Portrait Photography is one of the most popular forms/genre of photography. Portraiture is an image of an individual or a group of people, it is meant to display the personality, expression or mood of the subject. Majority of portraiture photography involves just the subjects face however this is a written rule and some portraits include the subjects entire body and could also include background.
When given the task of creating 4 portrait images, I first came up with the idea of producing film stills. So I wanted to go down the path for creating images in the style of portraits but having the hidden context, as though these were scene of a film captured within a photograph. So having this first Idea in my head, I then went on to research photographers who produce film still photography. The main photographer I found interesting was Greg Crewdson. Even though Greg doesnt produce portraiture photography, I was inspired by how much effort and time he puts into the scene and composition, in order for the Image to look authentic and realistic, as though it has originated from a film.
What inspires me about Greg Crewdsons work is how every photograph he produces, he composes so it has this dark, gritty feel to the image, and he always managers to make the character the main focal point, even though keeping everything within the frame in focus. I also value how every image he creates this sense of mystery and the unknowing, so it puts the image up for interpretation and allows the consumer to analysis the image and come up with what they think the storyline behind the image is.
My Portraits
For my first image I created produced a still of a man about to be punch. I made the subject on the floor the main focal point by using depth of field and blurring everything in the foreground out, so focus is more drawn to the main subject. I turned it black and white in order to drain the image of any emotion, and because physical violence isn’t exactly humours, I feel Black and White conveys a sense of seriousness.
For this image, I captured it within a well lit tunnel and used no additional lighting. I like how the grey background and the subjects black clothing compliments each other and focus the subject to stand out and become the main focal point. I used a 50mm lens to make the prop (the gun) which the subject is holding out of focus and therefore making the subjects face in focus and causing his face to be the main focal point, which is the main intention in all portraiture photography.
Change of Theme
Even though producing to images for the portraiture task already, I decided to change my theme and concept completely because I wasn’t liking the quality of the images I was producing.
So I then decided to look into over photographers who specialise in portraiture photography. I took a massive interest into Yousuf Karsh and his work “the Brief Moment of Truth”. As within his photography he tries to convey the truth about his subject and tries to reveal their characteristics within the image. I am also inspired by how he captures his images in black and white, as it helps emphasis the tone and contrasts, but also how it defines certain features of the subjects.
Taking into consideration how Yousuf Karash, captures the characteristics of his subjects in one image, I wanted to adapt this and try and capture similar characteristics that two subjects share within one image. So I went on to develop this idea and thought about similar characteristics within certain family members and what attributes they share. So I took images of the parents and then photos of their offspring, then after this I then decided to merge their faces together into one, to show the similarities.
My Portraits ( Attempted 2 )
