Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Portraiture and the Construction of Identity
The images I chose to compare are as follows:
Hilary Swank by Norman Jean Roy, 2005
There is vast differences that are immediately obvious when you view each image. Things like the subjects pose and the colour or lack of it.
Jean Harlow is in a "cute" pose, on a rug on the floor. She is casually leaning on the bear's head, looking frame left. She appears halfway between comfortable and uncomfortable in her facial expression, however she is obviously not grinning or scowling.. All of this combines to give an elegant, soft and feminine like a women was expected to be in the 1920's.
The image of Hilary Swank is vastly different for many reasons. First of all the image is obviously a frozen moment while Hilary is running along the beach. The pose is dynamic and graceful. She is determined in her face, with her eyes set on what's in front of her. This gives the impression of an athlete. A women focused and dedicated on what she wants to achieve.
In technique, the images are again quite different. Obviously one is a colour digital image, while the other is a black and white film negative. The lighting in the photo of Jean is quite soft while the photo of Hilary has a quite harsh light. They are both lit from similar angles, semi-behind the subject, camera right.
The image of Jean could have been an exposure anywhere down to a second while Hilary's image would have had to have been faster than 1/500th of a second to freeze the motion. The aperture used in both is fairly narrow with the out of focus backgrounds.
Both of the images give a sense of who the person is, in the context of the day. Jean is in a very typical "movie star" pose and she also look like the movies stars of the time with the blonde curly hair.
The shot of Hilary is less typical of a movie star, however it is relevant to the character she played in her latest movie of the time, Million Dollar Baby. In this movie she is a boxer, who is training to be the best at boxing. Obviously this would fit in with what the article was saying.
The actresses 'identity' is not displayed in either image. Both depict a facet of their life, be it as a movie star or as a character they have played in a movie. The image of Jean is a typical movie star image. Hilary's image depicts here as a character of one of her movies. Either way the subjects have much more to their life than what is recorded in this fraction of a second.
Jean Harlow by George Hurrell, 1934
Hilary Swank by Norman Jean Roy, 2005There is vast differences that are immediately obvious when you view each image. Things like the subjects pose and the colour or lack of it.
Jean Harlow is in a "cute" pose, on a rug on the floor. She is casually leaning on the bear's head, looking frame left. She appears halfway between comfortable and uncomfortable in her facial expression, however she is obviously not grinning or scowling.. All of this combines to give an elegant, soft and feminine like a women was expected to be in the 1920's.
The image of Hilary Swank is vastly different for many reasons. First of all the image is obviously a frozen moment while Hilary is running along the beach. The pose is dynamic and graceful. She is determined in her face, with her eyes set on what's in front of her. This gives the impression of an athlete. A women focused and dedicated on what she wants to achieve.
In technique, the images are again quite different. Obviously one is a colour digital image, while the other is a black and white film negative. The lighting in the photo of Jean is quite soft while the photo of Hilary has a quite harsh light. They are both lit from similar angles, semi-behind the subject, camera right.
The image of Jean could have been an exposure anywhere down to a second while Hilary's image would have had to have been faster than 1/500th of a second to freeze the motion. The aperture used in both is fairly narrow with the out of focus backgrounds.
Both of the images give a sense of who the person is, in the context of the day. Jean is in a very typical "movie star" pose and she also look like the movies stars of the time with the blonde curly hair.
The shot of Hilary is less typical of a movie star, however it is relevant to the character she played in her latest movie of the time, Million Dollar Baby. In this movie she is a boxer, who is training to be the best at boxing. Obviously this would fit in with what the article was saying.
The actresses 'identity' is not displayed in either image. Both depict a facet of their life, be it as a movie star or as a character they have played in a movie. The image of Jean is a typical movie star image. Hilary's image depicts here as a character of one of her movies. Either way the subjects have much more to their life than what is recorded in this fraction of a second.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
CD Cover
Front is left side
Song is Parade of the Athletes 01 Heroes by DJ Tiesto.. (the first 10 minutes of the whole Parade of the Athletes song)..
Jez
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tintype Photographic Process
The Tintype or Ferrotype is a photographic process derived from the Ambrotype.. a negative was taken but was heavily underxposed and then the negative was placed infront of a black background, making the image appear like a positive. In the Tintype process this black background was a sheet of darkened metal (though suprisingly Tin wasn't used).
This process had advantages because the image was so heavily underexposed, shorter shutter speeds were used meaning stoping action, and capturing a moment were possible where it previously wasn't with other photographic processes. It was also a cheaper process making it accessable to more people.
Because the images were mounted in metal they were more durable and could be sent via post etc. Also, because of their fairly simple printing these pictures were similar to the modern "instant" photo. People would set up stalls at carnivals and give people photos relatively quickly.
Jeremy
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