Portraiture

Portraiture or Portrait is a type of photography aiming to depict a person showing their face, appearance, feeling, emotion and personality. Picturing portraits utilize different techniques, including adequate lighting, angles, poses, etc. From my perspective, Selfies are definitely considered Portraiture. It can be counted as “Self” Portraiture showing a portrait of the author. As long as the photograph includes faces and people, I consider them Portraiture. In a portrait, people or person is essential; it is one aspect that should be included in portraitures. I believe there are no specific aspects or things that shouldn’t be in Portraiture.  A “good portraiture” should include a blank background; usually, if we see portraits taken by photographers, the background isn’t busy but straightforward. The most crucial aspect that makes a “good portraiture” should definitely focus on the face or the part of a person that shows their identity. A portrait by Mahesh Balasubramanian is a great example. This Portrait has a clear focus on a child’s face and is built without any distraction in the background like trees, but just a simple black background. In general, rules in photography can be broken. You don’t need to focus on the whole body in the Portrait. In Portraiture, it is possible to consist of small details like close up of hands because it shows a person’s identity. In my perspective, picturing one part of the person, which can be handed, can also establish the identity and emotions. For example, a hand photo taken by Eamonn McCabe is a great photo showing only the hands. Even though it didn’t show the face, the photograph showed more meaning, making the readers more interpretations. Hands essentially present the identity.

Moreover, when the focus subject isn’t on an aspect of identity or a person, it ceases to become a portrait. It essentially depends on who people interpret the photograph. However, I think as long as it shows the identity, no matter the photography is blurred, torn apart, or faded, in my standpoint, it is still considered as a portrait. In addition, it is possible to represent photographically without people presented in the images. It can be defined as objects or shadows that make the readers interpret further. From my perspective, if the objects show the identity of a person or people, I think it counts as a portrait cause it shows a part of someone. It essentially depends on how viewers interpret it. Portraits don’t have to be single photographs but sequences of events and images.

 

 

Mind Map

Focus

Generally, I am focusing on the social issues of inequality and the famous quotation, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” from George Elliot. I want to show that people are just people; they are all equal. I am trying to present this idea using different unique ways to reveal a person’s identity. The methods include depicting only a part of the person’s body, such as hands, using eyes as the main focus, and the background.

Image Inspiration/Mood Board

Statement of Intent

The title of this project is “Equality.” The social and cultural issue I want to explore with my photographs is a cultural difference. I want my audience to feel a strong sense from different cultures and ethnicity and different emotions such as isolation. I want my viewers to clearly see the cultural difference of people, like how some are different than others. I also want my audience to feel the isolation in different ways. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs that depict the eyes as the main focus, showing different cultures by their appearance, different poses, and different ways to show identification, such as offering a person’s hands.

 

 

Artist- Bill Brandt

Bill expresses emotion in an unusual way to show some part of the body. The body parts and the background catches the audiences’ attentions. Bill set a pretty busy background, unlike other photographers who focus on a plain and not busy background. He usually depicts the parts of the body that represent someone’s identity on a beach or in a room. He slightly uses the technique of “Get in close” to fill the main subject of body parts on the frame. Furthermore, he usually depicts these body parts utilizing “Change your angles.” It doesn’t use angles to eliminate the distractions but instead takes the main subject in a weird angle. We can also find his photographs mainly as a portrait shape. Even though he follows these rules, he breaks these rules more. One of the features that makes his pictures different than others is the editing technique. Most of his portraits are in a Black & White tone. I have chosen this artist because it relates to my intent. He uses just one of the body parts to represent identity and uses a feeling of oldness through the tone of Black & White. I will take his idea of Black & White tone, using body parts to show identity and angles on my experimentation. I want to depict the essence by taking photographs from different angles but without distractions.

 

Least favorite photograph

The subject of this photograph taken by Bill Brandt is unclear to me. This subject was the first thing that caught my eyes because it took up the most frame space. My interpretation is someone’s ankle or knees, but I don’t really know it. Even though this shows a person’s body part, it is unclear.

On the skin I see a small blemish; this shows the uniqueness of its identity. By the background, we can identify it is near the shore. This photograph is attractive due to its unique part of the body and the busyness of the background, but I don’t like the posing.

Some positive features of this image include the details on the skin, like the fainted lines and dots. The Black & White tone and the shadows created by the subject on the pebbles show the uniqueness of the photograph. In addition, The small pebbles catch the audience’s attention by showing the setting of this image.

As for Portraiture, a simple background is much better than a busy background. This can be improved by depicting from a different angle. By the clearness of the small pebbles, I anticipate this photograph was taken during the daytime.

 

Favorite Photograph

The subject is taken in this photograph taken by Bill Brandt is very clear to me. It was the first thing I saw in the Portrait. It takes up most of the frame, and the identity stands out clearly. The subject of the photograph is fingers. I like this photograph since it clearly zoomed in and focused on one part of the body to show identity. Moreover, it has a plain background as normal Portraiture than other images taken by Bill Brandt. There are multiple shapes, lines on the hand, and the tone of Black & White presents the photograph as impressive. Furthermore, the element of “light” is well used. It creates the shadows of the hands-on pebble and clearly shows the subject. The shadows provide uniqueness to the photograph.

The feature of the catch in texture also provides a positive effect to the audience. The smoothness of the fingers and the rocks can be identified.

 

The setting and the time of this photograph aren’t clear. I can anticipate that it is daytime near the sea. From the photograph of fingers, I can see small details like palm lines. The palm lines show the characteristics of the person and the identity. By the number of palm lines,  there is a high possibility that the person isn’t young and works a lot. More palm lines show more ages. People who work a lot of hand movements often have rough lines on their hands. I am predicting he is a diligent and middle-aged person.

 

Posing and Studio Photography

Inspiration

My goal and my inspiration came from this photo. I wanted to depict portraiture that provides the viewer with darkness but also a little bit of brightness. I have shown this by using a Black & White tone and the control of lights. I also achieved this by putting lights in different directions and positions. The pose was intended to show loneliness and isolation.

Lighting Workshop Planning

Final Portraiture (Light Workshop)

From my standpoint, I think it was successful following the inspiration photo to create a feeling of isolation. I edited the photograph a little bit to add the tone of Black & White. By looking at my face, it shows a contrast of brightness and darkness just like the inspiration photo. The lighting position was almost the same but less bright. I think next time it will be better to wear whiter clothes so that it shows a clear contrast and brightness on the upper body.