To develop my concept of contrasting light, I will draw inspiration from the techniques of Rembrandt and Chiaroscuro photography. Rembrandt lighting has a very specific look, while Chiaroscuro literally means “light and dark,” referring to the technique where a subject is made three-dimensional through lighting.

I also want to incorporate reflections in some way, perhaps through mirrors, water, or other means. I have worked with reflection in the abstraction unit so I wish to continue exploring its use in a more personal, realistic setting.

If possible, I wish to also use light and dark to convey a message about how we get past difficult times in life, contrasting the stress and darkness of life with a relieving moment of brightness.

For this project, I aim to explore the interplay between contrasting lights and how different colors, intensities, and qualities of light interact with shadows and illumination to reveal dimension, mood, and drama in portraiture. I’m interested in examining how light and dark contrasts, as well as color temperature variations (warm versus cool light), can transform our perception of identity and emotion in portrait photography.

Portraiture is the art of creating images that represent a specific person or group, capturing not only their physical appearance but also their personality. Portraiture is intentionally focused on the subject, seeking to show something truthful about their identity through careful consideration of lighting, composition, expression, and environment. Portraiture serves as both documentation and interpretation, preserving a moment in time, along with the emotion exhibited by the subject.

At its core, a portrait serves as a bridge between the photographer’s vision and the viewer’s understanding of the subject. It can be literal, showing someone’s physical appearance, or conceptual, expressing their inner world, emotions, or the photographer’s perspective on identity and humanity.

In my photography project, I aim to draw more attention to underappreciated individuals in today’s society, such as janitors, school staff, and security guards. I will capture these workers in the monotony of life, out of the eyes of less perceptive individuals, still living unique and rich lives of their own. I will primarily focus on the area around ISB, as the school is barely operational without its staff, so they will be a key highlight in my project. I hope that through my photos, viewers (hopefully ISB students) can appreciate China’s underappreciated staff and become more aware of the effort they put into maintaining our comfortable student lives.

My work is inspired by Lewis Hine, a photographer of the 1800s, whose work highlighted the cruel treatment of industrial workers in factories, construction, railways, and other industries. His work was crucial in exposing the U.S’s use of child labor, and his work was believed to have contributed in the creation of America’s earliest child labor laws. One of his most famous works is “Lunchtime Atop a Skyscraper,” showing construction workers having lunch break on a dangling metal beam in the construction of the RCA building in Manhattan, showing the bravery and risk-taking that construction workers had for the growth of society.

Reference Photo:

The concept I will focus on the most is Don’t Move. I will try to capture multiple pictures from the same perspective or same location, to emphasize the abundance of workers that pass us by, even just in one location, yet we simply do not notice their presence.

1. DON’T MOVE

• Stay in one productive spot rather than constantly wandering
• Let moments come to you
• Observe patterns and anticipate action
• Position yourself near janitor closets, security posts, service entrances
• Wait for workers to enter/exit their spaces
• Capture repetitive routines (daily arrivals, shift changes)
• Workers will relax and ignore you if you’re stationary
• Better understanding of light in one location
• Can pre-focus and compose
• Capture natural, unguarded moments
• Workers become comfortable with your presence

2. FOCUS ON BACKGROUND

• Background tells as much story as the subject
• Environment reveals context and meaning
• Use background to create layers and depth
• Institutional spaces: hallways, service corridors, loading docks
• Signs and labels: “Staff Only,” “Authorized Personnel”
• Equipment and tools: mop buckets, cleaning carts, security monitors
• Architectural mundanity: fluorescent lights, concrete walls, utilitarian design
• Background shows the system workers exist within
• Include workplace signage that defines/restricts workers
• Show scale: lone worker in large, empty institutional space
• Architectural repetition emphasizing monotony
• Environmental details that reveal class divisions

3. COMPOSITION

• Deliberate arrangement of elements within frame
• Use of lines, shapes, patterns, balance
• Rule of thirds, leading lines, framing
• Leading lines: Hallway corridors drawing eye to distant worker
• Framing: Doorways, windows framing workers in their spaces
• Rule of thirds: Worker positioned off-center for dynamic tension
• Symmetry/patterns: Repetitive architecture mirroring repetitive labor
• Negative space: Isolation and insignificance of workers in large spaces
• Foreground elements: Shoot through/past objects to add depth
• Create visually compelling images of mundane subjects
• Use composition to emphasize worker’s position in space
• Balance documentary honesty with artistic consideration

4. TENSION

• Visual or emotional conflict within the frame
• Something feels unresolved or charged
• Creates viewer engagement and reflection
• Scale tension: Small human vs. large institutional space
• Class tension: Worker in uniform vs. well-dressed passersby
• Temporal tension: Stillness vs. surrounding movement
• Visibility tension: Present but unseen, there but ignored
• Labor tension: Physical effort vs. thankless invisibility
• Juxtaposition: Worker cleaning luxury vs. their poverty wages

• Capture moments of isolation in crowded spaces
• Show workers’ effort contrasted with others’ indifference
• Uncomfortable proximity between social classes
• Moments just before or after interaction

5. AVOID DISTRACTIONS

• Remove elements that don’t serve the story
• Every element should have purpose
• Clean, focused compositions
• Watch edges of frame for distracting elements
• Avoid cluttered backgrounds that compete with subject
• Be mindful of bright spots, colorful objects drawing eye away
• Eliminate unnecessary people in frame
• Wait for clean moments between distractions
• Change angle to exclude distracting elements
• Use shallow depth of field to blur background distractions
• Wait for cleaner moment (person walking through frame)
• Move closer to simplify composition
• Use negative space strategically rather than accidental clutter
• Worker + their immediate environment = essential
• Everything else = evaluate if it adds or distracts

6. PERSPECTIVE & ANGLES

• Camera height and position changes meaning
• Different angles create different emotional responses
• Perspective shapes viewer’s relationship to subject

Eye Level:

• Equality, respect, dignity
• Direct connection with workers
• Standard for environmental portraits

Low Angle (shooting upward):

• Gives subject power, monumentality
• Elevates overlooked workers
• Heroic perspective on mundane labor
• Counters society’s dismissive view

High Angle (shooting downward):

• Shows vulnerability, smallness
• Worker diminished by system
• Emphasizes isolation in large space
• Use carefully – can feel condescending

Dutch Angle (tilted):

• Unease, instability
• System feels off-balance
• Use sparingly for specific effect

Close-Up:

• Intimate, detailed
• Hands at work, worn uniforms, tired expressions
• Emphasizes humanity and physical toll

Wide Angle:

• Context and environment
• Worker within institutional space
• Emphasizes isolation or scale
• Shows relationship between person and system

1. Don’t Move
2. Focus on Background
3. Composition
4. Tension
5. Avoid Distractions
6. Perspective & Angles

My inspiration will be Lewis Hine, a photographer whose work emphasized revealing the exploitation of workers in America.

WHO WAS LEWIS HINE?

• Trained sociologist who became photographer around 1905
• Worked for National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) 1908-1918
• Philosophy: “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug a camera”
• Believed photography could expose injustice and drive social change
• Career focus: Ellis Island immigrants → Child labor → Celebrating workers’ dignity

WHAT HE PHOTOGRAPHED

Child Labor (His Most Famous Work):

• Textile mills: Girls as young as 6-7 operating dangerous spinning machines
• Coal mines: “Breaker boys” sorting coal with blackened faces
• Canneries: Children shucking oysters until hands bled
• Glass factories: Boys working night shifts in extreme heat
• Street trades: Newsboys, shoe shiners working before dawn
• Agricultural: Migrant children in cotton and berry fields

Industrial Workers:

• Adults in dangerous factory conditions
• Workers dwarfed by massive machinery
• Long hours (12-16 hour shifts), poverty wages
• Later “Work Portraits” celebrating laborers’ dignity and skill

Immigrant Workers:

• Ellis Island arrivals (1904-1909)
• Families with all possessions, mix of hope and fear
• Tenement living conditions and sweatshop labor
• Humanizing immigrants against xenophobic stereotypes

HOW HE WORKED

Undercover Methods:

• Disguised himself as fire inspector, Bible salesman, postcard vendor
• Factories didn’t want publicity about child workers
• Sometimes hid camera in lunch pail
• Worked quickly before being discovered and ejected

Documentation System:

• Hidden notecard in pocket to record details
• Noted names, ages, hours worked, wages, family situations
• Combined photographs with detailed written captions
• Words + images created powerful evidence

Visual Style:

• Direct eye contact – subjects look at camera, creating emotional connection
• Environmental context – shows workspace, machinery, exploitation system
• Scale relationships – small children vs. massive machines = vulnerability
• Natural light – authentic conditions, no staging
• Worked with bulky large-format cameras requiring subjects to hold still

SOCIAL IMPACT

Legislative Change:

• Photos used to lobby Congress for child labor laws
• Helped pass Keating-Owen Act (1916) – first federal child labor law
• Evidence in court cases about working conditions
• State-level reforms across multiple states

Public Awareness:

• Exhibitions, pamphlets, magazine publications
• Made middle-class Americans aware of exploitation
• Created moral outrage that demanded action
• Made invisible workers visible to society

Photography History:

• Established documentary photography as activism
• Influenced FSA photographers, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans
• Created template for photojournalism with social purpose
• Over 5,000 photographs preserved as historical record

KEY THEMES IN HIS WORK

• Dignity despite exploitation – Photographed workers with respect, not pity
• Children robbed of childhood – Innocence stolen by industrial capitalism
• The human cost of profit – Bodies damaged for economic gain
• Invisible labor made visible – Society’s dependence on exploited workers
• Photography as evidence – Visual proof of injustice that couldn’t be denied

HIS PHILOSOPHY

“There were two things I wanted to do. I wanted to show the things that had to be corrected. I wanted to show the things that had to be appreciated.”

• Photography must serve a social purpose
• Balance of exposing injustice + celebrating human dignity
• Empathy and respect for subjects
• Photographer has moral responsibility beyond taking pictures
• Visual evidence more powerful than words alone