Portraiture

Richard Avedon

What is a portrait? What makes an image of someone a portrait instead just a snapshot? Intention. For portraiture you need to make an interesting photograph of someone with intent. A portrait grabs our attention. People are fascinated by other people and since the advent of photography, images of people have saturated our lives. You cannot get through a day without seeing a portrait of someone, whether it be in advertisements, on walls, or on a Facebook profile. Almost all professional photographers have worked with people taking portraits. 

Artists to consider: Man Ray, Richard Avedon, Alfred Eisenstadt, Annie Liebowitz, Helmut Newton

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Assignment: 
Your assignment is to photograph multiple portraits using 50 frames. You must photograph: yourself (self-portrait), and then photograph someone else in three different settings: 1. with artificial lighting (using either side lighting, back lighting, full lighting, bounce lighting, or a combination) 2. a full crop of the face (breaking the frame) 3. using natural light in an interesting setting. Be careful not to take a snapshot (Tell your friend to stand over there and smile brightly, saying “cheese”).

​Photography as a fine-art does not allow for snapshots or cheesiness. In this project you must focus on the figure. Try to express the personality and expression of your subject through photographs. Put your viewer in familiar situations, so they don’t think about the fact that they are being photographed. You must not forget about the background however, your subject should be complemented by his/her surroundings. 


You must turn in the following: 4 images uploaded to google classroom (the three of someone else and one self-portrait) 

*A high quality print includes: Full range of values, pleasing composition utilizing the elements and principles, utilization of contrast (s-curve), manipulation of lighting. In addition, the print should be evenly mounted on black paper with all edges glued down.


Steps:

• Think about who you want to photograph. Try to get them in their natural element rather than setting a scene.
• Try multiple photographs of people both looking at the camera and not looking at the camera. Candid shots work very well. Hang out and talk to your friends while shooting.
• Meter for your subject and avoid unnecessary elements in the frame.
• Don't forget your tripod when you shoot in the studio
• Use a low f-stop for all portrait images
• GET CLOSER!!!

PASS IN:

• top 10 edited images (self portraits/artificial light portraits of someone else/crop portraits/outdoor portraits with NO CARS in the frame)
• top 3 images (the best one of each of the above categories)

Objective: Learn how to direct models/subjects to capture portraits. Use lighting to enhance and add emotion to imagery. 

Resource: Pinterest Board for portraits