Representation

Annie Liebovitz is a photographer famous for her portraits of celebrities. Her work is considered "great" by many people, but her photos stand on the border of commercialism and "art". The same can probably be said of almost any portrait photographer; the utility of the photograph as something you get paid to create can keep photos in their own special category of "not quite art". I chose one of Annie Liebovitz's photos because her style creates even more of an ambiguity between "art" and "photograph". I like her photographs because they could be paintings. The fact that they are highly staged and contrived does not take away from the interest for me. In fact, the staged nature almost seems to take away the personality of the actual person being photographed and creates a character. The people her photos create a story. In this photograph in particular, I enjoy the way the actresses look almost like dolls that have been posed. The colors and composition of the photograph is also pleasing to me. Going back to my Art Nouveau and organic shapes, I enjoy the flowing nature of the dresses and silhouettes of the actresses. I guess I like this photograph partially for the irony, as well; the actresses are being "photographed" but the photograph is not of themselves, it is of the character that Annie moulded them into and the atmosphere that was created around them.

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This is a photo collage portrait of my brother Adam that I made by photographing features of his face close up and then developing them in a darkroom and putting them together. The photo collage stands almost three feet tall all together, and, although it's difficult to show in the photo when it's this small, there is extreme detail in his facial features and hair since the photos were taken so close up.

British photographer Bill Brandt said of portraiture, "I try to avoid the fleeting expression and vivacity of a snapshot. A composed expression seems to have a more profound likeness. I think a good portrait ought to tell something of the subject's past and suggest something of his future." I think this statement fits this portrait very well, as I produced the collage as an intentional documentation of his face a year before he had facial reconstructive surgery. My brother was born with a rare overgrowth syndrome that effected the development of his facial features, breathing passages, and sinus cavities. We knew from when he was young that he would need this once his face was done growing as an adult; I hoped to produce something to document his old features to compare them to the new.

Looking at this portrait now, I think the way these photos are put together lends itself well to the the purpose of the collage. Maybe only in knowing what I know do I see in this portrait what Brandt was speaking of in his quote, something about the past and something about the future.My brother had his facial reconstruction about six months ago, his face has pretty much healed to normal and I hope to soon make a new facial study portrait as comparison. I think what I will likely find is that his face has not changed nearly to the extent that we thought it would, which in some ways is a great comfort.
*Emily

Posted by udel0005 at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a set of photos I took in 2004, Beijing, China. I was in college and I participated in an education supporting activity. We went to an elementary school located far away from the city. It was an unofficial school for children from poor families, those for any reason could not afford to attend normal schools (as you can see the children's clothes are out of date and dirty). We were arranged to teach them different classes the whole day. When we were about to leave, I took out my camera wanted to take some pictures of the school environment and the kids. My great shock that when they saw my camera almost all of the kids run to me! I was told that most of them didn't get chance to take photos, some even had never seen a digital camera! Then, this set of photos was born.

Honestly, I didn't take much care about the composition or lights or wharever about the technique, just some candid shots, also because the kids were really excited, shouting and jostling aroud me. However, when I was packing up pictures at home, I found those faces were rather affecting and appealing. Their emotions were depicted on their faces, curious, excited, nervous, ... Those faces are so moving that I feel I can touch their feelings...

Some portraits are more affecting because there are stories behind; because they could touch your feeling..

Posted by zhang631 at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is a portrait I took of my friend Jaime. I was taking B&W photography in college and had decided to do a series of portraits of my friends as a final project. My intent was to show how the diverse talents found among my friends. My plan was to follow each friend for part of a day as they went about their activities - band practice, choreography, etc. Toward the end of the project I invited my friends over for a dinner at my house and then, when we were outside goofing around, asked each of them for a fairly quick informal outdoor portrait.

Jaime's image was the most intriguing of the group. Not only is she very photogenic, but her gaze is unflinching with little identifiable expression. Is she beginning to smile or cry? Or it she relaxed? We cannot see her body posture for more clues.

Meanwhile in the background are several people engaged in what appears to be potentially violent behavior in a very familiar suburban setting. The viewer cannot really tell what's going on because the short depth of field makes the background appear very blurry. What is the relationship between Jaime and the figures in the background?

The dichotomy between the calm focused foreground and the active blurry background gives the perception of two images placed one on top of the other. However the shadows on the ground let you know that the foreground and background are happening in the same space and time. The intense contrast of the image makes the situation appear stark and uncertain.

Clearly, what one includes - and especially excludes - in an image or portrait changes the meaning entirely.

-Adrienne

Posted by bockh004 at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This image represents my earliest awareness of self-representation. This photo was taken when I was about 10 years old. It was taken as part of a class project, in which we, as American students, were getting pen pals from Ireland. One of the first steps in the project was the trading of photos between students. I can distinctly remember our teacher asking us to carefully consider what photo we would choose to use. Honestly, the idea of careful consideration struck me as strange. At 10, I thought a photo was a photo…was a photo. Then, the teacher explained that this photo was an opportunity for us to do more than just show what we looked like, but also a means for explaining a little bit about ourselves. I immediately began to see the activity in a new light. Our family had recently gotten a new puppy, which was to be, more or less, my dog. The sense of responsibility I felt regarding this puppy was very significant to me at 10 years old. I believe this responsibility gave me a new sense of identity; specifically, I felt like I was really growing up. The inclusion of this puppy was a very deliberate addition to this portrait. As an aside, the inclusion of the other dog was based on a 10 year-old’s idea of fairness. Thinking about it now, this knowledge adds another layer of interpretation to the image. At 10, the concept of fairness must have been very important to me. Presumably, the second dog would not have expressed much disappointment about not being featured in the photo. Although I cannot remember being consciously aware of how important the concept of fairness must have been in my day-to-day 10 year-old life, there is clear evidence of this in the image. Funny, but I now have a new understanding of just how representative this image is of me at 10 years old. It contains both a deliberate portrayal of how I felt I was growing up, and an unintentional representation of my idealistic value structure.

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Posted by hilge106 at 7:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This picture is one of Richard Prince’s “Girlfriends” photos. Taken from motorcycle magazines, the pictures are blown up photograph submissions from readers. Prince was apparently fascinated by how these photos represented readers’ two most important “possessions”—their bikes and their women. I saw this exhibit at the Walker and something about this photo I loved. While the majority of the photos seemed rather trashy, this one seemed to be artfully positioned, and represented something other than washed up middle-aged Harley culture.

While the women in this photo is topless, it seems much more tasteful than many of the other photos, perhaps because while the women in the other selections seem to be trying hard to be “sexy,” this women exudes sexuality without awkwardly positioning herself on most prized possession #1. I also like the framing of the photo, and find it quite interesting that this photo, unlike the other ones, appears to have been taken inside, suggesting that the moment is more intimate, but the viewer of the photo is privy to it. In a sense, it almost seems voyeuristic. Also, the photo is clearly taken by an amateur, rather than a high fashion photographer, further adding to the intimate feel.

This particular image was scanned in from a book on Prince’s works, as I’ve been unable to locate it online (never mind the issue of each “Girlfriends” photo being titled the same), so there isn’t a link to the image. It is also worth noting how the meaning of this photograph changes as it transferred from the back of a motorcycle magazine, submitted by a reader, to being a blown up glossy hanging in art galleries. Even though it is the same photo, Prince’s rendering of it takes it to a whole new level of artistry—however questionable that may be.

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