Final photos (intended to be displayed in this order):

Best Image (consented)

From the rough selection, I selected a mix of serious and silly photos for the final five. I organized the photos to alternate between silly and serious. Overall, the techniques used (lighting, shadows) were not what I initially predicted: I originally planned to shoot jumping motion photos to reveal character, but the shooting environment did not allow for that (the legs could not be captured because the background curtains were too short).

I wanted to reference how Halsman, my chosen photographer, thought that jumping would reveal the character of the model. But Bobby was such an outgoing, cooperative, and silly person that I did not have to devote much effort to relieving his self-consciousness in front of the camera. He naturally smiled when he saw anything remotely funny to him.

My intent: To relieve self-consciousness caused by the widespread usage of social media. My final set of photos I feel achieves this purpose quite well. As I look at these photos, I see a strong contrast between the spontaneous laughter of Bobby and his serious surroundings. Conveying how you do not need to be restricted and act artificially in an environment that opposes your character. Bobby in these photos is free from the black suit, spotlight, and serious background. He expresses himself freely and the audience clearly sees his enjoyment.

Additionally, in the mix of serious and silly photos, we see how there are many aspects of Bobby: Serious, scheming, silly. He is not only happy in the photos, which was what I expected as that was generally the most common emotion to display in front of the camera. Bobby really surpassed my expectations and further elevated the purpose of this set of photos: Everyone is dynamic and diverse, do not refrain from showing different emotions in front of the camera.

In terms of technique, I cropped out parts of the images (images 2,4,5) to reduce headspace and focus the image. Additionally, the fourth image was originally a practice shoot for the technique of the dominant eye in the center. Which turned out beautifully. I also utilized the positioning of the spotlight to create strong light and shadow. I also took into account the contrast between the colors of his shadow, face, and suit. During this photoshoot, I actively tried to take photos of Bobby with his suit connected to his shadows. Almost as if his suit was blending in with his shadows.

Overall, this final set of images includes very strong contrast, light and shadow, and the sense of a story. Especially with images 2,4, and 5. In image 2, one prominent feature of the image is that the shadow almost completely encloses Bobby. Hiding his facial features and creating a sense of mystery. Additionally, the shape of the shadows around his neck and head is shaped like a boss chair. Paired with his thinking position and glasses, Bob is in a position of power and mystery in this image. Image 4 has similar features. Concealing half of the face, strong light and shadow, and a sense of mystery. I specifically chose this image because, with higher resolution, the lamp lights up dust particles in the air, creating texture and a movie-like feeling to the image. Image 5 is especially interesting. Bobby is smiling facing the camera, but his reflection in the mirror’s smile is less subtle. I utilized the angle of the mirror in this image to reflect Bobby’s side view while I captured the front view. So the Bobby facing us and the Bobby in the mirror convey slightly different emotions. I really like the composition of image 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for an amazing photography semester and have a great holiday!

-Mingming

Photo Takeaways:

• SIMPLE BACKGROUND – The messy background clutters the image and directs the audience’s attention away from the focus.
• CLEAR AND SIMPLE LIGHT SOURCE – Messy lighting makes the image look very flat and bland.
• BROTHER WEAR THE SUIT – The suit covering the squiggly bus patterns on his shirt underneath helps reveal Bobby’s character: he is very silly inside.

Directing Takeaways:

• Be very specific about the position you want the model to be in, preferably demonstrate it yourself. The same goes for facial expressions, smiles from the model are much more genuine if the photographer is smiling too.
• Take consecutive shots especially when taking photos of movement, and look for the perfect moment during the movement.
• For jumping, plan out if and how you are going to move the camera. The model is going to jump and fall very quickly, so if you don’t know how to move your camera, it is very likely that the model will move out of frame.
• Inform the model of where is the boundaries of the photograph (the frame), the model may neglect the positioning of parts of their body because they don’t think it is in the frame.

For the final shoot, I realized that I did not plan out my brother’s clothing properly. When I saw him in his pajamas of silly and colorful bus patterns, I had to think of something on the spot. I chose to give my black suit to him just because I thought it covered up the patterns, and it created an unintentional effect.

The suit was not able to cover the bus shirt completely, and an edge of the bus pattern was visible through the suit. The edge was coincidentally the eyes of the bus. So for some of the photos where this edge was visible, there was a subtle contrast, almost juxtaposition of this black suit and a funny bus face.
E.g:

Rough selection&Brief analysis:

This image incorporated my brother’s love for the Rubix cube. He chose to have the yellow side face the camera as it is his favorite color. I did choose to make all the images black and white though. The lighting, the shadows, and his black suit all work very well with the black-and-white color scheme.

I mostly chose photos with strong shadows and sharp resolution. This issue does fill the criteria quite well, but there is not much emotion in his facial expression which I think weakens the image.

This photo captures a very funny facial expression my brother made. I really like the contrast in this image. Bobby’s nervous expression and the black and white dramatic color scheme, the black suit and the silly pajamas Bobby has on the inside. Overall I feel this image captures my brother’s character quite well: he feels nervous around a very serious environment.

I really like the black gradient of the background here. It focuses the audience attention onto Bobby. His pose and facial expressions are also great, making an interesting shadow. But I feel the lighting was not positioned very well here, the contrast of his face and the background is not very strong (his face is a little too grey here). This photo likely would have worked better with his face being the focus of the light.

This photo is one of my favorites of this rough selection. He is in a very serious pose, holding a Rubix cube in black and white. The black gradient background surrounds him. Everything around him is so solemn and deep, whilst he is just laughing his head off standing there.

This photo captures the genuine and spontaneous emotions I set off to find, and the contrast adds a layer of humor to this image. Overall, I like this image and I am sending it straight to the final selections.

This image looks better with better resolution, the textures are very strong, and the eye contact is very strong, but the lighting made his face incredibly dark, which I feel weakens the image as it decreases the contrast of the image.

If the lighting were better in this image, it would go straight to final selection.

This image I think is very fun as Bobby has a funny pose and a very obvious double chin. For the previous poses, he always tries to cover his double chin up, but I feel like it makes the image more authentic and spontaneous if he shows it.

However, this image is a little bland in terms of facial expression and positioning in comparison to the others.

 

These images are very similar in composition so I will analyze them as a whole. The mirror reflection of my brother paired with the strong contrast and black and white color scheme make this image overall very strong. The gap between Bobby and the mirror almost makes the composition of this image symmetrical.

I really like these photos, but most of them are pretty blurry so I will have to make sacrifices here.

I included this photo in the rough selection because I like the aura of mystery in this image created by the shadows concealing Bobby’s face. I feel like it would be interesting to include these kinds of serious photos in the final selection and then also include photos of Bobby laughing and cracking up. Showing how though he is in a serious environment, he maintains his optimistic attitude and silliness.

The shadows of this photo is especially interesting paired with his suit and glasses because the shadows almost create a chair similar to a boss arm chair. Putting Bobby in a position of power. Additionally, Bobby has his hands in a thinking posture, which strengthens the mysterious and serious mood.

I really like Bobby’s facial expressions in this image. He looks silly but also a little scheming at the same time, which makes this image very humorous. The contrast between the seriousness of his suit and surroundings with his facial expressions also strengthen this image. This is going straight to final selection.

These two images I was a little unsure of because though the lighting and shadows are very interesting, we cannot clearly see his face. I do like the sense of mystery and story in this photo though.

 

 

I wanted to take my pictures either under sunlight or studio light as the lighting in my home is not very clear, so I planned to wake up early in the morning (5:30) to take pictures in the sunlight.

But Beijing’s 5:30 apparently is full darkness so I had to take these practice shots inside our home.

In this practice shoot, I experimented with centered pupils, motion photography, and depth of field.

These are some of the practice shots:

 

(These were not taken horizontally, the import is broken :()

I did not have my camera for these practice shots because it was out of battery at the time so I just experimented with what I could work with in terms of poses and background.

What worked well:

• Brother’s expressions are very expressive, he’s a pretty goofy lad and is a great model for this project.
• The wide-angle shots work pretty well with the square ceiling. It empowers the model and creates space.
• Having a light source behind the head of the model created a glowing effect as if his head was glowing. Focuses the audience on the model’s head.

What did not work well:

• Messy lighting: indoors, coming from all angles
• A messy background directs attention away from the focus and clutters the image
• Jumping motions are too straight, could improve on directing action
• Framing of jumping motions: Lost subjects sometimes
• The pupils I tried my best to center in all of these images, but Bobby’s eyes close when he’s smiling so you can’t really see the

Major Takeaways:

• SIMPLE BACKGROUND – The messy background clutters the image and directs the audience’s attention away from the focus.
• CLEAR AND SIMPLE LIGHT SOURCE – Messy lighting makes the image look very flat and bland.
• BROTHER WEAR THE SUIT – The suit covering the squiggly bus patterns on his shirt underneath helps reveals Bobby’s character: he is very silly inside.

 

 

I did not have time to experiment with jumping pictures during the test shoot, but I did model for some action photographs.

Having experience of being the model for jumping photos, and having looked at those photos, I now have a much better idea of how I should direct my shoots.

Key takeaways:

• Be very specific about the position you want the model to be in, preferably demonstrate it yourself. The same goes for facial expressions, smiles from the model are much more genuine if the photographer is smiling too.
• Take consecutive shots especially when taking photos of movement, and look for the perfect moment during the movement.
• For jumping, plan out if and how you are going to move the camera. The model is going to jump and fall very quickly, so if you don’t know how to move your camera, it is very likely that the model will move out of frame.
• Inform the model of where is the boundaries of the photograph (the frame), the model may neglect the positioning of parts of their body because they don’t think it is in the frame.

Photos I took during the test shoots:

These are not very related to my vision, as I hope to photograph movement. However, I did learn how to use light to create details and emotions in my photographs. I feel like the coloring is one of the most crucial aspects of lighting: Carol looked much happier under the normal classroom light in comparison to these purple lights.

Describe the societal/cultural issue you want to explore with your photographs:

Nervousness and self-consciousness in front of the camera. In the age of rapid technological advancements, social media has become more and more prevalent in our lives. Many of us see only the best, bright, sometimes even artificial sides of people on the internet as that is what algorithms choose to serve you. Often leading to social comparison and self-consciousness (https://socialmediavictims.org/mental-health/self-esteem/#:~:text=Social%20Media’s%20Effects%20on%20Self,comments%2C%20and%20exposure%20to%20cyberbullying.)

Find some photographers/photographs or look at photography genres that inspire – not too much detail, but a general idea. You need to show that your research has purposefully informed and inspired your project.

Cindy Sherman

• Face painting and expressive costume design
• Colorful backgrounds (waving lights?)
• Tilted faces (different perspectives)

Phillipe Halsman

• Black and white color schemes
• Closeups of textures
• Jumping motion/actions (playing the trumpet)
• Exaggerated facial emotions

Yayoi Kusama

• Expressive colors and patterns
• Abstract set design
• Could use colors that relate to their character?

A mood board highlighting the societal/cultural issue I want to explore with my photographs

Statement of intent

• The title of this project is…
• The societal/cultural issue I want to explore with my photographs is…..
• I want my audience to feel…..
• I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs that…

Working title:

The societal issue I want to explore with my photographs is nervousness and self-consciousness in front of the camera. Social media has become more and more prevalent in our lives. Many of us see only the best, bright, sometimes even artificial sides of people on the internet as that is what algorithms choose to serve you. Often leading to social comparison and self-consciousness. I want my audience to feel empowered through my photographs displaying the beauty in genuine, spontaneous emotions. I strive to make them realize that they do not need to reach perfection to be confident in front of the camera and I hope to guide my model to reach this understanding as well. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs that include: jumping (as Halsman stated, jumping makes the mask of nervousness in someone fall and reveal their true selves), strong facial expressions, and spontaneous emotions.

Part 1: Inspiration

Philippe Halsman

Halsman intends to capture both the appearance and inner character of his photography subjects, to him, “the eyes, the expression of the mouth – is the thing that reflects character. It is the only part of the body that permits us to see the inner person!” (Halsman)

However, Halsman noticed that “[m]ost people stiffen with self-consciousness when they pose for a photograph. Lighting and fine camera equipment are useless if the photographer cannot make them drop the mask, at least for a moment, so he can capture on his film their real, undistorted personality and character” (Halsman).

To truly capture the inner, spontaneous personality of his subjects, Halsman developed a strategy in the 1950s: to ask the subject of his photographs to jump in front of the camera; “When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears” (Halsman). He noticed that doing so paradoxically relaxed people and brought out the inner person, which was what Halsman strived to capture in his photographs. Hence the abundance of jumping and movement in his works. 

Another prominent feature of Halsman’s works is surrealism. Halsman’s 37-year collaboration with Salvador Dalí, an iconic surrealist artist is likely the cause. Dalí and Halsman together created several well-known surrealist series, famous examples including “Dalí’s Mustache.”

Halsman’s origins may also have impacted his style and intent in his photographs. Halsman began his photographic career in Paris and opened a portrait studio. He continued his portrait photography in America for 30 years. Soon, his works were noticed: Halsman’s portraits appeared on 101 LIFE magazine covers.

Halsman’s decades of career in portrait photography influenced his determination to capture the inner person of his photography subjects. Considering how cameras were much rarer in the 1900s than in the present, and Halsman worked with an advanced twin-lens reflex camera that he designed himself, his photography subjects at his studio would likely stiffen up and put on a perfect mask for this valuable experience.

The decades of work under these conditions impacted what Halsman wanted to capture most in people: “their real, undistorted personality and character” (Halsman).

Quotes stack

“Every face I see seems to hide—and sometimes fleetingly reveal—the mystery of another human being.”

“To me the face – the eyes, the expression of the mouth – is the thing that reflects character. It is the only part of the body that permits us to see the inner person!”

“Most people stiffen with self-consciousness when they pose for a photograph. Lighting and fine camera equipment are useless if the photographer cannot make them drop the mask, at least for a moment, so he can capture on his film their real, undistorted personality and character.”

“What do I want to capture most in my photographs ? Human emotion and the essence of human being. I am less interested in forcing my subjects into a visually interesting form or putting them against an unusual background.”

“I do not direct the sitter – the only thing I try is to help him over his fears and inhibitions. I try to capture what I feel reflects something of his inner life. The main goal for me is not to impose my own ideas of the subject, but rather to get at the psychological truth of the subject and present it in a valid form, a graphic form – but I would always sacrifice design for content.”

“When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears.”

–Philippe Halsman

Sources:

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/philippe-halsman-louis-armstrong

https://photoquotes.com/author/philippe-halsman

https://philippehalsman.com/career/biography/

3.

Looking at Halsman’s images altogether, I notice that:

1. Everything is black and white or at least attempted to be converted to black and white.
2. Surrealism in many of the photos
3. Jumping and facial movement is common in the subjects
4. Halsman creates strong texture in his photos through strong contrast and patterns
5. The background is often empty to emphasize the subject
6. Halsman follows the rule of “keep eyes in the upper third”
7. His photos are very expressive: Either conveying a strong emotion or visually impactful

4.

I selected Halsman as my chosen artist because I resonate with his intent of capturing the inner, true persona of his subjects.

I always find photography capturing genuine, spontaneous emotions strong and intriguing. The emotions and experiences associated with a piece of portrait photography are what I think are most precious.

These images inspire me because they convey strong positive emotions without colors, which honestly I have never seen before. Usually, black and white colors bring a sense of irremovable sadness and grief to a work of photography, yet some of the black and white works of Halsman seem to be exempt from the effects of this color scheme. Especially in these two photographs:

I never thought that black and white would work with positive emotions, but it seems that when the emotions of the subject are strong enough, and the subject is in focus, (through having a blank background, and expressive facial expressions) they work perfectly well together.

In my experiment, I want to try asking my subject to jump, like Halsman does. Also encouraging him to make expressive facial expressions.

The intent to capture spontaneous personality in Halsman’s photography works very well with my subject matter because the goal of my set of photography is to capture the genuine emotions of my family members. Every time we have a photo together they, especially my brothers, are extremely uncomfortable and I want to change that through my set of experiments.

5.

Visual similarities:

1. Black and white color scheme
2. Action (playing trumpet, jumping)
3. Eyes are in the upper third of the work
4. Expressive facial emotions
5. Blank/plain background
6. In some images, a grey gradient in the background

Part 2: Critique

Favourite image:

This image is my favorite because first, we very clearly see his face, the textures and reflections on his face, and the trumpet add details to this image, and his black suit works very well in the white, empty background.

So visually this image was very appealing to me, but I also like the intent behind this image. The person in this image is Louis Armstrong, the famous African-American jazz musician. I really like how for this portrait, Halsman decided to include Armstrong’s passion for music. As one’s passion is a large part of their character.

Considering that in Armstrong’s large band performances, there isn’t much opportunity to make expressive facial emotions and movement onstage, Halsman’s photoshoot allowed Armstrong to reveal his true self when playing music.

The trumpet was implemented very well in this image. The metallic distortions of light and strong contrast on the trumpet work very well with the black-and-white theme. We also see that Armstrong’s fingers are halfway through playing on the trumpet, adding motion to the photo.

The white shirt beneath Armstrong’s black suit blends in with the background, adding a layer of abstract photography into the mix. Overall, I chose this image as my favorite image of Halsman’s work because of the expressive and spontaneous emotions, Halsman’s integration of passion into the work, and the abstract coloring from the trumpet’s metallic reflection to Armstrong’s shirt blending in with the background.

Least favorite image:

It was a struggle choosing a least favourite image from Halsman’s works. This image includes some really interesting textures and body movement, but for my intents and purposes, the face is too concealed.

In this photograph, I see a man wearing a suit up in the air. The texture of the ground beneath him looks almost like water, giving the image a feel like a man jumping in rain puddles after ending work.

But the facial expressions of the man is quite concealed. He is looking down at his feet and we cannot see his eyes well, which I think hinders the emotions of this image.

My eyes are drawn to firstly the strong shadows of the man’s suit. They create texture and strong shapes in the work. Then, my eyes are guided to the man’s boots, which are of similar dark color. I noticed that in black-and-white photographs, my eyes are first attracted to the darkest colors.

Looking away and then looking at the photograph again, the shape of the man is the most intriguing aspect. His arms are slightly symmetrical but also naturally placed, and his legs are in a stepping motion captured midair. I really like the positioning of his arms and legs, but for me, I cannot see his facial expressions which I think is very important for my vision.

CONTENT

•What is the subject of the photograph?

•List details that you see in the photograph.

•Setting: What place and time period are shown in the photograph? Describe the details that you see in the setting. Describe the background

•Character: Describe the people in the photograph.

What are they like? Describe some of the characteristics that they seem to have. What are they doing? What do you think they want? Do you like the pose? the styling?

•Situation/plot: Describe the situation that the characters are in. What is happening in the picture? How does the photograph fit within cultural, political, social, historical and/or environmental contexts

PHOTOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES

•What is the photographer’s point of view?

•Where is your eye drawn?

•Describe the lines, patterns, shapes, and colors.

•Find the pattern of light and shadow. What does the lighting draw your attention to?

•Describe what is in focus.

•Look away and then look at the photograph again. What caught your eye first?

•Why does that stand out?

STYLE & GENRE

•Use an adjective to describe the style of the photograph.

MEANING /INTENT

•Mood: How does this picture make you feel? What elements (lighting, colors, shapes, texture, the subject) make you feel that way?

•Intention: What are the intended effects of the photographer’s choices?

•How do you want the photograph to make us feel?

•Why artistic choices did you make to enable this?

• Do you think you have achieved this?

Explain how this style/technique etc. will be incorporated in your next experiments