Portrait photography

What is portrait photography?Portrait photography is photographs of a person or a group of people that shows the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face however, the background and setting may be included to make the image more effective and meaningful.What portrait photographers main aims are to focus on the person’s face. They aim to give emphasis on the face of the person because this will also be the main focus point and the emphasis of the whole photograph.

This doesn’t mean that the person’s body or even the background will no longer be included. Under portrait photography, these can still be included in the photo by the portrait photographer but the focus or the emphasis should always be on the person’s face, facial expression and also separate facial features.

In portrait photography an image of a person is aware they are having their photo taken in a still position and the photo is then captured. This basically means that the portrait photographer would prepare the subject and the subject would have a specific position and angle to be in. The “rehearsal” and all the details surrounding it should be discussed between the subject and portrait photographer beforehand so the person is aware of how they are going to sit, stand, what face they are going to pull etc.

The three professional photographers I will be researching into are Steve McCurry, Barbara Kruger and Judith Golden. These are all portrait photographers however, they are very different from one another since they all have their own style and focus on different things but they all still focus on mainly the face.

A portrait is a picture of someone who knows they are being photographed, and what they does with that knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what they are wearing or how they look.

Different types of portrait photography When looking at portrait photography, most people do not know of or over look the different aspects and sections of portrait such as candid, couples, environment, sporting, children, formal, and lots more. Candid is an unposed and unplanned photo, the person would not be looking at the camera and would not be prepared for the photo. For a posed photo there would need to be communication between the photographer and the subject about the body position and facial expression. For a formal image there would also need to be communication regarding clothing, location, style and mood. A couple photograph is and interpretation of a relationship between two people, this does not necessarily have to be between a male and female, it can be a mother and child, family etc. an environmental portrait photo shows the subjects in their own territory, this is what Steve McCurry focuses on in his photography work. A sporting portrait shows the person in their kit, the important factor in this section is to let the equipment and location tell a part of the story.

Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry Steve McCurry is a portrait photographer, he takes photos primarily of children in different countries. He dresses them up and uses make up to express the fact they are in a poor country. He has been in the photography profession for over 30 years and still enjoys it as if it was his first year. After several years of freelance work, Steve McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and his camera equipment, he made his way across to India, exploring the country with his camera. After several months of travelling he found himself travelling across the boarder to Pakistan.

I like this photographers style of work because it is very unique, he sticks to one style however changes it slightly, he makes sure the backgrounds are all different, some blacked out, some blurred out, and some completely visible to support the story he is trying to portray. He focuses mainly on the eyes and makes them the main point of focus. When I do my own interpretation of his style of work I hope to include different backgrounds that support the image. I will include the same facial expressions and features.

In some of Steve McCurry’s photos he expresses the activities and particular interests that go on in India. The images he takes of physical activities are not staged, Steve McCurry has come to the scene and just took the image. He usually focuses more on close ups of peoples faces and their eyes, these sort of photos are staged.

His work spans consists of vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike – yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.

Two selected images

This image portrays and supports the fact that he focuses mainly on the eyes of the person. I like this image because it creates mixed emotions, guilty because she’s looking at the camera with a blank face, there is no expression. Sad because she looks so innocent and lost. This picture really makes you think about how much you should appreciate life and how that we take everything for granted since the girl is from a rather poor part of the country. This is one of Steve McCurry's most famous pictures. I asked someone who does not no anything about photography if they has ever seen this photo before and they said yes they had seen it before and they knew what photographer took the image. This girl is also giving off a blank expression however she does not look so innocent as her eyes are much more sharp as she stares into the camera. This photo does not have any particular background to it, it is just blank, this allows your full attention onto the girl and has no distractions.

Traditionally portraits have used clues or props to tell the viewer more about the persons personality and to give the person a context in which to be understood. In this case Steve McCurry has used an old ripped piece of clothing to represent the location and the conditions in which they have to live in which are very poor and unhealthy.

This is one of Steve McCurry’s very powerful images. The image creates a sense of innocence, protection and misery. There is no facial expression on the girls face which expresses her mood and how she is feeling on the inside. We can tell they are from a poor location since her clothes are not washed, the child that is being carried has not got shoes on and her face looks dirty. This image creates an effect on the viewers as there is a clear aspect of emotion and guilt. We get the impression that the hands that are around the girl and boy is their mother or father. This insinuates that the parent is very shielding over his/her children. It creates emotion since the parent cannot support their children in the way they need to because of the poor conditions and not having enough money to support their basic human rights that wealthier countries do not think twice about.

By looking at the photo we can immediately identify that the man cannot afford suitable medical care for his child nor a roof over their head. This reflects the everyday struggle to survive in these abysmal conditions. The background plays a significant part in this image since it represents and reflects how they are having to live.

This picture indicates that strategies and priorities are a lot different in poorer countries. Their priority's include struggling to find where their next meal will come from and how they will get the money to buy the things they need to survive. This involves the young children having to go out to work to support the income. We can see this in the bottom image because he looks like he is at the right age to have to go out and start working in his country. His face appears to be very dirty and muddy, giving the impression that he is a young worker trying to support his family.

Again, Steve McCurry takes his images in such a way that we can easily see they are from a poor country from their clothing, sanitation and facial expression. These people cannot afford to look after their own health because they do not have the money. Steve McCurry focus’s mainly on the facial expression and the eyes however he will sometimes back up the image with a strong background that supports the subject and the message. In some of his images he will blur out the background into a pasty blend of neutral colours.

Analysis

I have chosen this photo to go into further detail about and I will also base my first photo-shoot on this image. The background is blurred out, this is to prevent any distractions that are in the background and also gives the face more of a sharp and precise structure allowing more focus.

Her eyes stand out the most, this is because the sharpest part of the photo is the face, even the neck starts to blur out slightly then completely fades out towards the background. This shows the image was taken with a good quality camera as it has focused on the main parts of the photo. Steve McCurry may have edited the photo to enhance the effects and the features of the photo.

He takes his images completely fading out the background deliberately so all attention is on the face but mainly the eyes. This photo uses the rule of thirds and depth of field. We can support the fact it uses depth of field as her face is the sharpest point and seems closer to the camera than her shoulders and the background which fade out towards the back of the image.

The girl’s face looks slightly dirty and dull, this supports that fact she is living in a deteriorating country since there is no clean water to wash with.

Her top is slightly visible under the scarf, giving the photo more colour. All the colours have been thought out in the photo. For example Steve McCurry may have chose this particular colour of the scarf because of the colour of her eyes. Including red in the photo goes nicely with the colour of the scarf and red is quite a strong colour. Adding in another colour gives you more to look at, making it more interesting as to if there was just two colours which are similar to each other.

I have included the first photos I took to see the development and improvements from the first and the second photo-shoot. My first photo-shoot was based on the photo of the girl looking straight into the camera with a green scarf around her head and blue eyes. I then did another photo-shoot based on the same photograph but with a much better camera. A possibility as to why they do not stand out maybe because the subject was standing far too close to the wall behind him, allowing the camera to keep everything in focus including the background.

I did my first photo-shoot using the CanonIXUS. I was not satisfied with the qualityof the photos nor the angle I took themat. The images that were produced were not focused at a certain point. The imagesfrom the first photo-shoot were too light which reduced the details of the face. My aim was to make the eyes the main point of focus however, this did notoccur since the camera did not focus on a single point. I will do another photo-shoot with a Nikon D3200 to ensurethat the photos main focus point is the facial area. To allow the background in the images to blur out the subject will have to stand at least 3 metres away from the wall so the camera can Identify what needs to be unfocused and what it needs to emphasise.

First photo-shoot

Second photo-shoot

Two selected photos Out of all the photos I took in my second photo-shoot I like this one the best since it looks more like Steve McCurry's style. The eyes stand out the most in this image therefore they become the main point of focus. His eyes appear to come across as very serious as they are looking straight into the camera which has the impact that he is looking at you.

This creates curiosity and tension just like the artists work does. The nose, eyes and mouth are the sharpest part of the photo then it fades out as you can see the ears are not as clear nor are the shoulders this is called depth of field.

The faces in Steve McCurry’s images come across very dirty and miserable, therefore when I edit this photo I will have my final edit to make the face appearance dirty, dull and draining. I chose this image out of all the others since in this image you can recognise that quality of the camera since it has blurred out the background and focused on the main subject. The background does not support the story of Steve McCurry’s work however it does support the way in which his takes his photos. He allows a few metres between the person and the wall so the camera can identify what needs to be in focus and what doesn’t, this is why I chose the 1.8 lens on the Nikon D3200 since this camera is best at the significant factor.

Comparison between photo-shoots

The image on the left was taken in my first photo-shoot and the image on the right was taken during my second photo-shoot. There is a lot of improvement and development between the two images. In the first photo-shoot he is showing facial expressions and a part of the photo frame is visible at the side, causing distraction and taking attention away from the face. The background has not faded out in the photo on the right because of the difference in cameras. The less enhanced camera does not have the abilities to focus on such a single point, therefore the photo on the right does not have depth of field.

The second photo is much more improved and effective. All the colours blend in with one another nicely and the lighting is much more enhanced. The camera I used with the second photo-shoot (Nikon) allows the image to fade out making the face more sharp and in focus. When I edit the image I will make the whites of the eyes brighter, I will also make the rim around the pupil brighter.

This image on the right contains roughly the same details as the photographers work. For example the eyes. When I edit this image I will go around the rim of the eyes and make it lighter, adding more attention to them. The top merges in with the background colour, this one colour is in three different shades creating more of a relaxing and calming mood since there is not lots of different sharp colours in your face.

Edit 1

This is my first edit, I have made changes to the eyes mainly as they are the main focus point. Compared to the original photo they look a lot more shiny and polished. Getting rid of his spots allows his skin to look more clear however this sort of defeats the object of Steve McCurry’s work as the faces in his work look dull and dirty. This is why I am going to make more than one edit of this photo-shoot to experiment with the different ways I could make the photo look more like the photographers style. In some of his images he supports the image by including a dull, poor background which represents how they are having to live. I found it difficult to include this therefore I used his other technique of having a blank background which defocus’s as this makes the face area look more sharp and intact.

The eyes are the most interesting thing to look at because they are in the middle of the photo, following the rule of thirds. The background is plain and light, all the colours blend in nicely with each other including his eyes, even though they are the darkest shade of green.  A larger opening will give you a shallower depth of field, this is why I used a 1.8 lens on the Nikon D3200. This is how the effect of the in focus face and out of focus background is created.

Editing processWhen editing this photo in Photoshop, my main aim to make the photo look more like Steve McCurry’s was to make the eyes more sharp and in focus as this is what the photographer mainly focuses on. I firstly made the eyes more sharp using the sharpen tool, this increased the contrast of edges and made the image look more effective, you can now see the detail of the eyes is much more current and clear. I then used the Dodge tool and set the brush size small enough to go around the whites of the eyes to manipulate the exposure of that selected area. This added to the effect of the light and dark areas working well together. After making these changes I finally used the healing brush tool to correct and enhance particular areas of the image, making the skin look smoother.

In my second edit I will try and make it look more like Steve McCurry’s photography by maybe not using the healing brush tool. Since if I did not get rid of the blemish's I could edit it to enhance and make them look more obvious. This would make the person look more dull and dirty since the people in Steve McCurry’s work come from a poor, unhygienic country where clean water to wash with is unavailable.

Edit 2

Original

This is my second edit using photo-shop, I decided to do more than one edit to compare them as all of the edits are completely different from each other. The eyes are the main feature that stands out the most in this edit, this was due to the fact I went over them with the sharpness tool. The sharpness tool defines the clarity of detail around that particular area. Making this adjustment is effective since it brings more attention and focus to the whole photo. The depth of field in this photo is another concept allowing mainly the eyes to be as sharp and clear as possible since we can see that the ears and shoulders fade out because the camera has completely focused on the details of the face.

The camera can only focus its lens on one single point so that point will be the most sharpest area, in this case the sharpest area is the face because it is in the middle of the camera and it is what is closest to the lens.

Edit 2

Editing processI made more adjustments to this second edit than I did in my first edit, however this time I did not use the healing brush tool, I did not use this because this gets rid of the spots and I am trying to make it look like Steve McCurry’s style, in order to do that I must leave any imperfections as they are as most of the subjects faces in his work look fairly dull and dirty as this represents the environment they are living in.

The first thing I did when editing this image was increased the contrast and decreased the brightness, this added more warmth and colour to his skin tone. I secondly used the dodge tool and repeatedly pressed the button around 5 times on one particular part of the iris of both eyes, this made it seem as though the subject is looking slightly to the right, although this change is not significant, it changes the look of the photo from what it originally looked like.

I think this interpretation looks more like Steve McCurry’s style compared to the first one because his face looks more detailed as the blemish's are more obvious where as in my first edit I used the healing brush tool to get rid of the spots.

Edit 3

This third edit looks a lot more professional, sharp and refined. As you can see, we’ve increased the image’s sharpness as well as its saturation. This adjustment allowed the skin to look more toned and filled with more colour. Another changed I made to the photo was the background, I used the burn tool and went around the subject however leaving a slight distance between the background and the subject to allow a glowing effect. I have made the skin look dirtier in this edit relating to Steve McCurry’s work. I like this edit because you can see more detail in the face, especially the eyes. This is because I went over them with the sharps tool so we can see that feature more clearly. Another change I made was putting a black boarder around the image, this added more professionalism to the photo, closed the photo and added a finish to it. Compared to the original photo, the obvious changes we are able to identify are the skin complexion, the detail in the face and the background.

Editing processWhen carrying out my third edit I firstly, Duplicated the Layer. Then, went to the layer’s blend modes and selected Hard Light. This setting then multiplied any colour darker than 50% grey and screen any colour lighter. Both the base layer and the blend layer are identical, therefore the light colours became lighter and the dark colours became darker, with no quality lost.The High Pass filter gave the photo a refined, sharp look that is hard to obtain using only a camera. This is a non-destructive way of adding more life to the photo.By doing this I made a new duplicate of the original layer and Set the new duplicate’s blend to Hard Light as well.

Too little causes no effect. To much, and the image gets halo’s and uneven blotches of more intense colour. After these steps I increased the contrast to 100 to give more detail. I also used the burn tool and made the background darker.

Final comparisonEdit 3

The reason I did multiple edits was to experiment and see what edit looked more like Steve McCurry’s photography. I made the changes to all edits using Photoshop. I did my first edit and developed the image so there was enhancement from the original. I then came up with different ways I could edit the photo to make it more like the photographers style. Overall, the main focus point in the images is the eyes, therefore my aim in each edit is to attract as much attention to the eyes as possible by changing the brightness, sharpness, and contrast and saturation around that particular area. In the original edit, the eyes are very much just another feature of the face, they do not stand out. Using the sharpness tool allowed much more detail around the eyes. Using the dodge tool allowed me to brighten up the whites of the eyes.

Edit 1 Edit 2

Although there are quite a few similarities between the photographers work and mine, there are also a few differences as this is my interpretation of his work with the same style but not deliberately trying to make the photo look identical. One of those differences is the change in colour. In his style he includes a variety of quite strong dark colours however, I used bland and more natural colours to give a more calming effect. In terms of the style, these photos are similar since the background’s are blurred out and the eyes are the main point of focus. The black and white edit does not relate to McCurry’s work because he does not use black and white in his images however I experimented to see what it would look like compared to the other four photos.

Edit 4 Edit 5

Experiments

These are the five different experiments I made using Photo-shop. Each individual photo is very different from one another and they all create different effects. I think the best edit is the bottom one, I think this because we can see more detail in this photo and the face looks more dirt, this relates to Steve McCurry’s work which is the main aim in this photo-shoot. More detail within the eyes allows a more clearer observation that he is looking straight into the camera, when the subjects in Steve McCurry’s work does this it makes them look innocent and makes us feel guilty as we can see they are less fortunate.

I think if the subject looked slightly more serious this image would of gave off the same sort of emotion as Steve McCurry’s images do.

Final image

These are the first five images I took with a Nikon camera with a 1.8 lens, these images came out well however, the subject was took close to the back wall, this kept the background in focus as well as the subject, taking detail away from the subjects face. The aim was to make the background out of focus and blurry since it prevents any distractions and it also makes the outline of the subject more sharp. When I take the photos again I will use the same camera however I will take the images with the subject standing further away from the wall as this will blur out the background. I also want to blur out the background to make the images look more like Steve McCurry’s work as the background in his images are out of focus and blurry therefore you can only see a bunch of different blended colours merged into one another.

Third photo-shootThis is my first attempt of the third photo-shoot, these photos were taken with a small canon camera, the subject is standing too close to the back wall therefore the background was not able to blur out. With this type of camera the background would not blur out whether she was standing three metres away or if she was standing close to the wall. When I take these photos again I will use a Nikon camera with a 1.8 lens. This camera will automatically blur out the background if the subject is standing far away from the wall.

Improved photo-shoot

Third photo-shoot (improved)

These images are a lot more improved and the background is much more hazy. This makes the depth of field shallow, meaning we are looking at an in focus face and a blurred background. This follows the style of Steve McCurry because he takes photos with the subjects outline very sharp and the background all blurry and out of focus. At the moment, we can only tell they are an interpretation of Steve McCurry’s photography because of the way they image was taken. When I edit one of these photos I will make the subjects face look dirty as Steve McCurry takes his images of children looking straight into the camera lens as it makes them look innocent and makes us feel guilty as they cannot wash properly and they have to go to work at such a young age. His images attract so much attention not only because of the quality of the images but because of the thought that goes into them. His images have a meaningful story behind them which all include the location and the conditions in which they have to live in because it is their only choice.

The settings on the camera had to be changed to make the whole photo more bright. The facial expression in this photo looks very serious, weak and drained. This follows the style of Steve McCurry because nearly all of the facial expressions in his work look like this to support fact that they are living in a poor, dirty environment. This image is much more attention grabbing and interesting compared to the top photo based on the background. If the background is simple, the subject is going to stand out a lot more which automatically makes the image look more powerful. This will be the image that I am going to edit and go into further detail and discussion about. The subject is standing much further away from the wall therefore the camera automatically blurs out anything that is in the background to make the subject stand out more. This photo is different from the top one because the background has more of a neutral blank tone and the background in the top photo in completely in focus.

Two selected images

This image is different from the improve photo-shoot images mainly because of the background. The subject is standing too close to the wall behind her, therefore the camera is keeping the wall in focus, this distracts viewers from the eyes because the white lines from the brick wall stand out too much. After discovering the problem and did the photo-shoot again but changed the strategy of the way I took the photo. This photo does not relate to the photographers in terms of style because the background is not out of focus and there is not enough detail showing around the eyes, they are far too dark.

Edit 1

Original

The original image was a little dark and less sharp therefore I corrected this by changing the brightness to make the image brighter, the contrast was increased to improve the difference between the light and dark areas and I added a small amount of sharpness to increase the detail. The image is much more improved since you can know see the clarity of each strand of hair and the eyes have become much more bright which attracts more attention to them, making them the main focus point. I took these photos at this angle because the photo I am relating it to was taken at this angle. Compared to the original image, the image has improved since you can see much more detail particularly around the face and the hair. We are more able to identify that the background is out of focus to make the subject more sharp and clear.

Edit 1

Edit 2Original

This edit was made with Instagram. Using different programmes to edit images allows you to see the different ways and techniques in which we can edit and how many options you can have to edit on the programme. Instagram does not have as wide a range of editing methods as Photoshop however it gives us a different result and we can also edit the image much more quickly. Instagram gives you options of different effects to put onto your image. After this you can adjust the effect by increasing or decreasing the brightness, contrast and sharpness. Using Instagram to edit the image also gives the image a different shape. Before proceeding to sharing your image it has to be cropped down to a square.

Edit 2

Editing process

Here are the pictures of the steps I took to edit the image on Instagram. I initially uploaded the photo to Instagram to make adjustments to the photo. The first change I made was sharpened up the overall picture. Unfortunately this editing programme does not allow the ability to sharpen or brighten up a certain area of the photo therefore you have to make the change to the whole image. I then increased the contrast, this expands or shrinks the overall range of tonal values in the image. After this I selected an effect that developed the image further. Finally I enhanced the effect by increasing the saturation of the image by 32. Overall I think this edit added more depth to each colour.

Third edit

The third edit I used an alternative editing programme, this was called FotoFlexer. The changes that I made to the photo using this programme does not give off the same effect as the other editing programmes. The lighter sections of the image have been enhanced more due to the fact that I increased the contrast to 92. This adjustment also enhanced the dark areas.

Edit 3

OriginalThis edit could be improved by slightly turning down the contrast, then the changes would not look so dramatic however the scarf would be more visible and the overall photo would look more natural.

Edit 4

This is my fourth and final edit, I edited this using Photoshop. Photoshop gives you more options to edit individual parts of the image for example, I made certain areas of the face appear dirty to relate it back to Steve McCurry’s work. Since the original image was slightly blurring I sharpened the entire photo to make the details clear and precise. The colour of the scarf is more vivid and noticeable where as the scarf in edit three was unnoticeable because it was too dark as I increased the contrast too much.

Editing process I made quite a few adjustments to the image in Photoshop however this looks like one of the most natural images out of all the experiments. I firstly made the basic changes of adjusting the brightness, contrast and sharpness. The brightness and contrasted was changed over the whole image and the sharpness tool was used to go over the face once and the eyes twice, I also went around the outline of her body to make the depth of field more obvious. The blur tool was used on the background for the same reason. I then slightly increased the vibrancy, this makes dull colours in the image more vibrant and colourful, it senses which colours are already vibrant and it affects these less than the dull colours. I then increased the saturation, this lets you adjust the lightness of a specific range of colours in an image or adjust all the colours in an image. I used the burn tool and clicked on certain parts of the face multiple times to make areas of the face appear dirty and unclean.

Experiments

Original Edit 1

Photographers work

Edit 2 Edit 3

All these edits are different from one another in different ways. Besides the fact they where all edited using different editing programmes, the effects of each image predict different meanings. For example Edit 1 her face is very pale and has no specs on her face therefore it looks clean and you would not associate a poor country and this photo together. However in edit 4 her skin appears to be dirty as though is has not been properly washed in a while, this represents Steve McCurry’s work, particularly the image on the right hand side.

Present final image

Barbara Kruger

Who is Barbara Kruger? Barbara Kruger is a portrait photographer, she takes close ups mainly of peoples faces however sometimes she will use hands, arms, or feet within her work to portray the image she is trying to reveal. I chose this particular photographer out of the options because you have to think about the actual message with in the photo. Barbara Kruger’s style is very different but very interesting she will always use text with in her work and some of her images are hard to work out but they create a very communicative meaning.

In some of her work she will block out the eyes of the person to make the photo less revealing yet this will always link into the message. There is a lot of emotion within her work, this could suggest she may have had a hard life growing up and she expresses this through her photography.

All of Barbara Kruger’s work is in black and white and the text is in white with a red background. This helps us recognise her work from anyone else’s and makes her style stand out because it is different.The phrases in her works often include pronouns such as "you", "your", "I", "we", and "they", addressing cultural constructions of power, identity, and sexuality

Examples of Barbara Kruger's work

Two selected images

Compared to some of Barbara Kruger's images, this is a relatively easy photo to work out. We can identify that the photo is a picture of a baby’s hand and an adults hand which could potentially be the mother or the fathers. It is clear that the words are coming from the parents. The word “our” suggests its coming from both parents. This creates a sense of protection and positive feelings. Like all her other photography, this image is in black and white with the text background in red and the text in white. The more important wording is made bigger.

All of Barbara Kruger’s work is conceptual, so the hidden meaning of the concept will leave the viewer guessing as it is often open for interpretation. The fact that she has a padlock in the middle of her eye implies there is something hidden from the rest of the world that nobody knows about, apart from her/him. The photographer has made the text big so it stands out. The words “out of sight” suggest she is keeping it from the world and the padlock supports the fact that it is trapped in her mind. She has made the photo black and white like she does in all of her images.

This photo, like all of her other images, creates an emotional feel. Just by looking at the photo you can see it is not very pleasant nor positive. In some of her images the photo would not make sense without the text, however in this image if the text was separated from the photo it would still make sense. The words “we have received orders not to move” insinuates that the person in the photo is being controlled by someone else and they can only do what the person says they can do. This photo shows they are prevented from making theirown decisions to do anything. The image of the person looks like a puppet because they are sewed up with pins in their backs and puppetsare controlled by the person with authority over the strings. The pins in her back suggest that she is theoretically being pinned down from making her own choices. The person in the photo could represent a voodoo doll because voodoo dolls are small versions of the actual person, this means if the voodoo doll was stabbed, then the person would feel like they have been stabbed. This suggests the person they have received orders from is the controller of the voodoo doll. The pins in her back could also represent the pain s/he is feeling mentally. We can tell this is Barbara Kruger’s work from the way she has structured it, her image is black and white, there is a red boarder around the photo and she has included text with a meaning behind it. The background also mixes in well with the image and the message behind it as the background describes what she is and how she is feeling in comparison to the rest of the world and that the world around her is incredibly dense and rough textured much like the background of this image.

Analysis

First photo-shoot

This is my first attempt of my third photo-shoo t based on Barbara Kruger’s style of photography. The camera has not focused and I have taken the photos too far away from the subject. When I take these photos again I will take the images closer to the subject and I will use a different camera to have better quality images.

Improved photo-shoot

From the first photo-shoot I learnt that taking the images too far away from the subject brought the attention away from the main point of focus which is the hearing aid. It is clear that I am not trying to focus direct on her face other wise I would of taken the photos at a front view. Although the face is not the main point of focus it still plays an important part in the photo. I had to make sure the facial expression was sad and negative rather than happy and positive because otherwise it would not have made sense with the text that is later going to be added on to add meaning and a story behind the photo. These images are of much better quality as they were taken with the Nikon camera with the 1.8 lens. I experimented when taking the photos and took some portrait and some landscape. Some of these came out better than others and in some you cannot see the facial expression.

Two selected imagesI like this photo more than the other ones in the photo-shoot because it was taken at the right distance to be able to see the face and the hearing aid very clearly. All of Barbara Kruger’s work involves adding text onto her images to support the image and creating meaning and emotion. This camera automatically makes the areas that are not important more fussy and much less focused. It also focuses clearly on the middle part of the photo, this is why it helps when you use the rule of thirds where the main point of focus goes in the centre of the image. In this case, the main focus point is the hearing aid. Eventually I am going to edit this image and turn it black and white as the photographer I am basing my photo-shoot on puts all of her photos into black and white. I will also add text on the photo which will allow the image to make sense.

This image was taken with the same camera as the top photo however it was taken the other way round. The reason I am not going to use this photo to edit is because although you can see the hearing aid well, you cannot see the facial expression which is very important because it supports the photo and allows you to see the subjects mood. I will also not be going into further detail about this image as too much of the image is out focus.

Edit 1Original

This is my first edit of the second photo-shoot. I turned down the brightness a little bit as well as the contrast. I then decreased the vibrance and increased the saturation. This made the whole image lose its warmth and the colour of the skin has gone a lot more pale. This supports the image as the meaning and story behind it is quite lugubrious. The image uses depth of field, we can recognise this since the ear and the face is very sharp and in focus however the neck and the hair around the back part of the head fade out and become fussy.

Edit 2This is my second edit , this edit follows the style of Barbara Kruger’s work more than the first edit because I changed the photo to black and white. All of Barbara Kruger’s work is in black and white with white text over it, this text will always support the photos meaning in one way or another. I will later add in text to the image which will say “silence is deafening” meaning the person is clearly wearing a hearing aid because she cannot hear on her own however the emotional aspects of having a hearing aid can be very upsetting and draining. Therefore the words “silence is deafening” insinuates that her problem is deafening and emotionally exhausting.

Editing process

Original

This edit came out much better than I initially anticipated, I firstly used the sharpen tool and went over individual sections of the face to enhance the detail. This mainly took place around the ear as this is the main point of focus. The images message only becomes clear when I include text onto the photo. In order to make the connection between my work and Barbara Kruger’s work I had to turn the whole image black and white. I then used the blur tool and went over the background to express the depth of field. The spot healing brush allowed any spots or blemishes to disappear just by going over them with the tool. The final steps I will take in this edit is adding text to the image to create a meaning.

Edit and compareThis is my first edit of my interpretation of Barbara Kruger’s style. The essential adjustment I initially made was around the ear, I made that area look more sharp because this is the section that the message supports. Barbara Kruger’s work is all about creating an emotional, effective message which relates the text and the image together. In this case the image supports the text because the girl appears to look sad and upset as she is looking down and had no expression. To improve this image, I should of included the mouth so you can see she is not smiling.

The text then supports the image and creates the message that deaf people feel isolated because they cannot communicate effectively, this makes them feel like they do not fit in and much like when loud music is too much to cope with, not fitting in maybe too much to cope with and it can be ‘deafening’.

Edit and compare

Silence

Is deafening

Present final image

Second photo-shoot

This is my first photo-shoot using the small canon camera. Some of the photos are not very clear and are very dark. Some are not in focus and some include other subjects that are a distraction to the main point of focus. I will do this photo-shoot again using an advanced camera.

Improved photo-shoot

How it was improved

The first photo-shoot compared to the second photo-shoot is very different. The images in my initial photo-shoot are a lot darker and you cannot see much detail. I wasn’t able to make the bubble the main point of focus in the first photo-shoot as I took them outside and they went up in the air to quickly. Using the canon camera, it did not blur out the background. The second photo-shoot developed much more clear, precise images that are of better quality. Looking at the images from the second photo-shoot you can see the outline of the bubble and how sharp that area is. Another thing that makes a dramatic, obvious difference is how close the bubble is to the camera. The closer the bubble is to the lens the more in focus it is going to be when using the Nikon camera

This will automatically blur out the background like it has done on the image at the bottom left. There are no main distractions in the second photo-shoot compared to the first, for example everything in the background in the first photo-shoot is in focus, this takes the attention away from the main point of focus. Another distraction is the fact the bubble in the top right corner is not following the rule of thirds, although the second one is not either it does not matter as much since the background is less noticeable in the second photo-shoot.

Two selected images

This image looks as though I have taken the photo outside however, I took it in front of a window. I managed to take the photo so the bubble was in the middle of the photo, this follows the rule of thirds as the main focus point is in the centre of the photo. It was a lot easier taking the photo inside as there was no wind so I had time to take the photo with out the bubble going too high up. At the moment, this photo does not relate to the photographers work since I have not edited it yet or put words onto the photo.

Compared to the initial one, this photo is much closer to the camera lens and is much more sharp. Since the bubble is close to the photo, the camera has automatically focused on it and has slightly blurred out the background making the bubble more focused. You can clearly see the outline of the bubble and there are different contrasts. The outline of the bubble in the top left corner is much more clear to see as the sky was darker in that area. The outline near the middle of the photo by the cloud is much more unclear as the cloud is there.

Edit 1

When I started editing this image the first thing I did was turn the photo black and white. I did this to follow Barbara Kruger’s style as every single one of images are black and white. You can now see the different levels and how the sky blends into different shades of a light black then towards the left you are able to see the different shades of white. This makes the photo a lot more interesting to look at since you are not just looking at one colour and one shade you are looking at lots of different shades and tones.

Using the healing brush tool got rid of anything that was on the window that is visible as seeing anything on the window or any reflections would give away the fact it was not taken outside. Compared to the original photo, the black and white photo is already improved a lot as the black and white affect is much more calming and adds more focus to the bubble rather than all the different colours in the background. I will then further develop the black and white photo by putting a red boarder around the image and I will also add text to follow the style of Barbara Kruger.

Editing process

These are the three main steps I made when making changes to the image. The main aim was to turn the whole photo black and white first, then after that to adjust the brightness, contrast and the levels of the photo. Adjusting the levels got the image to the right overall colour that looked good. This did not involve editing different parts of the photo, any changes I made, were made along the whole photo. I changed different parts of the photo using the different tools in photo-shoot, I used the healing brush tool to get rid of any marks on the window that are obvious.

We all go our own ways

Some further than others

After changing the photo to black and white I then added the text on to complete the photo in order for there to be a meaning, which another part of the photographers style. I am happy with the outcome of the image however, I am going to edit the photo again because I want to make the trees in the background slightly darker and I also want to make the outline of the bubble more visible. This will also add more shades of black and white to the sky, giving you more to look at. I think making the background more dark will increase the focus of the bubble. When I edit the photo again I will increase the size of the text. To put the photo in the style of the photographers, I had to choose text that would relate to the image and create a further message. For this photo I was creating the message that when bubbles are blown they do not all go in exactly the same direction, they all go separate ways and some bubbles go a further distance than others, similarly to people we all choose different career paths and make different decisions because everybody is different and some people go further than others do e.g. some make more money than others, some are more happier than others etc.

Edit 2

Instagram Edit (2)Step 1 Step two Step 3 Step 4

This is the original photo. In order to edit this photo on Instagram,I had to put the photo from my documents into my drop box account to access the photo from my phone, I then put it onto Instagram. After that I went through the filters and used the effect called “inkwell” this changed the photo to black and white. After changing it to black and white I adjusted the amount of black and white the photo needed. I decreased it, which slightly added in more colour. Next I turned the contrast up to 100 as this allowed the image to have a complete range of different tones which makes the image a lot more sharp and effective. From editing the photo on Instagram the photo was cropped into a square shape, this cut out a section of the trees so now it looks as though it was meant to be like that in the first place. I also made five more changes using Instagram. I have now changed the contrast from high key to low key, this means the image has changed from a range of light grey and white colours to dark grey and black tones.

Instagram editStep 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8

The further steps I took was to increase how effective the image will be to the viewers and how it relates to the style of Barbara Kruger’s work. The warmth effect did not give off much of a result however it did enhance the amount of colour that was in the photo. I then turned down the saturation, this decreased the amount of colour however there is still a slight amount of colour in the image but it is mostly on the verge of black and white: following the style of the photographer. This was turned down to 77 and not right down to 100 since that would of got rid of all the colour and would have been similar to my other edits, my idea was to make different edits to see the different effects and what needs to be improved as well as what works well in the photo. Although there does not look much difference between the saturation and the sharpen photo, there is a slight change as sharpening the overall photo gets rid of any possible fussy areas and it also makes the edges appear more defined by darkening the darker pixels and brightening the brighter pixels. This creates a crisp edge between light and dark parts of the image, giving it more contrast. Finally the lux, this is fairly new to Instagram, in step 7 the photo was underexposed, using the lux tool allows the photo to be exposed to the right amount which instantly improves the overall photograph.

Edit and compare There has been a lot of changes made to this photo as you can see. The most obvious one is the fact that the photo is now black and white. The second one gives off an much older affect. Using Instagram to edit the photo has advantages and disadvantages. You can change the shape of the image to a square which makes the image more unique as most pictures are a rectangular shape. When changing the images to different effects you have no control over the conversion, meaning you cannot change a particular section if you wanted it to be much darker than another part of the photo. Despite this, there are different tools you can use to change the sharpness, contrast, saturation etc. but you are changing the whole image when doing this and not one particular place. The image that I produced after editing sets a different

mood when you look at it. If you look at the original picture, it is a lot more colourful and bright making it more positive however, the bottom one when you look at it makes you think more seriously about the image as there are far more different tones, levels and shades of black and white, allowing there to be more detail even though there is no colour. I like this image because the black and white makes the bubble stand out a lot more. The reason I will not use the Instagram edit as my final piece is because the little specs around the bubble are visible, revealing and giving away that it was taken in front of a window. Since I did not have the option of taking away the blemishes on Instagram they are visible. Another reason I will not use this photo as my final image is because the background it too much out of focus, although this attracts more attention to the main point of focus, the background is too fussy and out of focus.

Edit 3 In order to follow the style of Barbara Kruger I am following her house style, I made a red boarder around the image. When I edit my photo further I will add text on the image that will say “we all go our own ways some further than others” this is my own original idea, so I have not copied Barbara Kruger’s actual image, I have took her style and technique and simply used it to make my own photo. This also made the line around the outside of the bubble a lot more sharp and clear to see. I have no completely blurred out the background I think it looks better if you are able to make out what the things in the background is however they are not as sharp and do not stand out as much as the bubble. This gives you more to look at and allows you to recognise the photo was taken higher up. Taking the photo from upstairs makes the photo appear more curious and thought-provoking if the fact it was taken indoors was unknown. The photo with the red boarder around it is my third edit. This is my second edit, I changed the photo around slightly and made it darker, I think the photo looks better like this. The trees are a lot darker against the light sky that goes darker towards the top left hand side. I made these changes by turning up the gamma correction as well as the contrast.

Original

Editing process

The first thing I did in my second edit in Photoshop was slightly increased the exposer, this is what darkened the whole photo making it more eye catching. I also turned up the Gamma Correction, doing this made only certain sections of the photo darker for example all of the trees and the roofs of the houses. I then turned up the contrast quite a lot, making this change made the outline of the bubble a lot more sharp and precise.

Edit and compare

We all go our own ways

Some further than others

After experimenting and making more than one edit I was able to see what affects look better, I like the second experiment and this will be the final presented image of this artist. The second photo is the bottom one, this photo seems more appealing since there are lots of different levels. The trees are much more dark and clouds that you can see through the bubble are more sharp. There are now no fussy areas. I also made some changes to the house style, I kept the same colours however I changed the shade of the red boarder to a darker red. As for the text I kept it the same size but I made the word “own” black and I also changed it into bold. I did this because I think that word is the most important therefore I made it stand out.

We all go our own ways

Some further than others

Final comparison

We all go our own ways

Some further than others

This is the original photo I took, with out the text and making it black and white the photo would not relate to the photographers work. By making it black and white and adding white text with a background allows you to recognise this is the photography style of Barbara Kruger.

This is my first edit, I experimented and made more than one edit so I could compare the two and decide which one looks the best. Although there is a little difference in the levels, the sky could be made more obvious by making more shades of black and white and by making parts of the sky more dark than other parts.

Before making this edit, I added the same text to my second edit and I added a red boarder around the image however, the text boxes were the other way round so the top one was in the left corner and the bottom one was in the right corner. The word “own” was not in black and the boarder was a different shade of red. Overall this is the best image as different subjects in the photo are more dark than other parts making the photo look more professional and interesting.

Experiments

We all go our own ways

Some further than others

These are the 4 different experiments of my interpretation of Barbara Kruger. The first one was edited on Instagram creates more of a vintage effect, however this is not the aim of the photo-shoot. The main aim of the photo-shoot and this image is to relate and edit the photo to make it look more like Barbara Kruger's style.

Although her images are all black and white there is no particular shade of black and white to follow, she uses different shades of black and white and edits her images to create different effects, textures, highlights and shadows. The sky looks different in each image as different strategies were used. The viewers are more likely to engage in the image if there is more variety and tones of black and white, this is a good thing because it will attract more attention to the image. The text then gives you more to think about and completes the image.

Present final image

We all go our own ways

Some further than others

Why I did two photo-shoots

I decided to do two photo-shoots on Barbara Kruger because when I saw her work and researched it, two completely different ideas came into my head so I decided to do both of them. The first idea I got came from Barbara Kruger’s photo of the lady half in positive and half in negative with the words “your body is a battleground” this gave me an idea to cover half a face with lots of make up and the other half with no make up on at all to create the message that make up products do not define you. I did not get my second idea from any of Barbara Kruger’s work however, from thinking about how she adds text into her photos to create a serious and sometimes emotional message, I thought of the idea to take a photo of a bubble and write “we all go our own ways, some further than others” these two ideas relate to Barbara Kruger’s work and style as I used the same colours and changed the images into black and white. After doing the photo-shoots and writing about how they relate to her style of work, I edited the photo using different methods to get different outcomes. I edited the photo using Photoshop and Instagram. As my final image I used the one I edited in Photoshop since more significant changes were made to the parts that needed adjusting.

Judith Golden

Who is Judith GoldenJudith Golden is a portrait photographer, she mainly focuses and concentrates on the eyes in her work, she then uses photos that have already been taken from a magazine and uses them as part of the face she has taken a photo of.

Judith Golden says “I am an alchemist. With the magic of photography, I transform reality into the mystical realm of myth, dreams and spirit”. Judith Golden only bases her images around woman. For three years, Judith Golden has been a dedicated and skilled artist. Her work has helped describe the past of women exploring self and society through visual media since the 1970s.

Judith Golden has shown her own distress about proper roles for herself as a woman. Her interest in problems of gender, sexuality, career, fantasy, and, ultimately, all go into her style of photography.

Since all of the artist’s images include the human face, Golden is a portrait photographer but she points out one important difference. She says  “I’m not trying to convey the individuality of each person – just the opposite”, Golden says.  “I’m trying to show how we all fit into a universal timeless rhythm.

Examples of her work

Two selected images

Judith golden strongly believes that most woman are not who they appear to be. she believes the masks woman wear daily which is the cosmetics, is to cover up what we really look like and who we really are. Judith Golden has blended the colours so they match the skin of the girl on the magazine. She has also put the magazine in the position so it looks like the girl in the magazine. Like Barbara Kruger’s photography, Judith Golden’s creates messages in her images as well however this is not through text, it is through the facial expressions. In this photo her facial expression suggests she is not confident with her appearance, a part of the eye is visible on the magazine, you can see she is wearing a lot of make up but the actual person is not wearing any however, she has a lot of red lipstick on so her face is not completely natural.

This image is different from the first one because the facial expression is different, the facial expression is the main thing you look at therefore this is the main focus point. This lady is happy and confident with her appearance however she is also wearing a lot of make up, Judith Golden is portraying the message that most woman feel and look happier with make up on, she has shown this by over exaggerating the amount of make up this woman is wearing. Judith Golden uses magazine pages that look as though they match the person.

Analysis

Photo-shoot 1

There is quite a lot of difference between these two photos. The main one you notice when you initially look at the first image in this photo-shoot is how close the subject is to the camera. I took the first photo using a small canon camera, this did not focus very well. I did not take the image very close to the subject and a part of the light is showing to the left of the photo, this is a distraction to the photo. Overall, non of the photos using the camera came out very well and they do not look very professional. I did the photo-shoot again and the pictures came out much better.

Two selected images

I selected these two images to talk about since they are quite similar to Judith Golden’s work. After taking the photos with a canon photo I realised to make it look more like Judith Golden’s work I would need to take the first change the angle of the camera and turn it the other way round so the picture was landscape.

In this photo the one of the things I notice when looking at the photo is the distraction on the left hand side, this takes the attention away from the main point and if it was not there then there would be nothing to distract you away from what is going on in the photo. The lighting in this specific photo is not great, using the Nikon camera will automatically adjust the lighting and focus on the main points. When I use the improved camera I will go closer to the subject so you can see more detail in the face and the magazine picture.

Photo-shoot 2

Although I did the photo-shoot again and improved it, there was still some more ways I could of made it look more like the photographers style of work. Therefore I used the same camera and took the photos in a different angle so they were landscape these photos are shown in slide 63 and I also changed the settings on the camera so the pictures came out brighter, this saved me having to do this in photo-shop.

I took two photos of the people without using any props so you are about to see all their facial features together without anything thing being covered so you can fully see what they look like. My aim is to make the images as close to the photographers style as I can but adding my own ideas into it as well. For example Judith Golden only takes photos of females because she believes they cover themselves up with make up and they are not who they appear to be. I also included a male in my work as I thought it would work well if you used serious female eyes to cover his, and then made the facial expression not serious at all, this would still support the fact that some are not who they appear to be and some cover it up by smiling however you are just using the opposite gender to express this. Some people may think this method gives you a more clear understanding of what message Judith Golden is giving off.

Improved Photo-shoot 2

The second photo-shoot came out a lot better because I looked at the mistakes I make in the first one so I knew not to make them again. The subject is closer to the camera in the second photo and there is nothing in the background causing distractions. The facial expressions in the majority of these images are very serious which goes well with the eyes as they are also very serious. I was going to use tape to stick the eyes picture on the face however Judith Golden does not do this, she includes the hands holding up the picture. The angles are different as well, the second photo-shoot is more in the style of the photographers.

I selected this image to talk about since it is quite similar to Judith Golden’s work, in my photo-shoot I used a variety of different pictures that covered up different parts of the face. Different facial features are covered up so the facial feature that is visible e.g. the mouth or the eyes determine how the person is feeling and what mood the photo creates from glancing at it. Obviously the part that is covered up is the mouth so the only part of her we can see emotion from is the eyes. The eyes and the facial expression contradict each other since the eyes look really serious and surprised and the facial expression is slightly smiling. This is why the two go well together and still supports the style and message that Judith Golden creates within her photography.In this photo the subjects mouth is covered up with someone else's however, her eyes tell us that behind the picture is maybe a mouth that is not smiling. Judith Golden tries to reveal the message that people are not who they appear to be, meaning that some people put make up on to cover up what they really look like.

Judith Golden may use magazine covers to portray this since people look at the front of magazines and see a model that has been Photo shopped therefore the girl on the cover is not natural and does where make up. This could influence other people and this may be why people where make up so they feel confident within themselves. Some of Judith Golden’s photos show a woman with no make up on and she is not smiling because she is not wearing any make up.

Editing process

I made quite a few changes to the photo whilst editing in Photoshop. The first thing I did when editing this photo was went over the eyes with the dodge tool to make the whites of the eyes more white. This drew more attention to the eyes which was my aim as this is one of the main focus points in the image. I then increased the levels so make the background was more brighter and more white. After that I turned down the Vibrance to match the skin tone of the girl on the magazine to the subject. I then turned down the contrast to make the photo more effective. The last thing I did was went around the eyebrows with the healing brush tool so they were more in shape. Making these changes where all necessary so the image looks and relates more to Judith Golden’s photography. Making these adjustments makes the photo look more professional and much more effective.

Edit 2 This is my second edit. I think by making it seem like this girl has make up on supports the image meaning, the person was not wearing make up when I took the photo so to make the image make a bit more sense I made the eyes darker, when you zoom in to the eye area you can see this process has taken place however when you look at the full message you cannot tell. I kept the adjustments from the first edit the same, the only change I made was to the eyes. One of the main points of focus in Judith Golden’s work is the eyes. Her images create meaning that woman “are not who they appear to be” because they hide themselves under makeup, therefore this image would not of made sense if I did not adjust the darkness of the eyes to make it look like the subject was wearing make up at the time. I used the burn tool and made the brush size very small so go around the rim of the eye and the eyelashes. I then used the healing brush tool to go around her eyebrows to make them more in shape.

Comparison

I have used the same style as Judith Golden uses in her photography. Both images were taken so the subject was the only thing visible to prevent distractions. There are many similarities between the two photos however there are also a few differences. The most obvious similarity which is also the main point of the photo is the fact that they are both holding up a piece of paper of a facial expression. I also took the photo at the same distance as Judith Golden took the image on the top right. A slight difference in the photos is that Judith Golden’s hand is more visible in the photo than in the image that I took.

I made adjustments to the initial edit in order to make the photo more interesting and attention grabbing. When I uploaded the images from the camera to the computer they came out much darker than I thought they would however I did not delete them and do the photo-shoot again because I knew that I could adjust these problems in Photoshop. I made the photo much lighter so it is easier to see the detail in her eyes and in the picture she is holding over face. Original Edit 1

Third photo-shoot

This is the third photo-shoot based around Judith Golden photography. The structure is still the same as the other two photo-shoots however the pictures fit the subjects face more and they are much more improved.

Two selected images

I chose these two image’s out of all the images in the photo-shoot because the feminine picture of the eyes makes the male look like a female. The eyebrows are in the right position as you cannot see them on the picture across his face however, he has raised his eyebrows so they are visible. The whole head and shoulders are visible in the image as well as using both hands to hold up the image as this is what Judith Golden subjects do in her photo-shoots.

Similarly to the top photo, the image of the eyes contains the opposite gender to the gender of the subject. This works well because we can see that the picture of the eyes are a lot older than the person in the image therefore this makes the subject appear a lot more older than she actually is. Judith Golden uses the same gender in the picture as the subject however, in this photo I have changed the interpretation slightly by using female eyes as it covers the males true identity and completely changes it.

Edit 1

Judith Golden edits her photos to make the colours more expressed and enhanced. This allows the image to develop into a more professional photo as it automatically becomes more vibrant and lively attracting, more attention to the photo. It is for this reason I have enhanced her skin colour tone and made it look less pale. I used Photoshop to edit this image, the main thing I did that is the most noticeable is using the saturation tool to adjust the skin tone, this added more warmth to the overall photo. A bad thing about this edit is that the skin colour of the persons eyes does not match the skin tone of the subject. If they were similar to each other the image would automatically look more believable; adding a humorous effect. In my edit experimental edit I will attempt to complete the same strategies as Judith Golden does so the work relates to hers. I will also make changes to the background.

Edit 2

Editing process

Adjustments…• Contrast – contributed to the

colours being enhanced.• Sharpen tool – made particular

areas more defined • Increased the strength of the

sharpen tool

Compare

Edit 2

Experiments

Final image