I think as photographer’s and perhaps more so, portrait photographers, the decision on who to photograph and where, is usually our choice. Obviously, I have limited experience with this particular style of photography, but would assume that the subjects’ usually have very little say, or understanding, regarding the photographic process they are involved with. It would be interesting to know how many photography projects take into consideration a collaborative effort between both the photographer and their subject, where discussions are made pre-shoot, to determine such things as a location of significant importance and possible themes. This is why this exercise excited me, as the portrait’s I have created in the past disregarded all of that. I was curious to find out, having already discussed with my subjects’ what they wanted included in their portraits and why, whether or not, the process would be easier and ultimately, would the portraits’ offer something different in regards to how the subjects’ appear in the image. What I mean by this is, would there be a noticeable difference in how an individual presents themselves if they were photographed in a location that meant something to them personally.
The theme that I chose to represent my three portraits was ‘happiness’, and asked each of my subjects’, “Where brings you the most happiness and why?” It was interesting to see the reaction when I asked them this and I was surprised each gave me an answer so quickly, as I believe most people can instantaneously tell you what their happiest moment is and when it happened, but rarely consider which place gives them such contentment.
We discussed in length a particular location where they would like to be photographed and why this was their ‘happy’ place. A couple of my subjects’ were very specific about this, which was fantastic, as I felt they were really getting involved with the process. We talked about how we could incorporate the surroundings into their portraits’, to make them more meaningful and correspondent to their feelings of ‘happiness’. Once we arrived at the location, it was my job as the photographer to choose the best composition, whilst trying to include my subject’s requirements in regards to what they wanted to be included in their image. I actually gave them very little direction, as I wanted the process, and fundamentally, their captured expressions, to be as natural as possible. I did ask them before I started photographing them, “to think about why we are here and the happiness it brings you”. I found this helped my subjects’ to relax and I could see after a few seconds of deep thought that their expressions had changed, as they allowed the feeling on contentment to consume their bodies. As I believed this feeling could only truly be felt briefly, I purposely chose to take a few images and no more.
This is a portrait of my mother. The place which makes her happiest is our family home. She specifically chose the sitting room, as this is the room she has the fondest memories of ‘family life’.
This is a portrait of my good friend, George. He loves nothing more than being outside in the wilderness. The location he chose was the Pentland Hills. He specifically chose this spot, to depict the two things that make him happiest – fishing and hill walking. Loganlea Reservoir – seen to his right – is where he caught his first fish.
This is a portrait of Jade. The location she chose were the ruins of Saint Anthony’s Chapel. This is the place she comes to write music, specifically about Edinburgh, and feels happiest doing that here, as the magnificent views across the city inspire her to write her best material.
Catching a break between the showers and high winds caused by storm Dennis, I ventured into Edinburgh to begin my challenge of photographing strangers’. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, but, I felt my preparation going into this assignment was good enough to give me some confidence.
I had a couple of strong ideas, which I wanted to explore, but I must admit that even on the day of the shoot, I still didn’t know which one I was going to act on. My preference was to create a series, inspired by fellow Scottish photographer Niall McDiarmid, which would focus on bright colours, depicted on both the subjects’ clothing and in the purposely selected backgrounds. Unfortunately, though, absolutely no one was wearing anything that could be described as ‘vivid’ on the day and only muted tones seemed to be on show – the type of colour scheme McDiarmid tries to steer clear of when creating his portraits. I’m not sure if the time of year, or weather plays a part in what colour palette is seen on peoples’ clothing, but it would have been interesting to see if I had different results if I was carrying out this assignment in the summer, for example. So, I needed to resort to my other idea, which to be fair, seemed more imaginative and ‘original’ as it wasn’t based on another photographer’s proven methodologies. I felt that if I was indeed successful in creating a set of strong portraits, the whole process for me would seem more satisfying.
Edinburgh attracts over two million tourists’ each year, and more often than not it’s obvious to the locals who they are. However, it’s sometimes very difficult to determine what country of origin these individuals’ are from, as someone’s ethnic looks or the language they speak doesn’t necessarily give you a definitive answer. This has ultimately led me to use this topic as the main theme of my assignment, and have created five portraits of strangers’, who I believed at the time, were tourists’. However, it’s how I communicate this information to the viewer, regarding the subjects’ nationalities, which initially seemed problematic. My initial thought process was to use the GPS coordinates that relate specifically to the city where the individual I’m photographing is from. Though, this would have been an incredibly thought provoking way to achieve this, which would offer some ambiguity surrounding each image and allow room for interpretation, I wasn’t sure how much value would be added to the series by including them. As well as this, the viewer must first have an understanding of what these coordinates mean and then investigate them further to know the intended meaning behind each portrait. Instead, I have provided supporting text, which simply states the name of the subject(s) and the city they are from. This is a method Niall McDiarmid uses regularly, and by doing so, I feel makes the portrait more personal and gives each subject a sense of identity and feeling of involvement with the photographic process. I feel that because each of my images’ contain relatable information, in regards to the subjects’ personal details, the set would be best suited as a typology series.
It’s not difficult to locate tourists’ in Edinburgh, but to make the process easier, I intentionally went to the main attraction in the city – Edinburgh Castle. Apart from tourists’ being in abundance at this location, I wanted additional, but subtle elements to feature in my portraits’, which would support my chosen theme. By incorporating the castle in the background, along with large groups of other visitors’, the viewer wouldn’t necessarily know the exact location, but would certainly appreciate that it is of some importance. This may help with their understanding of what ‘type’ of person is depicted in each portrait. I made the decision not to have each subject photographed in the same spot, as I wanted to offer the viewer a number of perspectives of the castle. I feel by doing this, the viewer will receive different information each time, ultimately helping them form a conclusive understanding about the series.
One reason for me wanting to photograph tourists’ in particular, was my notion that there would be possible language constraints between us. Prior to this day, I had only ever asked three foreign tourists’ if I could take their photograph and found the process to be relatively easy due to the lack of communication. However, in this instance, this was not the case, and most people I spoke to had a good level of English. This meant that I couldn’t simply wave my camera in front of their faces and indicate to them through hand gestures that I would like to photograph them. With my first two attempts being unsuccessful, probably due to the fact the individuals’ could sense my anxiety and made the decisive decision to say “No!” my confidence was certainly dented. However, with a new found attitude of ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’, my confidence slowly grew, and within a short space of time I had taken seven portraits, consisting of both individuals and couples. Unfortunately, the bad weather soon returned and the large crowds that once littered this famous Edinburgh landmark soon disappeared. I quickly followed suit, satisfied with what I had achieved, not just in terms of the portraits I had taken, but also for breaking down barriers in regards to my confidence.
These two portraits were taken on the same day but did not make it into my final selection.
This was the first portrait I took that day and I think it definitely shows. The couple were from Colombia and I’m not sure they really understood what I was asking of them. I remember the gentleman looking at his partner with a look of confusion on his face and this made me feel very anxious, which ultimately led me to producing some rushed images’. So much so, I forgot to place them with the castle in the background – an important factor within my portraits. Regarding technical aspects, this was the period when I was experimenting with different focal lengths and this image wasn’t consistent with the others I took that day. Compositionally, I don’t think the subjects are well placed within the frame, and as a result, the image looks rather compact. Also, this is the only portrait where the stranger’s appear uncomfortable, more so in their facial expressions, and to be honest, I don’t think they enjoyed the process.
This couple, from Wigan (technically not foreign) were absolutely lovely and had no qualms with me taking their portrait. I actually really like this image, but unfortunately there was only one reason it didn’t make my final selection. It’s a small thing that maybe only I would notice, but I think the ladies bag slightly affects the composition. Even though they are dead centre within the frame, the image as a whole appears unbalanced, due to the fact the bag is protruding too much into the negative space to her right side. With more experience, I may have spotted this and instructed her to place it to one side before taking their portrait.
During my feedback session with my tutor, he mentioned that he thought the portrait of the Korean couple – though his favorite – was slightly brighter than the rest, and suggested I re-tweak this before sending my work over for assessment.
I now understand the importance of checking images against each other in post production, especially when creating a series, to make sure things like – in this instance – exposure, is similar throughout. I believe by getting the exposure correct when out on the field and understanding what the histogram is telling you to make the necessary adjustments is vital, and is something I will definitely familiarise myself with for future projects.
I must admit that this is an assignment that I’ve been dreading as it requires me to approach, talk to and photograph total strangers. I’m not a shy person, but certainly lack confidence when talking to people I’ve never met. When it comes to photographing individuals, I would rather do it from a far and without them knowing. From memory, I believe I have only ever asked three people if I could photograph them – they were all foreigners’. I found that by not being able to communicate with them verbally, the process was a lot easier and perhaps more natural, in regards to their mannerisms and expressions. The fact that I was unable to give them ‘direction’ meant their response to being photographed seemed organic.
Struggling to think of an ‘ice breaker’ I can use on these strangers’, perhaps this is an approach I should adopt for this assignment. A possible theme could be based around foreigners’ visiting Edinburgh – the city I reside in. However, being able to communicate their nationality to the viewer may prove to be difficult. One idea I have, is to use the GPS coordinates – specifically related to the city or town the subject is from – as a reference, which would support their portrait. I feel by using this method, there would still be some ambiguity surrounding each image, allowing room for interpretation by the viewer. I feel this method would be best suited as a ‘typology’ series, as each portrait will contain different, but relatable information. Having done some extensive research into photography projects using GPS coordinates, specifically related to portraiture, I’ve been unable to find anything documented. Perhaps, though, it would be more beneficial for my photographic development and confidence, if I were to bite the bullet, so to speak, and not specifically approach those who I believe to be foreign.
I have been doing a lot of research into Scottish photographer, Niall McDiarmid. His photography style incorporates documenting both the people and landscape of Great Britain and I feel his chosen practices, specifically surrounding his portraiture, are ones which I could apply within this assignment. The first thing I noticed when reviewing his portraits are how colourful and vibrant they are which, according to McDiarmid, “developed naturally”. Not only are the individuals’ clothing brightly coloured, but the intentionally chosen backgrounds are also, resulting in two or more subjects that often complement each other. McDiarmid has a desire to move away from photographing the “greys and muted tones that are so often associated with Great Britain” and I think that statement is certainly true in relation to where I live, especially at this time of year. I could adopt McDiarmid’s methodology and create vivid portraits, incorporating other important elements regularly seen in his work – shapes and textures – that are depicted as being in total contrast to what the individual is wearing. This I feel would work best as a typology series, with the underlying theme being ‘colour’.
McDiarmid, also seems to have a natural talent for intentionally including objects in his portraits, which mimics a specific part of his subjects’ clothing. This is subtle, and only when the viewer studies the image as a whole, is it then realised. I’m not entirely sure what this technique is called, but it works incredibly well and is one I’m considering for this assignment. I think, though, this idea would be the hardest to achieve, as scenarios where both the individual and object are naturally placed together in unison, could be few and far between and with the limited time I have to photograph my subjects’, it could be an unrealistic undertaking.
Oranges £1 Per Bowl, Surrey Street, Croydon – Jan 2016
I have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube on how to successfully photograph strangers’. I’m not interested in the photographic techniques they use and their final results, per say, but rather how they approach and interact with the individuals’. I’ve actually found the information to be incredibly useful and have noted down a number of key points which I plan to use when photographing my subjects’.
Be friendly and explain what I’m doing (I think I’ll say something along the lines of “I’m a photography student and currently doing a project where I need to take a portrait of a stranger. Would you be happy if I took yours?”)
If they say “No”, thank them anyway and move on.
Don’t have my camera visible when I approach them, as they may get intimidated.
Take a few photographs only (This is beneficial for two reasons. 1) Makes the experience less daunting and time consuming for your subjects’. 2) I will have a number of images of the same individual to choose from for my final selection).
Give the subject some direction, if possible (It will make the process easier and more fun for them).
Offer to send your portrait to the subjects’ (I think this is a great way to show your appreciation for their time and will be a nice memory for them).
In addition to this, I realise the importance of taking more than the required amount of portraits, which in this case is five. There is always the possibility that one of my images won’t be good enough for my final selection and to have alternative options available could prove to be helpful. Also, I will not be limiting myself to how many individuals’ feature within a single image. Some may argue that if I’m creating a typology series, the number of people seen within each portrait should possibly be the same throughout, but I would disagree. I feel that this point is irrelevant and shouldn’t be treated as being more important than the actual ‘types’ I wish to explore.
Today I was in town with my family and happened to have my camera with me. I was mainly taking snapshots of them and had no intention of photographing anyone else. However, as I past St Giles’ Cathedral, I saw a piper on his break from entertaining the tourists’, leaning up against the wall and smoking a cigarette. I thought it would make for a good image as the concept seemed quite comical. Whilst approaching him, I thought this would be a great opportunity, and practice, to ask him if I could take his portrait. My thinking was he must get asked that all the time so wouldn’t be phased by the idea. Unbelievably, I wasn’t nervous, and I calmly explained who I was and what I was doing. With a big smile he said “yeah man, cool.” I took one shot only – not sure why – thanked him for his time and walked away. After reviewing the image, I must admit, it’s not great and certainly not good enough to be part of a series. However, I don’t really mind, as this exercise was never about the end result and more to do with confidence building in regards to asking a stranger to take their portrait.
My biggest fear surrounding this assignment was the fact I had to ask people to take their portrait. Before starting the process, I kept thinking to myself, “How many times has someone approached me and asked that, and if they did, what would I say?” The answer was “never” and most likely “No”. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy taking pictures of strangers’, but these are always done candidly. To ask someone seems strange, an annoyance for them, or perhaps even worse, an invasion of their privacy. Ultimately, these people didn’t know who I really was or what I would do with their photograph, but yet they trusted me enough to allow me snap away.
The brief for this assignment states, “leaving technical photographic considerations aside…” To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this meant I was being advised to only focus on the involvement with my subjects’, and to disregard any photographic technical abilities I have. If my understanding was correct, I understood to a certain degree the point that was trying to be made. However, surely the basic technical aspects of photography, for example, exposure, shutter speed etc. cannot merely be ignored and the quality of my images’ potentially becoming jeopardised for the sake of trying to build relationships. I found though that with the experience and technical skills I already possessed, I was working on ‘default’ mode, so to speak, and very rarely had to consider the technical aspects during the photographic process. Prior to the shoot, I set my camera’s ISO to 400, selected ‘aperture priority’ mode and dialled in an aperture of f5.6, as I knew I wouldn’t require a shallow depth of field. Also, as it was predetermined that I would be taking full body portraits, I understood this would help keep all of my subjects’ in focus. I didn’t have to worry about the camera’s shutter speed, due to the shooting modes selected, and because there was enough light available, there was minimal chance of producing out of focus images’. One thing I noticed I was doing frequently at the beginning, was selecting various focal lengths from my 18-35mm lens. A good example of this would be the portrait of ‘Andy and Patricia’. It’s obvious that the field of view in this image is wider than the rest in the series, however, I don’t feel it weakens it at all and deserves to be in the final selection, albeit, with minor differences to the framing. I also noticed when using this method that the process took longer than initially planned, and it was noticeable at times that the subjects’ were becoming agitated. To combat this, and to have the rest of my portraits’ consistent with each other, I selected a fixed focal length of 35mm and simply used my legs to find my desired focal length. I chose what could be considered as a more ‘traditional’ composition, placing my subjects’ in the centre of the frame. I found this works best when creating full body portraits and is a technique the likes of Niall McDiarmid uses regularly.
I found that with every new stranger I spoke to, my confidence grew, and as a result the quality of my portraits’ improved dramatically. I began to give my subjects’ some ‘direction’ and I found the whole process became more enjoyable for both myself and them. It’s no surprise that the portrait’s I feel are the strongest, happen to have been taken near the end of the process, which to me proves that the more you do something, the better you will become. Though, I’m happy with the portraits’ I’ve taken and feel I’ve achieved what I set out to do, what I’m most satisfied with is the confidence I’ve gained through this experience and have been inspired to start a personal portrait project in the near future.
I must admit there wasn’t much creativity involved when photographing my subjects’. The process was incredibly simple and at no point did I want to become experimental with my ideas. Reflecting back to Niall McDiarmid’s work, though very good, it also seems simple in terms of his execution when creating a portrait. I believe the type of image you are trying to produce will determine how experimental you may become, but if the context is correct, sometimes simplicity is all that’s needed to make a strong image.
As my tutors report can be found on my blog, I won’t repeat what has already been written, but will however, reflect on some of these points further and mention topics that have not been included that I believe to be important for my development.
Overall, I’m very happy with the feedback I received and felt my tutor appreciated my efforts in regards to approaching and photographing strangers – a task I was genuinely nervous about. He did mention that the series seemed “a bit snapshot in places” and I appreciate and fully understand where he is coming from in regards to this comment. By including the castle in the portraits’, they could be mistaken for a photograph a tourist would take of a friend, or family member, for example. However, as the castle was an important factor within the images, to help with the overall theme of the series – ‘tourists’ – I’m not entirely sure how I could have made the portraits’, less like snapshots.
We discussed ‘terms’ used to describe certain groups of people – in this instance ‘foreigner’s’ and ‘tourists’ – and how, as photographers, we need to be careful with the terms we use if writing about them. I found this to be an incredibly interesting and helpful discussion, as not only did I appreciate that some people might not like to be called ‘foreigner’s’, as this could have negative connotations of them being ‘invaders’ of some sort, it also made me realise that I could extend my search to those, for example, who may be from different parts of the U.K.
My tutor felt the portrait that worked best within the series, was that depicting the two Korean gentleman. He liked that one was holding a selfie stick, which had strong connotations of a ‘tourist’ and their style of clothing helped reinforce the idea that they were indeed from Korea, meaning the GPS coordinates that I used, may be irrelevant in this instance.
Though, it was agreed that using GPS coordinates was irrelevant and didn’t bring anything extra to the portraits’, we did discuss how these could be used effectively in a photography. It turns out my tutor created a project exploring the theme of disused mine shafts in the U.K. In this instance, he used GPS coordinates to locate these mineshafts, where he then created grid references for a more accurate location.
A topic I wanted to discuss during my feedback session, surrounded an image by Niall McDiarmid, which I discovered when doing research for this assignment. It depicts a women, wearing all orange, working at a stall selling oranges. I wanted to find out if there was a specific term for this photography style, but my tutor wasn’t sure. However, he mentioned that when you photograph someone in their working environment, it’s called an ‘environmental portrait’. This was a term I had never heard of before, but is something I will do further research in to.
We also had an interesting discussion about the value an image has to the photographer. For example, are they creating images because that subject will benefit them financially, or, are they doing it to generate social awareness about that subject?
For this exercise, I wanted to explore the theme of ‘imagination and self-interpretation’, specifically in children. Being a father myself, I find it a joy to see my little ones playing ‘make believe’, where new worlds, character’s and languages are invented every day. Though, as adults, we still have that ability to be ‘child like’, we choose when to do so carefully as it’s not considered the correct way to act and there is certainly a social stigma attached to immature behaviour in grown-ups. As well as this, a child’s ability to give fictional examples to the simplest of things comes naturally to them, where, as adults, we tend to give more literal descriptions when explaining the exact same thing.
Using my daughter, Mia, as the subject for my typology portraits, I took various shots of her wearing six different costumes that her favourite characters’ from a variety of films wear. For each costume, I asked her to portray how she thinks that particular character should. The results were interesting to say the least and where some of the actions did portray the character in question, for example, the swirling of the magic wand for Hermione Granger, others certainly did not. It is obviously hard to say if these false actions were ones she did in fact associate with the person she was acting out, or, if she was playing up in front of the camera, so to speak.
Water Towers 1972?2009 Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher 1931-2007, 1934-2015 Purchased with funds provided by Tate International Council, the Photography Acquisitions Committee, Tate Members and Tate Patrons 2015 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P81238
They say never to work with animals and / or children, so, to make the process easier for myself the photographic set up was incredibly simple. As I wanted the viewer to be immediately drawn to Mia’s actions, emotions and the costumes she was wearing, I didn’t want the background to be over-elaborate. Through researching typology, I noticed that regardless of the subject being photographed, the framing and placement of these subjects are mostly always the same throughout the set. To ensure my images followed trend, there were a couple of things I did. Firstly, I made a mark for Mia to stand on and told her to stay on it as best she could. Secondly, I placed my camera on a tripod and effectively set the frame around her. Did it work? To a certain extent. I think the creative mind of a five year old won the day and this is evident in my final selection. However, I actually think it works incredibly well and reinforces what the images were meant to represent.
Iain Barbour - BA (Hons) Photography 