The Portraiture Illustrated Essay- a few tips

This will give you an historical and contextual insight into portrait photography. Look at the use of studio portraiture since the beginnings of photography Write about portrait photos taken in studios (not on location) and select one practising studio portrait photographer from each of the following three dates: 1840 1913, 1914 1960 and 1961 2012. This will give you a chance to look at different styles of photography through the years and see how technology and fashions have changed At least one, but no more than two, of the photographers you choose to write about should be a woman. Many portrait photographers are women so make sure that at least one of your selected photographers is female Illustrate your essay with relevant photographs. Choose examples of their studio portrait work and comment on them. If possible also show examples of the equipment you believe they used. Remember that this is not a series of biographies; We do not need to know all about their wives and children or about their work outside of the portrait studio; concentrate on their studio work

you are to compare the styles and technical practices of your chosen photographers, commenting on the developments and limitations of the given period. Explain how the growth of technology has affected the quality and production of portrait photography. Tell us about how easy or difficult it was for them to take the photos with what was available to them at the time and give your own opinions on the technical quality of the images

The essay should ideally contain between 1000 and 1500 words in order to cover all of the required points. With a brief introduction, paragraphs on three different photographers and a conclusion you will not have to write too much on any one section. It should be written in your own words Avoid cutting and pasting parts of articles from the internet and all references should be attributed. Make a note of all your sources, books, magazines, web sites used A full bibliography must accompany your essay. This is a list of all of the places from where you obtained your information and should be placed at the end of the document like this: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123369/the-angel-at-the-sepulchre-photographcameron-julia-margaret/ accessed 11/01/13 Books used should be in alphabetical order by authors name: Gernsheim H & A (1971). A Concise History of Photography.2nd edition. London Thames and Hudson Stepan P (2008). 50 Photographers You Should Know. 1st Edition. Munich: Prestel Any plagiarism detected will be dealt with severely, Plagiarism is the taking and using of others work and using it as your own. If you wish to use direct quotes from a source then they must be included in inverted commas i.e. and include them as a footnote as well as in the bibliography. in accordance with college disciplinary procedures. The college has strict rules on plagiarism in its disciplinary procedures and the worst case scenario is that you will be excluded from the course and you will not get your qualification. If you have any questions please either speak to your personal tutor or to Roger Spencer.