Portraiture

Application

Portraiture is when a photographer generally takes a picture of just one person, although it can sometimes contain more than one person. The foreground may be important but a portrait can also show some significance in the background. A majority of portraits are of royalty or parliament.

This painting of Henry VIII from the Tudor period is one of the first examples of portraiture. 

 

 This is an example of a modern day portrait. 

Contexts

Portraiture has changed throughout the years. In the early years, portraiture used to consist of paintings. These days though, photographers take the pictures. Portraits are found in every day life. Even bank notes feature portraits, such as the Queen's face on the UK currency. Many families will have portraits of themselves take up to be featured in the comfort of their homes. Galleries are a great place to find portraits of people. A majority of portraits will feature the persons face and nothing else although some portraits contain other parts of the body (like from the shoulders up) Social networking sites such as Facebook have proved to show that the whole world uses portraiture for their profile pictures. 

Techniques

Many different photographers have used the technique of portraiture in their own unique style. Some of these include Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Richard Avedon, Tony Vaccaro, and Larry Clark. 

Diane Arbus was one of the most notable photographers. She spoke openly of what she could do with photography, somewhere that others would not venture into. Arbus was a curious individual who wanted to be herself through photography. She was given the prilivege to photograph the Matthaei family. She even spent time with their children to get to know them better so that she could take some more natural portrait shots. The whole mood soon changed when the Vietnam War began. Arbus used this change of mood to find different emotions. Despite a successful career, she ended her own life in 1971. 

 

 Diane Arbus

Despite celebrities coming across as being pre-packaged, Tony Vaccaro changed that emphasis. He was a firm believer in the saying 'the person behind the mask'. He took portraits of his own interpretation of the subjects. His 1968 portrait of Picasso is recognised by the whole world. 

Larry Clark was well known for his images, many of which would not be able to be shown today for their extensive depiction of nudity and drug use. These were  pictures of his life and were eventually published into the novel Tulsa, released in 1971. 

 
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Two images from Clark's first book Tulsa (1971)

Photojournalism

Application, Context and Techniques

 

Application

Photojournalism has been around for many years and is still popular today. The whole revolution of photojournalism changed when the Leica camera was released in 1925. One important person who influenced this type of photography was Henri Cartier-Bresson. His most famous photograph was an image of a man jumping over a puddle, taken in 1933. This photograph has been regarded as the best photograph of the 20th century. The particular style of taking photographs has been named as the 'decisive moment'.

Context

 The photographs used in photojournalism are displayed in a variety of ways. The most common place to find such photographs would be newspapers. Generally, newspapers will display pictures that are linked with stories, such as a celebrity story featuring a picture of the very same celebrity mentioned. Many photographs taken by photojournalists are found in magazines. These can be found in many different magazines ranging from gossip to music. One such example was Robert Capa's work, which was used in 'Life' magazine, as they had employed him to be their photojournalist.

Techniques

 Many different techniques have been used throughout the years to create these kind of images. One of the most famous techniques used was the 'decisive moment' coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson. This technique could easily be seen as been in the right place at the right time, where one second could make all the difference and ruin the intended image. Many of the photographs taken by this technique were not planned, they were just a spur of the moment. Bresson took a majority of his images by using a Leica camera, relatively new at the time when he brought it. As a surrealist, Bresson was considered a stalker, as he took pictures on the streets to achieve theatrical possibilities.

Robert Capa and Tony Vaccaro were two photojournalists which took photographs during World War II. Working for 'Life' magazine, Capa literally risked his life for photographs, as he wanted to get as close to the action as possible. Capa was known for capturing reality in his photographs. It was a daily basis for Tony Vaccaro to take photographs as he was a GI photojournalist. He used an Argos C3 camera for his photos. It was more of a case of photography, not survival for him. Vaccaro developed his own photographs on the battlefront by mixing chemicals in soldiers helmets. His images were banned due to graphic images of dead soldiers. Capa went to Omaha Beach during World War II and managed to take photographs, unfortunately, only 11 survived.

Intro to Photography

Photography plays quite a big part in my life. Whenever I go out with friends or on holiday/trips, I am always tempted to take photos. During the course of photography, I hope to learn different techniques of photography, such as using editing software. I am also very interested in viewing photos which are out of the ordinary.

Some interesting photographs have been been taken by the following:

ROBERT CAPA

The images appear to show that Capa was very keen of photography during the World Wars. These particular photographs are very interesting and show the different moments of the wars, whether it be a German fighter pilot, or soldiers having a break.

ANSEL ADAMS

 

Adams' images show that he was very keen on taking photographs of landscapes and from distance. I really love the first image of the highway.

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON

I really love the photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson because he appears to incorporate a lot of humour in his photographs. The second photo is very humourous because it shows the smiling young boy carrying two large bottles of wine.