Vision

My vision for this set is to further improve my photography skills by taking more photos and by practicing and implementing different techniques in capturing portraits of people. I want my photos for this set to be able to successfully portray the subject and show identity in the way I would like to and, perhaps also have the audience feel and evoke particular emotions and thoughts. Finally, although I’m not the only one to say this, I hope my photos can stand out from the rest something that would instantly catch the eye and draw viewers in.

Analysis of an artist

I think Yousuf Karsh is the ideal portrait photographer. His work is outstanding in terms of the subject and the techniques used. He is an Armenian Canadian photographer (1908-2002) and he took many photos of famous historical figures and celebrities. The thing that makes him so special and different from everyone else was that his shots are posed and taken close up, something extremely difficult to achieve as a normal photographer or the press. Not only that, he was able to produce a definitive portrait of people in a single shot particularly through the use of angles, positioning, background, and especially the contrast of dark and light colors.

Some of his subjects:

Albert Einstein

Martin Luther King Jr

Nelson Mandela

Walt Disney

Muhammad Ali

Pablo Picasso

Robert Frost

Humphrey Bogart

Marilyn Monroe

Charlie Chaplin

12 US Presidents:

1. Herbert Hoover
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
3. Harry S. Truman
4. Dwight D. Eisenhower
5. John F. Kennedy
6. Lyndon B. Johnson
7. Richard Nixon
8. Gerald Ford
9. Jimmy Carter
10. Ronald Reagan
11. George H.W. Bush
12. Bill Clinton

Winston Churchill

Fidel Castro

Nikita Khrushchev

Margaret Thatcher

Lester B. Pearson

Winston Churchill

This photo could probably go down as one of the most iconic portraits in history. The dark light contrast define certain features and put emphasis on his reaction, the use of composition and a straight up angle superbly portray Winston Churchill as one of the greats. The photo creates a lasting impression (if you search him on google it’s the first photo that comes up), the subject of the photo itself is enough given the context, but his style of photograph especially in this shot makes it extremely unique. This man Yousuf Karsh is a master, the greatest of all time in portrait photography.

Contact Sheet – Identity

This is the final photo I picked. I think this one is the best of all of the photos in the contact sheet, some of the others were either unable to fully show identity or had some mistake. The frame is blurred and even though the facial features cannot be discerned the general composition of the photo successfully portrays the person in the photo and makes it seem like a spontaneous snapshot the subject biking at high speed- can be compared to Tom Cruise on a motorcycle in Mission Impossible or Jason Bourne in Berlin. The contrast of colors in the background depict the setting, the blue symbolic of the sky or perhaps water. In all, this is a great photo.

A photograph of a person or thing as the main subject.

Selfies are not portraits because it is neither art nor actual photography

Anything can be included in a portrait if it doesn’t change the nature of the work

A good portrait successfully portrays its subject

A portrait cannot just be of a small detail or else it wouldn’t be a portrait anymore

It is no longer a portrait when it becomes more abstract or street photography than a portrait but there isn’t a clear boundary

If it’s a shadow or something that closely resembles the person then it could be, but anything more than that would probably be considered abstraction

It could be a sequence of images if a combination of it makes up a portrait, for example many photos together to make out a single one of a person

The title of this project is the streets of the Hutong. The concept I want to tell with my photographs is the cultural and human activity in the streets of the Hutong. I want my audience to feel interested ad intrigued when they look at the photos seeing something new or noticing some sort of detail. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs that examines places at different camera angles.

Street photography could be taking photos to capture a moment or convey certain feelings and emotions. It is a form of artistic expression that doesn’t have any actual limitations and can be done in many ways, perhaps in order to show something.

I don’t have any fears of taking street photography, I’m not afraid to take photos of other people but I am prepared for anything that could happen.

I think the Hutong would be a great place to take some street photography, there would be many different angles and settings to shoot from. Going to the Hutong would also be an exciting experience and is better than going to school. In all, I am looking forward to this trip.

The Aura of Architecture

The message of my triptych will be to look at and explore all sorts of architecture. Architecture is all around us, in the form of buildings, houses, schools, and other physical structures, it may seem boring and monotonous, but by examining it in a different way, we may start to actually appreciate it. I would like the audience to view the world differently through the unique perception of abstract architecture through the camera. Specifically, by going to the 798 Art District I would like to especially focus on architecture in terms of old industrial buildings, warehouses, and abandoned factories. For inspiration I will try to find a photographer who explores this aspect of architectural abstraction in photography. Particularly, I would like to find and study photos that also examines how this theme relates to the world on a wider scale, for example in a humanitarian, environmental, or geographical perspective. In my opinion, abstract photography is at its finest in capturing architecture, perhaps a retro tinge in this case with industrial architecture at 798 would make it even better.