Portraits

Portrait - A photograph that represents a specific person, a group of people, or an animal. usually shows what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subject's personality.

Formal Portrait A portrait that emphasizes only the subject and de-emphasizes the setting. Close - up

Formal Neutral background In a studio – background cloth, seamless paper, a plain wall

Formal Outdoors – in front of a hedge, sky, the ocean, or a solid color wall

Nadar – Gaspard-Felix Tournachon 1820-1910 French caricaturist & photographer 1st great portrait photographer Created a rapport with his subjects and produced a “speaking likeness” portrait Sarah Bernhardt, 1859

Speaking likeness – a portrait that revealed the subject’s personality How can you create a rapport with the subject you are shooting? Caption Victor Hugo

Write a script you could use to work with a subject who is nervous about having his or her photograph taken. 1 page

Environmental Portraits a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings. Painter (Anton Raderscheidt), 1926 (c) August Sander

to better illuminate their character, and therefore portray the essence of their personality, rather than merely a likeness of their physical features. the subject will be more at ease, and so be more conducive to expressing themselves, as opposed to in a studio, Peasant Woman

August Sander German portrait and documentary photographer 1876-1964 Created some of the 1st environmental portraits

August Sanders documented German people with portraits of them in their professions. How would you document Americans? Would it be by photographing people at work? At play?

What are the differences and similarities of the two images ?

Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron – (1815 – 1879) British photographer Victorian period Self-taught Best known for her portraits – sometimes she dressed her subjects up to act out scenes from literature and classical mythology. Most her images were meant to resemble the dreamlike and softly romantic paintings of the artists or her time.

Fantasy Portraits Beatrice 1866 Zoe-Maid of Athens 1866-70

Lancelot and Guinevere 1873 The Passing of Arthur

The Passing of Arthur, 1874

Candid Portraits An unopposed portrait of a person going about his or her daily life. Not posed Try to go unnoticed Include subjects’ surroundings Capture different emotions Use a faster shutter speed (1/250 sec.)

Walker Evans: Subway Passengers, New York, 1938

Portrait Project Create portraits that tells a story or relays information about the way your subject looks, who they are, or what they think they are. The subject will be the dominant element in the pictures.

Portrait Project Create 4 portraits 1. Formal – Studio, posed 2. Environmental – outside or inside (posed/unposed) 3. fictional – 1 studio, posed -use a costume; become a character from your imagination or someone you aspire to be 4. Candid – capture a spontaneous, slice-of-life photograph of someone engaged in everyday activity. Subject is in focus, and not posed

Julia Margaret Cameron Cindy Sherman Self-Portrait Julia Margaret Cameron Cindy Sherman

Self-Portrait – A portrait of a photographer taken by him- or her-self.

Movie Still a photograph taken on or off the set of a movie or television program during production. main purpose - to help studios advertise and promote their new films and stars Movie still Dear John

Cindy Sherman Cindy Sherman – (1954-present) American photographer made a career out of self-portraits which examines the role of women , and how women are perceived through the eyes of men and through the lenses of various media. Her style references her influences of movies, tv, popular culture, fairy tales, female stereotypes and art history

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still, no. 92, 1981 >

). 1985. Untitled № 153 (head of the drowned

Untitled #96, 1981, Farbfoto, Auflage 10, 61 x 121,9 cm

Reflective Self-Portrait – a self-portrait taken from looking into a reflective object, such as a mirror or the chrome of a car.

Self-Portrait Project Create photographs of yourself that tells a story or relays information about the way you look, what you think, or who you are. The subject, you , will be the dominant element in the pictures. Create 2 self-portraits 1. Movie Still – pretend you are a actor/actress in a movie (genre is your choice) – Due11/28 2. Reflective – photograph yourself by looking into a reflective surface (mirror, window). Be creative! Due 11/21