Portraiture: Final Set

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My statement of intent for this unit is to show the theme of the overuse of technology. And the name of this project is “Behind the filter”. I chose this title because in social media, we can see people using camera filters to take photos or videos. So, I want to take the realistic photos of people behind those filters, and seek out who they really are. The idea I am expressing shows that a lot of people overuse their phones and is not able to focus on their work, and gets too focused in the social media world from their devices.

Image 1:

This photo shows a girl staring at her phone while lying on the couch, and the cold and blue light of the phone radiates onto the left side of her face. There is also a yellow and warm light on the right, which shines onto the girl’s jacket and also onto the right side of her face. This contrast between the cold lighting from the phone and the warm lighting from the other light source has an interesting composition and technique. The viewer’s gaze in this photograph is drawn to the subject’s face, as the lighting creates a leading line toward the subject, and both light sources lead to the face. In addition, the focus of the photo is the face of the subject, and I think the lighting and the composition have helped to do that. The distracting elements in this photo would be the phone the subject is holding, but it also helps to improve the composition. The warm lighting of warm light in the right fully shines on the jacket, so because it is really bright, it might distract the eye from looking at that. The background of the picture is fully black, but as the light of the phone shines into the foreground, we can merely see that the subject is lying on the sofa. One interesting composition in this photo would be the imaginary triangle between the phone(cold light), the face, and the warm light. This triangle between these elements helps create a fascinating composition technique and also emphasizes the face, which is the main subject.

 

Image 2:

This image illustrates a girl also staring at her phone, but this time sitting on something and in front of a wall. The photo also has a contrast between the cold and warm lighting, as the warm lighting is shining on the right side of the face, and the cold and blue light is radiated from the phone onto the left side of the face, combined with some parts of the shoulders. Moreover, on the walls behind the subject, there is a clash between the warm and cold colors; however, it not only does not affect the whole composition, but improves the composition as there are three colors that make up the background, blue, yellow, and black at the top. In addition, behind the subject, the light from the phone creates an oval highlight on the wall, which helps to create an interesting composition. The empty space in this photo creates negative space, helps to define the boundaries, and helps the photo to seem more balanced, and also helps to emphasize the subject. There are also no distracting elements in this photo, which makes the picture look clean and helps to emphasize the subject more. Another interesting composition element that is in the photo is the triangle composition, which, from the photo, is the cold color on the bottom left, the warm yellow light on the bottom right, then the head of the subject. This helps to add structure and depth to the photo, and also guides the eye through the frame. This photo and the one above it really expresses the theme of the overuse of technology. This is because the warm light in this scenario symbolizes their normal life and what they do away from the technology, and the cold light represents the technology. As we can see from both photos, the cold light dominates most of their face, which also represents that technology now dominates what we think, and it takes away a lot of our time. This contrast of the warm and cold light refers to that people nowadays are too hooked onto their devices and social media platforms, which causes them to not being able to focus on their work and everyday life.

 

Image 3:

This photo illustrates a woman sitting on a bean bag, in front of a fireplace, with a book on the woman’s lap, and she’s staring at her phone. There is a contrast between cold and warm colors on the face and the body of the subject, the warm light from the fireplace, and the cold light from the phone. This creates a contrast between the colors and helps to emphasize the subject. Furthermore, there are some elements that might seem interesting to the subject, for example, the fireplace and the reflection of the fireplace, which gives off a mood of calmness in the environment. One prominent element in this picture I would want to talk about is the theme of the picture. As you can see in the photo, the woman has a book in her lap, and in books, you usually read that people read books comfortably close to the fireplace, and it feels cozy and comfortable. But unlike that situation, in this case, the subject is looking and scrolling on her phone, and this conveys the theme of the overuse of technology, as the subject now no longer focused on the book but gets distracted by her phone. This clearly showcases the theme of the overuse of technologies nowadays, as people put down their usual habits and get distracted by social media on their devices.

Portraiture: Set 2

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  • Contrast between cold and warm light
  • A person wearing an apron, washing and cleaning a plate in her hand, but stares at her phone instead of focusing on what she is doing. This emphasizes on the theme of the overuse of technology, as people stop focusing on the things they are doing, and just doom scroll on social media.
  • The cold light is shined from behind, creating siilhouttes in some parts, and shines onto the background and the objects around. The warm light is from the phone, and the person’s face is filled with warm light from what she is watching from the phone.

  • Also contrast between warm and cold colors.
  • This time, the cold light is radiated from the computer she is using, and the warm light is still from the phone.
  • This photo shows how the person should be working on her work, but gets distracted by the phone, which shows how technologies can affect peoples focus and lead to poor productivity.

  • Contrast between cold and warm colors.
  • The warm light is from the fireplace, it shines onto the objects around and also on the subject. and it also creates a cozy and comfortable mood if you only look at that. The cold light is from the phone, and shines onto some parts of the subject and onto the face.
  • This image illustrates a person sitting on a bean bag, in front of a fireplace, and an opened book in her lap. However, the subject is scrolling on her phone, and gets distracted from reading.
  • The reflection of the fireplace onto the floor creates a cool element in this picture.

Portraiture: Set 1

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  • Contrast between warm and cold light
  • A girl staring at her phone and leaning against a sofa
  • Theme of overuse of technology
  • Yellow light radiating onto the jacket, and a little on her right of the face. The cold light is from the phone, and then shining onto part of the jacket and a large portion of the face.

  • Contrast between warm and cold lighting
  • A girl staring at her phone, lying down, and she has a blanket
  • Warm yellow light shines from the back and illuminates onto the sleeve, and the side of her face and her ear. Cold, blue light radiates onto part of her shoulder, blanket, and directly in front of the face.

  • Contrast between cold and warm colors
  • Sitting on a chair, staring at her phone, and in front of a wall.
  • Warm light to the right, and shines onto the bottom left of the wall and partially onto her face to the right. Cold light is shined from her phone on the face.
  • The shadows from the person and the light from the phone that shines onto the background is pretty interesting.

Portraiture: Artist Research

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Artist: Lindsay Adler

Lindsay Adler is an American-born portrait and fashion photographer based in Manhattan, New York. Her photos are famous for expressing beauty in clean, bold, and graphic styles with interesting color integrations.
The most prominent element in Lindsay Adler’s photos is the use of dramatic lighting in different colors. As we can see from above, Lindsay likes to use the color blue as a cold lighting and tries to combine it with different colors, for example, yellow, red, pink, and white. The highlights from the photos also show detail and tone, and as for the third photo, the use of silhouettes helps to make the outline stand out and attract the eye to the main subject. I am really fascinated by the first image, as it shows a woman standing in front of a red background, and then there is the use of three different colors of lights: warm, yellow lighting to the left, cold blue lighting in the middle, and then pink to the right, creating a sense of layers and really emphasizing the subject. Furthermore, the different colors in this case not only conflict with each other, but also build on each other and create a sense of beauty, and also highlight the different parts of the body, and this separation is very natural, without any uncomfortable feelings when the viewer looks at it, which I think is a very impressive technique.
The thing I would take away from Lindsay Adler’s works would be the use of dramatic lighting, as she uses many different colors to shine on the subject and not create conflict between the colors, but create an interesting sense of beauty, separating the parts of the subject with different lighting, and also the strong emphasis on the subject.

 

Portraiture Unit: Statement of Intent

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The title of my project would be “Behind the Filter”. The societal issue I would want to explore with my photographs would be to express the idea of the “Anxious Generation”. I want my audience to come to realize on the overuse of technology, especially in social media. In addition, I will get my inspiration from photographers that use the technique of warm and cold light. This is because I want to use the cold light into the light of which phones radiate, so it shows my statement of intent, and also show how they are focused and kept in by their technology. Also, the warm lighting would be used to emphasize on the subject and create a mood of relaxation, similar to cozy environments of which people are in when they use their deices. Furthermore, another theme I would want to add to some pictures would be how technology has affected our everyday lives and makes us not able to focus on our duties and hobbies.

Portrait Photography Introduction

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Portraiture is a type of photography that aims to capture the personality of a person or a group of people, using effective lighting, poses, and other techniques. Something that makes a particular photograph a portrait is when the photograph tells the audience something about the subject. Selfies can be counted as portraits, as selfies are self-portraits. A self-portrait is a portrait an artist produces of themselves, which is very similar to selfies. Things that should be included in portraits are lighting, a subject, posing, and backgrounds. Things that should not be included would be distracting backgrounds, bad posing, bad lighting, poor composition, and distracting elements. Elements that make up a good portrait would be good lighting, good posing, no distracting elements, a good background, and proper composition. Portraits can consist of only small details, but it has to be interesting, or have a deep meaning or story behind them. I think the point where an abstract representation ceases to become a portrait is when the audience cannot interpret the photograph at all, for example, when the idea is too abstract and cannot be understood. It is possible to represent a person without them being present in the image, as if the subject or subjects in the photo represent the person or a story of a person, it can be counted as a portrait. Finally, portraits can definitely be a sequence of photographs, as a sequence of photographs can even tell more about a person compared to only one image. If there is a sequence of photos of the same person, it can tell more about their mood and personality.

Street Photography: Final Set

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Before:

After:

This photo illustrates a person riding a rickshaw and carrying a passenger with him. He’s riding in an alleyway, with a lot of plants and trees beside him, and some fences. There are vibrant colors in the photo, like the green of the plants, the turquoise of the fence, the gray of the cement ground, the brown of the wood, and the red of the rickshaw, which stands out above all. The color really benefits the photo by helping the subject stand out. The composition in this photo is framed by the plants that are in front of the camera. This framing helps create a sense of calmness and also helps to avoid other elements of attraction, as it leads the eye to the subject. Furthermore, the angle from which the photo is shot is from a hip level, as if you look straight at the rickshaw, the people on it are on the same level as the photographer, so the photo is captured from a hip level. In addition, compared to the raw version of the photo, I straightened the photo, cropping some parts out, then worked around the brightness of the photo to make it seem brighter. In the foreground, it is the leaves and the plants, then in the midground, it is the subject, which is the person that is riding the rickshaw and carrying a passenger, and at last, the background is in the alley in the hutongs with a lot of plants. In this Photo, the image is captured through a longer lens, and this is due to the photographer wanting to capture some other elements in the alley to help the composition, for example, the many plants that help to show the statement of intent. Also, when I took this photo, I was crouching in order to frame the whole photograph with the plants. The focus of the photograph is on the rickshaw and some parts of the background. The color in the picture is more saturated, as the colors of the plants, the rickshaw are both very vibrant. This photo is my favorite photo in the whole set, as it really connects and matches with my statement of intent, and I think there are also a lot of photographic elements that are captured in the photograph.

Before:

After:

This photo illustrates a person swimming in a river, and there are a lot of ripples on the water that show detail. The whole photo contains a lot of greenish color, as there are trees across the shore of the river, the green willow branches are also hanging down, and the water is also more inclined to a green color. One part of the photograph that I really like is how the photo really includes a lot of interesting details, such as the water reflection of the trees across the river, the person swimming in the water, the ripples and the water spraying out, and the willow branches dangling down. The mood of the photo I was trying to convey is also calmness, as there are a lot of plants, and also water, as it is a subject that is traditionally used to convey the feeling of calm. I adjusted the composition by straightening it, and this helps the composition by making it more comfortable to the eye. The perspective of the photograph is clearly a high angle, as the person is in the river, and I took the shot from on top of the bank. The composition is more of using elements of plants to frame the main subject, which is the person swimming in the water. This photo matches my statement of intent, as there are a lot of plants that are included inside the photo, especially the willow branches that are dangling down.

Before:

After:

This photo portrays a person riding a rickshaw, carrying two passengers behind, and there are trees in the background. The most significant element in this photo would be the lighting consideration, as the light that shines onto the driver’s face, his body, and the rickshaw, and this really creates tone, emphasizes the subject, and shows detail. In addition, the expressions of the people are also a very fascinating element in this photo, as we can see the expression of the driver is serious, and the passenger’s expression is curious, the eyes are looking up, and observing the streets outside. The perspective of the photo is more towards a low angle, as when I took this photograph, I was sitting on the sidewalk, and I was really close to the subject, so I used a wide lens, so there is sharp focus on the close subject and there is a lot of detail. In the background, there are trees; they are not really the main subject in the photo, but they match my statement of intent. The colors in the photo are also very vibrant, such as the colors of the people’s clothes, and more colors on the rickshaw. In conclusion, I really like this photo because of the lighting, the candid expressions on the people, and how it matches my statement of intent.

Before:

After:

This photo illustrates some people in traditional Chinese costumes on the streets of the hutongs, with willow branches dangling down in the background. One part of the photo I really like is the light shining right onto the face of the person on the left. This really shows detail, emphasizes the subject, and shows tone. In addition, the colors and shapes of the clothes the people are wearing are also very fascinating. The dress contains many different flowers of different types, and also the gowns. The person on the left has gold colors, and more dangling down, and the person to the right has a gown of flowers, really attracting the eyes of the viewers. Furthermore, the expressions of the subjects really show street photography; the person to the left has a very solemn expression. In addition, I adjusted the framing by cropping it to make it more concentrated on the main subjects, and avoiding other elements in the photo that attract the viewers eyes. The background in this photo is willow branches dangling down, and also flowing around with the wind, which illustrates a calm mood. The overall color in this photo is more saturated, as the leaves on the willow branches are more of a dark greenish color, the colors on the clothes of the people are very vibrant, and the sunlight shining down is also very warm. In summary, I like this photo because the element of lighting consideration is very interesting, the subjects show a lot of detail, and the willow branches illustrate my designated mood, and match my statement of intent.

Before:

After:

This picture illustrates a person sitting on his rickshaw, talking to someone on the side, and a large willow tree in the background. The most significant element I liked in this photograph was the candid expression of the person, as he is laughing and talking to someone beside, which I think really suggests a feeling and mood of lightheartedness and joy. In addition, the lighting consideration of this photo is also very interesting, as there’s light shining on the right of the driver, which really shows tone, and also emphasizes the creases of the person’s clothes. In addition, the camera is tilted up to capture this photo, and the photographer is using a wide lens to take this shot. This helps the photographer to capture more information. Furthermore, I adjusted the composition to crop out the the person to the left, and it helps to avoid distracting elements. The willow tree in the back helps convey the mood of calmness, as plants in general convey calm, but I think willow trees help the most. This is because when the willow branches flow and dangle with the wind, it is a very breathtaking and peaceful experience. This photo, I think, is my least favorite photo, because even though I really like the elements that are contained in the photo, the focus of the photo is on the tree, and not the person. This really affects the whole photo and leads the eye to the wrong subject.