Portraiture

Definition: Portrait photography or portraiture in photography is a photograph of a person or group of people that captures the personality of the subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait picture might be artistic, or it might be clinical, as part of a medical study.

What makes a good portrait?

• Lighting
• Subject
• Camera position
• Interaction with subject (to elicit certain reactions)
• Background
• Framing
• F11 Shutter speed: 1/125

A photographer I am inspired by is Annie Leibovitz, 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. 

However one of her shoots that I have paid particular attention to is her Pirelli Calendar shoot. The Pirelli Calendar is an annual limited edition “art item” released by the Italian tire company. In 2016 it's focus slightly shifted for the better. Usually filled with photographs of nude or barely clothed models, this year’s edition, shot by V.F. contributing photographer Annie Leibovitz, features 12 studio portraits of women renowned for their work in diverse fields—including comedy, sports, philanthropy, and art. Another notable departure from the Pirelli norm is that Leibovitz is the only woman—aside from husband-and-wife duo Inez and Vinoodh, in 2007—to have photographed the calendar in over 25 years. This shoot empowered women all over the world, by thankfully breaking traditions and stereotypes.

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

Contact Sheet:

I have selected the following as my best images:

Images that would require improvement:

I selected the first image because the subject is not completely centred and has a lot of negative space above her leaving half of the image empty. Besides this I like the position and pose of the subject and am happy with the lighting in the image. 

I selected the second image because the angle was not correct and the camera should have been zoomed in slightly to cut out most of the negative space. There are areas at the top and bottom of the image I did not want to be included but captured them in this image due to my faults.

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

My idea for recording portraiture was to use the inspiration of Annie Leibovitz's Pirelli calendar shoot. This includes her ideas of empowering women and breaking stereotypes. Also the style and poses in her images. I aimed to use a variety of individuals, and capture different emotions through each but consistently representing confidence. Despite Annie Leibovitz's idea of female empowerment I decided to include a male in my shoot to explore a variation of people and promote equality. The majority of my images came out as I hoped for them to, with soft lighting and a white backdrop. 

Referencing to my best images:  

The first image I have chosen is an image I took before involving any props. I like the simplicity of the image even though it still conveys a strong and confident female subject. Although she is positioned closer to the right of the image, I feel that there is an equal proportion of negative space surrounding her. However something I could have changed in this image to improve it would be having my subject stand slightly further back to avoid the bottom part of the image where there is a slight colour change in the white as the backdrop has gotten in the way by her shoes.

The second image is one of my favourite images of the shoot. I like the position, pose and props in this image. There is not too much negative space, and no distraction or noise in the image. I also like that there isn't dark shadows in the image and the lighting is soft.

As a raw image straight from a shoot without any editing I can understand why this wouldn't be such a good image. However I plan to crop the distractions in the image at the top and bottom. Despite these slight errors, I feel that the subject is in the centre nicely and there is not too much negative space or shadow.

The final image is another one of my favourites as there is nothing that I would change. There is a small amount of negative space at the top of the image however I don't think this has any real negative effects on the final image at all.

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

I used a Canon EOS 350d for all shots taken. I used a shutter speed of 1/125 and an aperture of f11. I positioned my camera on a tripod facing the centre of the backdrop and didn't need to adjust any camera settings during the shoot as all the lights on the set stayed the same throughout. 

When editing my images on photoshop, I converted them all to black and white and cropped images that needed to be cropped. Besides this I made no real changes other than adjusting the contrast a couple of times to make the final image softer.

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

The artist research that I did was very helpful as it strengthened my understanding of portraiture photography and the elements a photographer considers when shooting. Researching things about her career history such as working for The Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair enabled me to look at some of her older work and watch her images progress and change over time. This supported me to gather a stronger understanding of the context surrounding her photography. Looking at her Pirelli calendar images inspired me to use a variety of individuals posing in ways they feel represents their mood and confidence. Annie Leibovitz's pictures were shot in a studio using stools and seats, her images were also quite soft which which inspired me to use the same approach.

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 photography and Annie Leibovitz's images. The final images produced were refined by developing the contrast and saturation. Similar to Annie Leibovitz's images I have photographed a diverse range of people and aimed to capture confidence and individuality.

Camera Settings and composition

Composition: describes placement of relative objects and elements in a work of art

The rule of thirds: The rule of thirds makes use of a natural tendency of the human eye to be more strongly drawn towards certain parts of an image.

Painters have long recognized the visual strength and stability that a triangle can bring to a composition.

Negative space: The area which surrounds the main subject in your photo .

Camera Settings:

An ISO value of 100 or 200 is suited to photographing in sunny conditions

An ISO value of 400 or 800 is suited to photographing in cloudy conditions or dusk/dawn

An ISO value of 1600 or higher is suited to low light conditions, e.g.darkened rooms, night photography

Aperture: 

The aperture adjusts the size of the opening through which light passes to the image sensor.

The aperture can be opened up to let in more light or closed (stopped down) to let in less. In respect to just exposure, smaller apertures let less light strike the image sensor so the image is darker. Larger apertures let in more so it's lighter.

To attain the right exposure for a given aperture setting adjust the shutter speed.  E.G. if the image is over exposed (as indicated by the camera exposure meter) increase the camera shutter speed until the exposure meter indicates a correct reading.

Shutter speed: 

ISO: measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds.

Portfolio Formal Elements

Portfolio Definition: An artist's portfolio is an edited collection of their best artwork intended to showcase an artist's style or method of work. A portfolio is used by artists to show employers their versatility by showing different samples of current work.

Tone

Tone (definition).

•This refers to the lightness or darkness of something. This could be a shade or how dark or light a colour appears.

•Tones are created by the way light falls on a 3D object. The parts of the object on which the light is strongest are called highlights and the darker areas are called shadows. There will a range of tones in between the highlights and shadows.

•Without tone Form does not exist, tone is therefore an important aspect in the visualisation of 3D objects.

Different tones are used within images to portray different feelings/meanings.

The tonal range of this image connotes strength and masculinity. The dark shadows and tone around the face accentuate the cheek bones and other elements of the face giving a sharper look to the mans face.

The tonal range of this image connotes femininity with the brighter, softer lighting. The tone is not harsh but darker on her dress. However the sequins allow light to reflect off of the dress which emphasise the idea that she is a very feminine women because she almost radiates lighter tones. This image was shot by Richard Avedon in 1957.During this time, a lot of the ideas and stereotypes about women were breaking down. For example a lot more women were starting to work and divorce was becoming quite common. However the ideas about female beauty and elegance persist. There was and still are ideas about how a woman should act, pure and chaste. Therefore the colour white links directly to purity and innocence.

Research: 

A photographer from Spain, born in 1958, Chema Madoz is recognized for his monochrome surrealist images. From 1980 to 1983, Madoz attended Universidad Complutense de Madrid to study the history of art. During this time, he discovered the wonders of photography through his classes at the Image Teaching Center. From Madrid’s Fine Arts Academy, he studied from the photography workshops as well.

Chema Madoz uses photography to create optical illusions. Whatever that is shown, is unlike the reality of objects. At times, one thinks, “that’s not possible!” Madoz’s photographic subjects are perfectly balanced and interestingly composed to make a visual illusion. He takes at the minimum two objects unrelated to each other yet when they are kept together in Madoz’s way, they entirely and surprisingly blend as one. Often the objects are placed in visually unpredicted settings but they coincide creating new meaning altogether.

Chema Madoz has been taking pictures of objects beyond 20 years of his professional life. In this time he has developed a sharp skill to use common objects and craft them into a visual poem. He makes his objects or creates compositions only for the purpose of photography; he does not display them directly in an exhibition. The essence of his work lies not in what people see but what people don’t see – his work requires the viewer’s participation in order to be complete. His work compels people to see and think and this is how Madoz’s photography becomes extraordinary – it forces people to engage intellectually. Madoz’s photographs created tensions between what people see and what their brain deciphers. His photographs are untitled which in itself is a paradox.

Some of his most known photographs include a shoe with its lace made of hair; a matchstick on textured wood; a cloud appearing to be trapped in a cage; a spoon’s shadow being a fork; a toffee with an eye; and many more photographs that are untitled and sound unusually interesting to explain.

This particular image has been taken from a birds eye view and the subject has been placed on a white surface. The darker areas in this image are shadows due to the positioning of the main light source. For example  just underneath the toilet roll as the newspaper begins. There is some slight shadow on the front of the toilet roll and to the left of the toilet roll too as the source of light is clearly above the subject.

In this image Chema Madoz has used books to create an archway. Not only is this image carefully thought out but must have taken a lot of time and effort to perfectly create this illusion. He has used a range of darker and lighter books in no particular order and played with shadow. Darker tones are shown in the top left and right corner and on each side of the arch while the lighter area is right through the arch. This image could have religious connotations with the idea of walking through the arch to arrive in a brighter place.

 This image includes every tonal range from zone 0-10. It's like a spotlight effect with the middle white and brighter than the rest of the image, gradually getting darker as it reaches the edge of the image being completely black with only water droplets reflecting the light. 

 Chema Madoz has used a natural shadow outside of the studio in this image. He has used what is called 'The decisive moment' a photography concept introduced by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It refers to capturing an event that is ephemeral and spontaneous, where the image represents the essence of the event itself. He might of planned this image and waited for the shadow to hit the wall, or might have shot it spontaneously not knowing of the result he would get. The floor is the darkest area of the image being a very dark grey, while the light on the wall is a pure white and the rest of the image falls in between these two zones with different greys.

This is one of Chema Madoz's lighter images mostly consisting of zone's 5 to 10 however the dark shadow on the top left side of the subject and the shadow being caste on the surface include zones 0-4. It is not completely clear what this image really is, it is an illusion up for interpretation like the rest of Chema Madoz's work. It appears to be an egg upside down with a teapot handle attached to the side.

   Image bank:

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

Contact Sheet:

Second contact sheet: (in the studio)

Another image I took in the studio:

My best images:

I really liked this first image to represent a darker tonal range, portraying a more depressing mood over all. It includes tones from zone 0 to about zone 6. The brighter areas highlight one cheekbone and the ridge of the nose. However it only reveals half of the face which connotes insecurity and reluctance to be seen. It's almost like she is revealing herself for the first time, stepping out of the shadows. Which could suggest she is revealing some kind of secret about herself, but her facial expression and the darker mood over all portray hesitation and maybe even fear. 

My second image portrays a lighter and softer tonal range. It suggests femininity and beauty as it softens the facial features rather than sharpening them. It includes tones in zones 5 to 10. The darker areas are in her hair and no where else. This image has a very different mood to it over all in comparison to my last image. This shows how much the lighting and tonal ranges effect the mood of the image. This model appears pure and simple, comfortable with being seen rather than vulnerable suggesting a strong sense of self and confidence. 

This image portrays a range of tones from zone 0-10. Because of the depth of the shadow and the variation of tones on the leaves, this image has spookier connotations. Additionally, the darker background contrasting with the lighter surface splits the image up and offers different levels of tone.

Images that require improvement

I selected the first image because I think it has potential to be an excellent photo if I changed a few things. Firstly I would use a larger light source to project a brighter light on to the subject. This would enhance the darker shadowed areas in the image, but also ensure that the righter half of the image does not fade into darkness. This image is also blurry and should be taken on a tripod rather than free hand.

For the second image I also feel that this could be a beautiful example of tone if I adjusted some things. I would also use a larger light source for this image to ensure that the white background was brighter, contrasting to the black guitar. This would also stop certain parts of the guitar being unclear as it is too dark. Finally I would shoot the guitar from a central angle and cut out other distractions in the image.

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

My idea for recording tone was to photograph various objects exploring different shades and tones present either dark or light, harsh and soft. I was inspired from my research of Chema Madoz's black and white still life photography in regards to not only his ability to shoot an image with tones from zone 1-10 but the illusions he creates with random objects. His use of plainer backgrounds and simple subjects gave me an idea to follow similar guidelines. 

      The images came out as I expected, however I had to pay particular attention to getting the right lighting and positioning. 

      Referencing to my best images:

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

I used a Canon EOS 350d for all shots taken. I used a shutter speed of 1/50-1/60 and an aperture of f4.0. When I took the images I didn't feel like I needed to adjust anything as I felt that all of the images were coming out clear and with the correct saturation.

To improve my images I imported some of them onto photoshop to enhance the colours and adjust the contrast of my photo's to improve the over all look of the final image.

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

The artist research that I did was very helpful as it strengthened my understanding of light photography and the elements a photographer looks for when taking photos. Researching things about his personal life such as when he was born and the country he grew and lived in (America) supported me to gather a strong understanding of the context surrounding his photography. Looking at his images inspired me to search for colourful subjects and take my photos as a high standard. It also helped me to look for realistic images and signs and capture them. Finally, because of the research I developed a better understanding of the visual element 'colour' and how different colours can convey different feelings and emotions.

Philips pictures were of neon signs which were highly saturated which inspired me to tie the same approach and actively search for this. The purpose of the signs are to stand out so the saturation of these colours give the signs some punch.

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 colour and saturation and Philip-Lorca DiCorcia's images. The final images produced were refined by developing the contrast and saturation. Similar to Philip-Lorca DiCorcia's images I have photographed shop signs that caught my attention and aimed to emphasise the saturation of the colours to make them bolder and more exciting than they originally looked.