The Body

Concept


The concept for this project is to photograph someone who is unknown to me and create a portrait incorporating elements I have learnt through out the course so far. I have decided that I want to focus my study on the use of uniform in society and the type of uniform you use portrays a certain level of respect and trust.  I will be looking at an arrange of photographers and artists to help me in making decisions on lighting, camera angle, background choices and exposure times.






Irving Penn

                                                 

I wanted to start by looking at the idea of Uniform and how uniform in photography can change the narrative of a photograph and way in which it is viewed by the public. I am interested in uniform in society and how the angle of a camera can adapt our view on the subject. I especially am fond of photograph one I like the use of lighting which has created a variety of tones found on the Fireman and the surrounding background.  The use of tones adds character to the photograph and gives the    viewer an insight into the character of the 

Fireman photographed. 

Cornell Capa 

I especially am fond of Capa's work I like image one and how it has focused on the objects which represent the uniform of that person and the way it makes us the audience feel. The way in which the objects have been arranged gives us an insight into the characters of the models. The use of the lighting allows us to understand the photographic story that Capa was trying to portray to his audience and who is the focal point of the photographs even if you cannot see the facial expressions or features of that person  being photographed. 

Tutorial Notes

Looking at uniform in society and how it embeds the identity of that person to the public they become a public figure not a human being. I will need to decided how to add the personality of that person into the photograph with the use of the unifrom present  in the photograph. Suggestions from the tutor group was to start by changing what we see as normality. Initial idea to look at the police force using a subtle approach to altering how we see police officers as authority or not any more the change in culture. 

Bansky 

I wanted to start at looking at different uniforms found in society and the way in which their body is positioned makes one approach the image differently, it makes us wonder what the artist view was about.  Is this what he thought this cliché of people were about did he want to change the public's perception of the Police force.  The use of objects when placed in a serious situation or used in a same image as uniform that represents respect confuses the viewer and changes our view on the image. 

Alfred Eisenstaedt

I have decided that I want to carry on looking at the uniform of society an in particular the uniform of  the forces looking at Army officers and Police Officers particularly and how the use of uniform demonstrates a certain level of respect and attitude towards these people dedicated to that service. The style of uniform in this photograph and the car in the background the young boy is situated on suggests a level of commitment to that service.  The gestures and posture this boy reveals allows one to believe that he is serious about what he is doing its like seeing a young boy inside of an adults eye he wants to be taken serious this is what the photograph suggests to me. The has a great amount of average tones this is due to the colouring of the objects used being greatly the same and also the use of lighting is only daylight.  

David Bailey 

By studying the work of Bailey I have realised that our body positioning reflects to the viewer how we are feeling. However, in this image the use of the cross arms doesn't suggest anger. Using soft colours and the gestures she is revealing on her face makes the viewer feel something totally different even though the use of cross arms  doesn't allow the viewer to enter the image the softness of the colours makes you want to look and understand what Bailey was trying to portray. 

Lewis Hine 

I decided to study Hine's work due to wanting to further my study into the idea of the link between a uniform and an object that represents the theme to the viewer.  In this case the use of the bread rolls on the tray clearly represent that she is a waitress and not a chef we the viewer can also eliminate that she is not a chef by the use of no chef hat found in this image. For my final image I know that I want to use some sort of object to portray a significant concept to the viewer and enable them to understand what I 

am trying to portray. 

Laura Letinksy- Use of Objects 

I wanted to start looking at objects and how objects reflect a narrative which could help the viewer understand a photograph I am trying to reveal. I would like object to be placed in the portrait which I will create to help the viewer understand the portrait and also the use of objects are part of the models uniform which I feel clearly link together. 

Test Shoot - The use of objects 

I wanted to start Practising with the us of objects and how I will arrange them to create a narrative. I decided I would use anonymous objects to allow me to start thinking about how to organise the objects in order to reveal a story. 

Lighting References for Final Image 

Rembrant Paintings

For a studio I was asked to look at the classical Rembrandt style paintings in order to replicate his lighting choices on the face in portraits I was going to create. I am fond of the subtlety of Rembrandts lighting choices something which I am fond of.  I am in particuarly fond of the image two I find his lighting more subtle which doesn't confuse or distract the viewer from the subject. 

Test Shoot Rembrandt Style Lighting Workshop

                                                             

The above image is my contact sheet from the Studio workshop using Rembrandt lighting, I started to understand how to create this style of imagery. The two images above are my favourite two images from the workshop I feel they demonstrate the workshop clearly and show subtle lighting instead of hard lighting which some of the images in the contact sheet reveal.

Melvin Skolosky 

After looking through various books and websites I came across this image by Skolosky. I found the lighting in this image very subtle but eye catching this is how I would like my portrait to be viewed as. I am interested in the Rembrandt style of lighting which I have come across and liked the end result of  the workshop in which we created portraits in the style of Rembrandt paintings. I want there to be some sort of darkness to the image which will give the image some sort of in depth character allowing the viewer to understand the narrative I am trying to portray to the audience.

Richard Avedon 

I  especially like the portrait of Sir Paul McCartney in which we can see his whole face clearly but can see Avedon's inspiration from the Rembrandt paintings. In my final image I would like to use the same style of lighting which both above photographers have used to portray this public figure to the world in a 

Practise Test Shoot before Shoot 

On the day of the Photo shoot I decided that I would do a test shoot of my assistant in order to achieve the correct lighting exposure and positioning of the camera for when the model arrived at 2pm. I really was fond of the contact sheet of my assistant and feel i portrayed her character very well through the use of the camera. 

Contact Sheets 

At 2pm my model arrived in which I decided to use two rolls of black and white film to allow me to have a larger amount of choice when coming to the editorial stage of my work. I felt that as I become more confident around the model it allowed me to understand her character and gain a photograph that would portray her in her uniform and her work role. Below is my final image in which I feel i captured perfectly in order to achieve the idea of the uniform and how it is portrayed in society. 

Final Image