13: Portraiture and Studio Photography

Activity 1

Look through assorted media, magazines, internet and collect four portrait photographs. The environment should be a key feature in two of the four images. Describe the subject’s character in each of the images. What can you see within each image that leads you to these conclusions about the subjects’ character.

moodleshare.org

From this image I can deduce that this is a working class man. He doesn't seem very happy with what he's doing, given the fact that he isn't smiling and is lonely. 

gunnaconrad.com

From this image the woman seems very happy with her horse. She is brushing it's hair, which probably means she's responsible and loves animals.

aaronmartinezphotogrphy.wordpress.com

From this image I see an old man being goofy. This man probably doesn't let his age define him, so he acts goofy and silly.

artistinspireartist.org

This image is probably of a rocker. From his wild expression he is probably very extroverted and wild.

Activity 2

 
Find four portraits that demonstrate the different ways a photographer has framed the image to alter the design and content. Discuss the vantage point, depth of field and subject placement in all of the images.

leblogdesoniva.com

The subjects placement here makes the subject very interesting and gives nice movement towards the subject.

www.photographysites.com

The arms and scarf help frame the subjects face. Her eyes also grab your attention.

juxtapost.com

This bed/pillow shapes the body of the baby. The brown background helps focus on the baby who has very light skin. 

cutestuffbyjo.juliemayree.com

The baby's hat frames the baby's face and the lighting frames the baby's body. 

Activity 3

Collect four portrait images with two to five subjects.In at least one image the subject should have been placed in the foreground.Comment on the arrangement of the subjects in relation to the camera and the effectiveness of the design.

flickr.com

This arrangement of people gives off a very proper and sophisticated design.

junebugweddings.com

This arrangement automatically makes the viewer to go to the person in the middle. This is more relaxing and less proper.

scapephotography.com

Having the boy in the foreground, the teenage girls in the middle, and the parents in the back not only brings attention to the boy but represent generations.

ukate.net

This arrangement might look very proper but it also shows a lot of character especially from the kids.



Activity 4

Photograph the same subject varying both the depth of field and focal length of the lens. Discuss the visual effects of each image.

Jessica Castelan

Changing the depth of field changes how the viewer sees the subject of the photo. On the first photo the subject would be the artist while the second image would be the artist painting a picture of a sun.




Activity 5

Find one portrait image that has included significant or informative detail. Describe the importance of the additional information and how it is likely to be read by the viewer.

vi.sualize.us 

When the viewer observes this image they will read the years and experience in this model's face. The wrinkles are like the core of a tree; the rings or in this case wrinkles represent every year this person has been alive.




Activity 6

Connect with someone new and create three environmental portraits.
At least one image should demonstrate how you have directed them towards a relaxed expression and body posture. Discuss the process of direction.

Jesse Castelan

These pictures were taken randomly. The person had no idea that i was taking a picture. When i take a picture of someone randomly, rather than setting them up,  it looks more realistic and natural in my opinion.

Jesse Castelan

This image was also a random shot of people. Yes i know i'm a stalker.

Jesse Castelan

In this image i wanted my brother to be in a place where he is most relaxed (in the park). I also wanted him to do something that he loves to do which is listening to and playing music. I found a spot on a tree that wasn't very difficult for him to keep his balance and also asked to have his eyes close like most musicians do when playing to get that relaxed look.

11 Photo Montage

Activity 1

Briefly discuss why you think painters of the Victorian period might have criticized these early photomontages and why the pictures were popular with the general public. (This technique of piecing together separate images to create one picture is again very popular with both artists and the media).
What two reasons can you think of for this revival of an old technique?

• I think that during the Victorian period people might have criticize photomontages because they didn't consider it as art, or too easy, or just plain strange. I think that the general public liked it because it was different and that it was a new technique to learn. Two reasons why this technique has been revived, i think, is because the technique is very useful when wanting to put things in a piece (like Photoshop) and the fact that it is an old technique and some Artist like the idea of going back to the basics or from its history.

Activity 2

• Find two examples of political photo montages that are either from a historical or contemporary source










































paperbackswap.com



Deesillustration.com



























Discuss in what context they have been produced and how effective you think they communicate their intended message. 

- I think that the picture of the Obamas was to represent a very striking picture in order to make a point and to scare the public. The second image is to represent a higher power because it has a small man being carried by a giant hand.

• Discuss the techniques that have been used to assemble the examples you have chosen and offer alternative ways that the artist could have put over the same message. 
• - The picture of the Obamas would be recognizing the familiar and Contrast. The familiar image is the Obamas from the inauguration dance  and the contrast is the dieting animals surrounding them. The second image has Exaggeration of scale which shows a small Alexander Zhitomirsky  being picked up by a giant hand. 

Activity 3

• As editors exercise their ever-increasing power over information control, what limits would you impose on them as to the extent to which they can manipulate the photographic image?
• - The limits i would impose on them would be to manipulate the image that tells the truth and is respectful to your subject.
• Devise a series of guidelines that will control the release of images that have been constructed for media use so that the public is aware as to the extent of the manipulation.
•  -copy rights, permission from : owners, buisnesses, or subjects.

Activity 4

• Find two examples of photo montages that are either from a commercial source or from a fine art background. Discuss in what context they have been produced and what techniques they share with political photo montages. 
• 
• www.humour-felin.com
• 
• http://rachaelkoscicaphotography.blogspot.com/2011/08/self-portrait-photo-montage.html
• All these pictures have been obviously photoshoped. The techniques they share with political photo montages are it's attention to detail, their similes or metaphores, and their good use of catching viewers eyes.
• What messages, if any, are communicated through these photo montages and how effective do you think they are? Consider different ways that each image could have been tackled by the artist and come up with an idea for ‘another in the series’. 
• I think each photo montage has its own meaning behind it so i can't really say their is a specific message communicated through. They are effective by catching people's attention. I guess the before and after image could have been tackled differently by having a different background or just her covered with flowers not the background aswell. The next one in the series would be her with her eyes open.

Chapter 4: Self Image

Chapter 4: Self Image

Activity 1 

What follows is a list of categories that serves to define and divide us. Make a personal list of the categories you belong to or have conflict with and visual symbols that are associated with each. Aspirations and expectations should also be listed. 

• 18-years-old,  2nd generation to go to college in America
• Female
• I'm Mexican-American, Race: White
• I was raised Catholic 
• Introverted in school, but very outgoing with family members at home
• Good student, above-average grades.
• Democratic family
• Expected to have children (prefer to adopt or get monkeys):)
• Become a vet
• Stereotype: cleaning lady, gardener, poor, from Mexico, gets pregnant, chola
•    
• 

en.wikipedia.org, www.sweetclipart.com,www.philvantreuren.com

Activity 2 

Find images in the media, which have been used to represent attractive and unattractive aspects of the human face. Examine and record carefully the photographic techniques used to accentuate both these qualities, drawing up a list that relates to the images you have found. List the physical characteristics that we have come to admire in both the male and female face and write 100 words in response to the following questions: 

http://barbiecraze.blogspot.com 

I think we have come to admire female faces with: perfect skin, symmetrical, no signs of aging, thinner (or edgier), and perfect makeup. 

guidingray.blogspot.com 

We've come to admire male faces with: clear skin, groomed, no redness, or circles.

1. Do you believe that media images or public opinion are responsible for the characteristics of beauty becoming universal stereotypes?      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      -Yes, i do believe that it becomes a universal stereotype because many young people these days look at these photos and believe that this is what models actually look like. In different countries, like China, they showcase these images for the public to see and cause many people to want the "Western" look. I also believe that these images cause insecurities to people on their own appearances. I think it is normal or common to want to be skinny and beautiful like the models you see in photos. 
          
          Do you believe people admiring media images of glamorous models can do any harm? 

- yes it can do harm to people by causing them to have eating disorders or depression. This causes many people to have plastic surgery and take diet pills. Many people die every year from these surgeries or pills that, in the end, wasn't even worth the life that was spared for a little fat on the side or wrinkles. This also causes people to  go on the most craziest diets. For example, starving, eating less than what is healthy, and over working their body with exercise and not eating afterwards.                              

Activity 3:

Consider some of the social pressures that you think may shape your behavior and personal image. List the images most commonly associated with the categories or ‘boxes’ you have already listed in Activity 1.

How have you responded to social pressures to conform by adopting an appearance that relates to the categories that you feel you have placed in or have chosen? 

arabia.msn.com

There is always that social pressure that a woman has to have a baby in her life. If she doesn't people think she is selfish, conceded, or somethings wrong with her. 

en.wikipedia.org

I was raised Catholic and people automatically think that you have to believe in everything the Bible says. I also come from a highly catholic family and culture so not believing is frowned upon.

zapatas-plymouth.com

Second generation Mexican-American to live in America and go to school here. From personal experience, whenever i tell people I'm Mexican-American they automatically ask if i was born in America and if i can speak spanish (since i don't have an accent).



part 2: I really don't care if i don't fit into a stereotype. I think being different and yourself is better. It hasn't really effected my life, so i'm content the way i am:) if it did effect my life i would normally just ignore it.

Landscape: 7

Landscape



Activity 1:

1.View the image by Walker Evans on this page and describe what you can actually see (objective analysis) and what you think the image is about (subject analysis).

 

          - What i see from Walker Evans's picture is a cemetary next to a neighborhood and factory.

           - What i think the image is about is a normal lifestyle of a person who works their whole life, buys a home, has a family, then dies. 

2.  Discuss how effective Walker Evans has been in using a landscape image to communicate  a point of view.

-Walker Evans's pictures help document how people's lifestyles were like during the great depression and how people's body languages, expressions, and homes said it all.

 

3. Can this photograph be consider Art? Gives two reasons to support your answer.

-This can be considerd art because just like in painting and drawing you use composition and creativity to get  your point across. A photographer needs its camera just as much as a painter needs its paint to create art.

Activity 2:

1. Find two landscape photographs that question social values or act as a metaphor for personal issues that the photographer is trying to express.

 

By: Adam Burton

By: Evgeni Dinev

    2. Discuss whether the communication is clear or amiguous and how this communication is conveyed.

The first image by Adam Burton i find clear because it is obvious that it would question social value of people who do not care about the Earth and the effect it has on our ecosystem. The second image could be ambiguous but i saw it as a way of a metaphor saying that "the sky is the limit".

Activity 3:

1. Compare and constrast a landscape photograph with a landscape painting.

By: Auto matt

By: Boss Ross

Both painting and photo landscapes can use the same rules of composition. Paintings i think show more imagination while photos show more detail.

2. Discuss the expressive possibilities of each medium using your examples to illustrate your argument.

-With painting you have more freedom to create different possibilities in your landscape while photography you have to work with what you have.

3. Choose your examples carefully as a representative of the medium.
- The Bob Ross painting above is an example of the medium because he did not paint from a picture he painted by what he thought his landscape should look like. The photo by Auto matt was taken in a way to make it creative and with good composition with what he naturally had to work with.



Activity 4:

1. Create two photographs in a location with tall buildings or trees using both formats.

Both By: Jesse Castelan

     2.Create a closed and open landscape at one location.

Both By: Jesse Castelan

3.Discuss the different ways we read the resulting images.

- The first image is more closed and has more emphasis on the side mountain, while the second image is more open and has a wider view of the landscape.

Activity 5:

1. Create a landscape utilizing foreground subject matter to create a sence of depth.

By: Jesse Castelan

    2. Discuss how the resulting image is likely to be read by a viewer.

I think a viewer would read this image as solitude or peacefulness; Solitude because the house is high up and away from  eveyone and Peacefulness because it's away from the city and open.

 





Unit 4: Time

Activity 1: Look at a Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph and discuss why you think that capturing the decisive moment has added to the picture's quality.
I think capturing images in a decisive moment adds a natural quality to the image. Henri Cartier-bresson's images show just that. It looks as though his subjects in his photos don't even realize that  he has taken a picture. When you tell your subject to pose a certain way it almost looks fake, but when you capture your subject when it's not posing it's more natural to the viewer.

Activity 2: Find an example of a photograph where the photographer has used a very fast shutter speed and describe the subject matter including the background. Discuss any technical difficulties the photographer may have encountered and how he or she may have overcome them. Discuss what happened to the depth of field and why. Discuss weather the image gives you the feeling of movement, stating the reasons of your conclusion.

Taylor

The subject in this image is the popped bubble. To bring out the bubble more, the background was set to be unfocused. The photographer might have had problems in placing it's  subject perfectly in the image and when to snap the picture. She most likely had to follow the bubble very carefully and had to guess when the bubble was going to pop. To bring out the bubble more the depth of field in this image was set to shallow. The image definitely gives off a feeling of movement because it's being popped.  I like how the movement of the water droplets are still in a shape of a circle when being popped.

Activity 3:Take four images of a running or jumping figure using fast shutter speeds (faster than 1/250 second). Vary the direction of travel in relation to the camera and attempt to fill the frame with the figure. Examine the image for any movement blur and discuss the focusing technique used.

Take four images of the same moving subject using shutter speeds between 1/15 and 1/125 second. Pan the camera to follow the movement. The primary subject should again fill the frame. Discuss the visual effect of each image.

Fast Shutter Speed

Panning with 1/15

By: Jessica Castelan

Activity 4: Find a photograph where the photographer has used a slow shutter speed and describe the subject matter including the background. Discuss any technical difficulties the photographer may have encountered and how these mat have been overcome.

‘Etter Badet’

By Randihausken

The subject matter in this image is the shaking dog. The background is in focus which helps bring out the subject. Some technical difficulties that the photographer might have encountered was keeping his camera still when capturing the photo. The photographer most likely used a tripod to keep his camera still. If the photographer didn't use a tripod or kept still the dog would have shifted in the image.

Activity 5: Create four images that contain a mixture of solid (sharp) and fluid (blur) forms.