Self Portrait/Acquaintance/Stranger
This week we got a chance to use the Photography Studio and really grasp the importance of lighting regards of portraiture.
I experimented with placing the lighting in different positions to give the image of my subject a different style every time.
We then moved onto gel lighting to which had a much more dramatic neo noir type feel to it. I decided to switch between colours and different strengths of lighting to see what kind of images they would produce. We had some issues with the hotshoe however I still managed to capture some fun images that I also felt looked very professional.
These images led me in to do much more research into existing photographers that specialise in the use of gels and coloured lighting in their work.
I was absolutely stunned by the the work of photographer Shannon Swift who uses a very galactic colour palette of purples, pinks and blues to capture the beauty of her models, working with alternative and larger women who may otherwise not be as represented in the photography and modelling industry.
In contrast I also looked more at one of my favourite portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. I find myself extremely inspired by her being the first woman to have held an exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery as well as having such a beautiful and varied style.
I began looking at her beautiful black and white celebrity portraits taken in her studio. I absolutely love the depth and soft lighting in these images against very simplistic backgrounds so as to not distract from the subject a provided images that are very easy to look at and admire.
In contrast I also found myself drawn to her Disney collaboration to which she uses bright colours on location and enhances to natural lighting for a real fantasy feel to the image which I may experiment with myself.
In this series she worked with a variety of different celebrities, dressing them as famous Disney Princesses and Prices and shooting them as the beloved characters in real life
I found myself also very intrigued with street photography such as the People of New York we were shown in the lecture. I looked very much into the styles an techniques street photographers over the years had used in order to just be able to set their camera up whenever a potential portrait candidate presented themselves with ease and create a great shot despite not having the luxuries of studio lighting.
I found Jon Sanwell’s work very appealing as a modern photographer looking to those with a story whilst travelling the world and capturing just a slice of that person’s life. These images were taken to make the subject stand out with a large aperture in order to blur the background.
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