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.
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
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.
