my subject from the portrait before adjusting the threshold and placing it above my background, and then changing the blending.

I then added a crosshair on the eye and some text alongside it to better achieve the photomontage effect, as well as an outstretched hand.

Photomontage – Compare vs Reference

I think I replicated a photomontage in the style of Rodchenko effectively since I have layered multiple images and text over each other, including a main subject with a hand layered on it. The only difference is mine has been done in colour since I like the contrast created between the black and white layers and the red crosshair with red text, and I think the crosshair fits nicely into the photomontage as an additional layer as well as bringing focus back to the subject’s eye in the dark half of his face.

Final Images

Presentation in Artsteps

Studio lighting refers to how a light source (typically artificial), illuminates the subject that is being photographed in a studio environment. It is often used to change aspects of the photograph such as clarity, tone and saturation to create an accurate rendition of the scene.

1-Point Lighting

If you only have one light available to you then this will become your key light. This is the principal (and most important) light in the setup, as it illuminates the subject within your shot.

It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.

2-Point Lighting

If you have two lights in your kit then the second light after setting up your key light will be your fill light.

This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key (up to half the intensity/brightness of the key). To achieve this, you could move the light further away or use the intensity settings on your lights if you have some.

3-Point Lighting

The third light after setting up the key and fill will become the back light which is placed behind the subject and lights them from the rear.

Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject’s outlines. If setup correctly there should be a subtle rim of light around the subject. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting results in one half of the subject’s face is fully illuminated, while the other half is in partial shadow (similar to chiarascuro/split). What differs when comparing this to other methods of lighting is the presence of a small inverted triangle of light below the subject’s eye, usually along the cheek, which is a result of the lighting setup. For perfect execution of this type of lighting, the triangle of light shadow must be no wider than the length of the eye, and no longer than the subject’s nose.

The Rembrandt lighting technique results in a moody and dramatic effect. This type of lighting technique often features a dark or black background behind the subject, putting the subject front and centre.

Butterfly Lighting

Butterfly lighting is a basic and popular lighting technique in which the main light is above and in light with the subject’s face and the camera.

A clear sign of butterfly lighting being used is the shadow under the nose with a butterfly shape that is created as a result of the lighting.

In some images, the butterfly shape created is more subtle (like the second image above) but in others the position and intensity of the lighting can be altered to make it more noticeable and this is used to highlight cheekbones and create shadows under them as well as under the neck – which makes the model look thinner. 

Chiarascuro/Split Lighting

Chiarascuro literally translates to “light/dark”, and refers to a technique where a light source is shone onto a side of the subject’s face, juxtaposing light and dark tones due to half of their face being illuminated and the other half being darker and more coated in shadow. It shares many similarities with Rembrandt lighting, but without the triangle cast on the subject’s cheek.

Images captured using chiarascuro lighting typically aim to create visually intriguing pictures with a strong sense of depth and mood. A soft second light can be shone on the darker side of the face to alter how dark the shadows are which can be used to strengthen/weaken the contrast between light and dark tones.

Photoshoot Plan + Contact Sheet

After researching different types of lighting in a studio environment, I then decided to try and capture a wide variety of portraits (e.g. head shots, full body etc) showcasing these lighting techniques and my understanding of them.

After the first two sessions in the studio, I imported my photos into Lightroom and colour coded them as well as star rated them to go through them and see which ones I found most effective – these were typically the ones where I managed to make better use of chiarascuro or Rembrandt lighting which added a gloomy feel to the images.

My Best Chiarascuro/Split Images

I first tried experimenting with trying to achieve a chiarascuro effect by adjusting the position of my main light to see how it would affect the light and shadows created on Finn’s face.

In the images above, I experimented with different positions and strengths of light to see how it would affect the amount of shadow on the side of Finn’s face and manipulated this to create some images I find effective. Although some are extremely underexposed, I can later adjust brightness and contrast in editing to fix this.

I then tried adding a fill light and adjusting its strengths to decrease the amounts of shadow present as well as trying different poses standing/sitting to see what I liked most.

My Best Rembrandt Images

I then tried replicating Rembrandt lighting by trying first setting up lighting to achieve a chiarascuro effect and then moving the position of the light and trying different angles to achieve the triangle under the subject’s eye.

The images above are some where I nearly managed to achieve this effect, but the position of the subject and/or the positioning of the studio lights wasn’t optimal for this so I instead ended up with streaks of light in the darker side of Finn’s face just under the eye, but not in a triangular form.

After lots of experimenting with different positions and strengths of lights I was able to come closer to achieving the triangle under the eye. Although I wasn’t able to perfectly replicate a triangle, the light is much more visible and creates a focal point amidst the shadow covering his face.

This was my best result from all my experimenting with Rembrandt, clearly showing streaks of light under Finn’s eye on the darker half of their face although the light isn’t a perfect triangle.

My Best Butterfly Images

To try and achieve the butterfly lighting effect, I positioned the light directly in front of my subject high up pointing down so there would be a slight shadow cost under the nose.

I first tried using this technique with a half body composition, and in both photos the shadow under the nose is clearly visible although in the second one Finn’s head being leaned forward created more shadow around the eye area as well.

I then tried using this technique with a head and shoulders shot so it’s more zoomed in on the face, and this worked very effectively since you can now more clearly see the shadow under the nose as well as the softer shadows around and below the eyes.

Image Manipulation/Experimentation

After experimenting in the studio I took some of my best photos and made minor tweaks to them in Lightroom such as cropping them to improve composition and changing the brightness to explore how it affects the lighting and shadows as well as the intention behind the image.

I really liked how these images turned out since after adjusting brightness and contrast it still clearly displays different lighting techniques without being too underexposed or overexposed, and by experimenting with altering the composition via cropping I was able to drastically change some of my images whilst still keeping them interesting and dramatic (such as the bottom right image, which was originally a full body shot that has been zoomed in to turn it into more of a head shot).

I then experimented with making the images black and white, and found that it really adds to the moody atmosphere initially created with chiarascuro and Rembrandt lighting which helps to build further on the intention behind my photos.

Final Photos

After experimenting with image editing, I decided to keep all the images black and white since I like the dramatic and moody atmosphere it creates when combined with the shadows from the lighting techniques. I also like how the photos are laid out since the top 3 shows a half body butterfly shot in between two head shots, and the bottom three showing different poses and movements as well as having the Rembrandt clearly present in the middle.

Presentation in Artsteps

An environmental portrait is a portrait typically done in a usual environment of the subject, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings.

By photographing a person in their natural surroundings, it shows more of their character, and therefore portrays the essence of their personality, rather than merely a likeness of their physical features. Also, by photographing a person in their natural surroundings the subject will be more at ease, and so be more conducive to expressing themselves – as opposed to in a studio, which can be a rather intimidating and artificial experience.

Artist References/Case Studies

Arnold Newman (March 3, 1918 – June 6, 2006) was a Jewish American photographer credited with being the photographer who most contributed to the rise of the photographic style of environmental portraits. Some of his most famous portrait photographs include celebrities such as John F. Kennedy, Pablo Picasso and Marilyn Monroe.

A well known example of one of his portraits is of Igor Stravinsky in which the lid of his grand piano forms a musical note representative of the melodic structure of the composer’s work. Newman normally captured his subjects in their most familiar surroundings with representative visual elements showing their professions and personalities. A musician for instance might be photographed in their recording studio or on stage, a Senator or other politician in their office or a representative building.

“I didn’t just want to make a photograph with some things in the background,” Newman once told American Photo magazine in an interview. “The surroundings had to add to the composition and the understanding of the person. No matter who the subject was, it had to be an interesting photograph. Just to simply do a portrait of a famous person doesn’t mean a thing.”

Alfred Krupp by Arnold Newman, 1963

Image Analysis

Initial Emotional Response – Krupp comes off as sinister and villainous due to his facial expression, pose and placement in the image creating an uncomfortable atmosphere, with Krupp having somewhat of a look of superiority to him.

Technical – Dim, artificial lighting creates a cold mood to the image further reinforcing the serious tone of the image initially introduced by Krupp and his sinister appearance. A cold colour scheme is present throughout the image which emphasises this uncomfortable atmosphere, contrasting with the trains in the background which are the only real warm-toned objects present in the image which lead to them standing out to viewers of the image (which has been done intentionally, linking to context). Finally, a shallow depth of field has been used to maintain most of the image’s focus on Krupp to highlight his importance and appearance of superiority.

Visual – There is clearly use of texture in the image, primarily in Krupp himself with a subtle emphasis on the wrinkles seen in his face and hands, showing how he experience with life itself which when combined with his egotistical and superior manner implies he has used this against those he deems inferior to him. Moreover, the pattern of the lights on the ceiling as well as the leading lines they create which bring attention inevitably towards Krupp once more creates a sense of ever looming dread and no escape (linking to the context of past of the photographer and his people, especially what they have suffered).

Contextual – Arnold Newman (a Jewish photographer) was commissioned by Newsweek to take a portrait of Alfred Krupp, who was a convicted Nazi war criminal. Initially, Newman refused, but eventually he decided to take the assignment as a form of personal revenge.

Conceptual – The idea behind the image was a form of personal revenge on Krupp for his crimes against Jews during WW2, exploiting them and working them until death, which Newman has done with his presentation of Krupp as sinister and evil. After seeing the photograph, Krupp was outraged, but Newman was satisfied saying after the photograph was taken he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Photoshoot Plan

Subjects: Family (mum dad and sister), Katie, friends.

Environments: Around home, hobbies, outside environments (places that I associate with them).

Poses: Natural/relaxed, central/on a third of the image with a neutral position, clothes and objects in image relate to person. Trying to capture them like they are doing their normal activities in their usual environments.

Home environments: Sister in her bedroom/living room.

Gaze: Directly at camera to create relation between viewer and image, although I will experiment with subject not facing camera to create a more authentic effect.

Composition: I will try use a central framing to highlight my subject, but I will also try use rule of thirds to try and have more focus on elements of the background showing personality and life of the person being photographed.

Framing/orientation: I will take full body images, and in editing avoid over cropping to keep the subject and their environment in full view to tell a story. I will also take images in landscape to show more of the subject’s environment.

Initial ideas: Sister in fancy dress in bedroom with dolls, friends in typical environments etc.

Camera settings: High f/stop to capture more of the background in focus since the environments will play a significant part in the intention behind my images and help to tell a story about the person, adjust ISO according to lighting (e.g. outside/inside images).

My Photoshoot

After importing my photos into Lightroom, I went through them all and flagged them as either an X (ones I wasn’t pleased with and wasn’t going to use) or a yes (photos I was satisfied with and would go over further to see if I would use them for my finals). Once I had filtered images by the unsuccessful and successful ones, I went through the ones flagged as good and colour coded them (yellow being good images but with improvements that could be made with editing, and green being images I found really successful and I will consider editing for my final images) – finally, I star rated each colour coded image to show what I thought of each one, giving yellow ones 3 stars and green ones 4 or 5 stars.

Selected Final Photos

I chose this image as one of my finals because I really like the composition and how so much of the environment has been captured which tells more of a story about the subject. Furthermore, I am pleased with the lighting since it helps illuminate the environment making it seem more vibrant which reflects the subject’s bubbly personality.

I chose this image as one of my finals because I found the rule of thirds to be really effective as it still clearly highlights the subject whilst still allowing the viewer to explore the natural background and environment she is placed in. Moreover, I have used leading lines which direct the viewer’s gaze from the environment back down to the subject which I find to be very effective.

I decided to choose this one as one of my finals because I like how although the environment is different the subject is in a similar pose to the previous image so I can juxtapose the two images’ environments by displaying them side by side in my final presentation, and I also found the colour contrast between the subject’s clothing and the surrounding environment to be extremely effective since it creates a clear contrast while still keeping both as focus points – however, I feel like there is too much negative space near the bottom so when editing I will adjust the composition by cropping out some of the bottom.

I selected this image for my final because I was experimenting with natural lighting and found it really effective since it creates more of a cooler colour scheme which I find really suits the environment and the clothing of the subject. I also like the use of rule of thirds again since it allows the viewer to explore more of the environment without the subject being the full focus of the image due to them being off centre.

I chose this image for my final presentation because I find the composition really effective, showing the subject on one half of the image and the environment in the background on the other split clearly in the middle by the white concrete wall. I also like how the environment colour contrasts with the subject and his surroundings, telling more of a story to the viewer about the subject’s personality and interests. For editing, I will experiment with slightly cropping out the left part of the image since I think there is an excess of negative space and I want to create more of a focus on the subject.

Finally, I have selected this image because I like how in contrast to the other images the subject fills up more of the frame so I can juxtapose it to other photos. I also found the subject’s gaze towards the camera really effective since it creates a clear sense of connection between the viewer and the photo and I think the clothes of the subject match really well with the environment she’s placed in which tells more of a story of her character.

Editing/Experimentation

I decided to keep editing for this image simple since I like the original iteration, so I cropped the image to remove distracting negative space on the right and frame the subject more towards the left third which draws more attention from the view towards them as well as still displaying lots of items in the background which tells a story about her personality and hobbies. I also adjusted the colours and toning of the image since I felt the lighting was significantly warmer than I wanted it to be which was distracting since the vibrant colours of the walls would immediately draw attention of the viewer.

For this image, I cropped a bit off the top to remove excess negative space I found took focus away from the subject’s environment and adjusted the colours and tones to be slightly colder since the lighting was too warm. I think this edit really improved the image overall since initially there were too many distractions taking away focus from the subject, but now with less negative space and slightly less vibrant colours it allows other techniques such as the leading lines going from the top of the photo down to the subject to maintain her as the focal point of the image whilst still having the surrounding environment be colourful and full enough to showcase parts of her personality and life.

For this photo, I first cropped out the bottom to remove excess negative space to direct more focus onto the subject as well as the surrounding environment – I then adjusted the colour and brightness slightly since I found the lighting in the original image to be too warm which contrasted poorly with the colder natural lighting coming in from the skylight, and I think this edit was very successful because now there’s less distractions which direct more focus towards the subject and the environment whilst again still clearly telling a story about her personality and hobbies with the toys shown in the background.

I decided to not experiment too much with this image since I thought the original iteration was already very effective with the subject positioned on the right third allowing focus to be distributed between her as well as the environment and the natural lighting not being too warm meaning there was little distractions – however, I did crop the image slightly to remove some negative space which again helps to clear unintentional distractions and improve the photo overall. I will experiment more with colours and different compositions in my second edit but if that doesn’t help highlight the subject or the surroundings better then I will use this photo as one of my finals since I am pleased with how it is simple but still clearly shows a lot about the subject and her daily environments/activities.

For my edits of this image, I cropped to remove the sign in the top left which stood out in the negative space behind the subject which was distracting and made the image split in half, with one half showing the subject and the other colour contrasting and showing his usual environments. I also decreased brightness and increased highlights to reduce the strength of the natural lighting coming from the top right so more details are visible in the surroundings, which helps to paint a clearer picture of the subject’s typical hobbies and surroundings and overall creates more focus and intrigue from the viewer towards the subject.

For this image, I cropped it so the subject is perfectly centred which combined with the subject’s gaze directly towards the camera creates a personal connection between her and the viewer. I also increased highlights so more details are visible in the surroundings which when combined with the subject’s clothes being appropriate for the environment she is pictured in starts telling a story about her hobbies and usual environments – furthermore, I adjusted tone and colour to ensure the colours used are colder which goes well with the surroundings and overall helps create a clearer sense of the background the subject is placed in and why she’s been pictured there.

Final Images and Evaluation

Overall, I think my photoshoot was very successful since each photo clearly meets my intention of capturing people in their usual environments as well as telling stories about them and their personality/hobbies with details and objects in the surrounding environment – I did minimal editing for each one because I felt each photo was already effective and just needed small tweaks to reduce distractions and improve composition to highlight the subject further. I also found each image makes great use of formal elements and other techniques, with every image making effective use of lines, colour, space and composition techniques such as rule of thirds to highlight/contrast certain aspects of the photos to help tell more of a story about each individual subject and their respective environments.

Presentation of Final Images

My final images presented in artsteps – I decided to arrange from warmer colours/tones and indoor environments on the left leading to cooler colours/tones and outdoor environments on the right since I like how there is a clear contrast between the first half and the second half of the images, whilst still making each one catch attention from the viewer.

August Sander

August Sander (17 November 1876 – 20 April 1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer. His work includes landscape, nature, architecture, and street photography, but he is most well known for his portraits.

His most recognised series is titled People of the 20th century, and aims to show a cross-section of society during the Weimar Republic.

The picture shown above belongs to ‘The Skilled Tradesman’, which is one of the seven chapters in his ‘People of the 20th Century’ project. The title and focus of this image represent a typical example of Sander’s work documenting individuals from different jobs and social backgrounds. In terms of style, the way the portrait is centered, the plain background, and the traditional framing show Sander’s belief in photography as a way to reveal the truth; it captures reality as it is, without any fancy techniques, sticking to the established norms of portrait photography. Sander mentioned in his important lecture ‘Photography as a Universal Language’ that photography is the best medium to show the ‘physical path to demonstrable truth and understand physiognomy’.

Sander later expanded his project, People of the 20th Century, to feature a group called ‘The Woman’ (shown above). One of the subjects is ‘Sekretärin beim Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln’ (Secretary at West German Radio in Cologne), which he captured while working for the German public broadcasting organization ‘Westdeutscher Rundfunk’. This portrait can be compared to Otto Dix’s ‘Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden’, created five years earlier. Both artworks showcase a new wave of women in the workforce during that era—balancing both androgynous and feminine traits, and breaking free from traditional domestic roles. These portraits play a significant role in the emergence of the New Objectivity movement in German art, which was a response to the prevailing expressionist style, aiming for a more realistic and straightforward representation of the human form.

Typologies

A photographic typology is a study of “types”, typically a photographic series that prioritizes “collecting” rather than stand-alone images. By extracting visual elements and presenting them in a similarly consistent series, we can create a visual analysis of objects and the larger environment and its inhabitants – often without featuring the occupants themselves.

Examples of Typologies:

In photography, texture is the visual quality of the surface of an object, revealed through variances in shape, tone and colour depth. Texture can add vibrance and create intrigue in images which otherwise would be bland and uninspiring – it is also one of the formal elements.

The Formal Elements

The formal elements are characteristics or information displayed in photographs which creates interest in photographs, and including these in your work typically increases quality and leads to production of better images overall. These are as follows:

Light: This is used in images to highlight certain areas of an image to create a sense of importance on certain aspects, whereas a lack of light can be used creatively to create intrigue in photos. Whether or not the light is natural or artificial can also be used to show clear artistic intent in images.

Line: Objects or parts of an image that act as lines can create direction in a photograph to highlight certain areas, or they can be used to outline and highlight important parts as well as showing movement or energy.

Repetition: Objects, shapes or lines in a photo can be repeated to create rhythms or patterns in an image.

Shape: Geometric or organic shapes can be used in an image which will stand out due to being easily identifiable, which can be used in conjunction with repetition to create simple but effective photos.

Space: Negative (empty) space can be used alongside positive (full) space to add depth to a photograph or make it more shallow, which could be used to highlight objects in the foreground or background.

Tone: A range of tones (light to black) can be used similarly to light to highlight parts of an image as well as affecting the mood or atmosphere as an image; for example, darker tones create a dull mood which when intentional can be used to capture a strong effect in photographs.

Colour: Colours can be used to add life to images and create vibrant moods, and can also be used to highlight certain aspects due to some colours being more dominant than others.

Photographer Research – Francis Bruguière

Francis Bruguière (15 October 1879 – 8 May 1945) was an American photographer who experimented with multiple-exposure, solarization, original processes, abstracts, photograms, and the response of commercially available film to light of various wavelengths. Some of his most famous photos are experimenting with light and the texture of paper to manipulate the image into being abstract.

Above are two of Bruguière’s images which I find to be effective. He has created shapes with paper and experimented with different levels/angles of light onto the paper to explore how it will affect the presentation of the images in terms of its texture – these images also make very effective use of the formal elements, for example there is a wide variety of dark and light tones which blend together nicely alongside the low aperture softening the focus on the background to create an abstract effect as well as a sense of intrigue to the image. Furthermore, there is clear use of lines but they are slightly out of focus and instead of directing focus or highlighting certain regions of the image they are present all over the image whilst simultaneously not being overused which helps strengthen the abstract effect further as everything mixes together smoothly to make it hard to pinpoint one clear subject in both of these photographs.

Photoshoot Plan:

I decided to focus my photoshoot on the texture of paper, taking inspiration from Bruguière’s work to try and create paper shapes and using the lighting of the photography studio to explore how manipulating the light will affect the quality as well as the degree of abstraction in the image produced. I also wanted to try include aspects of the formal elements into my images to try and produce more effective and fascinating final images.

Post-Photoshoot Refining and Selecting

After the photoshoot, I imported my images into Adobe Lightroom so I could begin my review and selection process to identify poor photos (flagged as X), good photos with improvements to be made (yellow and 3 stars) and photos which I found were most effective and wanted to edit and refine for my final piece (green, 4 or 5 stars).

Above are 3 images I found weren’t effective and flagged as X. I feel these photos aren’t great since I didn’t properly adjust aperture the way I planned to in order to highlight texture, and it turned out to be out of focus too – furthermore, I feel these don’t use the formal elements effectively since for example the texture which was my main focus of this photoshoot hasn’t been shown clearly and the lines of the paper don’t highlight some regions and instead are just present without really contributing to the mood these images are trying to build.

Above are 3 images I found were improvements compared to others, but at the same time weren’t my best images – after experimenting with settings and identifying weaknesses in previous photos, I adjusted settings further and found that it was producing more of the effect I wanted it to (the 3 photos above were all taken at ISO 200, f/stop 4 and shutter speed 1/20 sec) and also managed to capture these images more in focus which improves the overall quality. I also found the formal elements were being displayed more clearly here, since in the first and last image displayed I used a light from a phone to manipulate the shadows and dark tones into highlighting the texture and in the middle image I experimented more with lighting to try and achieve an abstract effect and although it was semi-successful I found it to be too underexposed and out of focus to use it as one of my final best images.

Above are 3 images I found to be some of my most effective and selected to edit and present in my final piece. By this point I had done lots of experimenting with the settings and lighting so I was able to capture these images exactly how I wanted to in my pre-photoshoot plan, and also captured them in focus (except for the middle one which has some intentional line blurring to highlight texture in the background). I believe these images are ones that use the formal elements most effectively out of all my images.

In the first image, I decided to use my phone light rather than the studio light after some experimentation to cast a shadow of the paper onto the wall as well as using this light to highlight the texture of the paper itself, and I also captured the paper in a way where it acts as a leading line to the part of paper sticking up which acts as the subject of the photograph due to most of the photograph being 2D and flat whereas this aspect of it is sideways to show dimension and depth. In editing I will crop the image to focus more on the right half since that’s where the subject and main focus of the photo is as well as adjusting shadows and brightness to explore the effect this will have on the lighting and texture.

In the second image, I used a line of paper in the foreground but also intentionally captured it out of focus so the main subject of the image is still on the texture of paper in the background, which stands out due to me positioning the lighting in a certain way to clearly highlight it. In editing I will crop the image to focus further on the texture as well as experimenting with gradient overlays and contrast to see what effect this will have on my photo and the intention behind it.

In the third image, I aimed to focus more on capturing the formal element of lighting effectively by positioning my artificial lights and paper in a way where there would be a range of light and dark tones due to the projection of the paper’s shadow. I also found there was effective display of texture on the paper as well as lines from the bottom right towards the top left which lead to the shadow, clearly contrasting the dark and light tones. In editing I will experiment with cropping, because even though I like the raw photo as presented above I want to see if manipulation of the image in terms of cropping and composition will strengthen the atmosphere created by the other formal elements.

Image Editing and Manipulation

Below is the first set of my edited images after experimenting:

After this, I decided to manipulate my images taking an alternative approach with gradients to see what effect it would have on the photos, the formal elements as well as the ideas behind each photo.

Below is my second set of edited images:

Final Images – Creation

Below is my final set of edited images:

Final Presentation

Evaluation

On the left is a photo from Francis Bruguière and on the right is one of my final images. I think I was able to replicate Bruguière’s use of the formal elements, most notably the visible differences between dark and light tones and subtle lines which create space and contribute to the composition – however, unlike Bruguière, I have used mostly negative space to present my dark tones which means the paper doesn’t fully fill the frame and therefore it does take away from the abstract effect.

Artist Research – Mark Duffy

Mark Duffy is a commercial photographer who brings over a decade of graphic design experience to his photography work.

Some of his work involves close up macro photography of fruit, using effective compositions to highlight different textures on different fruits.

My Photoshoot

For my photoshoot on texture, I decided to photograph a wide variety of fruit and experiment with their different textures to create a range of unique, interesting images. By taking straight-on, zoomed in images similarly to Mark Duffy I aimed to highlight texture using specific compositions as well as creating clear differences in tones between different fruits.

Overall, some photos were underexposed whilst I was trying to adjust the settings manually to cope with the room’s artificial lighting but for the majority of the photos I feel I successfully captured effective images focusing and highlighting the unique textures of each individual fruit. I also used straight on shots to focus solely on the textures presented in each image, making use of formal elements such as lines and space to make them stand out further.

Some of my better photos:

The raw photos shown above I believe have captured texture very effectively, occasionally using a soft focus to highlight certain textures as well as most textures being in the foreground combined with a low aperture to make the textures stand out even further as the image’s main focal point.

Image Editing/Experimentation:

First editing phase:

Second editing phase:

Final fruit photos:

Above are my final 3 photos, presented in a triptych. I decided to crop each one similarly to the point where it removes most unnecessary negative space to focus solely on texture, as well as making them all black and white to remove colours in order to further develop the focus on texture since this was my main intention behind the photoshoot. Finally, after editing each image in Photoshop, I used Lightroom’s develop mode to manually increase presence of texture which I found extremely effective since now all my photos have a strong resemblance to Mark Duffy’s work with their minimal negative space and strong focus on textures.

Evaluation and Comparison:

Above is one of my final images compared to an image from my inspiration, Mark Duffy. I think I managed to successfully take inspiration from his work and implement it into my own photos, seen clearly by both images being straight-on shots of fruit highlighting texture – however, mine has some negative space around the subject (in contrast to Duffy) and is also in black and white which I did since I think the removal of colours cuts down on distractions to focus solely on texture. Both photos also demonstrate clear use of formal elements, with both having subtle lines to highlight the textures as well as a clear range of light and dark tones to create intrigue in the photo.

What is ISO?

ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) is a number you can change on your camera which adjusts how sensitive your camera sensor is to light.

How does changing ISO affect images?

A lower ISO value means there is less sensitivity to light, so you will need more light to take a good photo, whereas a higher ISO value increases sensitivity to light meaning less light is needed for a photo. However, if ISO is set too high, visual noise can start being introduced into the image which is a grainy effect that if unintentional can lower the quality and effectiveness of your photo.

Despite this drawback, higher ISO values are still useful for taking photos where there are low levels of light. If you have ideal lighting conditions, your ISO number should be kept low to avoid introducing visual noise into your photographs. Unlike aperture and shutter speed, ISO is adjusted by pressing the ISO button and then selecting your desired number.

My ISO photos:

For my photoshoot, I took pictures of the same subjects while adjusting the shutter speed and ISO numbers to explore how they affect images.

Below are two images of a scrunched up paper ball, both taken at the same shutter speed but with different ISO numbers.

The first photo is significantly darker than the second because the ISO number is extremely low, which has reduced light sensitivity and caused a darker image. The second photo is much brighter due to a higher ISO number which has increased light sensitivity, as well as beginning to introduce visual noise into the image.

When taking photos, you need to adjust shutter speed, aperture and ISO all together to ensure the lighting is optimal for the effect you are trying to achieve. Fast shutter speeds which let in less light alongside low ISO levels to decrease light sensitivity can cause extremely dark photos, such as the one below.

If you over-adjust one aspect while not adjusting another, you can fix the lighting problem but introduce other issues into your photos. For example, in the image below, the shutter speed is still fast (1/100 sec) but the ISO has increased drastically to 6400, which has improved the lighting significantly but also introduced visual noise which has affect the quality of the image.

However, with the right amount of adjustment for each aspect (aperture, shutter speed and ISO), you can achieve your desired lighting without harming the image too much in other ways such as visual noise.

Conclusion:

Aperture, shutter speed and ISO all affect the brightness of your image so it is important to adjust each one to make sure your photos are your desired brightness whilst minimising other consequences like visual noise. For example, if you use a low ISO number, you might want to compensate by using a slower shutter speed and larger aperture to achieve optimal lighting.