IRVING PENN PHOTOGRAPHY

After looking at different portrait photographers, I realised that I have been exploring a lot of black and white portraits and therefore I feel it necessary to look at the work of American photographer Irving Penn and his signature style high contrast black and white portraiture.
To the left is an image of Al Pacino taken by Penn. The image  was most likely taken in Penn's studio where he has used one source of light from a side angle, Penn was known for using natural light when using his studio but I am unsure if this is natural light or just a simple minimal lighting. The source of light that Penn has decided to place at the side of the subject means that half Al Pacino's face is shadows and the other half is highlights. The high contrast in the image makes the blacks really dominate the image and I believe this is why Penn choose a soft mid tone background. The high contrast also means that the photographs loses some detail therefore the lighting at the side brings that detail back in meaning that his face is really detailed and his hair is at one side then it loses some texture towards the dark side of his face.
I really like the use of high contrast and greyscale colour scheme as with the background it makes it feel like everything is stripped from the subject as there are no colours and his clothes are minimal, I think this makes the image seem more real and the expressions seem less posed.
The image over all has a really dramatic feel to it, this is because of the high contrast making the blacks really black and dominate the image making the image more bold and serious and therefore dramatic.
     To the right is a photograph of Audrey Hepburn taken by Irving Penn for 'Vogue Magazine'. Unlike other portraits taken by Penn, the subject is smiling yet the image still feels pure because of the minimal colours and soft background therefore the smile looks natural and the photograph looks like it is showing us the subjects personality.

I really like the work of Irving Penn and hope to apply some of these ideas to my own Portraiture. I am most inspired by the minimal features and lighting in his images which make the photographs look more natural and as if everything is stripped to just purely show the subject as the subject.

                                                RANKIN PHOTOGRAPHY 

                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbPucYrCSwE

http://rankin.co.uk/portraits/

RICHARD AVEDON    PHOTOGRAPHY         
                                                 Richard Avedon is an American photographer known for his influence on not only fashion and portrait photography but fashion and style on a whole in NYCI have chosen to explore Richard Avedon as he is such an influential portrait photographer who inspired our photographers of today, therefore by looking at Avedon I can see how newer photographer such as the likes of Rankin have been influenced themselves. To the left is an image of four photographs of 'The Beatles' placed in a form of grid, this is sourced from an Avedon archive online and when first looking the grid reminded me of a style of pop art.
The images are very simplistic as every member of 'The Beatles' are wearing black and all have a similar hair colour making all four photographs go together well.
The photograph is quite serious due to their facial expressions and I feel that the black clothing contributes to the serious feel.

 MORE RICHARD AVEDON           PHOTOGRAPHS

DAVID BAILEY PHOTOGRAPHY

David Bailey is a well known English photographer who has inspired a lot of my portraiture work in the past, therefore I feel exploring his work will benefit me for this project.
To the left is a photograph of Jude Law by Bailey, it has a greyscale colour scheme meaning that it is black and white, it is quite minimalistic as there are not many features but this allows our attention to be drawn to all the detail.

The detail that I am most drawn to in the image is the face as the simple natural details such as his skin tones and lips and stubble add a great deal to the subject.
I find the composition of this photo interesting how Bailey has decided to crop the head out of the image, I feel this was to accentuate the models eyes, as he is tilting his head down yet raising his eyebrows and his eyes therefore the image focuses on the eyes making him look powerful and the crop of the image just contributes to this feel.
This image was taken in a studio as you can see by the highlights and shadows on the face for example the left side of his face is lit up as a highlight and the right side is a shadow yet you can see reflections in his left eye (which is in the highlights) therefore I think that studio lighting has been used.
The photograph on a whole for me has quite a pristine feel about it, I think this is due to the white background, the white and white clothing and colour scheme and the simplistic features of the image.

RANKIN PHOTOGRAPHY

One of the most inspirational studio and portrait photographers for me, is fashion photographer Rankin.
Rankin is one of the most influential portraiture photographers of the last decade and his subjects have varied from the likes of The Rolling Stones to The Queen.
I think Rankin is a great starting point to my own studio and portraiture photography as his simplistic work is admirable.
To the left is a portrait of David Bowey taken by Rankin, I really like this portrait because of the minimal features which allows us to see the great textures. The image has a greyscale colour scheme meaning that is it black and white, I think this works well with the image as it makes it have great contrast which makes the textures stand out.
   This photograph was taken in a studio and I know this because of the highlights and reflections on his eyes that you wouldn't get on location.
  I like the over all gritty feel of the photograph that is created by the black and white colour scheme and high contrast, I may experiment with this in the creation of my own portraiture as I feel it gives something interesting to a simple minimalistic photograph.

This is another Portrait by photographer Rankin. Again this photograph is taken in a studio as I can see by the highlights in his eyes and the way his face is lit up.
I think the pose in this photograph is really interesting as it looks as though he is looking back at the camera and I think the lighting contributes to this as it makes his face the subject of attention.
The use of the studio lighting and the greyscale colour scheme of the image make it have great textures such as his hair and facial hair, his features (lips, eyes, nose ect) and his skin complexions and tones.

                                            MORE PHOTOGRAPHS BY RANKIN

 Final Prints 

I have selected my 5 final prints for my street photography project.
I am happy with the outcome as I feel the images reflect my concept and work well as a series of imagery.
The aim of my photographs was to get a feel for street photography and after taking inspiration from different street and documentary photographers and taking out my own research I feel that I have created 5 Street Photographs.

Evaluation

Over the past seven weeks I have been working on a ‘Street Photography’ project using 35mm black and white film in which I have created 5 final prints based on my own idea of street photography.
   Before starting this project I had little knowledge and experience of using black and white film and a 35mm film camera; as in the past I had only experimented with black and white film several times.
I have always took an interest in and been inspired by ‘Street Photography’ so despite having little experience with 35mm Film I had a good knowledge of the genre of photography associated with this project.
    When starting this project I didn't have any particular ideas of what sort of street photography I wanted to create therefore I decided that I would be best to go out and shoot a roll of film and then work with the outcome.  After I was given tutorials on film photography and I had taken out my own research on my own film camera I felt much more confident to go out and take photographs because in the past although I have experimented with film photography, I have never had a great understanding of how a film camera works.
Immediately after my first time out with my film camera I felt much more confident about the project as my negatives came out with fairly consistent and correct exposures and this improved after every roll of film I used, therefore I feel this project has improved my understanding of a film camera which not only has a positive effect on the quality of my negatives but also makes me a more confident photographer.
    During the project I continued to go out and take photographs regularly and when comparing contact sheets I noticed a pattern in my photography and that was that the best or most effective of my negatives were photographs that I had taken of people who perform or are employed on the street such as newspaper stands, market stalls, performers and buskers. When I began to make prints I really liked this concept of people who are working that I could photograph and this made me feel like my project was coming together.
     Throughout the time making my prints I have definitely become a better film photographer but although my negatives were successful from the start I struggled with perfecting prints in the darkroom.
When I first began making my prints I felt I could not use Grade Filters as I struggled to judge what filters to use and I didn't really have much understanding of what they were used for. I felt like this set me back a little from my deadline but after watching a demonstration on printing with filters and seeking help with a print I gained a better understanding of making prints. After a few weeks I was creating good negatives with plenty of choice to enlarge yet I wasn't as confident with printing up until I shot my last two rolls of film in Liverpool when my project began to come together, as my concept was reflected in the prints I was creating and the prints I was creating were also a much better standard.
       Whilst creating my Street Photography prints I have improved my technical skills whilst using a film camera massively and this has made me a more confident photographer.
I feel that my prints are the best quality that I have ever created with black and white film and that I have gained a lot of experience from this and have a lot more knowledge about the technicalities of film photography.
If I was to improve my Street Photography prints I would spend more time perfecting my final prints and gain more experience using filters on the enlargers in the darkroom yet despite that I am happy with the outcome of my project and feel that overall I have become a more versatile photographer.

Coming together

                                                 
                                                Coming Together

So, finally after weeks of processing and printing my Street Photography project is finally all coming together. After a strong few days in the darkroom I have lots of prints to choose from to choose my final 5.
     After being unsure about using my original concept of creating street photography style prints of people who perform or work on the streets such as: market stalls, newspaper stands, buskers, traffic wardens ect I have decided to use it because as I have created more prints I have seen how this concept will work well as a series of prints.
    I choose my concept due to the fact I began to see a pattern in my contact sheets and that was that my most interesting or successful images were of people who earn their living whilst working outside or on the streets but shortly after deciding this I began to struggle to keep with my concept as I would see things whilst on a shoot that would make a good street photograph but wouldn't work with my concept.
   After making various prints I wasn't going to use a concept and was going to return back to just Street Photography to give myself a wider range of things and people to photograph.
To shoot my last 2 rolls of film I travelled to Liverpool in order to get photographs in a large City with a lot going on but after this trip when looking at my contact sheets I had many photographs of street performers and people working on the street that I wanted to use, since I have started making prints with my negatives from Liverpool I have seen my printing skills improving and my concept being reflected in my prints and therefore I feel my project is coming together.
The first roll of film I took in Liverpool:  

I was happy with the results as I am able to use several of them negatives and they will reflect my concept and be the best quality they can be as they are from my final two rolls of film meaning the 5 I shot prior to this were mainly for experience and have made me a better photographer.
                                             

Street Photography

                                         

 Martin Parr

Martin Parr is a well known Documentary photographer most known for his British Street Photography much like Photographer Tony Ray Jones; whom had a huge impact and influence on Martin Parr's work.

Being familiar with Martin Parr's work I find his street photography inspiring and i'm particularly interested in his photographs taking of the working class citizens of Britain, such as his photographs from the 'Life's a Beach' exhibit this is because its simply an observation of the way people live that is photographed, yet so effective due to the natural quirkiness of people and ironies in life.


                                                                                                    

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This image is from Martin Parr's range of beach photography. The image is interesting as there are a lot of things going on.
The photograph has a realistic feel about it because of the normal scenario of a man sunbathing on the beach and a little girl playing near by this is how I know that it is Documentary photography because it is a photographic record of real people.
Although the image is a normal scenario Parr has included humour as the man is sunbathing under a tanker which looks like it is about to go over him. This could be a representation of how people do not realize the little ironies in life.
The image has quite a warm feel to it due to the colour scheme which is made up of orange due to the sand, tanker, mans skin and the young girls hair; making this the main colour and the most dominant colour in the image.


The image above is from Parr's 'Life's a Beach' work yet it is quite apparent that the image was taken on a British Beach, this is because of clues such as the English news paper that the man in the centre of the photograph is reading, therefore I feel Parr was intending on portraying English beaches especially because the news paper is in the centre of the photo to catch attention immediately.
I think the image is taken at a really interesting angle as it is almost as if it was taken from a child's prospective as the eye level is level with the little girl next to the man and the photo makes us look up to the adults in the background of the image, making them look high up and dominant.
I really like the brightness and clarity of this photograph. The image on a whole is really bright and vibrant but this is because of the colours caused by the people in the image not just the lighting as the sky looks quite toned down and dull whereas the people in the image are really striking due to the bright sharpness of them. I think this works really well as the sky gives more clues to the location of the image, as a clear sunny sky would indicate the image was taken in a hot country whereas the sky in this image helps us realize Parr is portraying British beaches.
The photograph on a whole is really uplifting and vibrant, this is mainly because of the colour scheme and the prospective of the image also makes it fun but my favourite part of the image is the humour, I think its really effective that the man is holding a newspaper covering his face and most his chest that states 'Fatso' then his stomach is just below the newspaper it adds irony to the image making it more interesting on a whole.

                                         

Street Photography

Tony Ray Jones

Tony Ray Jones is a well known documentary and street photographer who created photographs in Britain which are usually ironic or humorous.

Tony Ray Jones started a new generation of Street Photography and Documentary Photography that changed future photography by influencing artists such as Martin Parr.

Tony Ray Jones seems to show a lot of different characters in his photographs as you can see the comparison of people in the three images above. I feel that this is the intention of imagery as there is no main person usually and the photograph is focusing on everything, which in my opinion makes the image more of a still frame of reality. 

I think that the three photographs created by Tony Ray Jones are all of a similar contrast due to his use of high contrast 35mm black and white film, making his photographs have a lot of contrast making them quite striking due to the black and white tones being so defined and sharp, this makes the images look more interesting and makes the features of his images stand out.  The image above is from Tony Ray Jones' work 'Only In England' and I think is to portray English Culture through these people on a beach in Brighton. The image portrays quirkiness and personalities of the people on this English beach. The image doesn't have one main feature and is focusing on 'people' and their behaviours in social.
The image is almost humerus just because of the elderly people and their mannerisms and I think Tony Ray Jones wanted to show just how interesting England can be and therefore portrays his concept 'Only In England'.
The image has a busy feel about it and I think this is because of the people who take up the majority of the photo and because of the textures such as the pebbles on the floor and the peoples clothing and belongings, this means there is a lot going on in the image and therefore it makes it more eye catching and interesting.

After exploring the work of Tony Ray Jones, I have realized how taking photos of a group of people can be just as effective and interesting as taking a photograph of one person or main feature and I will be considering this whilst creating my 'Street Photography' prints. I would also like to take inspiration from Tony Ray Jones' work by trying to capture peoples facial expressions to make my prints more effective like the work of 'Only In England'.

Street Photography

                                   

Street Photography Research

In order to find inspiration and ideas for my Street Photography work, I wanted to research photographers who use great human interaction, as personally I feel this genre of photography is more powerful when
artists focus on documenting people through their street photography.

Bruce Gilden

After establishing that I would like to focus on documenting people whilst creating my Street Photography, I found a great example of this sort of work- in photographer Bruce Gilden.


I am inspired by his striking close up imagery, which creates a real sense of capturing the moment. Gilden is most known for his work in Brooklyn, New York City; as you can see in the imagery above. The use of Gilden's flash gun is key in these images as it causes a reaction making the photographs more interesting as the people in the photographs have natural yet striking facial expressions.
Gilden captures people candidly; although in some of his images you can see a reaction to his flash, the images are not posed at all and the people are not aware of the photo been taken before hand. Although these images are created just capturing the moment they have great composition and are in sharp focus.
After exploring some of Bruce Gilden's New York photography, I would like to take some inspiration from his imagery and apply it to own Street Photography and I intend to make my imagery quite close up to show great facial expression in order to make my photographs have emotion without appearing posed or constructed.

           'If you can smell the street by looking at the photo, it’s a street photograph.'
                                                             - Bruce Gilden



Garry Winogrand

Garry Windogrand is another photographer who I immediately associate with Street Photography, like Bruce Gilden; this is because of his striking close up imagery and his human interaction portrayed through his photography. Windogrands Street Photography on a whole is very candid and although he gets so close up to people it could be assumed that he is unnoticed by them. His photographs can appear quite timeless by the location, I can see by the fashion and  vehicles that they were taken around 1960's-70's, meaning that photography was not seen as any violation at that time and Winogrand could photograph freely or without being noticed.
Winogrand's photography expresses the people by the candidness and expressions caught from so close up, but I think it is so effective how the images portray city life too. Winogrands work which is captured in Cities (such as New York City) does not only document the people but also the Cities, which makes the images very dynamic due to all the buildings and shops and streets captured.


Whilst looking at both photographers, Bruce Gilden and Garry Winogrand I have took great inspiration from their work and both their methods of creating close up Street Photography. I am now aware that my approach to Street Photography can be of my preference and I can still create successful Photographs, as Bruce Gilden and Garry Winogrand both have different ways of capturing candid close up Photos which are both successful.

Street Photography Research

 Street Photography

      What is street Photography?

There is no real correct or incorrect definition of street photography as many different photographers have different concepts of and approaches to this genre of photography. Some photographers believe street photography is about portraying the emotion and feelings in people where as others believe it is about the environment or the 'street' as such. Other photographers such as Eric Kim believe it is important to focus on both these factors.

'I believe that the most effective street photographs are the ones that synthesize both the human element as well as the urban environment' 

(Eric Kim - What is street photography)

To me, street photography is about documenting real life people and showing the true emotions of that person at the time of  the photograph and - although I do not believe that photographs have to be candid shots to be classed as Street Photography; I personally believe that candid images are more powerful and successful as the photograph is captured without appearing posed.

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliott Erwitt

WALKER EVANS 

Using this idea of photographing people in work uniforms works really well on showing the peoples emotions and  facial expressions as that is the only insight into that person; apart from the uniform indicating the possible employment and class of the person, it leaves the viewer asking more about the image and therefore we look at the emotion of the people and without these being candid shots that would not be possible.

After looking at the work of Walker Evans I feel that my ideas for my street photography have been influenced as I feel I have seen the great impact a candid image can have opposed to a posed image, therefore I would like to capture the moment in my image and take photographs where the people or person is unaware and carrying on with their daily lives.

As a start into my research into street photography I have been looking into the work of Walker Evans, the image above is from his work entitled 'Labor Anonymous' in the magazine 'Fortune' which he worked for and where he created many of his most successful work. The article above contains 11 shots that Walker Evans created of different people on the streets in their work attire. Some of these images look candid where as others look like they could be posed, personally I believe the candid shots are more interesting and powerful in this portrayal of people as we know nothing about the people apart from some clues from their work uniforms therefore we only see the person as an employee so the candidness of the photo is really important as it is lets us see the individual and not just the worker.

I want the viewers to be moved into the lives of the people that they are looking at, the visual experience is incredibly emotional.” Paul Fusco