1. The Portrait & Family Narrative

2. Objectives Learn about the next mini project entitled ‘Portraiture.
Have a basic understanding of what a portrait is
Be able to identify some of the different functions of portraiture
See examples of Portrait photography from different
photographers
Learn about film speed and lighting.
Have an opportunity to go out taking shots which relate to the
photographers you have researched as well as being informed by
your research on film speed and lighting
Print out contact sheets to be annotated.
Learn to develop your research to produce your own response to
‘Portrait’
Be able to produce a creative portrait which goes beyond
representation

3. A Brief History of Portraits
Rome was a republic for many years
(Republic = No King/Queen, With King/Queen = Monarchy)
Then Julius Caesar took sole power as Emperor in 49 B.C. and after his death Augustus became the new Emperor. The Roman people were nervous about having a man in charge who might behave like a king (they were very proud of being a republic with a senate in charge – a bit like our parliament)
Augustus had this statue made, and copies were distributed in all major cities throughout the Roman Empire.
This portrait was designed to present Augustus in a particular way to the people.
What did Augustus want his portrait to ‘say’ to the Roman people? …. Discuss.

4. A Brief History of Portraits
Pose (contraposto) … (He will take Rome forward to greater conquest, power and wealth)
Hand points upward & forward ... (Similar to the pose, he will take Rome upwards to greater conquest, power and wealth)
Clothing = that of a soldier and a Senator (man of the people but also strong and will defend Rome)
Facial Expression … (He is calm, serene and looks like a fair and honest man)
No crown – not even the laurel crown which Roman victors wore … so he’s not trying to be a king.
Little angel (putti) … (Even the Gods favour this man!)

5. Piero della Francesca, Baptism of Christ 1445
For many years the major patron of art was the Church and most portraits would be of religious figures (Christ, Saints, Disciples, Martyrs etc).
Jan Van Eyck, Christ, 15th century
Piero della Francesca, Baptism of Christ 1445

6. Holbein, King Henry VIII, 1536
Kings, Queens and aristocrats of high status also commissioned portraits.
Why did poor people not commission portraits?
Holbein, King Henry VIII, 1536

7. During the Renaissance (around 1400 to 1600) there was a great revival in literature, science and art.
‘Ordinary’ wealthy people started to commission portraits.
Leonardo da Vinci, La Gioconda (Mona Lisa),

8. Thomas Gainsborough, Mr and Mrs Andrews, 1748-9
Joshua Reynolds, Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton, 1782

9. Portrait by Julia Margaret Cameron
In 1837 the first permanent photographic process is discovered …
Early Dagguerotype
Portrait by Julia Margaret Cameron
The photograph could record exactly what a person looked like and was much cheaper than a painting.

10. Kertesz
Photographic portraits can also capture fleeting moments more easily than painting.
August Sander
A ‘conventional’ portrait (rather like a traditional painted portrait).

11. The Gaze
When we look hard at someone else our gaze can sometimes be interpreted as if we are saying “I am the powerful one here”. Manet’s Olympia caused a scandal because he painted a woman in a contemporary setting who seemed by her gaze to be the one with all the power - in 1863 women were meant to do as they were told by men!
Titian, Venus D’Urbino, 1538
Manet, Olympia, 1863 11

12. Richard Avedon
August Sander
Images in which the subject looks directly at the viewer can have a powerful or disconcerting effect. 12

13. So what happens to the painted portrait
after the discovery of photography in 1837?

14. Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893
Van Gogh, Self Portrait, 1885
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893

15. Marcel Duchamp, Nude descending a staircase, 1912 (painting)
How might photography have influenced the making of this painted portrait?

16. Willem de Kooning, Woman, 1944
Head VI, Francis Bacon, 1949

17. After the discovery of photography many portrait painters became photographers.
Many of the artists who wanted to carry on painting now experimented by portraying the world in new and exciting ways.
Photography changed Art.

18. What about photographic portraits today?

19. November 11th 2010 - top 10 music album covers
No.1 - Rihanna
No.1 - Rihanna
No.1 - Rihanna
No.1 - Rihanna
No.1 - Rihanna
No.1 - Rihanna
No.1 - Rihanna
November 11th top 10 music album covers
Most contain …. What?

20. The portrait is used in many different ways in our modern world.

21. What is the purpose or use of a portrait?
(think about the images you have seen and what they were ‘for’)
Discuss & report back

22. A Narrative describes events (real or fictitious) which happen over some period of time (it has a temporal quality). Narrative means pretty much the same as the word ‘story’.
Example:
Once upon a time there was a group of A level students … they all worked very hard … they all achieved grade ‘A’ and lived happily ever after!
This literary narrative describes a simple sequence of events (in this case completely fictional!)

23. In the 1890s Jacob Riis was one of the first photographers to document the story of the New York poor. The narrative was one of squalor and deprivation, reproduced in his photo essay How the other half lives.
Note that these images could be presented in various orders – they need not follow a specific sequential order to convey the story.

24. Picture magazines become popular during the 20th century
Stories (narratives) were told using series of images rather than text as the primary conveyor of meaning.

25. Picture Post Magazine, c.1940

26. In the 1930s America was in an economic ‘depression’.
Dorothea Lange and several other photographers produced photo essays, each consisting of several photographs to publicise the lives of the many poor farm workers.

27. Today’s photo magazines such as Hello tell stories about celebrities and their exciting lives (yawn).

28. Commemorating the Battle of Hastings, 1066
Narratives which use images to tell the story are not a new idea.
Bayeux Tapestry
Commemorating the Battle of Hastings, 1066

29. Text (written words) can be used to direct or ‘anchor’ the meaning of an image or a group of images.
What narrative might these images be telling?

30. Cartoons often use text to help the narrative along.
Cartoons are an example of linear narrative – the story must be ‘read’ in a specific order.

31. A single image conveys information and meaning, but any narrative will usually be relatively short.
Why might this be?
Tony Ray Jones

32. Artist Barbara Kruger uses text to direct the meaning of her images, often in a counter-intuitive or subversive way.
What is the meaning of this image?

33. When photographs are taken at short intervals and then displayed quickly one after another, they can create the illusion of movement.
This effect is used to create moving narratives, called cinematic films.
Edweard Muybridge

34. Many photo stories include the following four different types of image:
1. Establish the scene shot(s)
2. Action Image(s) – what is happening
3. Portrait(s) – the people involved in the story
4. Detail Image(s)
To achieve all 4 types the photographer must move around, in and out of the action or events taking place.
Note: not all photo essays/stories include all 4 types, but many picture editors will still expect to see them!

35. Four images from a short photo story entitled The Journey
Which of the four categories do each belong to?

36. This is a very famous artwork consisting of 9 photographic images describing what is apparently a simple narrative.
What is the story?
Keith Arnett,
Self Burial, 1969

37. Duane Michaels, Cavafy cheats playing strip poker, 2004

38. Duane Michaels, Paradise Regained, 1968

39. Advertising
Advertisements not only inform us about a product (documentary content), they are designed to make us want to purchase the product.
Advertising must often use a single image to convey the narrative … not always easy and certainly not as easy as the photo essays consisting of many images!
What product might this image be ‘selling’?
What is the narrative or story?
Why does it work as an advertisement?

40. This is an advert.
What is the story here?

41. Try to discover the intended narrative for the following single image advertisements.

43. For your first shoot you will produce a series of narrative images that are inspired by the following photographers:
Richard Billingham

51. Discuss the images by Richard Billingham
Who do you think this man and woman are?
What is he trying to show us in these images?

52. Why might he have chosen this aspect ratio?
Richard Billingham
Richard Billingham produced a series of photographs about his parents. He used the amateur 6:4 aspect ratio shape for his images (just like amateur 6 inch x 4 inch prints).
Why might he have chosen this aspect ratio? 52

53. Nan Goldin

62. Nan Goldin’s family are not the mum and dad, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles who we would normally think of as ‘family’.
Who are these strange exotic people who she photographs? … Discuss.

63. Prep work
Produce an introduction page on portraits. Include examples of different photographers work on portraits
Produce a research page on Nan Goldin or Richard Billingham
For your first shoot; produce a collection of photographs within the theme Family Narrative, influenced by Billingham and Goldin. Your narrative should include the 4 narrative scenes: Establish the scene, Action Image(s), Portrait(s), Detail Image(s)
Remember: narratives can be real or fictional, linear or non-
linear, and the idea of family can extend beyond the simple
idea of parents and siblings (as in the work of Nan Goldin).