Portfolio

Portraiture Work Diary

Portraiture Work Diary

Evaluation

I took some images of several different people to represent portraiture. We were given different photographers to base our photography around and I took images in a studio as well as picking different locations to take them in.

I took this image to represent the photographer Thomas Ruff because he takes serious images of different people to express them. I think this is one of my better pictures because it imitates a photographer well but has my own interpretation of the style of photography. Thomas Ruff's images are dull and slightly boring, however my image contains colour which makes us take a second look at the image as the colour is attractive to the eye. The colour of the background was linked with the girl because stereotypical girls like pink. A pink background makes her stand out because she is wearing white.

I took this image because I was experimenting with the settings on the camera. Trying out different locations helped test out the camera settings because we had to get the right settings to allow the right amount of light in. Personally, this is one of my better pictures because I like how the light in the picture is coming through the trees almost making her look like an angel. Although this is supposed to be a portraiture image I think the depth of field in this image adds effect to the image because we can see deep into the forest but we are still instantly drawn to her because the light is hitting her. I also like how the foreground is lighter than the background in this image.

Whilst experimenting with the different camera setting and locations to get a good picture there were some image that didn't turn out well. I think this image is included in the ones that didn't turn out well because the composition of the picture could've been put together better. The lighting is coming in at an awkward angle which exposes the bottom half of her at an angle which I don't particularly like. The natural lighting is also too bright so it didn't turn out as I expected.

Progression

To progress these images I put them into Photoshop and edited them to look better. 

   

To edit this image I increased the saturation of the image which made the colours of the leaves stand out more. I also increased the brightness of the image and darkened the shadows that are present in the image. Generally, this has made the foreground of the image stand out more because they appear slightly darker than the original image. The light coming through the trees also stands out more because we can see it clearly reflecting on her hood. The edited picture appears better than the original image because the depth of field appears more clearly and so does the girl.

   

To edit this image I made the background black and white to make her stand out more as she is the main focus of the image. I also increased the saturation of the girl which made her hair and skirt stand out more too. I think the edited image is better than the original image because the girl stands out more and when taking portraiture images you want the person to stand out more rather than the location they are in. The background being black and white helps draw attention to the girl because it takes away the slight depth of field the background has.

   

To edit this image I made it black and white to make all the colours blend into one. By making it black and white it makes us focus on her more rather than the colours around her. It links to Thomas Ruff's portraiture images more because they are every dull and boring so by taking away all the colours from this relates it more to his work. I think either image looks good because the first one is more attractive to the eye because it has more colour but the first one focuses more on the girl.

   

To edit this image I decreased the contrast of the image to reduce the colours in the image which gives a better effect to the image. I didn't like the yellow lighting in the original image so I wanted to reduce the yellowness in the image which I did by decreasing the contrast. I also darkened the shadows in the image which made his t-shirt black and make the shadow behind him darker which makes him stand out more.

   

To edit this image I made it black and white because I didn't like the colour of the lighting in the picture. I also cropped the image slightly to focus in more on the top part of the body. The edited image could be changed slightly by making her face a different shade of black/white because it is quite dark. If there was shadows in the image I would've darkened them because she would've stood out more. 

Physical Images Work Diary

Physical Images

Evaluation

I experimented using physical images linked to Barbara Kruger. I created 5 physical images using Barbara Kruger's theme. 

In this image we can see a boy holding his hands up wearing boxing gloves, he looks very intimidating. I chose to use the caption "equality, if they can we can" alongside this image because it tells us that if men can be powerful and strong then why can't women. Also, in the sporting industry women are not looked up to as much as men and in this instance it can also show us that if men can play sport then why can't women.

In this image we can see a boy doing his hair in the mirror. I chose to use the caption "who does he think he is" because it shows that he is selfish and not caring about anyone else. This links to the men that are in power because they are arrogant and selfish. I chose these words because they are similar to the Barbara Kruger's photo with the caption "who does she think she is".

In this image we can see a waist being measured. I chose to use the caption "not skinny enough" because we are expected to look a certain way and be a certain size. The picture has a big effect because it is in black and white so it gives a depressing effect which makes us feel sorry for the person getting their waist measured. As we don't know the gender of the person who is getting measured the meaning shows that everyone feels pressured to look a certain way whatever gender we are. 

In this image we can see a girl with extreme make-up. The caption "i want to be beautiful" shows us that girls feel pressured to look a certain way. The fact that the make-up is packed on shows us that maybe she is trying to cover something because she is insecure of herself. It shows us that girls feel pressured to look like the pretty girls that are portrayed in the media. 

In this image we can see a man with his hands behind his head looking depressed and sad. The caption "make the right decisions" gives the impression that he has done something wrong, I wanted to portray the men in the world now who are powerful and make the wrong decisions regarding women. This could also show that the man is depressed and sad about the world going on around him which show men as the same regarding feminism.