Portrait Photographers

This 1st portrait photograph i have choosen to studie is Ian Phillips Mclaren.

Ian was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland has been in the profession for over 20 years now. He began photographing at the age of 18 which he studied at University. In his 2nd year as a photographer the BBC made a TV programme about him called 'A Style of One's Own'. After this, in 1990 he then became a artist in residence for photography at the Glasgow school of art. During his time there he held a show representing Glasgow as part of it's 'City of Culture' programme. Every thing set off after this, he produced his first album cover, followed by a series of portraits for Vidal Sasson that were published in American Vogue. 

 

 ( This image is taken by Ian for a cover of Vogue)

Ian then moved to London in 1991 and continued his success shooting portraits of artist, celebrities and real people.

( This is a picture Ian has taken of actor Orlando Bloom on March 18th 2010)

Ian is mainly known for his natural, no-gimmicks style with his authentic, honest and strikingly expressive ideas. He uses all styles from black to white, colour, effects, so one. He’s pictures are mainly studio shot with a white background. His main focus is the person he is capturing. In every picture there is a story that goes along with it. He shows this by the way he positions the people, the props and outfits they wear and mainly there facial expressions.

 

In the picture above the girl is making the audience focus on her arm, almost like there is a story to go with it. Her facial expression is showing that she isn’t comfortable and content in the situation which she is in. He has chosen to have a simple front on view of this woman and have chosen to shot it in back and white which will also connect and add to the story. No effects have been used and simple lighting high-lighting her arms show that there are the main focuses.

This is another image Ian has taken in a studio. This is much different to the one above. The only thing that connects the two is that they both have stories following them. He has taken a close up of this mans face showing his expression, it looks like it could be used as a piece of art. The blue in his eyes have been enhanced this gives the photo dimension, character and personality to the man who we see in front of us. His expression is much posed. In a way that the photographer has communicated directly with the subject by words or body language to hope the modify of substance or expression. Posing simply means whatsoever the photographer asks the subject has to do in social movement of the camera. The colour he has used is dull, dark grey shades. The main colour you focus on is in his eyes. Even though he looks like a hurt young man the brightness of his eyes are showing us that he still has a soul underneath.

The 2nd Portrait photographer I have choose to study is Eva Arnold.

 Eva Arnold Arnold was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her insterest in becoming a photogropher began in 1946 when she worked for a photo-finishing plant in New York. She briefly leanred photographic skills in 1948 from Harpers Bazzar art director Alexei Brodovitch at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. Eva is best known for her images of actress Marily Monroe.

Eva takes very artisics photos. Yes there are portrait but they are taken in a way that makes the viewers think and study the picture for a long time. Her pictures of Marilyn were the most lovelist and intermet pictures ever taken of her. She captures both the person and there story. She took pictures of many famouse people from Paul Newman, Malcom X and the cast of Misfits.

Eva's ability to get close to people, to capture their character in those chance moments really defined her as a photographer. She was the first female member to join Magnum in New York in 1951, which put her alongside the greats of that era e.g Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson. During Eva's career she photographed Hollywood stars and Joe McCarthy, Francis Bacon and Isabella Rossellini. She went to Inner Mongolia and photographed political prisoners in Soviet Russia. She turned on Andy Warhol's camera for him as he filmed his first feature 'Harlot' although she admitted to being turned off by his attitude and his desperation to become a star.

She was almost entirely self-taught, other than a six-week photography course in New York, during which the instructor said to her: "You do not need class assignments." She learnt by experience, setting herself assignments in Harlem where she photographed fashion shows at a time when white people didn't often go there. And particularly not tiny young women like Arnold, who was only 4ft 10in tall.

Eva is now in her nineties and still lives in London, which has been her home for the past 40 years. She has had an extraordinary life, a woman born into poverty in Philadelphia in 1913, one of nine children, the offspring of Russian immigrants. Like in the movies, photography was a way out, an escape from the grind, and she hit it at a good time, just as reportage photography was entering its heyday.

Portrait Photography

This image is from http://www.free-vectorart.com/portrait-photographer-pictures-2/.

This first thing you notice about this photo is the use of colour. Even though there isn’t any the black and white effect almost makes the picture what it is. It gives the photo a story, a sense of loss and the way she is positioned, crossing her arms over her chest like she is protecting her self in way, shows us that she is fragile. If there was a burst of bright colours I think the photo wouldn’t have the same effect as it does. Her eyes are the main focus. If you look closely it looks like the whiteness of her eyes have been enhanced. Also looking into her eyes, it is showing us that the woman has a soul underneath them and that there is life in her even though it is a still capture.

The background has been blurred, again to focus the picture mainly on her. If you look at the background, no one is there. It looks like she is all alone on a deserted island. You can mainly see rocks; this will connect with the story and also with the theme of the photo. As the photo is using black and white colours, colours which look dull and weary, the colours of the rocks will match with this as they are also dark colours. Even though it is called a portrait photograph it not only has her head it also has half of her body in. This makes the photo more interesting as there is more things to see and more hints to the women’s story, why she is there, what for, ect.

The whole photo is very natural. There isn’t much use of lighting or computer effects. The girl’s hair and make up are all very natural aswell. She hasn’t got no make up on what we can see and her has loose curls and they have added wind blowing through it to give her a sexy side aswell as a fragile one. A lot of the women’s skin is showing almost like she is a new born, adding to the story that she is lost and confused like a mother holding her new born baby.

The 2nd image i have choosen to study is..

This portrait is from http://www.davidjameswilliams.com/portrait-photography/cheltenham-photographer/.

This image is a typical portrait photograph. If you ask someone what a portrait is they would show you this picture. The plain white background makes us concentrate on the girl, giving her the centre of attention. This style of portrait is normally used mainly for casting. E.g. for people how want to be a professional model would normally start of by taking simply portfolio shots like these. Actors will use them for there c.v's to give the agent a glimpse of what they look like. Other uses are for family/ friend group photos, for personal use or just for fun.

This photo looks fun, enjoyable and makes us feel like we want to be there with her. The way the camera is zoomed in her face and the angle in which it is shot at makes it seem like it is her taking it her self, like she wants to share the moment she is having to the world. The expression of her face and eyes, her big smile, the shine in her eyes and the rosy in her cheeks, gives the photo a feeling of happiness like they have captured a good time in this girls life.

The use of lighting and the use of a white background make’s the location look like she is in heaven. The lighting is very bright mainly focused on her face. Nothing in this photo is realistic. It all looks studio shoot and very planed, from the clothing she is wearing to the smile she is putting on. They haven’t used much make up or probs. They have kept it as simple as possible so all we se is her and her smile. If you pan out into a wide shot, the photo called be for a advertisement. A cosmetic product for example. Even though it is shot in a studio with a simple head shot the angle they have taken the photo with gives it dimension and a character, less boring to the viewers and different to other portrait shot's.