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Resources
Portrait Assignments:
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1. Unselfie Series
(Unedited 20/ Final Edited 5-7)
Think about silhouettes, reflections and shadows... Also, make sure you use a tripod for some of your unselfies or a stable surface and set up the compositional frame and settings beforehand. Ask a family member or friend to take the photo for you. At least 1 of your final images should be taken with a a tripod/stable surface and using the self timer on your DSLR cameras.
2. Friends/Family/Classmate Portraits
(Photodump 60/Final Edited ~20)
You may choose 1 person as your subject to do this assignment OR several people.
Think about the compositional guidelines as you take these photos. Many of the portrait techniques listed below in the 2 links will overlap with the compositional guidelines you have practiced.
In this Portraits Techniques album, evidence 10 out of the 20 techniques listed on the 2 links below:
ARTICLE: 10 ways to take stunning portraits-P1
ARTICLE: 10 MORE ways to take stunning portraits-P2
PDF presentation on "Portraits" with many portrait photographers featured-LINK
Link-12 Famous Portrait Photographers
3. CHOOSE 1 OPTION: Diptych series or 'Portrait Narrative' series
Portrait Diptych or Storytelling Series inspired by HONY
Diptychs in Photography-LINK
(Unedited 20/ Final Edited 5-7)
Think about silhouettes, reflections and shadows... Also, make sure you use a tripod for some of your unselfies or a stable surface and set up the compositional frame and settings beforehand. Ask a family member or friend to take the photo for you. At least 1 of your final images should be taken with a a tripod/stable surface and using the self timer on your DSLR cameras.
2. Friends/Family/Classmate Portraits
(Photodump 60/Final Edited ~20)
You may choose 1 person as your subject to do this assignment OR several people.
Think about the compositional guidelines as you take these photos. Many of the portrait techniques listed below in the 2 links will overlap with the compositional guidelines you have practiced.
In this Portraits Techniques album, evidence 10 out of the 20 techniques listed on the 2 links below:
ARTICLE: 10 ways to take stunning portraits-P1
ARTICLE: 10 MORE ways to take stunning portraits-P2
PDF presentation on "Portraits" with many portrait photographers featured-LINK
Link-12 Famous Portrait Photographers
3. CHOOSE 1 OPTION: Diptych series or 'Portrait Narrative' series
Portrait Diptych or Storytelling Series inspired by HONY
Diptychs in Photography-LINK
Portrait Techniques
UnSelfie Examples
Jeff Harris Discusses his Daily Self-Portrait project
Pelin Guven documenting her 14 day quarantine in Shanghai with self Portraits
Link to her Instagram
Link to her photography prize for this series "Due to the Covid19 pandemic, everyone returning China has to complete the 14 day mandatory quarantine in a Chinese government approved hotel. They separated me and my daughter. My room was on 29th floor and the windows didn't open. No fresh air...We were not permitted to leave our room under any circumstances. The busy scenery of cars and ships passing over&under the bridge entertained me while confirming that life was going on -despite all-and I still was part of it. Documenting my confined life kept me sane. For the 1st time, I became the subject matter of my photographs. Self-focus was the biggest reward of this time." |
Photos above taken by Pelin Guven, printed in her book.
Diptychs/TripTychs
A diptych is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. A photography diptych is a pair of images placed side by side or stacked to form a single artistic statement or comparison. The images can be identical or similar in composition, they can show different angles of the same scene, or they can demonstrate polar opposites such as; morning and night, old and new, or before and after etc. Diptychs are great because they can deliver twice the storytelling impact of a single image.
According to the Gestalt principle of “proximity,” when we see two things next to each other, our mind assumes some kind of relationship between them. Otherwise, why would they be together? That assumption deepens when viewing artistic works, because we believe the artist placed the two pieces together for a reason. The meaning of the juxtaposition might be obvious. In other cases, we might find ourselves scratching our heads.
Simply by the fact that they consist of two parts joined together, all diptychs imply some kind of duality, binary, polarity, or analogy.
The questions then become:
“How does this compare to that?”
“How are this and that alike, or different?”
“How do these two things interact with each other?
“What holds these two things together?”
Straightforward diptychs - where the relationship between the two images is obvious - might strike you as either redundant and downright boring, or as quite clever, powerful, and emotional when executed well. On the other hand, ambiguous diptychs that provide no obvious relationship between the two parts might be annoyingly inscrutable, or they might create a delightful puzzle that challenges the realms of intellect, imagination, and feeling. Titles and descriptions for the diptych can provide the clues for understanding the relationship.
Possible approaches to your diptych:
According to the Gestalt principle of “proximity,” when we see two things next to each other, our mind assumes some kind of relationship between them. Otherwise, why would they be together? That assumption deepens when viewing artistic works, because we believe the artist placed the two pieces together for a reason. The meaning of the juxtaposition might be obvious. In other cases, we might find ourselves scratching our heads.
Simply by the fact that they consist of two parts joined together, all diptychs imply some kind of duality, binary, polarity, or analogy.
The questions then become:
“How does this compare to that?”
“How are this and that alike, or different?”
“How do these two things interact with each other?
“What holds these two things together?”
Straightforward diptychs - where the relationship between the two images is obvious - might strike you as either redundant and downright boring, or as quite clever, powerful, and emotional when executed well. On the other hand, ambiguous diptychs that provide no obvious relationship between the two parts might be annoyingly inscrutable, or they might create a delightful puzzle that challenges the realms of intellect, imagination, and feeling. Titles and descriptions for the diptych can provide the clues for understanding the relationship.
Possible approaches to your diptych:
- ZOOM -getting closer to a subject
- Storytelling - Do you want to tell a story about a particular person? about a particular object?
- Compare/Contrast subjects and ideas -working with contrasting ideas
- Visual Connections -do you want to make a visual connection of 2 very different photos by placing them side by side, or stacked? Remember, there must be similar element(s) and principle(s) connecting these images
- Sequence -showing a series of events as time goes by
- Point of View -change of the same scene
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Telling stories through portraiture
Humans of New York: Brandon Stanton
the unknown artist: Vivian Maier
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