Portraiture work diary

Mind map-

Some good photos-

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Photos that need improving-

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The last two images are of my friend Alexa, both were taken outdoors in the college grounds. In the first portrait Alexa is sitting posing for me and trying to look natural as if she is not posing for a photo. so she is looking directly at the camera and smiling. In this way she is connecting emotionally with the viewer more. T o improve It I would use a higher iso setting so that the photo was brighter and try and get a shallower depth of field so that she is in more focus by adjusting my iso settings,

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Photoshoped photos-

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portraiture straight images

 As Alexa is not looking directly at the camera this makes the viewer wonder what she is looking at and additionally makes the portrait appear more natural and less posed for. In the portrait she has a prop, her camera is hanging around her neck. Using this prop adds atmosphere and context to the portrait, as a sophisticated looking camera like this triggers associations with creativity, professionalism and knowledge and these will then be associated with the portrait’s subject. I wanted to show that Alexa was intelligent and skillful at photography as she is studying it at A level and I think I have achieved this reasonably well. Finally the background was a psychologically neutral grey colour and this brings a more serious feeling to the image focuses all attention onto her and not the background.

 

 

I think it is a good portrait image for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was taken in a studio, so I was able to set the lighting to be soft and even, and in this way Alexa’s features look smooth and gradual and her skins texture looks softer too. Additionally the lighting helps to create form making her appear more three dimensional and real. The facial expression of Alexa's that I have captured in the portrait is one where she looks contemplative as if she is thinking about something; she also is posed with her hands on her hips as if considering something. This makes the viewer wonder what that could be and brings intrigue into the portrait
 

 

 

Portraiture contact sheet

Evaluation- For portraiture I shot my images either in the studio or outside. For the photos in the studio I tried to get shoulder up portraits and waist up as it was easier because I didn't really have to worry about the iso levels and the aperture or shutter speed because they were all in the same lighting so I kept my camera settings the same. Also in the studio I tried to take photos similar to the artists that I had been researching. For the photos that I had taken outside on some of the photos I tried to get a shallow depth of field so that the model was completely in focus as she was the main subject in the photo and the background blurred. I found it hard to get a varied range of different photos as there isn't much you can do with portraiture unless I had a bigger group then I could've captured group portraitures. 

 

Reflection & Framing straight images

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Form straight images

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Within the studio there were some props available for us to photograph, we choose the gas mask and scissors and then added our own additional props. We felt the gas mask and scissors represented destructive forces and added the flowers to create contrast with them. The light source came from a studio light positioned at the top right of the frame. This lighting accentuated the form as it cast shadows of the subject producing an illusion of depth.

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The photo of the cameras was also taken in the studio, we decided it would be fun to use a camera to create a 3-D image of more cameras focused on the camera photoing them. We placed 3 similar cameras in a row as we though multiple cameras would be more interesting that just one. With the light positioned again at the top right the contrasting tone created by the shadowing amplified the perception of form

 

Tone straight images

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shape straight images

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Texture straight images

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Pattern straight images

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Henri Cartier Bresson

Henri Cartier Bressonwas born August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, France, a rural village not far from Paris. He is best known for his images of life in Europe during the 1930s through the 1950s. In 1931, he embarked upon a long trip across Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary with a writer friend. In 1939 enlisted in the French army and was made a corporal in its film and photo unit. on June 1940 his unit was captured in the Vosges Mountains and then he was transported to a prisoner-of-war camp in Wuerttemberg. He successfully escaped on his third try and sneak back to France, where he obtained false identity papers and managed to find work as a commercial photographer, again in Paris. He was also active in an underground group that aided escaped POWs like himself, and organised secret photography units that documented the German occupation.

His work has long been honoured with museum retrospectives, which have served to elevate his street-level imagery to the realm of artistic expression.work was revolutionary because he used a small, portable camera, which allowed him to record a "decisive moment" in time. That spontaneity-and the unrehearsed, unstaged glimpse into human nature that it captured-would become the distinctive element common to most of his images. 

(France. World War II. Liberation. The Alsace. A Bridge over the Rhine near Strasbourg. 1944.)

(Germany. Dessau. A transit camp was located between the American and Soviet zones organised for refugees; political prisoners, POW's, STO's (Forced Labourers), displaced persons, returning from the Eastern front of Germany that had been liberated by the Soviet Army. A Soviet child who was deported with his parents, returning to his homeland. April 1945.)

Documentary definition

Definition- Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It follows a single topic or story in-depth over time, By deepening our understanding and emotional connection to stories of injustice, documentary photography can capture and sustain public attention, and mobilize people around pressing social and human rights issues.

Portfolio

Definition-A photographic portfolio is quite simply a collection of work. An artist's portfolio is an edited collection of their best artwork intended to showcase an artist's style or method of work. A portfolio is used by artists to show employers their versatility by showing different samples of current work. Typically, the work reflects an artist's best work or a depth in one specific area of work. A photography portfolio can focus on a single subject. It can be a collection of photographs taken with a certain type of camera, in one geographic area, of one person or a group of people, only black & white or sepia photos, a special event, etc.

portraiture image bank