Documentary photography- Artist comparison

Black and white Documentary photography:
Henri Cartier-Bresson

Heavily edited Documentary photography:
Ed Thompson
Ed Thompson employs colour manipulation in the series titled the "Red Forest" to highlight aspects of the photo.  The images subject is Wormwood Forest situated near the Chernobyl nuclear plant.  Radioactive fallout was carried to the forest by wind which turned the trees a red colour which has man emphasised in this series.

Portrait snoot- Contact sheet

Low key lighting- Studio photography

Camera settings:
1/125, f16, ISO 200
Equipment:
-Snoot, directs the path of light.













-Honey comb, directs the path of light to a lesser extent.

-Reflector dish, reflects light for maximum illumination.

Irving Penn

D.O.B- 16/06/1917

Place of birth- Plainfield, New Jersey, America

D.O.D- 07/10/2009

Place of death- Manhattan, New York, America

Occupation- Photographer

• Born into a Russian Jewish family.
• Penn worked for 2 years a freelance designer and began taking amateur photographs.
• He became the director of art at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1940.
• Traveled America and Mexico taking photos and painting.He became an associate for Vogue magazine's art department after he had finished his travels.
• He was well known for his work in fashion photography as well as modernist still lives and documentary travel journals.
• He has had over 30 exhibitions.
• He believed that anything could be art and was quoted as saying that "Photographing cake can be art".

Examples of work:

Penn photographed a variety of different subjects through different categories of photography however the majority of his work falls into the genre of the surreal with his work generally being black and white.  He also uses a great deal of low-key lighting to create depth and mystery in his images.

Portrait

This image interesting due to it's use of strong tonal range between the black of the face paint and the subjects paler skin in order to create and strong contrast, the contrast is amplified by the fact that this image is in black and white.  The face paint has connotations of tribal groups which when accompanied by the screaming expression on the subjects face carries connotations of violence.

The unnatural positioning of the subjects neck creates a surreal aspect to the image and the strange position of the subject in the corner of corridor knelt on a chair adds to this idea.  The black and white colouration of the image amplifies the surreal aspect of the image.

Still life

The strong tonal range of this image is created the employment of shadows around the skull when combined with the highlights where the light hit's the skull and the white of the background of the image.  The skull iconography creates a macabre connotation and links the image to death.

Influence on my work

Penn has influenced my work by exposing me to surreal and macabre themes which are something that I would like to explore further.

David LaChappelle and Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz
D.O.B- 02/10/1949
Place of birth- Waterbury, Connecticut, America
Occupation- Photographer

• Leibovitz is a third generation American who's parents both have Jewish heritage from both Romania and Estonia.
• Career began as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone magazine.
• Her photography style helped to form the Rolling Stone's specific distinctive style.
• She was inspired by Henri-Cartier Bresson and Robert Frank.
• Her distinctive style gained her a position to work with Vanity Fair as a photographer.

The above two images from Leibovitz's fantasy series carry connotations of surreal fantasy and both convey varying degrees of danger.  The Captain Hook image carries obvious connotations of danger however there is also something unsettling and sinister about the shoemaker image.

The above image is a glasses campaign for Prada and is an example of Leibovitz's high end add work.  The subject clothing, hand positioning and face shape provide connotations of femininity which is iterating as models are becoming more and more androgynous as time progresses in an attempt to make all styles accessible to all genders.

David Lachepelle
D.O.B- 11/03/1963
Place of birth- Hartford, Connecticut, America
Occupation- Comercial photographer, fine art photographer, director.

• Work regularly references art history.
• Work often conveys a social or political message.
• His style is described as "Kitsch Pop Surrealism".
• His first job was offered to him at 17 by Andy Warhol for Interview Magazine.
• In 1995 LaChapelle shot the first advertisement of two men kissing for Diesel which sparked a great deal of controversy due to the fact that the subjects were presented as sailors and this occurred in the don't ask don't tell movement.
• He has been influenced by Salvador Dali and Jeff Koons.

This image of Madonna carries heavy connotations of royalty such as the crown and the purple background both of which symbolise royalty as Madonna is the Queen of Pop.  Light trails or editing in post-production have been used on the crown in order to create the lines of light coming from her crown.

This image interests me due to it's understated surreal nature.  This image is not as boldly surreal as Leibovitz's images however still manages to make Katy Perry appear in a similar way to a mermaid with the blue lighting replicating the sea and her long flowing dress replicating a tail.

This image is intriguing as it is designed to look similar to an industrial factory however is comprised of hair rollers.  This shows a contrast between women and industrial work and issues involving gender equality such as equal pay and the unnecessary gendering of hobbies and professions such as beauty work.

Comparison
Annie Leibovitz and David Lachepelle are both high end photographers who work in the genre of portraiture.  Leibovitz specialises in portraiture which is styled around fairy tales particularly Disney and also focuses on advertisement for high end brands such as Prada often using famous subjects to boost the status of the brand.  David Lachepelle's photography is also largely focused around famous subjects and at times is used for advertisement however his photography is far more unorthodox than Annie Leibovitz.

Influence on my work
Leibovitz and LaChapelle have both encouraged me to further explore the use of surrealism in my work in order to make it more engaging and more specific to my personal style.  They have also shown me that whilst it is important to develop a personal style one does not always have to stick to it.

Movement- Work diary

Evaluation

The objective of the assignment was to capture movement locations off campus.  This shoot went relatively well however due to the yet weather some of the images suffered due to distortion on the lens due to rain.

I opted to have a separate shoot in order to better focus on the movement of traffic, I feel that this was a successful as it enabled me to better focus on a specific area of movement.

Progression

I think that the shoot went well due to the fact that I got a varied selection of shots however if I were to repeat the shoot I would bring glowsticks to recreate the movement of light shots as we had to use phone torches and could only achieve one colour of lighting.  I would repeat the shoot to prevents getting water droplets on the camera lens as they distort the image.

Favourite image

0.5, f/11, ISO 80

This is my favourite image due to the way that the movement is present in the left third of the image and the main colour in the image is present in the right third of the image. I do not like the distortion created by the rain on the lens.

Least favourite image

1.0, f/11, ISO 80

This is my least favourite due to the fact that the entire image is blurred opposed to the subject being all that it blurred.

Aspirations
Christopher Martin's style is interesting to me as I enjoy his varied style.

Portraiture- Work diary

Evaluation

The objective of the assignment was to focus on the medium of portraiture by using inspiration from a variety of other artists.  This shoot went well as I achieved a variety of different shots whilst using a number of different subjects.

Favourite image

 1/125, f/8, ISO 200

This is my favourite image because of the way that the sharpness around the subjects eye creates a great deal of detail.  I also like the way that the reducing saturation of this image has given the image a cold appearance which makes the subject appear powerful.

Least favourite image

1/25, f/4.0, ISO 400

This is my least favourite due to the fact that the image is not focused very well which means that it is difficult to sharpen.

Progression

Overall I think the shoot went well as the majority of the shots were focused despite the wind due to the use of a tripod. The sunny weather also helped to achieve successful images.  In the future I would like to explore more locations as Harlow Town centre is at times limited in settings when attempting to achieve a variety of differently composed shots.

Aspirations

Antonin Kratochvil's work touches on an intriguing aspect of portrait photography that incorporates candid shots.

Joiners- Work diary

Evaluation

The objective of the assignment was to recreate joiner photography in the style of Hockney.  This series took place over two shoots one of which was studio based and focused on portraiture and one of which was landscape based.  The first shoot was successful due to the fact that it in the studio.  The second shoot was less successful as it was raining at the time this the camera un-focused and blurred the lens.  I feel that both shoots however and I was able to create a selection of interesting photo joiners.  I feel that the portrait joiners were the most interesting for me to create due to the fact that their non-uniform appearance made it possible for me to manipulate the images by adding props mid shoot or playing with the images perspective by altering the size of body parts.  These possibilities allowed me to create somewhat surreal and sinister images.

Favourite image

1/125, f/8, ISO 200

This is my favourite image because of the way that the depth of the image is shown enlargement of the subjects hand.  I like the way that the image appears to be disjointed and fragmented around the face particularly which creates an appealing join between the mask and the face.

Least favourite image

1/8, f/3.6, ISO 80

This is my least favourite due to the fact that the tree branches fit together poorly and there were not enough pictures taken to layer the the images in a aesthetically appealing way.

Progression

Overall I think the shoot went well as the majority of the shots were focused despite the heavy rain however if I were to redo the shoot I would aim to do it on a sunnier day.  I would also like to explore the use of a wider range of subjects and props.

Aspirations
I would like my work in the area of joiner photography to be mimic Hockney's work as I feel that his style is one of the most intriguing styles of joiner photography.

Depth- Work Diary

Evaluation

The objective of the assignment was to capture the formal element of depth through photography.  This was a more difficult element to capture due to the fact that it was a relatively windy day when I was taking part in the shoot meaning that it was hard to focus the camera for an extended period of time on the subject to achieve a shallow depth of field.  

Favourite image

1/10, f/5.0, ISO 80

This is my favourite image because of the way that the depth is represented by the shallow depth of field  which is made more prominent the colour select on the frayed corner of the poster.

Least favourite image

1/250, f/5.0, ISO 1600

This is my least favourite due to the fact that no elements of the image are in focus and the shot is poorly composed.

Progression

Overall I think the shoot went well as the majority of the shots were focused despite the wind due to the use of a tripod. The sunny weather also helped to achieve successful images.  In the future I would like to explore more locations as Harlow Town centre is at times limited in settings when attempting to achieve a variety of differently composed shots.

Aspirations
I feel that Nicholas Raymond's use of depth of field in these natural images adds an intriguing aspect to his photography.

Vignette- Computer experiment

Vignette
Before

After

Evaluation
This technique interests me as it creates a relatively surreal appearance in images.  It could also be implemented to create a more sinister image.

Screen shot process 

Select "Layer" and scroll to new adjustment layer and select curves.

Rename layer.

Adjust curves to alter image appearance.

Continue until satisfied.