8. Assignment Two - Street Portaits

Assignment Two - Street Portraits.

'You are required to photograph 20 people you have not met before. The assignment must be carried out 'on the street'.'

Your work must conform to the specified limitations given below:

1. These people must be strangers, you must never have met them before. 
2. Mix it up - there must be a range of various ages and gender groups.
3. Use a 'Standard' lens. 55mm lens is average for portraiture.
4. Well exposed and point of focus must be on the eyes.
5. No smiles :| The person being photographed must not be smiling, unfortunately. A straight face is ideal.
6. Contact Prints as finals.
7. All images must follow the same style and format, all cropped and corresponding.

In Class Research.

Vivian Maier Photograph

Vivian Maier - Ruthlessly honest photography. Negatives found in a flee market. Historical context and elements.

Charles Freger – Workers, soldiers, ‘Rikishi Series’ people in different kind of socai lgroupings. Similar style to Sander, but uses flash. ‘Camouflage Series’

Jeff Sheng – “Fearless” Photographing homosexuals, in things such as the military. Express issues of diversity and identity. Grounds for dismissal for the service members. Say a lot in a single frame in a still image. Film? Difficult to show such a feeling.

“You’ve gotta do it cause you love it”. You're trying to bring to life a voice that nobody else has even heard before.  Artists need to believe in their work. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’. Openly gay athletes then, not openly gay, especially in the military.

Rineke Dijkstra – The point when children change into an adult. Growing Up.  A little bit of flash, helps make that person stand-out, not the background. Often compared to August Sander & Diane Arbus.

Vanessa Winship – Documentary, very modern but black and white.

Alec Soth ­– ‘Little Brown Mushroom’, Magnum photographer. Made many books.

Walks around looking fro someone to photograph, ‘Why do you photograph one person over another’, pluck one out over the rest, “You’re in a crowded bar, and one woman is attractive to you” similar aspects. All about shapes. The way they form. Sometimes what catches your eye is the obvious thing, ‘the dog, he’s bald head, the sign.’ What makes one of your photos distinctly yours, ‘no signature style, or label on my photograph.’ Choosing his subjects.

Laura Pannack – Work’s been in the Telelgraph a lot. Done a number of exhibitions, done some recent portraits of nudists. You can see the similarity between his work and August Sander.

“Go out and explore … Being invited into a strangers home .. this style of photography is so different it’s not a decisive moment .. it’s a very purposeful encounter.”

“The photograph is a document of the event of the meeting/encounter”

“You can go outside and go up to a stranger and spend time with them”

Alec Soth’s eight/nine year old daughter photographing in Brighton photography. Carmen.

Consistency is key! Can do colour if it does not specify on brief.

-Will look at specific photographers in separate posts.