What I believe a portrait means, and how I will approach it
- Following the lecture and with reference to the quotes, texts and videos, you need to write 300 words about what the term ‘portrait’ means to you. You will need to consider how you are approaching the portrait part of the brief and what your portraits will represent. Include how meaning is created in a portrait and how this may affect the understanding of your work. Think about your gaze, from what position are you viewing your subject? You must use Harvard referencing for any references, including visual references.
I consider a portrait to be an element shown within the image of a human or animal that depicts who they are. It is a visual representation of either those being photographed or the photographer. Meaning is created in a portrait through the use of a gaze and body language. Having learnt from the youtube clip in the lecture, A portrait with a twist, that such angles, gaze, lighting and body language can lead to ones perspective of an image. This is important to consider with portraiture, and I need to consider this solidly as I’m trying to portray a positive reaction to the autumn season. It doesn’t just mean photographing a smile upon my models face but bringing in calm colours, good lighting to encourage that positive feel, how the model proposes themselves, etc.
My portraits will represent the favourable moments of Autumn season. The change of colour, cosy nights in, Halloween and more. I want this positive vibe read from them whether I decide to use animals or humans to portray this, both can present this idea as long as I look at the meaning and focus on gaze and body language.
I’ve been looking at fashion portraiture to start with. For its content of colours especially as they are so bold and bright which I believe Autumn does bring out these warm colours of yellow, red and orange even though the season itself is actually quite cold.
I’m considering to photograph both animals (dogs/horses) and people and see which fits best with my contextualised theme. With this in mind I need to think about the gaze and positioning of my subject. If I am photographing an animal I would want direct eye contact and hopefully to catch them with their tongue out representing a playful look. Whereas when I’m photographing a male or female person, I’d actually quite like the opposite, perhaps a more desirous stare into the lens with the model not so central of the frame.
Comments
Post a Comment