Portraiture

Portraiture

Portraiture - A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.

 This picture represents their inner emotions. this image is very powerful because of the use of editing, making it into a black and white photograph which highlights the tones and forms, as well as the use of props.

Task 1 :

This photo shows Winston Churchill's fierce exterior by using his stern and serious expression. The photo emphasises the assumptions that Winston Churchill had accumulated at this time. During the war, he was seen as a powerful, strong, stable, trustworthy leader and this is shown by using a high exposure. 

Research: 

Annie Leibovitz, considered one of America's best portrait photographers, developed her trademark use of bold colours and poses while at 'Rolling Stone.' 

Photographer Annie Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1970 she landed a job at Rolling Stone and went on to create a distinctive look for the publication as chief photographer. In 1983 she began working for the entertainment magazine Vanity Fair, continuing to produce images that would be deemed iconic and provocative. Having also worked on high-profile advertising campaigns, Leibovitz's images have been showcased in several books and major exhibitions around the world. 

The style of Annie Leibovitz's photos are to capture a very moody and "calm in a storm" type atmosphere. These images are created using dark tones and simple back grounds. I feel that is creates a very strong and powerful image that draws the viewer in.

Thomas Ruff

Thomas Ruff (born 10 February 1958) is a German photographer who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has been described as “a master of edited and reimagined images”.

David Lachapelle

David LaChapelle is a celebrated American photographer and video artist. He is perhaps best known for his commercial fashion portraits of celebrities and models such as Amanda Lepore and Angelina Jolie. LaChapelle’s signature blend of colorful, conceptual imagery bears the influence of both Surrealism and Pop Art.

Alec Soth

Alec Soth (born 1969) is an American photographer, based in Minneapolis. Soth makes "large-scale American projects" featuring the midwestern United States. His work tends to focus on the "off-beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America" according to The Guardian art critic Hannah Booth. His work has been compared to that of Walker Evans and Stephen Shore

                      

Image bank

Contact sheets

Best images 

I personally don't think that any of my photographs that I have taken are suitable to be in the 'Best Images' as they all need adjusting. Some need a brightness and contrast adjustment and others I feel need finer details refining using the 'spot healer', 'clone tool' or 'dodge and burn'. 

Photographs that require improvement

In all the photographs bellow the lighting needs to be adjusted as the models are too bright. 

 In this photo above I do not like how the model is not fully in the frame. 

In these two above photos, I feel like they need to be more serious. for me, my style of portraiture photography is very serious and almost moody as I feel that this type of photograph sends the biggest message. 

In the above photo I experimented with the different editing options available on Adobe Photoshop. I created this photo by using the clone tool and turning down the hardness and opacity of the brush and I do really like the outcome of this image.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

I feel that the artist research was helpful in this study as it helped me understand the theory on portraiture and made me think about the composition of my photos and the lighting set up that I was using.

I feel that I have created good standard photographs using the techniques the Annie Leibovitz used however I also feel that I put my style of photography into it too. 

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for recording portraiture was to photograph the finer details in the models, and to try and capture the emotion in the photograph. I feel as though I was inspired by Annie Leibovitz work.

With reference to my best selected images: I feel that these images link to the topic and to the artist that I studied. 

In reference to my first image, I used a tripod that was central to the model. This photograph is similar to those of Annie Leibovitz's. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

All of my photos taken were shot in the studio. For the Low key shots a soft box was used to soften the light, filling the light in shadow areas. we also used a Snoot, which created a rim light effect. This was placed in front of the subject, opposite the Soft box. This controlled the light spill and keeps the light flowing in one direction. 

To take my best photos I used a Canon E10 1000D, with an EF-S18-55mm lens. My F-stop was set at f/11 however I did change it at times as I experimented with the out comes of the different settings. The exposure was set at 1/125 and ISO 400.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

I believe that I have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of Portraiture and the images of Annie Leibovitz .  The final images produced were refined by developing the photo in photoshop using a range of techniques. I am happy with my final images as they convey a sense of isolation and create some very emotional images that are eye-catching and interesting.