Portraiture

Application

Portraiture was originally a beautiful painting of someone who is rich or who is very powerful who hired a very skilled painter to capture their power within the painting, which meant that the one who was posing owned that portrait. Yet as portraiture has evolved the possession has over turned, the man or woman who stands behind the camers own that portrait, they decide what they want to portray through the picture. 

Diane Arbus was a very unique photographer, she didnt like who she was, she wasn't happy with the life that she lived. She used photography to "try on" other peoples personalities, to act like someone else so she could escape from her mind. In her photography she brought out the inner personality of ordinary people, she captured the true emotion that they felt but no one else saw.

This picture of Marcella Matthaei was taken in 1969, she was just approaching adolescence, starting to feel angry, sad confused with all the emotions she was feeling. With this picture Diane Arbus captured all those emotions before Marcella knew it herself.

Diane liked to capture the unknown, she photographed dwarfs, giants, transvestites, nudists and circus performers. Arbus was known as the photographer of freaks. She photographed what was known as the other world, the world that people are "afraid" to explore.

  

 Larry Clark is a story teller with his work, he boldly portrayed his own lifestyle through his pictures. He let the world know what he done within his social group, such as drugs, sex and guns.

 





Context

Portraiture is all around us in our everyday lives, although we don't always notice it. Many companies use portraiture to advertise products, they usually use portraites of celebrities to make the product more popular. They usually advertise with portraits on billboards, leaflets, magazines and newspapers. One of the biggest places you will find portraits is on the internet, as many companies and celebrities have their own sites, which people of the public can check out. Portrait is alot more popular than landscapes in magazines and newspapers because they take up less space in them.

Techniques

The Leica camera was invented in Germany 1925, it was compact and quiet which meant it was easy to carry around and take picture in the right place at the right time.


Texture is a big part of photography, it makes the picture almost "pop" out of the page. Although you have to make sure you match the background texture to the foreground of the picture, otherwise it will not look "right". 
Years ago portraiture was mainly used for Kings and Queens of the era, to show how rich they are, and shows the texture of their clothes and jewellry. The person that was in the painting got to choose what they wanted to wear and how they wanted to portray themselves.

Photo Journalism

Application, Context and Techniques

Application

Photo journalism was started by a french photographer named Henri Cartier-Bresson, he was one of the first photographers to use the Leica camera. The Leica camera was invented in Germany 1925, it was compact and quiet which meant it was easy to carry around and take picture in the right place at the right time. Cartier-Bresson was a surrealist, which meant where ever he went he saw a super reality behind reality, he could see possibilities of theatrical oppurtunities where ever he went. The pictures that Cartier-Bresson took were known as The Decisive Moment, he always knew at what moment to take the perfect picture; his most famous picture was taken in Paris 1933, of a man jumping into a puddle. The Decisive Moment is the slpit second you take a picture changes the whole meaning of the scenario in front of you, a second before or after the picture could mean nothing but if you catch it at the right moment the picture could escalate to a historical piece. 

Robert Capa worked for Life magazine and was sent to World War 2 as a photo journalist to take life changing pictures of the war. He approached the photography industry with a motto of get close and then get closer. He took one of the ultimate decisive moments in The Spanish Civil War 1936 of a soldier just been shot to death. He had taken some amazing pictures of the war, yet unfortunaltey his pictures were accidently destroyed whilst they were developing. Only a few had survived.

People were amazed by the risks that Robert Capa took for is passion of photography, which meant his work was highly respected, unlike the work of Tony Vaccaro.

Tony Vaccaro was not a a proffessional photo journalist but a U.S. army G.I. who had a love for photograph. During WW2 Tony Vaccaro always had a camera hanging around his neck, so in the middle of action he could quickly grab the camera and snap a picture in that moment. Unfortunatley Tony wasn't wealthy enough to afford the Leica camera so instead he used the Arga C3, as he was a G.I. he didnt have a proffessional photo developing studio, but he made do with soldiers helmets and the chemicals he found from a blown up camera shop. Although Tony worked hard to get his pictures ready for America, the U.S. army did not publish them as they didn't want a negative view fo the war, as the citizens of America would of realised that war is a horrible and disastrous act.
 


 
1933 - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Tony Vaccaro

  

Robert Capa

Context

Photo Journalism was created to show the reality of the war, to show how horrible and brutal the war turned out to be. Robert Capa was an official photo journalist and out himself in danger to get the photos he needed, his photos were published in the American magazine Life. Tony Vaccaro was also a photo journalist, yet publishers thought that his work was to graphic for the general public to see, and would give a negative view on the war.

Techniques

Techniques are rarely used in photo journalism, it is just the matter of being in the right place and the right time and capturing the Decisive Moment. It also takes having a good imagination, being able to walk into a room and picture a photograph in your mind, but also being able to take the picture in the way that they imagined it.

Intro To Photography

In photogrpaphy I would like to learn the techniques in art and fashion photography. I am always taking pictures whether I am with friends or family, out around Crawley, Brighton or London. I would like to learn the different techniques of art and fashion photography.