Portrait Photography & Assignments

Digital Photo Module

Assignment

PORTRAIT

ASSIGNMENT:
Take Portraits of yourself and 1 other person Max of 3 final photographs.
RESEARCH
Make sure to research portrait photographers
for examples of work and techniques - for
example Rankin, Robert Mapplethorpe,
AnnieLeibovitz, Herb Ritts, Perou. Make sure
to credit your sources and link back to their
websites or add url to your sketchbooks.
RESOURCES
http://www.day19.com/v6/- superb site
http://www.herbritts.com
http://photo.net/gallery/ do a search on
portraits
THINK OF: Framing, light, get close, view
point, angles, shadows, perspective.

NOTE
look at abstract angles and placement of
subject / location. Look at reflections,
behind glass, using mirrors etc
GET IN CLOSE TO YOUR SUBJECT
TIMESCALE - Hand-in 18th Jan 2016 by 3pm.
CT Admin Office
Tutorials will cover examples, lighting and
research.
Please use the worksheet for this.

ASSIGNMENT:
Take Portraits of yourself and 1 other person Max of 3 final photographs.
RESEARCH
Make sure to research portrait photographers for
examples of work and techniques - for example
Rankin, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Leibovitz, Herb
Ritts, Perou. Make sure to credit your sources and link
back to their websites or add url to your sketchbooks.
RESOURCES
http://www.day19.com/v6/- superb site
http://www.herbritts.com
http://photo.net/gallery/ do a search on portraits
THINK OF: Framing, light, get close, view point,
angles, shadows, perspective.
NOTE
look at abstract angles and placement of
subject / location. Look at reflections,
behind glass, using mirrors etc
GET IN CLOSE TO YOUR SUBJECT
TIMESCALE - 18th Jan by 3pm CT ADMIN OFFICE

Note : These Assignments are designed to help you during this module.
They will help you gain confidence and start to build up a library of images to work with for your final hand-in.

Tutorials will cover examples, lighting and history.

Assignment
Portraiture

WORKSHEET

BRIEF

Take a series of portraits of yourself and 1 other person Maximum of 3 final photographs.

You should have

completed this by now.

Please fill in this worksheet and gain feedback to progress. Make sure that you add as much information on your
assignment as possible.
QUESTION

DETAILS
Name of subject
What type of portrait are you taking?
Close-up, environmental, editorial, candid,
abstract.

What equipment/techniques will you be using

to capture your subject

What post-production will you be applying to

your images if any?

When organizing your shoot, what variables

will you need to take into consideration?

List photographers that have informed and

inspired your work here (please include urls)

Use holiday break to

finish your portrait
assignment.

PORTRAIT
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or
other artistic representation of a person, in which the
face and its expression is predominant.
The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and
even the mood of the person.
Portrait photography produces pictures that capture
the personality of a subject by using effective lighting,
backdrops or locations, and poses.

HOW DO YOU DISCOVER CHARACTER TRAITS in

Portraiture?
The portrait photographer must become proficient at
studying people whom he or she doesnt know in order
to capture their essence.
This means watching for signals in a subjects
mannerism, reactions, expressions, body language
and so on, and then judging how best to have the
subjects character revealed for the camera.

This takes skill and an understanding of human nature. It

almost always requires engaging the subject in
conversation, and quickly finding a suitable topic that
will grab her or his interest and evoke a reaction. Find
common ground or a topic of particular interest to your
subject, which can be a hobby, the latest news, a mutual
acquaintance, or any number of topics. Building a
rapport with the subject is important because it makes
the subject more at ease in your presence, and therefore
more-relaxed and natural-looking for the lens.
You must take all possible steps to put a subject at ease
in order for her or him to appear natural.
Photography - Important to be a people person!

first daguerreotype made in

America, the self-portrait
of the Philadelphia metalworkerturned-photographer Robert
Cornelius.
Louis Jacques Mande DAGUERRE (1787-1851)
The daguerreotype process was the first practicable
method of obtaining permanent images with a camera. The
man who gave his name to the process and perfected the
method of producing direct positive images on a silvercoated copper plate was Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, a
French artist and scenic painter. Daguerre had began
experimenting with ways of fixing the images formed by the
camera obscura around 1824, but in 1829 he entered into
partnership with Joseph Nicephore Niepce (1765-1833), a
French amateur scientist and inventor who, in 1826, had
succeeded in securing a picture of the view from his window
by using a a camera obscura and a pewter plate coated with
bitumen.

An Early Daguerreotype Portrait Studio

(1842)
a. A daguerreotype studio was often situated at
the very top of a building, which had a glass
roof to let in as much light as possible.
b. The subject sat on a posing chair placed on a
raised platform, which could be rotated to face
the light. The sitter's head is held still by a clamp
(x).

http://art.docuwat.ch/videos/genius-of-photography/the-genius-ofphotography-01-fixing-the-shadows/?channel_id=0 8 mins in re early stuff

You cannot watch

via You Tube - BBC have
pulled it.

Exploring the Art of Portrait Photography and the Role of the Portrait
Today
http://petapixel.com/2013/08/08/exploring-the-art-of-portrait-photography-and-therole-of-the-portrait-today/

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

http://www.darnelltemenu.com/

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

http://jsdigitalphoto.tumblr.com/

STUDENT WORK

http://peterbradleyphotos.tumblr.com/

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

Annie Leibovitz RESEARCH

HTTP://ANNIELEIBOVITZ.TUMBLR.COM/
HTTP://WWW.VANITYFAIR.COM/CONTRIBUTORS/ANNIE-LEIBOVITZ

Robert Mapplethorpe RESEARCH

HTTP://WWW.MAPPLETHORPE.ORG/

RESEARCH
HTTP://WWW.RANKIN.CO.UK/PORTFOLIO/PORTRAITS

HTTP://WWW.CHASEJARVIS.COM/

HTTP://WWW.SIMONHOEGSBERG.COM/

INSPIRATION
THINK OF A THEME WITH YOUR PORTRAITS
KEEP IT SIMPLE
GET ALL PARTICIPANTS TO ACT IN THE SAME WAY
OR BRING SOMETHING PERSONAL TO THE SHOOT?
EXPERIMENT WITH SETTINGS IN CAMERA
COMPOSITION
FOCAL LENGTH
PRESENTATION

THE RED COUCH

HTTP://WWW.ARTLURKER.COM/2008/10/HORST-WACKERBARTH-THE-RED-COUCH-AT-WOLFGANG-ROTH-AND-PARTNERS-FINE-ART/

Portraits of Senegals Female Auto Mechanics

Photographer Immerses His Film in Live Bacteria for Years to Create Unique
Portraits

HTTP://WWW.HUMANSOFNEWYORK.COM/

Slow Mo Video of People Getting Tased with 300K Volts While Having Their Portrait Taken

HTTP://WWW.THEINSPIRATION.COM/2014/09/ICONIC-PHOTOS-RECREATED-JOHN-MALKOVICH-SANDRO-MILLER/

HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/8004240

HTTP://WWW.PEOPLEWITHPASSIONS.CO.UK/

STUDENT WORK

HTTP://WWW.THISISCOLOSSAL.COM/2013/10/SWITCHEROO-CROSSDRESSING-PORTRAITS/

If a day goes by without my doing something related to

photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my
existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.
HTTP://WWW.RICHARDAVEDON.COM/

STARTING POINT
LINKS ON THE BLOG:
http://dphot.tumblr.com/resources
http://petapixel.com/ - search portraits

Assignment
Interview and Photograph a Photographer

BRIEF
As individuals interview and photograph a photographer
about their work in your home town. Make sure you start
your planning early in the module and DO your research.
Please do not leave this until last minute.

Interview & Photograph a Photographer

As individuals interview and photograph a
photographerabout their work. You can do this in
Portsmouth or in your home town. Make sure you
startyour planning early in the module and DO
your research. You will need to physically meet the
photographer.
Please do not leave this until last minute. At some
point we will be checking up on your progress.
You can present the outcomes however your want
- blog, printed etc. You can also present a video as
part of the process.
You are also allowed to use students on BA
Photography.
You will need to ask them questions about
theirwork, how they started, techniques,
equipment, subjectmatter, tips for starting out.
You could ask them if you couldhelp out or watch
them during a shoot?
Ideally have 5 -10 questions to ask them. You will
need to research them and their work. It would
look very unprofessional if you turned up without
doing this.
Plan your photoshoot with them - think of location.
Do they have a studio? or perhaps a special
location?

OUTCOME - Photo Essay Magazine stylespread/

feature -on blog, printed, video
TOOLS & SKILLS -
Camera, lenses, editing packages like
photoshop, gimp, lightroom, design editing -
indesign forlayout
RESEARCH to get you started
www.thisisthewhat.com/category/interview/
www.interviewsbycrashtaylor.com/interviews/
www.popfoto.net/
www.globalyodel.com/
photo.net/photographer-interviews/
www.andrewsgibson.com/blog/category/
interviews-photographers/
photographerswiththeircameras.tumblr.com/
behindphotographs.com/
www.camerabag.tv/index.php

TIMESCALE - 18th Jan 2016 by 3pm CT

Admin Office.

Note : These Assignments are designed to help you during this module.
They will help you gain confidence and start to build up a library of photographs to work with for your final hand-in.

You can present the outcomes however your want - blog,

printed, video. You are also allowed to use students on
BA Photography. You will need to ask them questions
about their work, how they started, techniques, subject
matter, equipment, tips for starting out. You could ask
them if you could help out or watch them during a shoot?
Ideally have 5-10 questions to ask them. You will need to
research them and their work. It would look very
unprofessional if you turned up without doing this.
Plan your photoshoot with them - think of location. Do
they have a studio? or perhaps a special location?
HAND-IN 18th Jan by 3pm CT ADMIN OFFICE.

Assignment

WORKSHEET

Interview & Photograph a Photographer

BRIEF

As individuals interview and photograph a photographer about their work.

Please fill in this worksheet and gain feedback to progress. Make sure that you add as much
information on your assignment as possible.

You should have

completed this by now.

DETAILS
Name and location of Photographer you will be
interviewing and photographing

Website of Photographer
Brief overview of their work - what is the style,
genre of work?

Photographer contact details

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1.

6.

2.

7.

3.

8.

4.

9.

5.

10

Have you chosen your

photographer and sent
them the questions?
Have you taken their
portrait yet?

Please make sure that you have:

Supplied, presented the questions and answers.
Supplied and presented photos of the photographer and their work - look through the
links supplied with the brief.
RESEARCH to get you started
http://www.thisisthewhat.com/category/interview/
http://www.interviewsbycrashtaylor.com/interviews/
http://www.popfoto.net/
http://www.globalyodel.com/
http://photo.net/photographer-interviews/
http://www.andrewsgibson.com/blog/category/interviews-photographers/
http://photographerswiththeircameras.tumblr.com/
http://behindphotographs.com/
http://www.camerabag.tv/index.php

STUDENT WORK

ASSIGNMENT 2 - EXAMPLES

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

STUDENT WORK

I first saw an exhibition of Carole's work in Ryde where her photographs were projected onto a screen along with text from her blog. I asked her if, by bringing the blogging
format into the art gallery, she was highlighting blogging as a new artistic format.
Carole: Yes I was attempting to make blogging an Art form. Initially I was thinking of printing
the images with the words but the gallery suggested screening it which was much better idea
and cheaper too. The people who set the show up did a lovely job with its own little room and
a sofa.
Peter: How important are the words in your blogs? Carole: The words are (sometimes) just
as crafted as the images. Usually in fact. But sometimes just chatty. Photoblog was a nice
little community back when I started and it was my first ever experience of internet
friendships. International internet friendships. I have met several of them in the flesh now. So
it was a mix depending on my mood.
Peter: You take a lot of your photographs with your phone. Do you think using a phone has
an affect on the kind of photos you take, or how you present them? Carole: I have got very
used to my phone and love that I can shoot edit and post an image while Im walking down a
flight of stairs in a museum. The editing apps on my phone are better in many ways than what
I have on my computer. My Real camera I prefer to use at home when I have time to set it
up though I do occasionally take it out with me but I set it up on an automatic program when I
do. Tricky question. I use my camera when I want a higher definition image or if Im shooting
for someone else.
Peter: How important is social media in relation to your photographs? Carole: I mostly shoot
to post. Feels odd to take a
picture that isnt going to be
seen so social media is very
much a part of my photography. I mostly post on
instagram now and share to
facebook. Got a gallery on
Red bubble which I havent
added to for a long time and
also a private page on
photoblog where I explore
erotic/sexual imagery (Dont post there much either). I think you have to join photoblog to see
it. Had a Posterous account but ignored their emails when they were changing servers and so
lost my mumblog which I did when I spent looking after her for 5 weeks. And also I published a
book of poems and self portraits on blurb. (Links at the bottom)
Peter: How many photographs do you take a day, on average? Carole: today I took 9
photographs posted 6. A quiet day for me. Average about 30 unless Im out somewhere new
and the light is nice.
Peter: Why do you take photographs!? Carole: I used to take more
photographs when I was unhappy as a kind of therapy. Since I started
doing yoga 2 years ago I find I have less of a NEED to make images.
Used to be fired by restlessness and boredom and would definitely
feel better after creating something. Thats changed now. A bit of
The white ink of Happiness going on though I do still take
photographs almost every day. Now I think I take them because
Im still interested in trying to catch the world how I see it and
also because Ive been taking photographs since I was 17
which is 35 years now!
Peter: Your photos seem like the exact opposite of how
most people like to portray themselves on the Internet. Is
this a deliberate reaction against the norm? Carole: Semi
deliberate but mainly an Aspergers thing I think. Trying to
make sense of myself and the world without understanding the rules in the most people world. I never
understood as a child (still dont) why people
adopt such a rigid pose when being
photographed and grin like lunatics.

Carole Gledhills photographs are

refreshingly intimate. Here she talks
to Peter Bradley about her work.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/elorac/portfolio
http://www.blurb.com/books/2318030-love-lies-bleeding

STUDENT WORK

Peter: I've seen you take photographs

in a very casual manner. Carole: I like
to shoot to crop when Im out and
about being casual. I do see what I
want but prefer to make a general
grab at it so I can perfect the edges
later when Im home alone. Happy
accidents were a thing I was
interested in as a young woman.
More with filmmaking than
photography . I put whole rolls of
exposed standard 8 in little bowls
of toilet bleach to see what would
happen. I liked not having total
control over the outcome but I
came to suspect that that might
have been a form of cowardice.
Not talking full responsibility for
my images.

- Make sure you present the assignment as professional as

possible
- Look through the example research
- If on blog then present this as one blog post - Pinal
interview and photos
- If on video then again include photos
- If printed - think of the layout and Pinal presentation.
- include work by the photographer.
- It is a photo essay - as you would expect to see in a
magazine.
- Not enough of you have enough work on your blogs?
need the ideas, editing, research, development etc

BA Photography department has some great

student work - magazine layout inspiration
currently hanging in the corridor on the first
floor.
Please visit soon for inspiration.
Choose a magazine that your interview could
work in - ID, Vogue, Cereal, Sunday Times/
Telegraph, The Face, VICE etc
What is the layout like? house style? font? do
your research to match up.

Use Adobe InDesign for making your

magazine spread.
See CCI Creative Skills for help.
Rob and I can advise in class.
Blurb (print on demand) now has InDesign
plug-in with templates - http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookmaking-tools

Christos made a
photobook which
included his interview
with his chosen
photographer and
photographs
of him.
Get planning do not
leave to the last
minute.
http://christosmavros.tumblr.com/

STUDENT WORK

self publishing
Blurb - http://www.blurb.co.uk/ - different ways to create books
Magcloud - http://www.magcloud.com/
Lulu / photobox / snapfish /
Bob Books - http://www.bobbooks.co.uk/
iPhoto - built in templates
Newspaper Club - http://www.newspaperclub.co.uk/
Loads of sites out there to create your books vary by price and location. Allow time for
them to be printed and delivered - check times. Loads of offers.

An excellent way to promote your work. Gives people the

option to design their own books. Templates & InDesign
plug-in.

Thinking ahead - plan your portfolio of work.

How will you present final 30 photographs?
Research
Most photographers will have an online portfolio

Plan Ahead

Online Portfolios - loads of choice

http://format.com/
http://www.viewbook.com/
http://www.behance.net/
http://carbonmade.com/
http://www.creativehotlist.com/

http://www.coroflot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/
http://shownd.com/

http://www.portfoliobox.net/
http://www.agoodportfolio.com/

http://subfolio.com/

http://dribbble.com/

http://dropr.com/

http://www.dripbook.com/
http://imcreator.com/
https://wordpress.com/

http://www.indexhibit.org/
http://www.tumblr.com/

Use the time between now and Jan to finalise

first 2 assignments and get organised for next 2
assignments.
Hand-in - CT Admin office. Format mixed - book,
printed magazine spread, website, blog link.
Please make sure that you print out your blog url
on a piece of paper.
Do not hand write this!

WRITE YOUR OWN

ASSIGNMENT
Assignment

THERE WILL BE GUIDELINES

AND FORMAT POSTED
SOON.

Promoting & Presenting

your work as a photographer
All photographers advertise themselves and their services. It is vital that a photographers work is
seen in as many places as possible both online and offline. Even if they have a website they still
require offline advertising. Examples are - websites, business cards, flyers, photo-books, prints,
exhibitions, connecting with social media - e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Flickr
Research how photographers advertise themselves. Provide
examples on your blog or in your sketchbook. Learn from this
research and look at the various formats for advertising your
photography.
The hand-in for this assignment is 30 final photographs
presented in a professional way with a supporting blog or
sketchbook. You can use work already done
in other assignments.
Your starting point should be researching photographers and
other creatives for inspiration.
How do they market themselves?
How do they present their work?
Write a short biography about yourself & style of work
What can you learn from this?
What have you learnt from other assignments?
Look at the different formats available to you:
website, printed, video, exhibition.
What is your best plan of action?
How can you best display your work?
Make sure you choose categories as specified in
the handbook.

Resources:
http://blog.noplasticsleeves.com/category/
digital_portfolios/
http://www.jasontravisphoto.com/
http://www.day19.com/
http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/
http://theselby.com/
www.moo.com - business cards
http://www.flickr.com/groups/artofthebusinesscard/
http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/home
THINK OF:
Quality of photographs, Layout, colour, font, logo.
Typography is very important.
Look at the resources and be inspired = learn
BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR PRESENTATION OF
WORK.
Put your website url and contact details on the card/s.
As before put all ideas and processes in
your blogs/sketchbooks.
PLAN OUT YOUR CAMPAIGN CAREFULLY
Put your website address and contact details
on any printed work.
Websites MUST be LIVE!

TIMESCALE - Friday 24th April 2015