Portraiture

One of Diane Arbus' portaits of a woman and baby

Application

Portraiture is the art of taking a person and expressing their inner qualities through the face and their position. A portrait is a picture, photgraph, etc of a person, usually a monarch or important figure in society. Portrait backgrounds are also important because it tells people about the background of the person in the picture. People such as Diane Arbus, a photographer famed for exposing faces and a person's inner self, often did this which madepeople realise how real portraiture could make people.

Context




Portraiture tends to take photographs of people with either their whole body showing, the upper half or just the head; the persons head usually looks as if it is looking outside the portrait. The style depends usually on how important a person is. Monarchy usually have had their upper half showing or their heads. Portraits are designed so that they can be shown in something important such as a manor house or a book. Richard Avedon was seen as a fashion photographer and used portaiture to emphasise the appearance of others (photo above).






Techniques





Two models photograhed by Avedon



Larry Clark's book entitled "Tulsa"



A traditional portrait and full body portrait of the Queen

 


Today, images of this type come from truth. Portraiture was formerly flawed or faked in previous centuries which is shown through the portraits of former monarchs. However at later dates it differed enabling other people to see the truth behind the portrait. Larry Clark was one of those people; Clark was an "insider" in his town of Tulsa, America. He photographed his own life in Tulsa and published it as a book. It showed the truth about his life in Tulsa and how he became the man he was.

Techniques

Photographs taken using the "decisive moment" are used to create more effective photos. Even more advanced technology has allowed photographers to develop or alter their photos to make something seem more normal or extraordinary. Originally, photographers had only the camera and developing fluid to get photographs but in the 21st century, technology has advanced enough to help the camera get the ideal image.

Photo Journalism

Application, Context and Techniques

These headings will help you when you are writing up you class notes. Please use your own words when working on this and do not just copy text from other sources. If you do copy text you must correctly label where you got the information from. 

Application


Photo journalism originated in the early 20th century. The Leica Camera, an innovative, newer, portable camera was made in Germany in 1925 which encouraged more photography to take place. Photographers found this helpful for capturing their images; Henri Cartier Bresson found the Leica to his liking and believed in surrealism, leading to him using "the decisive moment." This is shown in most of his photographs including the famous picture of the man jumping over a puddle.









Context


Photo journalism is also used for emphasis, especially in war photography. Two of these photographers are Robert Capa and Tony Vaccaro. Capa managed to capture the reality of the Second World War, even going to extreme lengths and taking pictures on the site of D - Day. His photos were viewed back in England and were used to publicise the reality of the D -Day landings. The images were used in many newspapers, broadcasts and other media. 


Techniques
(done as another post)

Henri Catrier Bresson Photographs

  

Bresson's work is made so that it makes ordinary things seem unusual or funny. The running man on the left appears as if he is about to run into a pond; the child on the right is also not supposed to be in the line up on the right making that funny in the process.

Ansel Adams Photography

It would appear that Adams was a fan of landscape photography, especially peculiar places like the straight road above or the oddly shaped tree below. The style of the photographs also makes the scenery stand out, especially the long shot of the straight road.

Robert Capa Photographs

      

Capa's photograph's tended to involve images of war on both sides. These photographs are of soldiers storming what appears to be a beach. The above images also represent the start of the invasion of Nazi territory. This tells us that Capas work revolved around war and pictures of dramatic events in the war.

Introduction to Photography

Photography is good for capturing moments, both real and unreal. I find it is good to take a photo if the moment is right and especially if it's motion involved. I prefer to attempt to use fairly complex photography methods to achieve success.