More Experiments?!?!?!

To increase the possibility of more great portraits 3 rolls of film was used in an experiment shoot with a single photographer, looking at focusing closer within the frame while also trying 2 double exposures (even if the first was by accident – note: always check the multiple exposure is in the correct position before beginning). Using one flash and a black background has caused the background to become washed out in the first contact sheet although one successful print has been made by cropping into one of the images.

Contact Sheet
Own Photographs

Contact Sheet
Own Photographs

 

Contact Sheet
Own Photographs

Although not all of them are perfect, some more successful in composition than others, the ideas used within the shoot have developed to confirm the use of the lighting while also showing that even when a photograph looks great with an interesting composition of cropping, the concept is not very strong in conveying who the photographer is but the opposite, showing the idea of hiding behind the camera rather than being shown in display for the camera. A range of compositions of close up portraits with the camera in different positions as to change the focus of the image. In some of the portraits, the camera becomes the main compositional element  destroying any possibility of creating a connection to the photographer in the portrait. Figuring the single flash light with the composition became a challenge when paying more attention to what is being seen the lens than in reality as the lens image is flipped and therefore you think the lighting is on the right side of you and the sitter however you look up and realise you’ve created a shadow on the face from the camera being on the side of the light. casting a shadow on the other eye which is undisturbed by the camera.

One with a Camera
Own Photograph

Hidden Photographer
Own Photograph

Hidden Photographer would have been much more successful as a print if the left eye had been in complete focus as there is a softness to the eye. If the eye was in complete and only the focus, then this photograph would convey a sense of looking into the eye of the photographer. The eye is a vital instrument in photography and a photographer would be severely disadvantaged if they did not have this tool.

Cecil Beaton

In a series of works, Cecil Beaton has photographed many artists from fine art to photography and carries the honour of having held the first retrospective exhibition of a major photographer at the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1968 (NPG, 2015)
One of his photographs of photographer features Patrick Lichfield holding a Hasselblad, ready for use but looking directly into the camera held by Cecil Beaton (Beaton, C, 2014, pg 274, 275). This photographic portrait is amusing capturing a photographer mid photograph with bemusement and annoyance to being photographed at the moment in time.

Patrick Lichfield
Cecil Beaton
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw65683/Patrick-Lichfield?LinkID=mp60444&search=sas&sText=patrick+lichfield&role=sit&rNo=2

Although photographing many artists, Beaton has not included props that are relevant to the artist, this choice is selective towards how Beaton wishes to portray the sitter. His portrait of David Bailey, the iconic editorial and fashion photographer,  does not use any props to symbolise who he is but to shows who Bailey is as a person, rather than a guy with a camera. (Beaton, C, 2014, pg 260, 261) This photograph is fully focused and cropped to remove any outward distractions but the pose at which Bailey is in is one selected by the sitter as reference to himself and how he wishes to be portrayed within such portrait which is open and easy to look at while the eyes create a focus point to show his personality through his eyes that express a slight humour and content with being photographed that contradicts the loose fist held against his head suggesting the impatience of his personality. The focus on these aspects by Beaton is one to be admired as he is able to convey the feelings, granted the connotation of feelings within the portrait in a crop of the frame to focus upon the features that are most relevant to revealing the identity that remains natural amongst the knowledge of the photograph.

David Bailey
Cecil Beaton
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw67099/David-Bailey?search=sp&OConly=true&sText=david+bailey&rNo=14

His work has the ability to perfectly manage soft tones and the magic of light and shadow to produce technically perfect and beautiful portraits (Beaton, C, 2005 pg 5). The subtle, soft lighting softens the mood and encourages the traces of identity to be more prominent.

 

Beaton, C, 2005, Cecil Beaton: Fotografie, Kempen, te Neus

Beaton, C, Vickers, H, 2014, Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles, London, Frances Lincoln

Garner, P, Mellor, D, 2012, The Essential Cecil Beaton, Munich, Schirmer/Mosel

Aletti, V, 2012, Cecil Beaton:The New York Years, Aperture, vol 207 Summer 2012, pg 11, 12

NPG, 2015, Cecil Beaton, [online] [Accessed 19/02/2015] Available from http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp05064/cecil-beaton?search=sas&sText=cecil+beaton

Prints to Date

From the previous contact sheets, I produced several 10 x 12 prints to which these are the results. Take a Picture I had unfortunately been printed using a 50mm lens rather than an 80mm lens in the enlarger causing the focus imbalance in the top left.

Take a Picture IV
Own Photograph

 

 

Take a Picture V
Own Photograph

Take a Picture II
Own Photograph

Take a Picture III
Own Photograph

Take a Picture I
Own Photograph

The composition of Take a Picture II and III have been modified from the original, cropping in further into the image to perfectly frame the photographer while also creating the negative space in Take a Picture II as the shadow fades out into the background. Although technically perfect, the overall feel of the images do not portray the sense of who the photographer is behind the camera.