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Romanticism Photoshoot

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I got the chance to try and recreate the feel of Romanticism through landscape photography. While I was at the reservoir, I took around 250 photos, making sure to cover different areas of the place. I really focused on capturing the natural beauty, so I avoided including any buildings or man-made structures in the shots. This made it tricky at times because there were parts of the reservoir that I just couldn’t photograph without having something modern in the frame, like a bridge or a trail. It was a bit frustrating, but it made me think more about where I was shooting and what I was capturing. I had to be picky and really find those spots where nature felt untouched.

My best shots:

After going through all the pictures, I picked the ones I thought had the most potential for editing. At first, I chose 53 photos, but I’m planning to narrow it down even further. I’ll aim to end up with 3 to 5 solid shots that I can really focus on editing and polishing. The goal is to pick the ones that best capture the feel I’m going for without overcomplicating things. I’m looking for the images that will really pop after some editing.

I’ve since cut it down to 11 photos, which gives me a more manageable selection to work with. I also color-coded them to help me keep track of which ones I think are the best for editing. It just makes it easier to visually see which ones I like the most. I’m aiming to refine these even more and really bring out the details that could make them look even better.

Now, I’ve settled on 3 photos that I think are the strongest. I’ve marked them green to show they stand out the most and have the most potential for editing and color grading. These 3 are the ones I’ll focus on, making sure they’re as sharp and vibrant as possible. Once I get these right, I’ll be happy with the final result.

These final 3 photos represent the shots I feel best capture the essence of the landscape I wanted to portray. After carefully reviewing and narrowing down my collection, I chose these because they stand out the most in terms of composition, lighting, and how well they convey the natural beauty of the reservoir. Each one has its own unique qualities, from the way the light plays across the water to the dramatic contrast between the elements of nature. I believe these images have the most potential for editing, and I’m excited to take them through the process to really enhance their impact. These will be the key photos that help showcase the Romanticism-inspired vision I’ve been working towards.

The New Topographics

Landscape photography used to be about capturing nature at its most dramatic and untouched. But in 1975, a group of photographers took a different approach. Instead of photographing mountains and forests, they focused on suburbs, industrial sites, and parking lots, everyday places shaped by people. This style became known as New Topographics and changed the way we think about landscapes.

Where Did New Topographics Come From?

The term New Topographics came from a 1975 exhibition at the International Museum of Photography in Rochester, New York. Curated by William Jenkins, the show featured photographers like Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Nicholas Nixon, who all photographed human-altered landscapes in a neutral, documentary style.

Their images weren’t meant to be beautiful or dramatic. They were often black and white, simple, and straightforward, just showing the way things were, without adding emotion or judgment.

Robert adams

One of the most influential photographers in the New Topographics movement was Robert Adams. His work focused on the rapid urbanization of the American West, particularly in Colorado. Adams documented how new housing developments, roads, and industry transformed the once-open landscapes.

His photos often present stark contrasts between nature and human expansion. In images like Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1968, Adams captures rows of identical houses against vast, empty skies. The uniformity and repetition of these structures highlight the loss of individuality and natural beauty in the push for economic growth.

Adams’ work isn’t entirely pessimistic, though. While his images show environmental change and urban sprawl, they also find quiet beauty in the ordinary. His compositions are carefully framed, making even mundane subjects, like highways or suburban fences, visually striking. His photography encourages us to look at familiar places differently, questioning how we shape and experience the world around us.

Image Analysis

Robert Adams’ Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1968:

Technical

  • Camera and Film: Adams likely used a medium or large-format camera, which gives a lot of detail and depth to the image.
  • Exposure and Lighting: The lighting looks natural, with soft shadows and clear highlights. It feels like it was taken in the late afternoon, with a balanced exposure showing both light and dark areas clearly.
  • Composition: The photo is well thought out, with elements like the land, sky, and possibly some buildings placed carefully. The horizon line is low, making the sky feel vast.

Visual

  • Tone and Contrast: Since it’s black-and-white, the contrasts between dark and light are important. The stark contrast gives the photo a clean, sharp look that adds to the feeling of openness.
  • Subject Matter: The focus is on wide, open spaces, often with very little human presence. Any human-made structures are small, showing how nature dominates the scene.
  • Space: There’s a lot of empty space, making it feel wide and open. This can give a sense of loneliness or isolation.

Contextual

  • Historical Moment: The photo was taken in 1968, during a time when cities were rapidly growing, and suburban sprawl was taking over. This fits into Adams’ focus on how human development was starting to change the natural landscape.
  • Environmental Impact: Adams is known for photographing the American West, especially focusing on how urbanization and development were affecting the environment.
  • Adams’ Perspective: He loved the American West and wanted to capture it before it was changed forever. In the late ’60s, he started showing the effects of that change, highlighting the quiet, sometimes sad consequences of human growth.

Conceptual

  • Nature vs. Civilization: The photo highlights the tension between the open land and the human structures that are slowly taking over it. It’s a reminder of how much nature is being altered by development.
  • Solitude: The wide, empty spaces give a feeling of loneliness. The smallness of human figures or buildings in the scene makes you think about how we’re just one part of a much bigger, more powerful world.
  • Critique of Development: Adams is kind of questioning the idea of constant growth and progress. The photo feels like a commentary on how human development might be coming at the cost of something beautiful.

What Was New Topographics a Reaction To?

Before this movement, landscape photography often romanticized nature, ignoring how people had changed the environment. New Topographics photographers challenged that idea, documenting the way human expansion had reshaped the landscape.

Historical Context

It was also a response to what was happening in post-war America. After World War II, there was a housing boom, highways expanded, and shopping malls took over open land. Cities grew fast, and suburbs spread further out. These photographers were capturing that shift.

At the same time, environmental issues were becoming more noticeable. Industrial development and urban sprawl were raising concerns about pollution and overdevelopment. While these photographers didn’t make direct political statements, their images highlighted the impact of human progress on the landscape.

Why It Matters

The 1970s was a time of big changes. The economy was shifting, inflation was rising, and protests for civil rights, women’s rights, and against the Vietnam War were shaping society. The landscapes captured by New Topographics photographers reflected this moment, a world where expansion, progress, and loss were happening all at once.

Their images still feel relevant today. Urban sprawl, industrialization, and environmental change haven’t slowed down. This style of photography makes us look at these spaces differently, not as background scenery but as part of the world we’ve built.

Stephen Shore, Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California, June 21, 1975, chromogenic colour print

  • Foreground vs background | Dominant features
  • Composition | low horizon line | Square format
  • Perspective and detail / cluttering
  • Wide depth of field | Large Format Camera
  • Colour | impact and relevance
  • Nationalism vs mobility vs isolation
  • Social commentary | The American Dream ?
  • An appreciation of the formal elements : line, shape, form, texture, pattern, tone etc

Description:

Technical:

Stephen Shore’s photo of Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue captures the harsh daylight of midday, where the sun is directly overhead, creating sharp shadows that give the scene a lot of depth and texture. The use of a large-format camera makes everything in the shot super detailed, from the cars on the street to the buildings and the trees. The chromogenic color print brings out the vivid colors, making even the smallest things stand out. The result is a super clear, almost crisp image that feels both real and slightly heightened, like you’re seeing the everyday world in a new way.

Visual:

The composition is all about the urban environment. You see a long stretch of road and low buildings, and there’s a sense of space that feels wide and open. The way the elements of the photo are arranged follows the rule of thirds to some degree, but it’s not strict. There’s a flow to the image, with the street and the buildings pulling your eye toward the horizon. The lines of the road and the edges of the buildings lead you into the distance, creating a sense of depth. The square format of the photo makes everything feel balanced, and the whole scene seems a bit compressed, like it’s all being funneled toward one point, adding to the feeling of space in the image.

Contextual:

This photo was taken in Los Angeles in 1975, a time when the city was all about cars and expansion. The image shows the effects of urbanization, with lots of streets, billboards, and cars, symbols of a rapidly industrializing America. The bright colors, reds, blues, and whites, could be nods to the American flag and what those colors represent in terms of national identity. The scene is a bit isolating, even though it’s a busy street, you don’t see much interaction between people. Instead, it’s all about the car culture and consumerism that defined the time. It feels like Shore is commenting on how progress and technology shape our lives, for better or worse, and how that can sometimes disconnect us from nature.

Conceptual:

The image is more than just a snapshot of Los Angeles, it’s a reflection on what America was going through at the time. The street seems to go on forever, pointing toward a future that’s all about roads and infrastructure. There’s this pull between the ideal of the open road and the reality of urban sprawl. The photo isn’t romanticizing the city but is more about observing it as it is, big, fast, and sometimes a little isolating. The cars and the billboards show the busy, consumer-driven culture, but the image also makes you think about where all this progress is taking us. It’s like the road stretches out, but does it lead to something meaningful or just more of the same?

Exposure Bracketing/HDR

Exposure Compensation:

This is just a way to tweak how bright or dark your photo turns out. Your camera tries to find the “perfect” exposure, but it doesn’t always get it right. If your photo’s too dark or too bright, you can use exposure compensation to fix it.

Minus (-) makes it darker.

Plus (+) makes it brighter.

Exposure Bracketing:

This is when you take several shots of the same thing, but with different brightness levels. The idea is to make sure one of them is perfect. It’s useful if you’re in tricky lighting, like a scene with both bright lights and dark shadows.

For example, you might take:

One that’s a bit brighter.

One regular shot.

One that’s a bit darker.

HDR photos:

How to use it:

HDR modes can usually be found in the settings of most cameras, in which it gives you a variety of options to choose and tweak to how you want your photographs to be.

On the camera screen you are also able to choose High speed continuous photos, this makes it so the 3 photos needed for HDR (low exposure, medium exposure, high exposure) are taken in a fraction of a second, this makes it so if there is any movement in the camera, there wont be any differences in the photos besides how dark or light they are. This will overall make it alot easier to obtain the HDR photo you are looking for as you wont need a tripod or anything to stabilise the camera.

HDR is a trick where you combine multiple shots with different exposures to get a photo with more detail in both the bright and dark areas. It’s like using the best parts of each shot to make the final one look more interesting.

So, if you’re taking a picture of a sunset or something with a lot of contrast, HDR can help you show both the sky and the shadows in detail.

My own photos:

These are the before and after of my photos regarding HDR photos in which there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference but it is quite hard to replicate the HDR without taking multiple photos of the same shot but with different exposure, so using photoshop doesn’t correlate with the same type of quality if i were to do it properly.

Ansel Adams Case study

Case study:

Monolith, The Face of Half Dome

Technical

Ansel Adams was a pro at the technical side of photography, and Monolith, the Face of Half Dome shows that off perfectly. He used a large-format camera, which helped him capture tons of detail and a wide range of tones. The photo is a black-and-white gelatin silver print, which gives it those rich contrasts and deep blacks. Adams also controlled the exposure really carefully to make sure everything, from the shadows to the highlights, was just right. He was also known for using the zone system to manage exposure, which helped him get that perfect tonal range.

Visual

The composition is pretty striking. Half Dome’s rock face dominates the image, standing tall and powerful. The vertical orientation of the photo and the lines in the landscape really emphasize the rock’s size and texture. There’s a lot of contrast between the dark shadows on the rock and the bright areas lit by sunlight, which gives the whole image a dramatic feel. The rest of the landscape isn’t the main focus, but it’s still sharp, giving us a sense of the surrounding area without taking attention away from Half Dome.

Contextual

Adams took this photo in Yosemite National Park in 1927, a time when he was deeply involved in pushing for the conservation of natural spaces. The photo was part of his effort to show off the beauty of America’s national parks, especially Yosemite. Half Dome had already been a famous subject in American landscape photography, symbolizing the beauty of the wilderness. Adams used his photography to encourage people to appreciate and protect nature, especially as industrialization was on the rise.

Conceptual

Conceptually, the photo is all about nature’s power and timelessness. Half Dome, standing tall and dominating the landscape, represents the sheer scale and endurance of the natural world. Adams wanted to capture a feeling of connection between people and nature, and this photo really speaks to that. The contrast between light and dark also suggests a balance between opposing forces, like nature versus human influence or light versus shadow. Ultimately, Adams wanted to show us how grand and fragile nature can be.

Ansel Adams

Who is ansel adams ansel?

Ansel Adams was a famous American photographer, known for his black-and-white photos of nature, especially landscapes like Yosemite National Park. He had a unique way of capturing the details and contrasts in his photos, which made them stand out.

He also created the Zone System, a method that helped photographers get the perfect exposure and tonal range in their shots. Besides his photography, Adams was passionate about protecting the environment and pushed for the preservation of national parks. His work has had a huge impact on both photography and the conservation movement.

About his childhood:

He was born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California, to a wealthy family. His father, Charles, was a successful businessman, but his mother, Olive, was a more artistic influence on him. However, Ansel had a somewhat difficult early life. He had a rough start with his education, he was a bit of a daydreamer and had trouble fitting in at school, partly because of a broken nose he suffered from a fall, which made him self-conscious.

Because of this, he was largely homeschooled, and that gave him more time to focus on his personal interests. As a child, he was fascinated by nature and often spent time outdoors, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area. His love of nature, particularly the mountains, became a major theme in his future photography work.

Sierra Club:

The Sierra Club is one of the oldest and most influential environmental organizations in the United States. It was founded in 1892 by John Muir, who was a major advocate for preserving the natural beauty of the American wilderness.

1927

In 1927, a significant event in Ansel Adams’s life occurred: he had his first solo exhibition of photographs. This exhibition was held at the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento, California. It was a big milestone for him, as it marked the beginning of his professional career as a photographer. At the time, he was still experimenting with photography, focusing mainly on landscapes.

Around this time, Adams was also taking lessons from photographer Edward Weston, who would go on to become an important mentor to him. This period helped Adams refine his technical skills and solidify his commitment to landscape photography.

So, 1927 was a pivotal year where Adams started to transition from a passionate hobbyist into a professional

Involvement besides photography:

Environmental Activism: He was a big advocate for nature and worked hard to protect national parks, especially Yosemite. His photos helped raise awareness about the importance of preserving these places.

Writing and Teaching: Adams didn’t just take photos, he also wrote books on photography and taught others about it. His books like “Making a Photograph” are still helpful to photographers today.

Music: Before photography took over, Adams was really into music. He was a talented pianist and even thought about pursuing a career in music at one point.

Government Work: He advised the U.S. government on environmental and artistic issues, even being part of boards that worked on preserving natural places and supporting public art.

When were Ansel Adams’ images first used for environmental purposes?

Ansel Adams’ images were first used for environmental purposes in the early 1930s. One of the most notable early instances was in 1933, when Adams was invited by the U.S. government to photograph the national parks and public lands for the Department of the Interior. His stunning photographs of places like Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and the High Sierra helped capture the beauty and importance of these areas, making a strong case for their preservation.

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon was at risk of Development and Logging: In the early 1900s, there were plans to build dams and develop the area for agriculture, hydroelectric power, and commercial logging. These actions would have disrupted the natural landscape, altered ecosystems, and reduced the beauty and biodiversity of the region.

Water Projects: One of the biggest threats to Kings Canyon was the construction of a large reservoir system, including the proposal for the Big Pine Dam. This would have flooded parts of the canyon and severely impacted the natural environment, especially the wildlife and plant species dependent on the river.

Tourism and Overuse: As with many national parks, the growing number of visitors posed risks to the park’s delicate ecosystems. Overuse of the land, including the destruction of habitats by tourists, would have had long-term damaging effects.

How did ansel adams help with protecting the high sierra?

In the 1930s, Adams began capturing the stunning landscapes of the High Sierra, including its rugged mountains, lakes, and wilderness areas. His breathtaking black-and-white images were used to promote the protection of the region. These images became a powerful tool to show the public and lawmakers why such areas needed to be preserved.

Ansel Adams visualisation:

In terms of Ansel Adams, visualization refers to his process of mentally planning and imagining a photograph before taking the shot. It’s a technique he developed that involves seeing the final image in his mind’s eye, even before capturing it with his camera. Adams believed that successful photography starts with the photographer’s ability to mentally visualize the image they want to create, this allows them to control every aspect of the scene, from composition to exposure.

Landscapes

What does “landscape” mean?
In art, “landscape” refers to a genre that depicts scenes of nature, including natural scenery like mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, often showing the relationship between humans and nature. The term can also apply to depictions of rural or natural settings in visual art, where nature is the central subject.

When did landscape emerge as a genre in Western culture?
Landscape as a distinct genre began to emerge in Western culture during the Renaissance period (14th-17th centuries), but it wasn’t yet considered a standalone genre. Initially, landscapes were often part of religious or historical paintings, serving as backgrounds. It wasn’t until the 17th century, particularly in the Netherlands, that landscape painting started to gain recognition as an independent genre, moving away from religious themes.

When did classical landscapes emerge as a genre?
Classical landscapes, influenced by Ancient Greek and Roman ideals, began to take shape during the 16th and 17th centuries. The classical landscape was rooted in a sense of harmony, balance, and idealized nature. It was during the Baroque period (1600-1750) that the classical landscape genre reached its peak with artists like Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, whose works often depicted idealized, calm, and peaceful rural scenes.

What prompted the rise of Landscape Art during the late 18th/19th century?
The rise of landscape art in the late 18th and 19th centuries can be attributed to several cultural, social, and intellectual shifts:

  1. The Enlightenment: Intellectual movements in Europe emphasized reason, science, and the study of nature, leading to a greater appreciation of the natural world.
  2. Romanticism: The Romantic movement (late 18th–mid 19th century) glorified nature as a source of beauty, mystery, and emotional expression, which spurred an increase in landscape painting.
  3. Industrial Revolution: As the Industrial Revolution began transforming urban environments, artists began to seek solace and inspiration in nature, reflecting on the contrast between industrialization and the natural world.
  4. Tourism and the Grand Tour: Wealthy Europeans, especially the English, traveled across Europe and visited scenic areas, which led to an increased demand for landscape art as souvenirs.
  5. Scientific Exploration: Advancements in exploration and natural sciences prompted interest in documenting the natural environment, inspiring both artists and photographers.

When did landscape photography originate?
Landscape photography began in the mid-19th century, around the 1830s and 1840s. One of the earliest pioneers of landscape photography was Hill and Adamson, who began working in Scotland in the 1840s. The first significant strides in landscape photography are also attributed to photographers like Carleton Watkins and Ansel Adams, especially in the United States, where the natural beauty of the western states was captured. The invention of the daguerreotype in 1839, followed by advancements in photographic technology, made it possible to capture detailed, realistic images of nature.

Romanticism

What is Romanticism?

Romanticism was an art and literary movement from the late 1700s to the 1800s. It pushed back against logic and reason, focusing instead on emotions, nature, and personal expression. It aimed to capture deep feelings and the wild beauty of the world.

Facts About Romanticism

  • Who: Artists like J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, poets like William Wordsworth, and composers like Beethoven.
  • What: A movement that highlighted emotion, imagination, and nature.
  • Where: Started in Europe, mainly in Germany, Britain, and France, then spread.
  • When: Late 18th to mid-19th century.
  • How: Expressed through paintings, poetry, and music that captured the power of nature and human emotions.
  • Why: It was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the cold, logical focus of the Enlightenment.

The Sublime

The Sublime is all about the overwhelming power of nature, huge mountains, wild storms, or endless oceans that make people feel tiny. Romantic artists loved showing this contrast between human life and nature’s vastness.

J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851)

  • Turner painted with bold colors and light to show nature’s energy.
  • Famous for works like The Fighting Temeraire and Rain, Steam, and Speed.
  • His art often captured The Sublime, showing wild seas and dramatic skies.

John Constable (1776–1837)

  • Constable painted calm, detailed scenes of the countryside.
  • Known for The Hay Wain and Dedham Vale, celebrating everyday rural life.
  • His work was more peaceful compared to Turner’s dramatic style.

Key Words and Terms

  • The Sublime: The feeling of awe when facing nature’s power.
  • Emotion: A big part of Romantic art, often shown in dramatic scenes.
  • Nature: A main theme, focusing on its beauty and unpredictability.
  • Imagination: Valued over strict logic and reason.
  • Individualism: Celebrating personal expression and feelings.
  • Picturesque: The charm of irregular, natural scenery.
  • Dramatic Light: Used by Turner to create intense moods.
  • Atmospheric Perspective: A technique to add depth and feeling.

Today, landscape photography often follows Romantic ideals, capturing nature’s drama and beauty, much like Turner and Constable did in their paintings.

Notes:

was not a very popular genre in this period of time, very large painting of a store river where john constable grew up at noon – before it was called The Hay Wain. Constables father was landowner, a lot of economic stress and relation to the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution presumed to have had taken workers away. Because landscape were not very popular at the time, this time of very large painting gave a shock factor in which wasn’t very expected. No sense of nature to be thought in this sense of moment, an expression of his own personal experiences. The use of nature now has meaning for the advancement into large cities which many do not have much experience with nature, this made his artwork stand out. The texture of the photos made it so you could feel the rivers and foliage, in which his artwork relates to his experiences in growing up with a lot of nature and his actual art skills to replicate this.

Nikita Pirogov

Editing

For the editing on these photos, they were quite simple in which I just tried my best to light up the features of the person and help more with the colouring to enable the emotions in the photos to be expressed more clearly. For example in the photo above in which I had adjusted the sliders to make the images a little bit darker and lighter bits in the photo stand out more.

I also cropped all of them to the right size, fitting them all in a way that makes not only the image sizes the same but also the head sizes, making the photos all look more in proportion to each other. For example in the image above, it shows how I used the cropping tool to just extract the headshot to fit in with the others.

The way I ordered the photos was purposely done to help show some type of meaning towards them, creating a sense of story with the subject almost like they are getting antagonized by the shouting of the other photos, with it getting worse and worse as you go down the rows. I was able to do all of this in the printing section of lightroom, enabling me to also make the presentation of my final outcome grid by changing the margins and cell spacing.

Final outcome

Virtual Gallery

In the artsteps virtual gallery, i have made it so there is every single individual photo in my final piece has been added. i have also added the final piece in its grid format to kind of show all the photos that went into it in more detail.

Evaluation

I think the final outcome was in my opinion quite successful, as I was able to kind of tell a story with the photos pretty much only with the expressions and faces made. In which while i was editing I had these intentions, describing the identity of which the person shows in the form of reactions towards the other photos in the grid. Regarding towards the artist reference, it kind of goes its own way but still remains in the artists technique of the images telling some type of story. But one thing I would like to do differently was that I wish I took more photos in general as this would of made it easier to pick certain faces and expressions that clearly show the emotions i was looking for.

Additional Photoshoots:

Raw photos:

Edits:

Virtual Gallery:

Presentation:

Identity ideas

Mood board

Plan/Themes

The first image reflects my love for football, especially Liverpool. I could use this idea for my photoshoots since a lot of my friends play football. I could snap shots of them in play, like dribbling, passing, or celebrating goals, or just catch them in their kits, showing moments of their teamwork or focus.

Another one I could possible do is a family gathering for christmas and the holidays, as this could represent almost like an environmental portraiture of different family members next to christmas decorations and lights.

There are many options I could choose from that are in relation to my identity but I think I will most likely refer my photoshoots to artists references, such as:

Christoffer Relander

Relander’s photography is all about showing how complex and layered identity can be. He doesn’t just capture portraits of people; he blends them with landscapes, nature, and other elements to suggest that our identity is not just about who we are, but also where we’re from and what surrounds us.

By merging human faces with trees, mountains, or skies, Relander suggests that our identity is connected to the natural world. It’s not just about us as individuals, but how we fit into a bigger picture, our relationship with nature, the environment, and the universe.

Relander’s approach, using double exposure, lets him create a deeper story about identity in each photo. It’s not just about showing someone’s face, it’s about showing the multiple sides of who they are. Relander’s process is a mix of skill and creativity. He doesn’t just take pictures; he carefully crafts his shots to tell a deeper story about who we are.

Nikita Pirogov

Pirogov’s photos probably aim to dig deeper into who people are, not just how they look on the outside. They might focus on moments of vulnerability or the quiet details of life, showing how identity is more than just a surface thing. Whether it’s about personal transformation or how we belong to different groups, their photography could help us think about the emotional side of identity.

Pirogov might take photos of individuals in everyday settings or staged moments that bring out the complexities of identity. The subjects could range from close up portraits to broader scenes that show cultural or social identity. The photos might explore issues like gender, race, or social class, focusing on real people and real stories.

Pirogov likely uses light, composition, and emotion to make their photos feel intimate and raw. Whether they’re using soft natural light for calm, personal moments or high contrast for something more dramatic, how they light their subjects would say a lot about the mood of the photo. Their photos probably show real, honest emotions, giving you a sense of connection with the person in the picture.

Action plan:

Will try to take multiple photos involved with nature such as Queen’s Valley Reservoir or Millbrook. But I will try to take as many photos as I can regarding foliage, trees and that nature. I will probably do this photoshoot during one my days i leave school early or the weekend to make sure I have the appropriate amount of lighting for my photos to work. I will also try to take more photos of portraits either at home or in school to allow more diverse photos. I could also use photos i already have on my phone that I have taken but will have to find out how to directly transfer them.

Practice editing

Identity Portraiture

Moodboard

Identity

“Identity” is basically who you are, it’s made up of the things that define you, like your values, beliefs, and how you see yourself. It also includes how others see you. Your identity can be shaped by lots of things, like your background, experiences, and the society you’re part of. It’s not fixed and can change over time as you grow or as you’re exposed to new ideas.

Femininity

Femininity is the set of qualities or behaviors that society often associates with women, like being nurturing, emotional, or gentle. These ideas about femininity can vary from culture to culture and can change over time. It’s not something that everyone who is female has to follow, and today, many people are pushing back against these old stereotypes of what women should be like.

Masculinity

“Masculinity” is similar to femininity, but it’s about the traits traditionally linked to men, like being strong, independent, and assertive. Just like femininity, ideas about masculinity are shaped by culture and society, and they’ve evolved a lot in recent years. Now, more people are recognizing that there are many ways to express masculinity, and it’s not limited to just a few behaviors.

Gender Identity

Gender identity is how you personally feel about your gender, whether you feel like a man, a woman, or something else entirely. Society often has certain ideas about how men and women should act, but those ideas aren’t the same everywhere, and they’re always changing. Growing up in a place where there’s a lot of pressure to act a certain way based on your gender can affect how you see yourself, but so can being in an environment where people are more open-minded about gender.

Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is about feeling connected to the culture or traditions of the group you’re from, like language, food, religion, or customs. If you grow up in a place where that culture is important, it can become a big part of who you are. But if you move to a new country or grow up in a mixed community, your cultural identity might become more fluid as you blend influences from different places.

Social Identity

Social identity is how you define yourself based on the groups you belong to, like your family, community, or class. Your social identity affects how you see yourself in relation to others and how you feel about your place in the world. For example, if you grow up in a working-class family, that might shape how you think about success or what kinds of opportunities are possible for you.

Geographical Identity

Where you’re from, whether it’s a specific country, city, or neighborhood, can shape who you are. The place you live affects your values, your lifestyle, and how you relate to the world. If you’re from a small town, you might have a different sense of community or pace of life compared to someone from a big city, for example.

Political Identity

Political identity is about where you stand on issues like government, rights, and power. This is often influenced by the values you were taught growing up, the society you live in, and the political climate of your country. So, someone raised in a conservative family might have a different political identity than someone from a progressive background.

Loss of or Lack of Identity

Sometimes people feel like they’ve lost their sense of identity or never really figured out who they are. This can happen if you go through big life changes, like moving to a new place or dealing with personal struggles, or if you’re stuck in a situation where you don’t feel like you belong. It can be confusing and leave you unsure of where you fit in.

Stereotypes and Prejudices

Stereotypes are oversimplified ideas about certain groups of people, and prejudices are biased attitudes based on these ideas. These can influence how you see yourself or how others see you. For example, if society expects women to be nurturing, a woman who doesn’t fit that mold might feel like she doesn’t belong, or she might be judged unfairly.