Extended Shoot Portraiture - Individuality
To extend my work on portraiture I will be looking into the styles, habits and hobbies of my models and try and capture their individuality through the use of props, and gesture .I have chose this idea as when researching about Annie Leibovitz in my previous shoot, I saw a focus on encouraging people to be open and express their interests.
I have been strongly inspired by this quote "In a portrait you have room to have a point of view and be concceptual with a picture. the image may not be literally whats going on but its representative". As to me it says that behind the person and the props there is more than what meets the eye, which is what I want to explore.
Artists Research
For this extension project I will be using my inspiration from Annie Leibovitz by looking into the artist that influenced most of her work Richard Avendon. He was an American Portrait and fashion photographer born on the 15th of May 1923 and died October 1st 2004. He became the chief photographer for Harper's Bazaar and was well recognised for his help to " Define Americas image of style, beauty and culture". I have chosen him as he influenced Annie Leibovitz work by his strong communication with his subjects, often producing rapport and really getting to know the model.
In the photographs below, Avendon has photographed important people within New York City and the style of his photography, uses angles, framing and lighting, exploring unique factors about individuals such as their occupation. To me this creates a significant effect and the style used for each photo can identify with the subjects individuality.
Linus Pauling, Scientist -January 13th 1964
The close up of the image creates a focused shot, making his head look enlarged. This can relate to his occupation as it requires intelligence and the ability to think outside the box, by using your brain to its full potential. The shadow cast across the image connotes to me that Pauling is ageing and that his work eventually gets shadowed over by new experiments and discoveries from younger scientists.
Katherine Graham, Chairman of the Board, The Washington Post - March 11th, 1976
This photo stands out to me as we can see a woman of high status in a well paid position in history which was quite unlikely in the 1970's. Her glasses have been used as a prop which to me signify her intelligence, the fact they are on her arm is abstract, yet it can be implied that this signifies her different and unique position in society. The crossed arms and stern face connote the power and control that she has, and her ability to make important decisions.
Malcolm X, Civil Rights Leader - March 27, 1963
This image is my favourite out of the work that I haven come across by Avendon. This is because its unique blur style really identifies with the subject Malcolm X. He was a civil rights leader and I think the blur signifies the constant uncertainty and struggle that he had to push through to achieve change. The blur makes the image out of focus which is significant to the stereotype black individuals at the time as they were often ignored or not given fair attention as opposed to the white.
As i am unable to take photographs of famous individuals, I will approach my work by looking into the individuality of individuals and labelling my photos with titles, to show that rapport has been created, as Avendon did.
Contact Sheet
Extended Portraiture Shoot - Individuality
I chose these images below as they all show a sense of individuality and relate to Annie Leibovitz and her inspiring work.
This image to me represents the passion my subject has for makeup and I illustrated this through the use of props. I have edited this image using the spot healing brush tool to really smooth out the blemishes of my subject representing her aim for perfection. I also adjusted the saturation to create a rainbow effect on the brushes, to add more character to the props. I did this photograph outside to represent the best lighting for makeup artists which is natural light. As I am exploring what is within the person in the picture, I created a lot of rapport with my subject Daisy and found that she is from a working-class background. It can be inferred that makeup is used as a tool to make her look wealthier than she actually is, as it illustrates a need for visual perfection. This links to Richard Avendon as this inference would not have been made without producing rapport.
This image represents my models commitment to scouts, to show this he is holding a torch and wearing a necker, which scouts commonly use. I changed the photograph to black and white by using the colour balance tool, focusing on grey tones to represent the age of the scouts organisation as it was established in 1908, this links to Richard Avendon because it relates to a job that my subject carries out as he captured many individuals in relation to their occupation. I also used the curves tool to change the white balance which removed the dull tones from the image to make it look more professional. My think my subject Alex this image is significant to him as he identifies as a male, yet was born female in societies views. Originally scouts was just for boys and to me represents Corey's interests and views, not because it was for males but as he chose scouts over other organisations such as girl guiding.
To create this image I used the magnetic lasso tool to select the background around my subject and then I used the colour fill tool to make the background orange, i then use the colour balance tool to make the orange more vibrant. This photograph represents my subjects interest in photography. The camera is covering her face to show how she uses photography as her unique way of. viewing her surroundingsI. chose the colour orange as it contrasts well with her eye make-up and her jumper, making her stand out more in the image, giving an aesethically pleasing yet abstract effect. After rapport, I found out that my model Wiktoria uses photography as a way to connect with her surroundings because she only recently moved to the UK from Poland and she feels as though photography connects her to the land which is foreign to her. This links to Richard Avendon as the rapport I made explored influenced the framing and editing of my image.
In this image I used the magnetic lasso tool and the photo filter tool to change the background to black, and then the curves tool to adjust the light. The way in which I asked my model to hold the albums is almost like a spread of money, which to me could represent how music is a necessity to him. This links to Richard Avendon as the positioning of the props created its own meaning. After getting to know my subject Jason I found that he suffers from very mild depression because of bullying in early childhood and uses music to cope and take his mind off issues, to represent this I put a cross over his mouth to show how he used to hardly ever get the chance to have his say. I chose to make the background of this image black to contrast with the uplifting connotations of white on his jumper as Jason inside would sometimes feel down and gloomy which can be shown through the negative connotations of black.
For this photograph I used the crop tool to remove as much negative space as possible, to increase the focus on my model. I also used the white balance tool to remove the yellow tones from the background which makes the contrast with black in the image more professional. I also used the hue/ tool to create a red glare that beams across my subject.This photo shows my subjects interest in maths, and the glasses are a symbol of her intelligence. The focus on the calculator represents her enthusiasim in maths, with a stern face to show concentration. After getting to know my model Ruby, she said how she was autistic which I thought was Ironic as there is a stereotyped link between autism and good mathematic ability. This links to
Richard Avendon as it explores the part of an individual that makes them unique to others. The red glare that I have created in the image represents her active mind, and to me it can simultaneously represent some struggles that she may have as red can be seen as a negative colour producing connotations of troubles and difficulty.
This links to Richard Avendons history of fashion photography work. For this image I used the crop tool to improve the framing of the image and remove the shadow cast on the floor to make the photo more professional. I then used the colour balance tool to create a slightly blue effect to help the pink stand out. After producing rapport with the model I found that she has a very unique sense of fashion and loves to wear bright outfits, this was interesting as it really reflected her uplifting and bubbly personality. The photo also connotes to me her confidence in herself and disinterest in other peoples opinions on her lifestyle and choices.
Final Edited Photographs - Individuality
