Portrait Photography: Exploring Subgenres and Techniques

1. Tahiyah Ali AB55312 Media Theories of Portrait Techniques

2. Introduction For my FMP project I did a photography project based around beauty and the social issues around it in today’s society. In this presentation I will be researching different subgenres in portrait photography and discussing how it they’ve taken the shots and what they are trying to show with each technique.

3. Posed A posed photography is a photo of individual people, where their expression on their face is the main focus of the picture. The person knows where to look and what expression to do. Posed photography is used in wedding photography, family photography. The main reason for posed photography is control, as a photographer you are able to control all element during a shoot, such as if you have models posing for you or a location you have a lot of space to shoot with. The first portrait photo was in 1839 by Robert Cornelius it was a self portrait. After this it became more and more popular in the 1800’s with family portraits to individual shots. It was a lot faster than sitting hours for an oil painting however the low light sensitivity of the plates dictated exposure times of 15 minutes, this limited its use of capturing still life or landscape subjects. It was impossible for people to hold still long enough for a long exposure. By 1841 chemical advances allowed development for portrait work with improvements of 10-60 seconds exposure time. The introduction of daguerreotype, a 19th century photography technique, allowed Victorians to capture unearthly photographs of loved ones which illustrated their attitude towards intimacy and death. The Victorian era saw the transition of two photographic trends ghostly photographs of parents hidden behind veils and post mortem photography which captured images of the deceased. The hidden mother photography was used for smaller children, to allow the photography to be captured. The mother would usually be wearing a black or white veil and have the child on their lap to make sure the child doesn’t suddenly move and blur the image. Looking back at these pictures now, it looks like a strange unholy figure in each photo. Death photography was very popular due to the fact that in the 19th century the average life span being approx. 40 years old. Victorian house holds would be filled with majority of young children and infants, for example if there was a family of 10 children 3 out of 10 would most likely die young. This is where post mortem photography stepped in as it was a way of memorializing the dead. It would have been the only visual remembrance of the deceased family members for the mourning families.

4. Candid Candid photography is when pictures are being taken of people in the moment without them knowing. The subject in the picture is relaxed and caught in the act. This is supposed to keep each photo sentimental. It’s achieved in many ways for example: • When the subject is in motion • By avoiding prior preparation of the subject • By not distracting the subject during the process Dr Erich Salomon was a German photographer, he was best known for his candid unguarded shots of the social elite, politicians and diplomats during the late 1920’s and early 30’s. His photographs featured a different revelation from the traditional, posed studio portraits, an English editor called them “candid photographs” a phrase which stuck. Erich’s photo’s showed the truth to the world and allowed the world to see what really happens in the courtroom and behind closed doors. He was known for sneaking in camera in his bowlers hat to capture moments that no one outside the room would witness. The Hauge – Erich Salomon

5. Low-key & High-key In photography lighting plays a key factor, it impacts the mood and emotion that the picture will convey. High key images and low key images make an intensive use of contrast, but in different way. High key images are considered happy and will show your subject as the only focus; Low key portraits are dramatic and convey a lot of atmosphere and tension. Low Key: In low key images the tone is darker and the controlling colour is usually black. There are a lot of dark areas in the picture. Low key images draws attention to contour lines, emphasizing them with highlights. There is a lot of contrast, usually there is a rim of light, this is surrounding a subject highlighting only the contour of the shape. The contrast is between dark shape and bright contour. High Key: Straight away you notice by looking at a high key image is that it is bright. To create this the exposure levels on your camera are set to high values. Another thing to notice is the lack of contrast, it almost an even tone across the scene. Due to no contrast there are also no shadows. Shadows are usually casted by the subject but they are suppressed by lighting in the scene.

6. beauty Beauty photography is a modern version of glamour style portraiture. It is a close up shot, sometimes cropped from the bust up. The objective of a beauty shot is to show your outer beauty and inner. It is used for magazines, beauty brands, head shots and personal shots. Lighting for Beauty photography is of a similar standard of portraiture but you’ll usually be going for a fairly bright, high key and relatively shadow less look. In this picture, it shows the most ideal set up for lighting. A beauty dish above head level, a reflector white or silver at chest level and a light behind the subject. By having a separate background light it get rids of any shadow that is created and allows your beauty dish to be less centred

7. Emotions This style of photography is adding emotion and feeling to photographs. One thing that makes a great photo is its ability to convey emotion. Emotion in a photograph is what helps a viewer connect with a piece. One way of creating a mood for a picture is by taking candid shots, this way its not posed and the emotion you want to portray is shown authentically. When capturing emotions it’s important that you understand your surroundings and also as the photographer make sure you know your main focus so your objective doesn’t get lost in the scenery. Simplify the main subject of the image before hitting the shutter release. For example, a wide angle view of a festival in the streets might show the size, which can be impressive in its own right, but the feel of that party is best conveyed on the faces of those dancing or performing in the crowd. Light is also a big part of creating emotion in a photograph. Brighter light conveys a happier, positive mood, whereas intense shadow, dull background, black and white pictures create a sympathetic, sad mood.

8. Bibliography https://www.alamy.com/blog/candid-vs-posed-photography https://notquiteinfocus.com/2014/10/16/a-brief-history-of-photography-part-11-early-portrait-photography/ https://creators.vice.com/en_uk/article/pgqj3z/the-daguerreotype-unsettling-world-of-victorian-photography https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36389581 https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/erich-salomon?all/all/all/all/0 https://www.diyphotography.net/lighting-high-key-and-low-key/ https://iphonephotographyschool.com/emotion/ https://digital-photography-school.com/adding-emotion-and-feeling-to-photographs/