Portraiture

Definitions & Theory

A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.

What makes a good portrait?
A good portrait consists of:
- Positioning
- Background
- The use of props and lighting
- The subject (person) of the image
- Camera position
- The interaction of the person of the image.

F11, 1/125, ISO 200

Describe the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the the portrait as depicted  by Yousuf Karsh: Winston Churchill, in this particular image, is dressed smartly and has a neutral expression on his face. However, the lighting that is used within this image is quite contrasted and harsh, and the lighting is also centred on his face, which could show that he is an important figure in history. This could also show he was a strong politician.

Research

Thomas Ruff

Thomas Ruff is a German photographer who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has been described as “a master of edited and reimagined images”. In his studio between 1981 and 1985, Ruff photographed 60 half-length portraits in the same manner: Passport-like images, with the upper edge of the photographs situated just above the hair, even lighting, the subject between 25 and 35 years old, taken with a 9 × 12 cm negative and, because of the use of a flash, without any motion blur. The early portraits were black-and-white and small, but Ruff soon switched to colour, using solid backgrounds in different colors; from a stack of colored card stock the sitter could choose one color, which then served as the background.

Contact Sheets:

Best Images

Images that need improvement:

There were two images that I selected that needed improvement for a variety of reasons. The first image that I selected I decided needed improvement because I wanted this particular image to be in the style of Thomas Ruff. However, Ruff only captured the head and shoulders of people and in this image, I have a lot of the body in the composition which does not reflect the style of Ruff. This was the first image that I took so I was able to improve on this image but in order to improve, I had to zoom in closer to get the head and shoulders shot that was needed to recreate pictures in Thomas Ruff's style.

The second image I selected that needed improvement because I did not have the camera positioned in the right way, so you are able to see beyond the background of the image. Additionally to this, the photo appears to be blurred and this is most likely to do with the fact that I did not have the camera positioned correctly. If I was to improve this image, I would ensure that I had the camera composition set up in the right way to create a better image in the true style of Ruff.

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

The main idea that I had and the main reason for creating portraiture images was that I felt that with portraiture, you are able to capture emotions and feelings of another person in a good way, and you are also able to create both conventional and abstract images when doing portraiture. In my images, I tried to create images in the style of Thomas Ruff, but also tried to get interaction from the people in my images to create more abstract portraiture images.

The images that I retrieved from my time exploring portraiture I feel came out well and some of my best images are related closely to the work of Thomas Ruff. However, I feel as though there are some images that I could improve upon to enhance my work and to ensure that I have captured 'Portraiture' in the right way.

With reference to the Best selected images... 

The image that I took of Justine in front of the white background was an image that I took whilst interacting with her. To do this, we were having general conversation but I was able to capture her hand and facial expressions well. The white background contrasts with her outfit and creates an element of simplicity within the image, but also shows emotion and interaction. 

The image of Axelle that I took in front of the pink background was one of the images that I tried to recreate in the style of Thomas Ruff. I feel as though I did well in recreating this picture in his style as I was able to capture the deadpan look that Thomas Ruff captures in his photography. Additionally to this, I feel as though I framed it well as there was not too much negative space. However, if I was to further improve on this image I would try to get closer to get less of the body in the shot.

The third image is a picture of Justine that I also captured whilst trying to get an image that included interaction. In this particular image, I was trying to make her laugh and I feel as though this is communicated well within the image. You are able to see that her facial and hand expression are portraying laughter, which is something that I was trying to create.

The two images that I chose as my images that needed improvement were images that I felt that I could take again and work on the composition of the image. I would change the angle of the the camera slightly to improve on the image but also to get the right angle that fits with my research so that I am able to get as close to the artist's image as possible.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

For all of the above images, I used a CANON EOS 1300D. I feel as though I could still learn a lot about the different settings and that this would improve on my image compositions in a hugely positive way. For most of these images, the flash was on using soft boxes and radio flashes due to the fact I was shooting in the studio and also due to the fact that I was shooting for portraiture.

In order to improve on the images that I took, I decided to import them into Photoshop in order to enhance them and improve on their composition and the way that they have been shot. In order to do this, I decided to change the levels and use both the healing tool and the burn and dodge tool to accentuate my images and improve on them.

The screen grabs that I have selected show how I used Photoshop to create portraiture images. To do use this, I used the Curves tool and the levels tool, gradually adjusting the colour sliders to get the clear contrast effect. With most of the images, I edited in colour, adjusting the contrast and brightness of the image to create the best portrait images. For the images, I edited the same picture in a different way with a different coloured background to reflect the style of Thomas Ruff.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. 

The artist research that I did was extremely helpful in the fact that I was able to gain an understanding of the different artists and their different styles. Knowing about when they were born and where they were born helps me to interpret their work and understand what they were thinking when they took a certain image. Researching images that they have created helps me to try and recreate these images and then shooting my own images in their style. For example, my research on Thomas Ruff and researching the images of this photographer helped me to choose to take photos in black and white and also to increase the contrast within an image. Additionally to this, I was able to get a better understanding of portraiture and how you can use portraiture to capture different emotions and feelings. I feel as though I did relate enough to the photographer as my images are heavily influenced by Thomas Ruff, but that in order to improve I could use a variety of background colours instead of pink.

AO4:Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. 

Overall, I think that I have produced a good series of images inspired by my research and image bank for portraiture...  The final images produced were changed by developing the contrast and using the healing tool and the dodge and burn too to create an interesting effect onto my portraiture images. I think if I was to improve on this, I would try and take photographs with different colour backgrounds, as I only chose to work with pink but looking back, it would have been more beneficial for me to work with different coloured backgrounds to truly reflect the style of Thomas Ruff.