Introduction to portraiture:

A portrait is a planned photo with people in it, whether it be the photographer themself or someone else. So basically a photo with people, and not just any people, the photo must focus on a very small amount of people. And it must be planned to show a specific feeling and tell a general story about themselves or the state they are in. It must also include small details that can allow the viewers to deduct the portrait’s story, such as details of the face and embroideries on the cloth. For example the decorations on Winston Churchill’s clothes tell us that he is rich and formal. But, a portrait shouldn’t be a whimsical decision to record your day or hold a camera to yourself randomly without planning anything – namely “selfies” – these kinds of photos can tell misleading stories and people tend to try and look better on purpose in these photos, when you see a selfie photo, you wouldn’t actually see a part of the artist’s daily life, instead you see something that’s forced out from them. So their messages are all messed up and incoherent. However, if you intentionally try to convey a message in a photo, you will need to make preparations. A good portrait consists of an intended background, a person, and whatever objects they promote. And of course the person would need to match the background and the object. You can also zoom in on someone’s face, but personally I believe that kind of portrait relies to much on the person to show facial expressions, and it eliminates any other possibility of expression. A portrait is one photograph, a sequence of photos would be called “portraits“. Symbolism in portrait photography I believe can be two things: 1, what the portrait symbolize, or what it’s trying to tell you through their use of various techniques. And 2, the embroideries’, objects’, backgrounds’ and/or facial expressions’ meanings, each of the mentioned subject can each have a different symbolism. For example, the cane on Winston Churchill’s hands symbolize old age and responsibility, whilst the embroideries symbolize wealth and formality. Each item has many symbols depending on the viewer, so it’s the artist’s job to make sure the symbol are very obvious, and people won’t be divided and confused by different thoughts.

To prove my point further, look at this photo. Is this a portrait? No, but if were going by the standard that objects without people can be portraits, then this will definitely be a portrait.

Mind-Map:

Image inspirations:

One photo that really inspired me was the Winston Churchill photo. The photo doesn’t exactly tell a story, but the photo tells us about the person’s stature and wealth with the use of ornate accessories, with my project, I won’t be able to use those because my character is most likely in poverty. So I will expand on this idea of decorations a step further, maybe I will get a T-shirt that says inappropriate words on it because that shows the excessive freedom given to the alcoholics and smokers. Maybe I’ll dress the character up in a 90s gang member style clothing. Another thing about Winston Churchill is that he smiled, in his government position nobody expects him to smile, since his responsibility is so great. But this smile shows a lot of things, it shows relatability and amiability. For my portrait, I’ll have to think of something that’s depressing and vicissitudinous.

Mood Board:

Mood Board George

Mood Board V2

Finding a Focus: Vision

The title of this series of work will be “Sex, Drugs, Rock n’ Roll”, which will be revolved around my identity as an adamant rock fan, and guitar player. The issue will be revolved around drug and alcohol abuse. I believe that the spirit of rock is freedom of speech and expression, not sex, drugs, and drinks. Many rockstar try to show themselves as trendy or philandering, whilst all they actually do is kill themselves at a young age and get looked down upon. These activities were associate with rock n’ roll in the past, not anymore, the only reason any rockstars still uphold this image is because it would disappoint their hardcore fans if they didn’t, and I believe that it’s not worth the risk to kill yourself over. The age of rock as the zeitgeist crazy genre is over, leave the drugs and crime to the rappers. My vision will be “rock isn’t just drugs and booze”.

Statement of Intent:

My focus will be about both a social issue and my rock n’ roll identity, the social issue is alcoholism and drug abuse. The issue of alcoholism and the rock n’ roll identity are easily connectable, since lots of rock stars are alcoholics, and death of often caused by alcohol in rock communities. One of my favorite singers, Bon Scott, died of alcohol poisoning after a night of partying. Sex and drugs has been associated with rock even since it began, many rock stars either killed themselves or damaged their physical body to the point where they can’t even speak well. So, in my sets, I will first shows people the outcome and ramifications of doing drugs and drinking excessive alcohol – depression. My first set will completely focus on depression, I’m going to reverse the technique of catchlight and instead make the eye completely empty, showing that the vibrant energy are gone and only depression remain. I will also make one of my set about rock’s progress as a genre, and other aspects of rock that are not drugs and alcohol related. The goal of these is to show that rock isn’t a crazy genre, and to dispel all stereotypes about what rock is and how rock should be.

Chosen Photographers: Muhammed Muheisen, Steve McCurry

Muhammed Muheisen: I would believe that this photographer was aiming for spreading awareness about the Afghan situation to the rest of the world, by showing the tough living conditions of the impoverished children. They’re also trying to garner empathy, by showing the dirty faces and expressions of the kids.

This artist likes to use the technique centered iris & facial expression, when he put all of the children smack dab in the middle of the frame. The artist also doesn’t like to have an environmental touch, maybe because they want to focus entire on the children’s state.

The reason I picked this artist is because the first set of my photos will be similar to this very much, in my first set, I will be focusing on depression. Depression however, doesn’t need a background, and can only be shown through facial expression, body position, and clothing. Which is what Muhammed Muheisen has shown. Muhammed Muheisen’s photo inspire me because of his good use of mood background and ornaments. (which in this case is dirt) Also, Muhammed Muheisen is the only artist that is none abstract and is trying to explain a social issue, a topic that correlates with my own. And since I’m doing depression, his similar topic photos can inspire me with my own work.

Muhammed Muheisen Critique:

Favorite photo: bottom left, very determine eyes, character is very developed and outfit fits well with the background. Gives off the feeling of poverty. With this photo, the artist achieved their goal.

Least Favorite photo: Top right, flamboyance outfit doesn’t fit the background, facial expression doesn’t give off any particular feeling, it just feels nothing. This photo is still a good one, but out of all of it it’s not. And also, do I see a light smile on the side of her face? If the situation is within context, smiles aren’t the best way to show poverty and suffering.

This photo is drawn in Afghanistan in 2014, situation is children living in the slums. The artist is trying to tackle the problem of poverty in the slum, by showing us children in ragged clothes, muddy faces and sad expressions. There isn’t much detail on what identity and jobs of the characters, all we know is that they are in poverty and they are living miserable lives. Which is fine because these photo isn’t trying to tell a story, but an issue. The lighting in this photo is a very important factor, without the correct lighting, the photo wouldn’t make sense. But the light in this photo does make sense, as it highlights the subject. The context of the photo is also very important, the photographer could be using their skills to appeal to western society, since the US military is withdrawing from Afghanistan.

 

Steve McCurry: I did some research on his message, he was trying to tell us about the impact of war on our lives, very similar to Muhammed Muheisen’s works. Here is a quote from the photographer himself: “most of my images are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out, experience etched on a person’s face.” He usually takes photos of people and land that are constantly effected by war. Such as unstable places in the Middle East, and recently even Ukraine.

Style: Steve McCurry’s style is similar to Muhammed Muheisen’s, only Steve’s has more diversity. I noticed that Steve’s people don’t have any emotion or expression, so he likes to use the clothing, background, and conditions to show his message more so than expression. He also likes centered Iris, dominant eye, and catchlight. Which means he also likes to do many things with eyes, they all say that eyes are the window to the soul.

I chose this artist because of the way he communicates his message, it’s very convincing. I also had the luck to discover one of his greatest projects, he took a photo of a young lady in 1984, then took another one of the same lady in 2002. The same person had changed so much, aged so much, became so winkled and dehydrated in 18 years. This effectively demonstrates the impact of war on people. I was thinking, maybe I could do some sort of series-phototaking, where I show someone who was bright and happy beforehand, and was completely ruined by alcohol and drug abuse. Something that inspired me further, was his characters’ robust cultural accessories and makeups, this inspired me to try some abstract phototaking in terms of the character. For example, I could portray some ridiculous facial features, to enhance my message.

Least Favorite:

This don’t like this photo because this has nothing to do with war and lives effected, in fact I don’t even know what this is. This has no message attached to it, no meaning and no purpose. The people in the photo seemed happy, which deviates from his usual style of emptiness, they actions are unexplainable, their intentions are ambiguous, everything about this is just not comprehendible by the human mind. This photo can even be identified as abstract. The only good thing about this photo is the unusual color contrast, red and green fit well together, but what’s the point of having a really aesthetic photo and having literally no understanding whatsoever. This photo is a prime example of what I should avoid doing in my sets. I get the fact that the green person is supposed to be special, but unfortunately we don’t get to see him in detail since he’s so far from camera.

Most Favorite:

This photo is my favorite because it’s a vanilla Steve McCurry photo that shows his usual messages and has his usual style. But this photo has many more gadgets that symbolize many things. The character is a miner who – judging by his smoking – is very depressed and impoverished. (unless he wouldn’t want this job) The background is blurred, but it sets a dark mood which gives us some sense of seriousness. It seems that the social issue is about either pay gap, war, or both. When I looked at the photo again, the things that caught my eye first was the smoking and the face. The face is obvious: because it’s in the center of the photo. And the smoking’s color is white compared to the black background so it was more eye-catching. Both of these are important the dirty face is what proves that he is a miner, which tells us more about the person themselves. And the smoke is what makes us more certain about the artist’s message. I myself don’t particularly feel drawn or empathy to the man in the photo, but that’s only because I never experienced something like poverty or depression. A middle-aged middle-low-class man is most likely feel connected to this photo. They would likely feel empathy to the person because they understand the struggles of this person.

Sketch Plan:

It turned out way smaller than this, I underestimated the smallness of my basement