Evaluation

Portraiture Evaluation


Starting this project the first inspiration i found was shown to me by one of my tutors. This was a spread in ID magazine, love edition. After being given the briefe and knowing we had to produce a series of black and white portraits first of all, our tutor showed us this spread which consisted of black and white images of couples. This straight away got me thinking as i had never really considered capturing a portrait of two people. My instant thoughts on portraiture would just be one person. In these images the models or people stood against a white background expressing all different emotions and standing in different stances. This style of portraiture seemed really relaxed and as though it would be fun to create. The magazine spread reminded me very much of the work of Richard Avedon. 

For the first part of the brief we had to use a large format camera with 5x4 film to capture images of strangers. At first i went and captured images of couples swell as individuals after being so inspired by ID Magazine. Something which straight away stood in my way in this project was having the confidence to ask strangers to have their photograph taken. If i were to do the project again i would want to somehow find to confidence to speak to strangers as i would have liked to have captured more images, meaning i would have had more images to chose from. Also as part of the brief we had to hand in one exhibition sized print and three other prints, showing different ranges of depth of field, ranging from up close, mid-length and long distance. The experimentation with depth of field was something which i came to really enjoy. As at first i felt i was only interested in capturing mid-length shots as i felt these images looked best, i actually came to throughly enjoy capturing long length shots capturing the full length of the model or chosen person. Out of the three images handed in for this part of the project the long distance shot i produced was by far my favourite. I felt i had successfully captured my model in focus and positioned her well in the image. I also really liked how the back ground was out of focus, this created a really nice contrast between the setting and the individual. 

For my final exhibition image which was enlarged, i chose to print an image of 3 people stood together however only two of the people are fully in the image. What i felt was most successful about this image and what made me chose it as my final exhibition style print was the way in which i had filled the frame using the people i had selected. I felt the composition of the image was really interesting as the viewers eye is not just drawn to one area of this image. I also think what makes the image so successful is the way in which it is a slightly candid photo. I had asked the people to stand in front of the camera to have their photography taken but managed to capture them whilst they were mid laughing and talking. this gives a really jolly kind of feeling to the image. 

For the next part of the project we had to capture coloured portraits, again of strangers in the street. For this we used the hasselblad camera and coloured film. This part of the project was what i enjoyed most as i found it much easier using the hasselblad as it was more portable to take around the streets. I also really like the quality of the images produced by the hassleblad. For this part i chose to capture individual portraits of people, with the street in the background as appose to being up against any kind of wall or back drop like many of the photographers i have researched. I chose to do so as i feel the setting a person is in can add to the portrait and create more of a story or perception around the person. 

Ive thoroughly enjoyed the fact this entire project has involved using film as this is the format i prefer to work with as appose to digital as i enjoy the process of being able to process, develop and print all your own work. Literally the only aspect i would love to change about this project, being something which i think would have improved my work would have been to have pushed myself more out of my comfort zone in oder to ask more strangers on the street for their portraits so that i would have had more images to chose from. 

coloured finals

Coloured Final 6

i-D Magazine

i-D Magazine Love edition.

Meet london's brothers, sisters, lovers and best friend.


In i-D magazine's love edition a spread of black and white portraits were presented. Because the edition was the love edition the shoot consisted of pairs of people; brothers, lovers, best friends. These shots are mostly taken at mid length, stopping at the hips of the subjects. 

Finals

Final Black and white exhibition image

Final 3 black and white 91/2 x 12 images. 

Coloured Portraits

Alec Soth

http://alecsoth.com/photography/


for the next part of this project we were asked to produce coloured portraits. This is the first time i have used coloured film in any camera other than my 35mm. Without intension i have noticed that all the photographers i have previously researched for this project have captured images in black and white, which is obviously very fitting as that is what we were asked to produce for the first part of our project. 

When researching photographers that produce portraits in a coloured format, the work of Alec Soth caught my eye. Alec Soth's work follows a documentary style, and as he produces portraits of people, he presents them along side documentary style shots of the buildings and surroundings of these people. Each of his projects tend to be named after a place, for example 'Niagra' and he seems to do is document the area and the people within it. His series of images appear to tell a story, and as the viewer, you tend to find yourself linking the images of the building or surroundings with the people in the portraits. 

Documentary photography is without a doubt my favourite style of photography, so i really am inspired by the way in which Alec Soth incorporates portraiture into his projects and series of images. I find the colours and tones in Alec Soth's images very interesting as they seem to give off a 'retro' kind of feel to the images. The places and people he choses to document rarely every seem to be of a high class, they tend to me more everyday working class kind of people/areas. I personally think this makes the series more interesting to look at as they feel real and down to earth. 


Ive chosen the images which catch my eye the most out of a couple of Alec Soth's projects, I've then included a couple images of buildings that Alec has documented just to give an idea of what his series of images look like, and how well the documentary style images of buildings ect go with the portraits. 

Again, like my previous research i have chosen a lot of portrait images of couples. I find it really interesting in the way in which the two people stand together. I feel a lot of Alec's images of couples look posed, as though the couples have been told to stand in this way by the photographer. You can feel the awareness the subjects have of their photograph being taken. 

August Sander

August Sander;


Pair Portraits

After finding a powerpoint on the VLE made by one of my tutors about portraiture photography, the work of August Sander caught my eye. Whether i chose to create portraits of pairs in my own photography is yet unknown however i feel it is a very interesting concept to explore when researching into portrait photography. There were many images of individuals by August sander however the ones which caught my eye most were the ones which had pairs in. In my first shoot i chose to capture images of my subjects mostly up against a brick wall, rather than a blank white canvas like the work of most of the photographers i have so far researched. August Sanders work reminded me of my own work more so than other photographers i have looked at up to now because of this idea of photographing the subject/s using what ever area they're in as their background. I feel this choice between using a blank canvas or the natural background of the area when creating portraits of people is an important choice to make, as the environment someone is in can often give more of an idea of who the person is or what their profession is ect. 

Something else I've picked up on August Sanders work which i feel is a very important choice to make is whether to title each individual image or not. Some photographers I've researched will title the series of portraits as a whole where as others title each individual image. I personally feel i prefer the idea of titling each image separately as again it gives more clues and ideas to the viewer as to who the subject in the image is. I prefer this idea rather than being left to completely surmise who the character is or what they do. The use of a title in my opinion gives more context and meaning to the image. its often interesting to look at the image, surmise what you will about the person, then read the title, as often the title may shock as it tells you something about the person you would never have thought or it may often completely fit what you have surmised about that person or the image. 

August Sander

Boxer, 1928

Boxers

August Sander

Blinde Kinder 1930

Blind Children

August Sander

Burgliche Kinder 1925

middle class children

This range of images i have chosen show the importance also in considering field of depth when capturing portraits. Some of the subjects are stood up again a wall and some stand with distance between the camera and their background. Its interesting to notice how some backgrounds appear in focus while in other images, the subject is the only object in focus. 

August Sander

Arbeitermuter mit kind, 1928

Working class mother with child

PORTFOLIO EM FOCO

Portrait photographer research:

http://paratyemfoco.com/en/portfolios/paul-oleary/

PORTFOLIO EM FOCO

PAUL O'LEARY

NAME
We’ll live and die in these towns

"As a documentary photographer, I tried to record the time that we live, record the lives of others and, indirectly, mapping my own time on this planet. My vision is guided by curiosity.
My work has been shown across Europe in solo and group exhibitions. Recently, worked with different agencies on projects related to the Olympics in England. Isso culminou no meu trabalho rodando pela Inglaterra através do National Screening Programme da BBC.
Currently, I teach photography in the UK.”



This is a really interesting series of portrait images. I think whats important about these images is how well they work in a series rather than on their own. The feel or theme i get from these images is a very down to earth representation of what id surmise are working class people in the UK. Many look typically british in the way they're dressed, and factors such as tattoos and holding booze. It could be argued this is not a very fair representation of british people as although interesting characters seem to have been chosen for the images, as someone who lives in britian i know that not all british people look this way or are groomed to this standard. It really does seem the photographer has selected a certain social class of people for the images. Never the less the people chosen all look like interesting people and make the portraits intriguing to look at. 

My favourite images are the images taken of pairs and couples. I feel it makes the viewer think about what the relation between the two might be. I personally question the relationship between the two people, whether i think they know each other or not, and often find myself comparing the two. Portraits of people are interesting enough with just one person alone, never mind having two characters in one image to look at. It appears easier to fill the frame in an interesting way when photographing two people, which is something i really like the idea of in portraits. This is something id like to incorporate in my own work.

shoot1

First Shoot

Mid length shots.

F/16

What I've found most difficult about starting to shoot for this project is not actually the camera, developing or any technical side of things, it has more been the struggle of plucking up the courage to ask strangers to have their photo taken. I do however feel its making me more confident and a photographer and as a person, and is something i need to do to strength my own abilities as a photographer. 

The image below is my favourite image, as i really like how the frame is filled. It does not bother me that not all three subjects are in the image as i think the small details that do make it into the frame create a really interesting image on a whole to look at. i also much prefer how this image is more candid than the others, i took the image during laughter, as you can see both subjects are laughing and one isn't giving eye contact with the camera, unlike the other images which are more serious and posed.