Photography relevant to first shoot - Arnold Newman

Sculptor Alexander Calder in his studio, 1957

Newman's portrait of Alexander Calder differs from my photographs in that Calder is the main focus of the image. I have set out to make the art the focus of my photographs, showing how the artist's concentration leads towards the final product. However, this photograph and mine both give a feel for the atmosphere in the studio. Newman's image shows the studio as a complex place while mine shows part of the studio and limits its complexity to the work the artist is producing. I have chosen to use a shallower depth of field in my photographs which concentrates the viewer on the small section of image that is in focus as being the most important part. Newman has done the opposite and although he has made the artist as the main subject, no part of the image from infront or behind the point of focus. This makes the image take longer to take in but also shows the disorganisation and vast amount of work that Calder has produced.

Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist, South Hampton, N.Y., 1976

Newman's portrait of Roy Lichtenstein is similar to Calder with the focus being on the artist. This time, he has used a much cleaner, simpler background which is more similar to the background of my photographs. I find this means the viewers eyes are drawn to the subject and are not distracted by the less important and informative background. The complexity of this image is more linked to the pose of the artist and his expression which, it could be argued, is a thoughtful one, as if he is creating ideas in his head in a similar way to my photographs showing the artist creating the first stage of a painting. The artist in my photographs shows a more complex side to a relatively simple looking painting with the complex drawings he must create first.

Pablo Picasso, Cannes, France, 1956

In this photograph of Picasso, Newman has also focused on the artist and used the studio as a background to tell the viewer more about him. My photographs show a fairly nonedescript background which gives the feeling that the art is the most important aspect. In his image, the background is important because it shows other examples of Picasso's work and this shows the importance of his cubism paintings to him. Again, Newman has not dropped anything out of focus proving to the viewer that everything has important. The main subject of this image is clearly Picasso but Newman is showing that the other aspects of the image such as the environment he is working in a his iconic work has equal importance.

 

 

 

 These images are of abstract and expressionist painter and artist Helen Frankenthaler being photographed in her NYC studio by Austrian photographer and artist Ernst Haas, 1969. Haas took great interest in Frankenthaler's work and took and published several images of her. The two images I have selected stood out to me because I feel that they show the passion the artist has for her work. She is seen very involved mentally and physically in her work.

Both my images and Haas' images show the initial stages of a piece of art. The detail is far more precise in the artists work in my images but in both you can see the complexity of the art. For example, in Frankenthaler's work, the you can't tell what the painting is going to be, suggesting there is going to be far more put into the work.

Also, both Haas' and my work shows a little taste of the studios/environment the artists are working in but not drawing too much attention away from the main subject of the 'person at work'. This is to give the viewer a more informative image but at the same time ensuring there is a clear focus in the picture.



Final Image - Artist - Person At Work

One of the reasons I have chosen this image for my final 8x10 print is because I feel that the other two leave me wantin to see more of the surroundings and feel that the frame crops out important aspects of the environment which would give the viewer more infomation about the profession. This image shows more of the surroundings of the gallery and the artists work space.

Also, the light coming from the lamp gives off a beautiful lighting effect across the artists work. This is the only reason why I kept the image in colour as opposed to black and white. Also, as I mentioned before, the angle of the shot (over the shoulder) shows the work from the painters point of viewer making it unique and in my opinion, more informative.

Finally, I find the complexing of the work very engaging and I think this photograph compliments the difficulty and precision of the work. It also shows a very different side to the paintings because when they are finished you cannot see any of the fine lines or detail that you can see in this image.

Artist - Person At Work

To find a subject for my first 'People at Work' shoot, I walked through Falmouth town centre and dropped into a few shops that seemed unique and interesting to photograph to see if I could shoot in them. One of the first shops that caught my eye was a painters gallery. All his work that was on display was of local areas and the work was all produced there. I spoke to him to gather infomation about him and his businesses and show an interest before asking to photograph him at work.

One of the main reasons I chose this shot was because of the lighting that was created from the light just in front of Nick's head. This gave the photo an unique aesthetic feel. Also, the angle of the shot allows you to see exactly what he is working on and the detail of his work and almost see from his point of view as it is over his shoulder. The complexity of the work is intruging which engages the viewer in the photo. Looking back at the image now, I would like to have shot it slightly less tight to show more of the drawing/painting. I feel that it is suddenly cut off in the bottom left of the shot.

One part of this image I do not like is the lack of contrast. Although this is only technical and does not affect how the image shows a person at work; in my eyes it is a weaker image due to this. This is a very simple fix in lightroom and if I choose to use this as my final 8x10 print I will ensure I do this.

 

I chose this picture to put in my final 3 because I love the depth of field with the table dropping away in the foreground and the focus primarily over Nick's hand. The shot being taken so close to the table enhances the impact of he shallow depth of field and shows the precision of the work. Also, I converted the picture to black and white because I felt that the detail in his hand looked much better this way making it a more interesting picture. It shows how much concentration is being put into is work.

I would have liked to framed the photograph more tightly but in the brief it stated that I couldn't do any cropping which means there is a little too much 'blank space' which would be my main critizism. Also, the contrast isn't quite as strong as I'd like it to be making the image seem a little flat.









 I chose this as my final image because it showed more of the area that Nick was working in as it is not such a close up. It shows some of this other work in the background and the prints he sells to enable him to paint as a profession. Also, much like the first image, I love the yellow light highlighting the painting that he is working on. This is why I chose to keep the image in colour rather than black and white because although the background is quite flat and fairly uninformative, the main subject of the photograph is lit very aesthetically. This angle again shows almost his perspective of the work and shows the image that he is replicating in front of him. This helps the viewer to see what is involved in this kind of work.