In Part One of People and Place, I carried out a variety of exercises based on Portrait photography. The elements covered within this are:
Framing – How to frame your subject, face, face and shoulders, full body etc.
Backgrounds – Looking at different backgrounds to get different styles.
Light – How light impacts on the mood of the photograph and how this can be manipulated.
Activity – Portraits showing your subject during an activity.
Context – How objects are placed with the subject to give a narrative.
Expression – Showing the different expressions with the face of your subject.
Eye Contact – Engaging the subject.
Focal Length – How longer focal lengths give more flattering features.
Pose – Successfully posing your subject to look natural.
This assignment is based around these elements and showing how they are used when photographing people. The following set of six photographs show different elements of portraiture and I will give an example of what I have particularly focussed on for each image.
Pose
Here I wanted the subject to looked natural and relaxed. He’s clearly looking down at what is beneath the bridge so his head is posed naturally towards the view. His eyes are focussed on the view too. To make this a more natural pose I asked my subject to raise one foot onto the wooden bar and put one hand on another wooden bar. His hand looked nicely posed but the foot looked forced and awkward so I asked my subject to place his foot where it felt comfortable for him whilst raising his knee. This is the resulting image. What I like about this photograph is the symmetry of the bridge and how the path leads you into the photo. The foliage on the left balances out the subject. I wish I’d have given more thought to the colours my subject was wearing just to stand out a little more. Maybe a contrasting colour to green could have been used.
Eye Contact
I do question whether this composition is a good one or not. In all honesty, I’m still undecided but there is something very natural about this photograph. The colours of Autumn are striking against the deep blue of the clothing which also compliments the eyes. Every time I look at this photo I’m drawn to the eyes as they are focussed on the camera looking straight down the lens. This is difficult to achieve with a five-year old!
When looking at the above photograph where I’m not sure if the pose is good or not I think I’ve just pushed the boundaries of what I’ve previously been taught is a good composition. I aim to become more comfortable with asking my subjects if I photograph them in ways that aren’t traditional.
Activity
I carried out a photo walk with my subject asking them to photograph what they saw and liked. He stopped to take a photograph of a puddle when I saw a reflection of him with a tree in the background and I thought it looked great. Whilst he was engrossed in his activity I took a photograph of his reflection. Although you can’t see much of his face I’m not shy of excluding faces from photographs. In fact this is my next personal project. So, that doesn’t bother me, its whether you can see that he’s taking photographs and carrying out an activity that I’m not sure of. I know he’s taking photos and my brain tells me that he has a camera in his hand but I’m not sure it’s clear to people who don’t know. I also like the colouring that’s reflected back, especially the blue of the sky.
Background
When I saw this background I was über excited. It was so colourful yet uniformed enough to not be distracting. I asked my subject to walk along gazing at the books on the shelf. Was thinking his burgundy trousers would really pick out the deep reds of the books and he would stand out amongst the other colours going on. He did have a rather impressive large dinosaur book in his hand which made his prop relevant to the scene. Now I’m reviewing this photograph I think that the subject doesn’t stand out enough. It may be because of the book he’s carrying is covering his legs and those burgundy trousers which were meant to be a feature. Maybe I should have removed his coat because its merges in with the wooden bookcase too much. Either way my initial excitement has been dampened and I’m yet to revisit Hay on Wye to try this out again.
Framing
This photograph is about where my subject is placed in relation to the surrounding to form a narrative. If I’d have cropped in closer giving more detail of my subject I would have lost the narrative. With a wider framing we can see ‘Superman’ is running along a path, under foliage growing around arches to form a tunnel. This makes the activity more exciting. I purposely chose contrasting colours to make my subject stand out more from the background……a lesson learnt from the previous photograph!
Context
This photograph has a few important elements for me. The lighting for one, is giving the face and body that boost it needs especially when your subject is wearing a hat. The time of day this was taken is important to the success of this photograph. It’s early evening and the sun is low in the sky allowing a burst of side light to my subject and casting long shadows. The reason I have put emphasis on context here is by including the line of umbrellas along the shore line. I think it’s clear we’re on a beach but my subject is walking away from the shore line indicating that it’s the end of the day and were heading home. I also love the way my subject is holding his sandals in one hand and looking down as if to tread carefully.
Light
I love light. I know, as a photographer I should love light but it really excites me. I’m always thinking of different ways to use light and using different light sources. In this photograph, my subject is watching a film on his iPad. It was dark outside and we had a lamp on in the lounge. I saw the light radiating on his face and told him to hold his pose. I switched off all the lights and there it was. It lit his face up beautifully. Again, I don’t buy into ‘you should be able to see your subjects eyes’, I mean why if he’s looking at something else!
I’ve been looking at the work of Annie Leibowitz and American portrait photographer, who puts a great emphasis on the way her subjects are posed. What I learned from her is to open up the boundaries. Her photograph of John Lennon and Yoko in bed, taken on the day John Lennon was shot, is posed in such a way you get the feeling of how much they love each other. Yoko is lying flat in a vulnerable position with her hair training straight up as if to give the impression she is being pulled. John Lennon has his naked body so tightly wrapped around her as if he’s trying to cling on and prevent her being pulled away from him. This makes John the more vulnerable of the two, you can feel his desperation to hold on to Yoko.
Another one of Annie Leibowitz photographs that caught my eye is Arnold Schwarzenegger sitting on his horse which a cigar in his mouth. As if his muscles weren’t dramatic enough some quiet harsh lighting was using directed straight as the face of the horse.
The horse is even looking down as if it’s all too much but the shadows cast are add an interesting feel to the photograph overall. I like that Arnold’s face and arm is light up perfectly with a little bit of a tease of muscle on the side. His back and other arm is then completely in shadow and adds definition and depth to the photograph.
In conclusion a good photograph will include some of the above elements but a great photograph will have considered all of the above.
Sam Bennett 