Assignment #5 - Portrait Challenges

DUE: 9 AM Monday April 20 – (6) Works In Progress Images, (2) from each of the following three Challenges

DUE: 5 PM Wednesday April 22 – Comments on at least two fellow student WIP images

DUE: 9 AM Monday April 27 – (6) Final images, (2) from each of the following three Challenges

“The Photographic Portrait”

“It is one thing to photograph people. It is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness.”

- Paul Strand  

Assignment

You may choose from a variety of different portrait styles ranging from traditional, fine art, environmental or documentary.  If you can choose more than one person to photograph and be sure to always have your camera with you. 

 

Your subject matter for this assignment is people and yourself.  That does not mean that there is nothing else in your photos. It does however mean that the other visual information should be important in describing the individual. A portrait is not simply a picture of a person. Historically (prior to the invention of photography) a portrait was a painting and only the wealthy could afford them. The subject would go the artist studio and sit for their portrait. This could take days, weeks or even months. The medium of photography is no different, it takes time! As Elliott Erwitt once said, “If you want to make a good portrait of someone, spend some time with them first.”

Portraits (people) are the most difficult subject matter you will photograph! If  you are not careful you will create shallow, meaningless representations of someone we don’t and will probably never get to know. You must dig very deep for this assignment and you will need to work harder, and apply yourself more than at any other point in the course. You want to create images that are much more than the geography of someone’s face and we the viewer need a glimpse into their souls!  Good Luck!

Tips

·       Your subjects should be aware, as should you, that portraits are time consuming and difficult.  Therefore you should be sure to give yourself plenty of time to experiment with composition and light.  Be aware of your surroundings and the effect that light has on your subject.  Keep in mind that light comes in all forms, so don’t neglect foggy or overcast days or even rainy ones.  Be sure that your subject is aware that you are trying to communicate something about them in your photos and that it is not just a documentation.  Move around, kneel down, lay on your back, tilt the camera, stand on a chair.  Show us (the viewer) things we wouldn’t normally see.  The key to a great portrait depends on many different things, so take everything into consideration when experiment with your subject.  You will most likely be showing us the viewer, someone we do not know.  So you have to ask yourself, how can you create an image or images about this person that will make us care; that will make us want to look and look deeply.

·       Body Language! Body Language! Body Language! The challenge is NOT to create a series of headshots, but to create portraits. Be aware and use body language to create compelling portraits.

·       Depth of Field – Use shallow DOF so your background is out of focus and not distracting. This is achieved by using either the Manual or Aperture Priory Shooting Modes and selecting your largest Aperture opening - Smallest F/number. So if you have a lens that has and aperture range of F/4 – F/22 you would select F/4. I have lenses that go down to F/1.8, therefore I would choose that setting. Elliott Erwitt used shallow depth of field to create the portrait below. Notice that the faces are sharp and the ocean landscape is out of focus.

Elliott Erwitt

Stay Away From

•                People in trees! This is not a typo. Every semester a student tells his or her friend to climb a tree so they can     make a portrait of them. Unless they are an arborist your family or friends should not be in trees.

•               Your subject playing a guitar! Or any instrument really. Actually doing anything! A portrait is not someone doing something! The only thing the person should be doing is engaging with the photographer.

•               Your Subject playing sports! Because that’s also doing something.

•               Your Subject eating! No one looks good with a mouth full of cake!

•               Your Subject playing drinking games!

•               Clothing. Dickinson sweatshirts are comfy, but not necessarily the most interesting or eye pleasing attire.

•               Smiling! Portraits are generally not about someone’s happiness. This doesn’t mean they are sad or upset, but smiling in a photograph is generally a reaction specifically for the camera. Think about it, are you smiling as you’re reading this? Probably not!

•               I also DO NOT consider a subject extending a middle finger directed towards the camera to be a successful portrait!

•               Pets! Pets are not people, so pet portraits will not be accepted!

Notice in the portrait below that Stravinsky is not playing the piano. 

Arnold Newman.

Igor Stravinsky

Suggested Inspiration

Richard Avedon, Arnold Newman, Brassai, Nadar, August Sanders, Diane Arbus, Judith Joy Ross, Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin, Harry Callahan, Alfred Stieglitz, Cindy Sherman, Lucas Samaras, Irving Penn, Annie Leibovitz, Lee Freidlander, Bruce Davidson, Vivian Maier  and on, and on, and on, and on!

Portrait Challenge #1 – Someone You Know

Create a series of portraits of someone you know. Due to the current pandemic you will more than likely need to photograph a person you are currently living with. This will more than likely be one of your parents, or a brother or a sister. Remember, we the view do not, and probably will, never know the person you are photographing. You on the other hand will have a deep connection with this person, a connection that will more than likely not be present in the photo. Therefore, you need to figure out a way to engage us visually and somehow create a relationship between us and them.

If you do elect to photograph someone outside of your home, be sure that you are practicing Social Distancing

Harry Callahan.

Bob Fine. 1952

Irving Penn.

Truman Capote. 

Irving Penn.

Miles Davis.

Platon.

 

Richard Avedon.

From: In the American West

Richard Avedon.

Bee Keeper. From: In the American West.

Portrait Challenge #2 - A Self-Portrait

Create a series of portraits where you are the subject. I realize that not everyone enjoys or even likes photos of themselves, however I find it extremely important to turn the camera around and focus on ourselves and it can be an enlightening experience if you take it seriously. There are several ways you can go about this:

1.           Use a mirror

2.           Use a reflection of yourself

3.           Use a tripod

4.           Use the Self-Timer setting which can generally be found under the “Drive” setting on your camera

Vivian Maier. Self-Portrait

Vivian Maier. Self-Portrait

 

Vivian Maier. Self-Portrait

Portrait Challenge #3 – A Portrait of Someone without them being in the Photo

Create a series of portraits without people. Yes, without people. This challenge requires you to visually represent someone without them actually being in the photograph. 

All images are © Copyrighted by the artist or foundation.