Portraiture Research homework...

 

   Many different photographs use portraiture in their work. For example, Alec Soth uses this type of design when taking photos. His photos include the key factors of portraiture, the facial expression, but he just includes the whole body of the person and the surroundings. For example these 4 images, are a section of his work. I quite like these images because they are dead pan as the face is rather neutral and facing head on. However a reason why I like Soth's work is because it's as if the people in these images are not actually in that place as they look so separated from the outer world, as if they have been place in an image with different background. My personal favorite image out of these 4 is the top middle one- the one with the girl on ice skates. I like this one because it is very good at making and controlling the audiences focus point, she is dead in the middle in terms of the rule of thirds, with her head tilted slightly creating an almost wonder and curiosity to the audience on what she is looking at (other than the camera man). I also like the way that it isn't just the person because it gives a sense of story to the photo. For example just from the bottom left hand corner we could pick out parts and create a story, much like all four of these photos. The top right hand corner photo could be a man about to enter a flying competition. This makes this type of portraiture very interesting as it brings in landscape instead of just a dead pan.

Although another photographer who uses the art of portraiture in an interesting yet different way compared to Soth, is David Lachapelle.

Images of Lachapelle are shown on the left and right here. Even though these two photographers take on the same "element" as such (portraiture) the way they do so is 
      rather different. I like this because it shows how a portrait doesn't have to be a boring old passport looking image, it can be entertaining to look at. A way that Lachapelle differs from Soth is that he doesn't include the entire body and the surroundings. The right image here differs massively from those of Soth's because Madonna (A well know celebrity) is portrayed here in a light through "painting with light" with a plain purple background, so nothing takes away focus from the main point of this image, Madonna, whereas in Soth's work he is telling a story- including the scene. A reason I like Lachapelle's work is due to the image on the left, I find this one rather intriguing, it's as if she is breaking into a dolls house- this actually brings in a story itself, much like Soth's work, although here, there is only a face shown- the main point, showing the expression (a rather confusing one anyway).