Portraiture and Studio Photography: Activity 1

Activity 1

Look through assorted media, magazines, internet and collect four portrait photographs. The environment should be a key feature in two of the four images.Describe the subject’s character in each of the images. What can you see within each image that leads you to these conclusions about the subjects’ character.

Thomas Nutzl.

(magazine)

This is Lana Del Ray. She was in a section of a magazine for Grazia. From the environment, it looks like she was in a studio area with a plain background behind her and some lighting that brightens up her image. From normal shoots that I've seen in magazines, Lana looks natural and beautiful. Her make up (if she has any on.) looks very natural and doesn't make her or the entire photo look fake. She seems to be a person who is true to herself and just normal.

Mario Testimo. 

(magazine)

Taylor Swift was on the cover of Vanity Fair. Its not that she looks fake in this but it looks very staged. She's a singer and an artist, so they have the piano to bring that part out of the person she is. Which is a good theory and idea to bring that out to show that. They also made her look very sophisticated and rich. I don't know if I can determine the person she is from this shoot but the person I would think she is sort of just a regular model pose.

Dorothea Lange. 

(internet)

This is a very famous photograph called "The Migrant Mother." It was taken during the Great Depression and shows a mother and her three children. If I had never seen this picture before and didn't know its history, I would suspect that they are poor and struggling. From the image I can see that though the mother is struggling she is a support and comforter of her kids. You can for sure see that as they are crowded and lay on her. I can tell that this mother is strong for her kids. 

Sam Shaw. 

This is the Iconic image of Marilyn Monroe's flying skirt. It is said that Monroe was shooting a movie when she was walking over a vent type of thing and her skirt flew up. Many photographers were all surrounded being pervy and get a good story for the world to see. It ended up becoming one of the most popular portrait photograph's known. I could think that Monroe is shy and embarrassed a bit and she doesn't want people to see her under garments. But you can see behind her a creepy man looking and smily. While another man is trying to capture the shot as well.