Category Archives: Portraits

Vision + Contact Sheet

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Vision

My vision is to capture pictures that are whimsical and evoke a feeling of absurdity and alienation within the reader. Although I am not using masks, I want to use mirrors to hide my subject’s identity and for the viewer to ponder the relationship between the mirror’s reflection and the person’s internal identity.

Contact Sheet

 

Yellow

 

 

Green

 

Red

As can be seen, I ended up with less red photos and total photos in my contact sheet. For my final presentation, I took some from the green section that I thought were nice but not as visually impactful as this one. I also took a few more pictures to make a cohesive set of photographs for exhibitions.

Final Evaluation

Firstly, I am really sorry for deciding to make a three set photo collection… (I can print it as 3 separate photos but its easier for presentation in triptych format)

given how much I struggled making a triptych for the abstract unit, its surprising that I decided to go for a three set photograph collection again, but I felt that this was the format that was most fitting to present my photos for this unit. (Explained later)

The Mirror

I used the motif of mirror across my three pictures to convey underlying meanings about Identity. While many people view mirrors as a candid tool for reflecting the truth and physical reality, I approach the concept of the mirror based off its reflective properties. I was intrigued by how mirrors reflect their surroundings, and how what they reflect is dynamic and dependent on context. Similar, I feel like people have different identities around different people and in different situations. For example, I have different polarities of expression that I employ and give people different impressions; at school, a lot of people view me as academic, studious, and usually moderate in terms of self expression – not too flamboyant and extroverted, but not extremely introverted; however, those who see me play badminton know that I have a competitive streak, and often see me yelling when I miss shots or screaming aggressively when score a point; alternatively, might act certain ways and have certain tendencies when taking on different roles in other systems, maybe affected by the energy level of the room or the opinions of the people I am surrounded by. I think that each person feels something similar. Furthermore, studies show that the way our brain develops and grows is heavily contingent on what we are surrounded by. For example, we learn the language we are exposed to, and home environments can affect the interests and hobbies we grow up with.

As a result, I often wonder how much of our identity is shaped by our environment, and how much of it is given to us by other people. That is one aspect that the mirror, which changes reflection based on surrounding aims to convey – the fluidity of a person’s nature.

Secondly, I wanted to convey a feeling of uncanniness and alienation I, and other people feel, especially when immersed in large crowds of people. I was inspired by the artist I researched to add an out of ordinary element among a mundane scene to create an absurd feeling. In this case, the mirror greatly contrasted with my background, making it seem unnatural. I furthered this unnatural feeling by making the mirror approximately the same size and centered in all 3 of my pictures.

The Stage

Although I took photographs in a variety of environments, I ended up settling on a “theatre” “stage”, or “acting” theme for my background in the final 3 photographs.

This selection of background acted to my benefits. The repetition of the red chairs was visually impactful, while the dramatic lighting allowed me to keep focus on my subject. The repeated red of the chairs also kept the whole scene neat while making my model’s presence, which breaks the pattern of the chairs, even more visually jarring.

The repeated chairs evoke the feeling of an invisible audience, in which one feels anonymous among a sea of other people. Furthermore, through showing a reflection of the audience and the stage, I conveyed the tension and relationship between being in the audience and watching your life unfold and being the one acting on stage. Echoing the alienation created by the mirror, sitting in the audience conveys a feeling of detachment one might feel at their life. In F Scott Fitzgerald’s words, you are both “within and without”.

Conclusion

Overall, I am pleased at the way my pictures turned out. I think it captures my take on identity through the symbolism and underlying meaning of the ‘mirror’, while also creating interesting context with the backdrop of the theatre. My photograph’s meanings of the fluidity of identity, alienation, and anonymity resonate deeply with me and are also visually impactful. I feel like I managed to balance the three images well through recurring elements, such as the circular mirror, horizontal lines, and the color red. I feel like the photographs might not make people say “wow, that’s so beautiful”, but I think that the structure of the photograph will cause some discomfort (like the WRONG photos), allowing them to discuss the themes in my photograph.

Model’s response

Miranda: what do you think about this picture *shows triptych*

Anthony: Weird

Miranda: Can you elaborate

Anthony: Feels very odd by looking at it, almost “surreal”. It feels like as if the picture was not capturing the reality but an other “dimension”.

Miranda: do you like this photograph

Anthony: yes

Miranda: why

Anthony: because its good

Miranda: why

Anthony: its good

Miranda: this is going on my blogs

Anthony: yes

Miranda: say something

Anthony: it’s good

Based on my model’s response, I think that my photograph successfully captures some themes of absurdism and surrealism and managed to evoke the correct feelings within the audience.

1 Photo Analysis

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Detailed critique of your favourite image from your chosen Artist. Possible talking points (you don’t need to address them all – but address at least one from each section )

CONTENT

•What is the subject of the photograph?

  • a woman wearing a cartoon paper bag mask. Besides the cartoony mask, she is dressed in relatively nice clothes, such as high heels and a floral print dress.

•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?

  • to me, it is obvious that the person is posing, as their body is angled towards the photographer/viewer. However, their pose is unorthodox because of the context of the photograph – the woman is sitting on a cabinet, rather than on a chair.

•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

  • the situation is absurd/whimsical

Post WW2 America?

  • disconnect from reality? e.g. the cartoony world of the masks and the real world
  • post war absurdism
  • loss of innocence but a pressure to simplify and look happy on the outside (as shown by the cartoon mask)

PHOTOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES

•What is the photographer’s point of view?

looking straight at the subject

•Where is your eye drawn?

probably to the cartoon mask, as its so unrealistic and unnatural compared to the rest of the photograph.

There is no specific manipulation of lighting or focus in this picture, and besides the cartoon mask it captures reality realistically.

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

Probably the phone, just because it has a very dark gradient compared to other elements in the photograph.

Background Research

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Overview

Name of the artist: Inge Morath

I want to choose a particular collection of photographs from Inge Morath – the Mask Series – which was a collaborative series made with Saul Steinberg.

Context

To give a brief summary, the Mask Series was a “quizzical and fascinating” project that depicts a range of figures wearing various cardboard box and paper bag masks.

It is a little different from Inge Morath’s general photographs and photographic style, but includes a more experimental combination of modernism and semi-casual portraits (Bourgeois-Vignon).

modernism – generally reflected a sense of disillusionment and fragmentation, fueled by a search for for a response to a ‘much changed world (Britannica).

The “Mark Series” was derived from the lives of its two creators, and is called uniquely sophisticated but also a little bit critical, and brings a new perspective to the historical context (Bourgeois-Vignon). It started as obviously posed but evolved into a more dynamic and improvisational act. The masks are meant to be a reflection of the false and “eerie” cheerfulness and false innocence of 1950s post-war America, emphasizing how culture masked its insecurities in superficial wealth.

Style/Techniques

  • black and white
  • favors showing the relationship between people through body language (e.g. hand on car, or two people leaning towards each other
  • Dutch Angle
  • some images use a high POV
  • obviously posed

4.Justify your choice – What are the reasons for your selection? How do these images inspire you? What techniques will you try out in your experiments? How does this photographer creatively represent your chosen subject matter? 

  • I like the surrealist feel of the concept
  • obscuring the identity of a person with object/mask that is a simplified representation of themselves
  • the posed aspects + gestures and creation of mise en scene

Inspiring Images

  • all of them have masks
  • obviously posed
  • dressed in slightly dressy/formal clothes (e.g. nice dress)
  • in 3/4 pictures the masked person is looking directly at the photographer.

 

What is a Portrait?

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Generally portraitures involve specific focus on capturing the features of a person. This usually comes in capturing physical features, such as the Afghan Girl.

Portraits are artistic representations of people. They can be created in any media, from traditional oil paintings, to photographs, sculpture and even mixed media. Portraits can show part figures, usually showing the sitter’s head and shoulders, but they can also depict the whole figure. – “mylearning.org”

I would say that selfies count as portraits, albeit very informal and probably not very good ones. It does place you as the subject of the photograph capture some physical characteristics of you. It’s likely not done with much attention to lighting, positioning or color tones though.

I think its possible to represent a person photographically without them being present. One good way is by doing still life assemblages, for example, if you assembled a lot of items that are significant to a person (e.g. the things they use for their hobbies, their favorite items, their signature clothing style), you would be able to convey their personality and quirks. This aligns with my very vague definition, since it does capture some features of a person, just not physical characteristics. (I would probably call it a ‘non-traditional’ portrait)

I don’t think a portrait has to be one photograph, even though it is generally though of as a singular photo. Since the aim of a portrait is to capture a person, I don’t see why you can’t use a combination of photos to capture the complexities, maybe even contradicting aspects of a person. (e.g. you could pair 2 photographs of a person in contrasting situations, such as on stage, in school, and home etc). Using a collage of photographs could also effectively create an overall tone and mood associated with the person, which could also be one way of using multiple photos to create a portrait.

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