Alec Soth Research

Alec Soth is a is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Soth makes "large-scale American projects", mostly based in the midwestern United States. His photography has a cinematic feel with elements hinting a story behind the image. He has published over twenty-five books including Sleeping by the Mississippi, Niagara and Songbook. Alec Soth has had over fifty solo exhibitions including survey shows organized by Jeu de Paume in Paris and Media Space in London. He has received many fellowships and awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013. In 2008, Soth created his own business - Little Brown Mushroom. This is a multi-media enterprise focused on visual storytelling.

This image is from Soth's ' Sleeping by the Mississippi' collection. I like how the whole of this image is red, apart from the woman herself who is dressed in blue and white. The solemn look on her face makes her appear lonely and disheartened. We can assert from the hearts on the wall and the red banner on the window that says 'day' that it is valentines day. This could possibly be the reason why the woman looks so alone. 

This is an image from the 'Songbook' collection. It is intriguing that this image is in black and white as the model appears to be fun and high-spirited. Most images that show the model with this kind of emotion would be in colour to add to the fun and lively elements. However, I like that this image is in black and white as it allows you to solely focus on the model and take in her expression of happiness. As she is wearing a cheerleading costume, when you see her expression you can tell that she is doing something she loves.

This image is from the 'Dog Days, Bogota' series. I find this image to be very captivating as it is so unique. Whilst the image has quite muted and dull colours, the assortment of toys that are hanging from the wall make the image seem strange and makes you wonder why they are hung in this way. The person in the image appears to be sat on a bed with a large pile of blankets next to her. It seems to be the persons bed, which adds to the uniqueness of the image as it means that Alec Soth would have been invited into the persons house to take the image.

Portraiture Part II - Straight Image

Portraiture Part II - Contact Sheet

Portraiture Part II - Work Diary

Today we continued to focus on portraiture photography, but during this lesson we took location photographs. We were tasked with taking photographs with a shallow depth of field. Whilst I liked taking location portraitures, I found it difficult to take images with a very shallow depth of field and used a blur tool in photoshop to create this effect.

I like this picture as I really like the lighting that is coming through the windows, and I like how she is more in focus than the background. I also like that the colours are all complimentary and of the same theme, as the door and her coat are different shades of green.

I didn't like this image as I feel that it isn't a good example of portraiture, as it does not have her face in the picture. Although, I do like how she is almost a silhouette as the light is coming from in front of her.

Progression

If I were to do this shoot again, I would try harder to get a narrower depth of field in my images, as I feel that my technique was the reason I did not manage to get this. I would position the people in my photographs further from the background so that it would be easier to focus on one thing.

Portraiture - Straight Image

Portraiture - Contact Sheet

Portraiture - Work Diary

In today's lesson, we focussed on portraiture photography. We started the lesson by researching different portraiture photographers, learning the different styles that have been used. Then, we worked in the studio on two different backdrops - one to take pictures from the shoulders and above, and one from a mid-shot.

I liked this image that I took as it was completely natural and could portray a mixture of emotions. The way her hands cover her face could show shock/surprise, but you can tell from her eyes that she is smiling and so she also appears to be laughing.

Whilst I do like this image, I do not like that it is posed. When shooting and researching portraiture, I discovered I prefer images that seem natural and show true emotions, rather than posed images. This is why I have included this image as the one I do not like.

Progression

If I am to shoot portraiture again, I would take close up images of faces in order to capture smaller details. I would also try and get more natural images of people, and a wider variety of facial expressions/moods. 

Portraiture - Image Bank

I like this image as I like how the focus seems to be on the model's eyes. This is because of how bright they appear in contrast with her skin, and because of how long her eyelashes are. I also like how her freckles make the features of her face - for example, her eyebrows - appear darker.

This image is very intriguing as it uses selective colouring and props to make it appear as though the model is painting the colour onto his face. I like how, as the only colour is his skin, it is not a vibrant colour. But, it still pops in contrast to the rest of the monochrome image.

I like this image as the model, Twiggy, has used her facial expression to display shock. Twiggy's eye make-up is iconic and her trademark, so I like how it has been kept the same for this image. I also like how the background is the same colour as her skin in this black and white image, so that her hair and jumper contrast against this.  Also, the paleness of her skin makes her eye-makeup seem darker.

I like how, although the model is using a deadpan facial expression, it is still an eye catching image because of her intricate and detailed headpiece. The use of her deadpan expression brings more attention to the headpiece, as if the model was pulling a face then it may take the focus away from this, and there may have been too many details in the image.

I like how this image is so close up to the model's face, as the details are much more in focus and the smaller details are easier to see. I also like how bright the girl's eyes are, as this makes them the subject of the image. They also compliment the ginger hair well as orange and blue are complimentary colours, making the colours of the image pop.

I like how this image has used surrealism to create a portrait, as although the model is covering her mouth the image has been edited so that there mouth is in the correct place, but on her hand. The lips pop in this image as they are the only colour, which instantly draws your attention to them. I like how this is a very stripped back image - the model has no clothes, make up and her hair is up.

Portraiture - Definiton

Portraiture: portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people, often focussed on the face, that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. 

Examples of portraiture:

Hannes Caspar

Claire Quiqley

Sebastien Del Grosso

Irving Penn

Joiners - Straight Image

Joiners - Contact Sheet

Joiners - Work Diary

In today's session, we look into the photographic technique of 'joiners'. This is where you take multiple pictures of an object, person or landscape and layer them on top of one another to create one whole image. This makes the image seem strange and choppy, giving it a nice effect. I really enjoyed this as it allowed me to play around with Photoshop and create an image I really liked. I took pictures both in the studio and outside, and created both full body shots and close ups.

This was my favourite image of the day. I like how, although I have successfully created a full body image using multiple pictures, it still seems slightly incomplete. I also like how the different layers are completely distinguishable due to different angles and lighting.

I did not like this image as much as I did the other two I created. This is because you cannot see the different layers and detail very well in the image. If it weren't for the edges of the photograph, this would seem quite normal and wouldn't look much different from a regular image.

Progression

If I were to shoot joiners again, I would take images of objects and of landscapes as today I purely focussed on portraiture. I feel that doing this would allow me to broaden my skills and allow me to find the image subject that I find easiest to edit and also which one I enjoy editing the most. I would also take more pictures of the subject, as with these shoots I stuck to around 15 images. Taking lots of little pictures will allow me to manipulate and experiment with the image better.

Joiners - Image Bank

I like how this image is not so conventional compared to other joiner images, as the images have all been placed at different angles in order for them to match up. It is clear that these are printed images that have been layered by hand as none match up perfectly and there are lots of missing gaps. 

I like this image for the same reasons as the previous. Both images were taken by David Hockney, which is why they are of the same style. I really enjoy his work as I like how he doesn't use all of the space on his work surface and therefore none of his images are ever the same shape. I also like how he chooses a background colour that compliments the colours in the image.

This is similar to the style of David Hockney in the way that the photographer hasn't used all of the space so that their image shape is unique, but it is different as it has been created using Photoshop. I quite like this as it gives the image a cleaner effect and it also allows the images to be lined up better.

This appears to be by the same photographer as the previous image as they are very similar styles. I like how this one uses quite dull, desaturated tones as it goes very well with the black background. This also makes the white/lighter tones in the image appear brighter, contrasting against the darker tones.

 I like how this image is very unconventional, and how the joiner technique has been used to create an effect of surrealism. Not only has the photographer manipulated the photographs to have to necks on the guitar, but it has also been edited so that the necks are curved. This makes the image stand out against others as it it completely different to how it would originally look.

I like how this image uses the whole space in order to create the photograph as it makes it appear as one large image on its own, rather than multiple smaller images layered together. But, you know that it is a joiner due to the different tones of the image. This is due to the different levels of light in the day. Also, I like how the clouds in the sky appear messy against the rest of the image as it makes the sky in the image pop.

Joiners - Definition

Joiners: this is a photographic technique in which one picture is assembled from several overlapping photographs. This can be done manually with prints or by using digital image editing software. It is similar to a mosaic. David Hockney is a popular photographer to look at when studying joiner photography.

Below are a few example pictures by David Hockney.

Depth - Straight Image

Shallow depth of field.

Wide depth of field.

Shallow depth of field.

Shallow depth of field.

Wide depth of field.