Professional Project Research

People I Looked At 

Once I knew what it was I needed to photograph I decided to start doing some research into similar photographers and into the style of photography I would be focusing on. Because my professional project is focusing on modelling I decided to research fashion photographers and portrait photographers, some of the fashion photographers I decided to look at were photographers like Bruce Weber, Juergen Teller, Mario Testino and Steven Meisel. Some of the portrait photographers I looked at photographers like Dan Winters, Dmitry Ageev, Peter Hurley and even though he’s more of a documentary photographer and not a portrait photographer I looked at Steve McCurry.

Bruce Weber

Bruce Weber is a famous fashion photographer who I have looked at he is well known for his work with magazines such as Vogue, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ and more, he is also well known for his advertising campaigns with companies like Calin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch and Versace. Away from photography he is also known for being a filmmaker and is known for making music videos with the Pet Shop Boys. I looked at Bruce Weber because I feel he is a very professional photographer and gets very professional results which is proven by the number of famous clients, I also looked at his work because he has taken photographs in many styles and situations, for example headshots, full portraits, black and white, colour, in and out the studio, celebrities and the average person.

  
  
   

Juergen Teller

Juergen teller is also a fashion photographer, he is a photographer who was had his woke in magazines like Vogue, The Face and Another Magazine. Other than magazines he has worked with many famous celebrities such as Bjork, Winona Ryder, Rufus Wainwright, Michael Stipe and Kanye West when he photographed the 2015 culture edition of T Magazine, he has also worked with other artists such as William Eggleston and Roni Horn. Not only does Juergen Teller focus on fashion photography he is a photographer who also focuses on fine art portraits and photography. I have focused on Juergen teller because I like the use of colours, he uses very soft, watered down colours but still manages to use the colour to capture the viewers notice, I like this because usually a lot of portrait photography is done in black and white.

 

   
  

Mario Testino

Mario Testino is a photographer from Peru, he like the other photographers I have looked at is very well-known for his photography which focuses on portraits and fashion. He has been involved in magazines such as Vogue, V magazine, vanity fair and GQ. He has also done advertising campaigns with Gucci, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry, he has worked with many well-known people such as Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and even the royal family. I like Mario Testinos work because like Bruce weber he works in both black and white and colour and produces very good looking images from both. like Juergen Teller he photography in colour but were as juergen teller captures soft, watered down colours the images Mario Testino takes contain colours which are are bright, vibrant and eye catching.

 
   
  

Steve Meisel

Steve Meisel is a photography who has been photographing every cover of vogue for the last decades and has photographed every Prada advertising campaign since 2004. He has also worked with many other company’s such as Calvin Klein, Versace, Louis Vuitton and more. the reason I looked at Steve Meisel and saw him as inspiration is because ever image has the model doing something significant an interesting, none of his images are just a straight on photograph, also like the other photographer I like has he varies from black and white and colour, even though he photographs in black and white most of the time the images he produced for vogue are very colourful and appealing. 

 

   

   

Dmitry Ageev

Dmitry Ageev is a photographer who I have looked at during my research, I liked his work because unlike modern day photographers his work looks very recognisable, whereas a lot of photographers go for a very modern look I feel his work contains a very traditional look, for example the colours he’s uses, the angle and the filters he uses. I also like the detail he captures when he takes an image, especially with the eyes of a model, I think this is what capture the views attention more than the colours which I think is why he gets away with a traditional look.

 

  

  

Dan Winters

Dan Winters is a portrait photography who has a massive catalogue of work involving many different people, from celebrity’s such as Brad Pitt, Barack Obama, Will Ferrell and many more to you average person and things of significant for example photographs of Mexican gangs and Women in the Military. The reason I like his images and have been inspired by him is because even though his images look very professional they also have a flare of atmosphere to them like an art piece. I also like how has taken a very different images not just straight on portrait shots.

   

   

   

Peter Hurley 

I have chosen to look at peter Hurleys work because I feel his work is different to the other photographers I’ve looked at, he is a photographer who is famous for his very simple yet effective headshots, this is one of the reasons why I have chosen him as an inspiration. His shots contain every day, average people and are just captured in front a plain black or white background. he has also done some work with portraiture not just headshots on of these is a project called Lost people which contained images of the people form the show lost in various locations.

  

 

  

  

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry is a documentary photographer most famous for the image "Afghan Girl" which he took in 1984 and was made famous when it appeared on the cover of national geographic. He is a documentary photographer which captures the face of a person and takes a lot of portrait shots, this is the reason I chose to look at him work. A big thing which stands out to me is the colours and the texture in the images, I think to get the colours he has and there textures he has in a environment which hasn’t been controlled is a very hard thing to do and produces some fantastic results. Another reason I looked at his work is because of the shots I will be doing are outside and a lot of his work is taken outside in an uncontrolled environment.

       

  

Portraits in Photgraphy

Portraits in Photography

Whenever people the words portrait photography are said people automatically think and assume that it’s a direct photograph of a model or anyone’s face, however portrait photography is a type of photography which captures many things for example the expression of the person in shot, personality and who the main focus is and moods of the main focus, because of this portrait photography doesn’t have to be the traditional shot of somebody straight on it for example it can be a photograph of an artist’s paint brush or pencil because this is also expressing the personality and who the main focus actually is, another example could be a photograph of a pianists hands. Portrait photography is a type of photography which is able to spread across all the different sections of photography such as documentary and artistic photography, for example it can be used as a piece of information such as a passport or a driving licence but could also be used as a piece of art and expression. A big thing with portrait photography which people can get wrong is that the main focus has to be an attractive and good looking model and that this is what makes the photograph a good photography although this is completely wrong as proven by photographer Bruce Gilden with his project called real people and earlier by photographer Diane Arbus who did a project called unusual people.

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An artist who is famous for his painting of portraits is one of the most famous artist to have ever lived and that is Pablo Picasso, even though he is an artist which has delved into many types of portrait art he is most famous for his colourful surreal portraits which are extension of him and a way which he would express himself, we know this when he said "For those who know how to read, I have painted my autobiography."(3). Pablo Picassos colour surreal images are also a prime example that portraiture can be placed in to many different categories not only as an art or a document but also into many different art movements, his painted portrait work were pieces of art which were placed into cubism, surrealism and expressionism, although at the time these pieces of art were released they would have come into a lot of criticism because of the style, a style which was completely different to any portrait pieces at the time and would have gone against everything someone would thing a portrait should be.

Staying the theme that portrait photography can be split into different types of photography, a person who does this well is a photographer called Steve McCurry who is firstly a documentary photography most famous for his photography and portrait of the Afghan girl, but in his documentary photography he is someone who uses a lot of bright, eye-catching and contrasting colours, a great example of this is a photograph of his which is just a close up portrait of a young boy, even though it is a documentary portrait shot the colours he uses are incredible, the boy is covered in a deep red colour and is standing against a very cold green wall. One of the reasons Steve McCurry may have used these colours and captured them contrasting so well with each other to draw attention to the image and make people concentrate on the image rather than just a quick glance, after the main goal of documentary photography is to tell a story, contain a meaning behind what we can actually see and inform an audience about the chosen topic. "I strive for individual pictures that will burn in people's memories."(4)

A photographer which had a very big impact on portrait photography even to this day is a British photographer called Julia Margaret Cameron, she was a portrait photographer who mainly focused on taking photos of highly known and famous people, this is considered by some people to be the first start of a type of photography which is arguably the most popular now and that’s photographs of celebrities. it isn't just the fact that she took photos of celebrities that we can see in a modern day area they models stance and look are very similar to how a photographer would take a photo of someone famous now days. a good example of this even though it isn't of a famous icon, is an image called Annie, My first success which contain a young girl called Annie who was a daughter of a family who were staying where Julia was, in the image the little girl is pulling a very serious and professional face, her stance is also to the side, both these things are something we can see in modern day portrait photography. something in this image which is very modern and still seen is the lighting and how she contrast the background with the young girl, in the background we can see half is very light and the other half is very dark she almost flips the colours and shades on the model so its creates a contrast.

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Overall portrait photography is the most popular and I think is one of the most influential types of photography, not because of its content but i think because of the fact it’s everywhere, it’s a type of art/photography which has been involved in many different art movements such as cubism, surrealism, expressionism, dada and pop art, it is something that can be considered to be different things such as an art or a document and is at its highest popularity in the modern age with the amount of celebrity photos that are being taken and the fact the average person in the street has a Facebook, twitter, Instagram, snapchat or any other social media which they use as an outlet for a very popular type of portrait photography which is the selfie. I think it’s a type of photography which has got a lot more popular since its beginning as well due to the modernisation of photography, equipment and software, it means it is now available to a very large audience and a lot of different audiences.

bibliography

(1)http://www.featureshoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Bruce_Gilden_01.jpg

(2)http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/03/08/most-famous-female-photographers/

(3)http://www.theartstory.org/artist-picasso-pablo.htm
(4)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/7860666/Steve-McCurry.html
(5)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Annie_my_first_success,_by_Julia_Margaret_Cameron_(restored).jpg

Documentary Photography

Documentary photography

Documentary photography is a type of photography which came about at in the 1800's and at beginning of the twentieth century, it is a type of photography which as well as a piece of art it also works as a language, its main goal is to tell its audience a story. Usually documentary photography is done in places which isn't very well-known and about situations and lifestyles which aren't very well known, this is something that makes it a very popular type of photography because audiences can see new information and new views. Some of the most famous documentary photographers are photographer such as Steve McCurry, Robert Frank, and Henri Carter-Bresson.

Even though throughout the years documentary photography has continued down the same path for example it is a type of photography which captures things to inform and show people different things which the photographer finds important, it has also changed from when it was created to now and with modern photography.

When documentary photography first started in the 1800's cameras were very different to how they are now, they were very difficult to move around and be used portably and were also an invention which were expensive which meant an average everyday person might not be able to afford a camera. Because of this documentary photography wasn't that common and was done by a select few people who had a camera and those photographers who focused on documentary photography. Also at this time there world wasn't as globally connected which meant when a photograph was made popular and involved a new piece of information such as a different lifestyle, landscape, type of people, ect people where hungry to view it and find out the facts about it. The facts and the story behind each photo made this type of photography very popular, photographers at this time knew this for example a photographer called Gary Winogrand said "The photograph isn't what was photographed. It’s something else. It’s a new fact"(1).

Documentary photography now in a modern ear is very different, because cameras are now everywhere and are owned by a lot more people than they used to be and if not a camera many people have a phone with some sort of camera on which allows them to take photos, its means all the different types of photography and photography in general has become very popular, but documentary photography is a type of photography which has increased in popularity massively which many have contributed to both the decrease and increase in people paying attention and notice to it. it has increased the popularity of it obviously because there are a lot more photographs out there and a lot more people with cameras, but because of the same reason the profession of documentary photography may have decreased because people find it harder to notice when it is an actual documentary photography and just a person who has captured something with a camera, because of this people usually look towards the news and media which a lot of the time might not be a accurate view of the situation causes people to lose faith documentary photography and not follow up and look into it as much. A photography who also thinks this is a man called Lewis Hine who said ""While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph."(2) Which means people behind the camera can lie and change a certain perception with an image, this doubt may be backed up by the fact in photography there are many pieces photo editing software which could have an effect on whether the view believe what they are seeing in the image.

In documentary photography there are a lot of positives and negatives, a very big positive of this type of photography is the lessons and information behind them, they teach audiences about different things and even show and bring to focus things that aren't looked at, a good example of this and a good example of how things are fed to us by the media and other outlets is the project called The Americans by Robert Frank which involves a real natural view American people of all genders, ages and races, this is a project that in teaching the audience and showing them new visions and truths about how peoples lifestyle without the media's involvement and without them adding things which could lean the audiences views to a certain side and make the audience feel a specific way about the image and the people in it. 

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"My photographs are not planned or composed in advance, and I do not anticipate that the onlooker will share my viewpoint. However, I feel that if my photograph leaves an image on his mind, something has been accomplished."(4) - Robert Frank 

A negative which might not be counted as a negative depending on the main focus in the image it that it shows real life which can affect people in a very bad way for example the image by Kevin Carter where the main focus is the starving child and the vulture is waiting behind. This is an image which is very emotional and had a negative effect on some of the audience which I think was brought about by the audiences guilt and in some way they feel responsible for the bad things which are happening in the image and around the world, this is one of the reasons the audiences placed a lot of blame on the photographer and why he just photographed the child and didn't help her.

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Over all I think Documentary photography is one of the best type of photography because of sometimes its harsh truths and sometimes there are things in a photograph that certain audiences don’t want to see that impact the audiences enough for them to pay attending and actually think about things. Something which may make documentary photography one of the better types of photography is the fact that while you are viewing you are taking in information and things which are behind the photography not just what is on the photograph, you also get the chance to make your own decision and opinion rather than someone like the media trying to force a perspective and make you think a certain way.

bibliography

(1)http://photoquotations.com/a/737/Garry+Winogrand/1

(2)https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=saJYCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202&lpg=PA202&dq=%22While+photographs+may+not+lie,+liars+may+photograph.%22+-Lewis+Hine&source=bl&ots=yS1Ekcftzi&sig=DEuO-RgS4pDI9Wr_7iCa96cKLwk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiF3rub8sDMAhWMOxQKHTs8CwEQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22While%20photographs%20may%20not%20lie%2C%20liars%20may%20photograph.%22%20-Lewis%20Hine&f=false
(3)http://fadedandblurred.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/r_frank_41.jpg
(4)http://www.boerner.net/jboerner/?p=7634
(5)https://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/kevin-carter-vulture.jpg

City of Contrast

Out of the three, colour, motion and contrast in the city, contrast was my favourite one to do I chose to focus on contrast between light and dark, shadow and light. All of the images contrast were produced in the camera and were not tampered with in any form of software. It was a type of photography where I had to wait for the correct light and weather which was the hardest part when it came to taking these types of photographs.

City of Motion

While capturing photos for this post, I was focusing on motion in the city, while looking at images which involved motion and street photography I noticed a lot of them focused on capturing things at high speeds or using slow shutter speeds and capturing light trails. So when I did it I wanted to capture the city and the street in a different style. I chose to take the images in monochrome, this is because I didn’t want any light trails and people focusing on colour when they notice the image and instead of capturing things moving I wanted to move the camera and see what effects I captured, I did this by moving the whole body of the camera itself and by rotating and twisting the lens.