Over the course of this last year, I have developed a deeper understanding and a true passion for portraiture. This is now something that I want to go into professionally. In this selection, I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone to try self-portraiture.
Using a range of different lighting, from natural sunlight to the studio lights, I have been able to work and experiment with multiple styles of lighting and how they overall affect the final image. Some of my images offer a ‘story telling’ element, for example, the photograph of the adult looking at the barbie doll was from my final project and was part of a theme of work titled “Childhood Influences”.
My work over this last year has slowly begun to develop, along with a new sense of confidence and I wanted to be able to choose images which reflected these statements.
The 1950s and 1960s are my favourite decades for simplicity of lifestyle, the hope people had after the war and also for the great art and music. In addition, by following the vintage photography from this period, I could feel the nostalgia. I wish I could live in the 1950s decade. For my project, I had the aim of creating dramatic and cinematic photographs in a Fim-Noir theme. I was trying to express the moody and more significantly dramatic feelings and moments which I created by hard lighting in black and white and low-key. My portraitures are more classical and every image can tell a story about its character. Shadows and highlights play an important role in this genre.
I paid attention to the clothing style, background, and face direction/expressions for my close-up portraits.
My final five images have captured a sense of light and time, and though the images are not of a correlated theme, they link because photography is still essentially about capturing light and time. Through my series of portrait and still life images, I have aimed to create an aspect of drama, capturing a decisive moment, whether it be through a model’s look or expression, or in the momentary splash of water.
This project’s theme is ‘Mindful’. While none of the subjects in these six studio portraits is actually speaking, each will hopefully say something to you. Perhaps you can see defiance, melancholy, reflection, heartbreak, contemplation, uncertainty – or something else? In any case, these images invite you to explore your own thoughts and feelings in the present moment.
For my project I have focused mainly on portraiture. I have experimented with lighting techniques and have considered the effect of props, backgrounds and poses. I have been influenced by photographers such as William Eugene Smith, Marino Testino, David Bailey and Lisa Carpenter.
In my work I have drawn inspiration from a variety of sources, such as the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Film Noir Genre and other artists such as Damien Lovegrove and Annie Leibovitz. The following set of six portraits are taken from my portfolio of work, where my focus has been portraiture. Following on from the Film Noir theme, I have consistently used low key lighting in my work to give a feeling of intensity and drama to the Images. For me, having a sense of mystery in my portraits is important as I feel it enables the viewer to interpret the story being told by using their imagination. The following six images were designed to celebrate the female form both for its beauty, strength and vulnerability. I want my portraits of women to be both beautiful, intimate and empowering.
I got the opportunity to assist on a shoot with another Photographer (Josh Deakin) and Make Up Artist (Olivia H) who had come up with a concept for a woodland nymph character model (Alice Keay). Olivia prior to the shoot had worked upon designing a floral crown which integrated plants and braids of hair. As well as assisting with lighting I also brought my Medium Format Pentax 67 Camera and shot the following on a roll of Ilford Delta 400 (black & white) and Porta 400 (colour). We shot on location at Leasowes Park and found a grove full of bluebells which really made for the perfect setting.
