MIDTERM SHOWCASE : CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITURE : INDECISIVE MOMENT : FINALS SHOWCASE
 Nancy Burson: Warhead (55% Reagan, 45% Brezhnev, less than 1% each of Thatcher, Mitterand, and Deng), 1982 |
Your assignment is to create a series of 5 portraits that consider portraiture in a creative, original manner. Your images should show an understanding of the conventions of portraiture by using them or breaking them in the quest for originality. Your series should not be purely aesthetic in nature, but should be bound by an underlying idea or concept. Example Artists: Loretta Lux, David Hilliard, Pinar Yolacan, Helen Van Meene, Nancy Burson, Jake Rowland, Yasuma Morimora, Jason Salavon
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With this set of images, my goal was to rediscover the roots of portraiture by simplifying it to a level where the subject was not lost in the background. More specifically, I wanted to analyze the power of light in creating an image because I feel it is an element that is often overlooked. Light not only gives us detail, but it also gives us shadows, which are equally as important. |
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When I began this assignment I realized a portrait of someone is a very powerful image. It not only gives an in-depth representation of someone but it tells a story; a story the artist is telling. This past Friday my dog, a three-year-old Shar Pei, named Lexi, arrived at my house in Geneva. Now, everywhere I go Lexi is sure to follow. I knew for my first portraiture I wanted a line lens look at beautiful Seneca Lake on a sunny day. Lexi and I went down to the docks and snapped off many different photographs with differing arrangements. When I began canvassing on Photoshop I came across a layout that put the lake on display. I enjoyed looking at the vast lake in the middle, book-cased by Lexi and I staring off into the blue water. |
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In my opinion, I think that people, mostly young adults, have come to define themselves not just through their personality, but also through what type of music they listen to. In my project, I wanted to show different genres of music and how people act while they listen; however, in the pictures, the listeners’ iPod dominate the photo, covering the listeners’ faces. I think this shows the idea that music has come to define the listener, so much so that their face doesn’t carry as much meaning. I wanted the music to be the main focus, so I decided to keep the background very simple (almost unnoticeable that there was a drape in the background), as well as keep the listeners’ clothing very simple. I wanted to break some of the traditional conventions of portraiture, by using horizontal framing, rule of thirds, dramatic lighting, and most of all, covering the subjects’ face. |
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It was a half an hour before the contemporary portraiture project was due and I was watching Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks. He says in the beginning that “Mama always says you could tell lots about a person by their shoes…” and then it hit me. I would photograph people’s shoes in order to give the viewer an idea as to the personality of the person wearing them. By using the same uniform background I make the viewer examine the shoes more closely, and thus the subject being photographed. |
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Meet Beatrice “Bibi” and Desmond Carson. They have been my point of interest for the past three months; I babysit them from 3-5 every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. These children have kept me sufficiently entertained, and continue to surprise me with their misplaced sense of adult maturity. Bibi has the beauty and elegance of a Victorian lady, and Desmond casts a devastatingly handsome glare that makes you wonder what he has experienced in his three years of life. |
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As I played around with the idea of portraiture, I stumbled upon the idea of conforming. As people grow up in a world jam packed of many different beliefs and ideas, some may lose their way, like the three pictured. Being an individual in a world of mayhem is hard; some make it through safely, while others get stuck and are unable to find themselves. Being an original individual takes time, many days of trial and error. It may not be known to some that everyone is going through similar experiences that all lead to an original individual, but many are trapped. The sequence of these pictures is to represent the individual trapped within the so-called ideals of society. But one of course escapes the ideals and finds her original individual path. |
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There exists an unexplainable yet undeniable relationship between a pianist and a piano. I suppose this is the case for all artists and their accompanying means of expression ñ perhaps studies for another time. As a pianist I am not entirely convinced that the relationship, if for no other reason than its rare intimacy, should be disclosed to the outside world. Though since we are all artists in one form or another, and since it may be more apparent to observers than I am willing to accept, I present to you my unforgiving and unconcealed relationship with the piano. This series is of a familiar scene to HWS art students. The Steinway in Houghtonís living room has witnessed many an art opening, faculty meeting, drawing lesson, and Chinese Painting lecture, as have I. It has been subjected to the able hands of many an accomplished pianist, and many a curious child. In my three years at HWS this became my piano of choice for late night performances ñ working tirelessly through new pieces, or strolling mindlessly through familiar ones. I have seen this piano in many lights, over many seasons, and in many moods. This collection was taken over the last 6 months, showing the piano in differing lighting conditions, and in differing positions in space and time. |
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For this project I chose not to focus on the person in the portrait as the subject. There are billions of people in the world, and I could have photographed any one of them to complete this project. Instead, I wanted to photograph people who have influenced my life and mean something to me. But of course, a simple photograph, a “traditional portrait,” would not quite do them justice, because it would not differentiate them from anyone else in the world. Each photograph shows the person involved in some activity that I have come to associate them with. |
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For the contemporary portrait project I decided to keep control of the subject and shoot self-portrait shots. I shot all of my portraits in a mirror and remained behind the camera for all the shots. I felt this would add an interesting twist to a typical portrait or even self-portrait because the face remains, for the most part, unseen. The only thing that really changes from image to image is the background as my hands and covered face are relatively the same. When one closely examines the photographs they can see the background reflecting off the mirror and into the lens. The main formal elements that I took advantage of are depth of field, framing, and composition. |
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A Day in the Life of… |
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