Photography unit 57 LO3

8-12 photos.
Brief 5, self-made brief. My chosen brief produce fine art portraiture.
Ideas generation:
Some work by two portrait photographers who have inspired my own
work:
These fine art portrait artists have inspired my work because they offer many
distinct ways in which black and white photography can capture a
personality the images are each distinct and yet very much the flavour
of their creators wider work.
David Baileys studio portraiture:

These studio shoot pictures use subtle asymetry as well as negative space to
draw attention to their subjetcs. Due to the use of a fine grain, low ASA film,
there is a good tonal range, and everything in frame is in sharp focus. The
directional lighting on each picture is exceptional, but creates a feeling of
artificiality.
David Baileys location portraiture:

These location photographs have a spontanious feeling, with natural lighting and
taken on a high ASA film. Compared to his studio photography, the grain is large
and the images have punchier contrast, with a less broad tonal range. A nice

aestetic is produced, but a feeling of amaturism is unshakable. Also, the

cluttered negative space removes focus from the subject.
Peter Hapaks portraiture:

These portraits each make greate use of positive and negative space. Each
subject is placed exaclty in the middle of the frame, but looking slightly to one
side, so that the image isnt perfectly symetical.
The lighting compliments each of the subjects, and creates a shine on their
faces, but witout being directional or feeling harshe.
However, a decision seems to have been made for none of the subject to be
smiling they seem to be intrernally reflecting, but this also creates a sense in
the viewer of distance and coldness.
Mindmap:

Outline of my idea:

My idea is to create a themed photoset of fine art portraits, using black and
white 35mm film and darkroom techniques.
The piece will depict a diverse range of students from The Henley College, and
consist of two contrasting types of portraiture.
On the one hand, I will photograph each of my subjects in the studio, and create
a very professional looking image of each of them. I will use a complex lighting
set up utilising flash, with a plane white backdrop, and each of my subjects will
be dressed in formal attire.
On the other hand, I will photograph each subject in their own houses, in
documentary style images. These pictures will have naturalistic lighting, and
show the subjects and their houses as they really are, without any artificiality.
For the studio part of my shoot, I will use a low ASA film, with a fine grain, for a
high quality look. I will also pull-process it. This process includes shooting a stop
or two over-exposed, but adjusting development time to compensate for this.
The result of this will be a fine grained image with low contrast but a very broad
tonal range. The use of low ASA film requires very good lighting, which I will have
available to me in the studio.
For my location images, I will use a higher ASA film, suited to images in natural
light which isnt as bright as studio lights. Higher ASA film also, in comparison,
has larger grain structure and punchier contrast. To accentuate the qualities of
the high ASA film, I will push-process it. This process includes shooting a stop or
two underexposed, and lengthening development time to compensate for this.
Context: My photographs would be produced for a fashion magazine. A fine art
piece showcasing the styles adopted by 21 st century teenagers, shown through a
20th century medium, and contrasting how they come across in two different
settings.
Potential constraints:
There are a number of constraints that will affect my ability to create images to
the quality and specification that I have planned. There are internal and external
factors contributing to this. External factors include the availability of things I
need equipment and studio time, as well as my models.
Time constraints (only having one week in which to shoot) affect how ambitious I
can be. I must limit myself to what can be realistically achieved in one afternoon,
which is the only afternoon that week in which all of my models are available.
Equipment should be a relatively easy external constraint to deal with I own a
film based camera and a tripod of my own, and the colleges studios are very
well kitted out with additional equipment (such as lights) that I can get
assistance operating should I need to.
One internal constraint however is unavoidable and could potentially have a big
impact, and this is my lack of experience. I have never run a photoshoot before,
pre-planned for one or organised people on the day. On top of this, I have only
shot using film once before this project. Though my project is ambitious, I feel
that my plan strikes a suitable balance between complexity and my lack of prior
knowledge and experience to some extent I will learn as I go.

Feedback:
I sent out a survey to some of my peers at college, asking them about their
opinions on portrait photography, and running past them some of the specific
elements on my shoot.
When asked about facial expressions in portrait photography, the majority of
those I surveyed said they thought a gentle smile is the most appropriate and
effective for capturing a personality. The rest all said that a totally relaxed,
resting face is most appropriate. For my shoot, I will generally allow my models
to pose in whichever way they are most comfortable with, or default to, as their
comfort will result in the most honest portrayal of their personality. For
uniformity, however, I will give my models specific instructions if required, asking
them to slime gently in the way my survey said is best.
When asked about the backgrounds of portrait photography, weather blank or
cluttered, the vote was split. While a small proportion preferred a blank white
backdrop, the vast majority voted that they are both good, or that it really
doesnt matter, that the context and intentions of the shoot should determine
this. This fits with my plans for my shoot, as I plan to use them both, and use
them each for contexts they are most suited to.
When asked if subjects should be standing or sitting, the unanimous answer was
that this is inconsequential. As with backdrop, I will be using both, to contrast
this seemingly small difference.
When asked if black and white photography is suited to portraiture, the
unanimous answer was that it does, and that I should indeed continue with my
plan to do it this way. Another unanimous answer was that all those I surveyed
do like the aesthetic of grungy photography, with a high contrast and large
grain size. They think its cool so that is what I will aim for when shooting and
developing my location photographs.
Developing my plan:
After taking into consideration the feedback of my peers, and the constraints
that I am under, I have decided to develop my plan, making some changed to
make it more achievable, without heavy compromise.
The plan I made originally included traveling to each of my models individual
houses, in order to document the way they live their lives. This is extremely
impractical when taking into account the time constraints of my project, with
only a single week in which to shoot. Instead, I will photograph each model at a
different location the Rotherfield campus of college. This will allow me to shoot
all of the photographs that I need to take within a single day. This also helps with
the constraint of availability of models, as I can gather all of them together for a
single afternoon, and be done with them all after that. This makes my shoot a lot
less logistically challenging.
Another simplification is the removal of formal attire. This is partially because of
the decision to take all of my photos in a single afternoon, in quick succession
(all of my models having to get changed would slow things down a great deal)
but also because I feel that this is unnecessary. Enough contrast will be present

between the controlled environment of the studio and the locations, I do not feel
that formal attire will add anything to the studio shoot.
Last of all, I have decided not to pull-process my lower ASA film. This is partially
because I do not have time to perform a test shoot of this, to look over the result.
I only have time for one test shoot, and I have decided to favour the push
processing than the pulling. Again, I feel this is an unnecessary addition, to a
photoset already set to exhibit contrast between its two styles.
Health and Safety considerations:

Shoot Plan: add lens bit

When: Wednesday 23rd November

Where: College photography studio, and locations around the Rotherfield
campus at college.
What: Fine art portraiture
Why: To compare more improvised off-the-cuff location portraiture with
studio portraiture, and to see how what different personality traits the
mediums bring out in the subjects.
Who: Students at Henley college, a diverse range of personality, with a
variety of gender and race. Sam Turnbull, Linus Rickett, Michael OHallarn,
and Apoorva Sriram as well as myself.
How: One studio shoot with all subjects, using FP4 125 film that will be
pull processed, and small location shoots with the subjects individually,
using FP5 400 film that will be push processed.
Equipment list: My camera, my tripod, studio lights.
Additional: I will be shooting on as long a lens as I can, within the
constraint of the studio which prevents me from getting to fair away, and
within the capability of my kit lens, and to get a good framing. I will avoid
using any wide focal lengths, remaining on prime, or longer. **

Sketch of rough framing, etc.

Studio lighting plan:

Contingency plan:
As a contingency, I have booked a second studio slot in another, smaller studio. I
will only need to use this other slot if the shoot does not or cannot go ahead in
the slot I have booked in the main studio.

If my main plan falls through, I can swiftly re-organise the shoot in the secondary
slot, with a different set of models. I have asked a large number of people to
participate, many turned down the main slot simply because they couldnt make
it at the specified time. I have made sure however that the second slot is at a
time which these people are free, and I have pre-warned them that there is a
chance they will be called upon.
On top of this, I will try to acquire both film stocks well in advance of my shoot,
so that I know for sure that I have them both. However, if I cannot, I will have to
complete both the location and studio parts of my shoot on a single film stock. If
this happens, I have the option to push + pull process the rolls to make them
look like different films, or to abandon the idea of contrasting grain size between
the two elements of my photoset. I feel that the two environments and
approaches are different enough to speak for themselves, and the use of two
stocks while beneficial is not integral to this.
Budget:

Equipment hire:
Transport: Nill.
Materials: 1 roll of FP4 125 and 1 roll of FP5 400 (to push process). 3.80
per roll of film. Total of 7.60.
My time: 600 for one days photography.