Approach this exercise with care and a diligent awareness of health and safety both for yourself and others.

Closely consider the work of the practitioners discussed above, then try to shoot a series of five portraits of subjects who are unaware of the fact they are being photographed. As you’ve seen, there are many ways in which you can go about this, but we can’t stress enough that the objective here is not to offend your subjects or deliberately invade anyone’s privacy. If you don’t have permission to shoot in a privately-owned space, then you should only attempt this work in a public space, where permission to shoot is not necessarily required.

This is a very interesting challenge, which some students will find incredibly difficult. Remember that the creative outcome of the practitioners discussed above has come about through a sustained approach, which is then heavily edited for presentation. You’ll need to shoot many images in order to be able to present five final images that work together as a set.

Think everything through carefully before attempting this exercise as the responsibility for the outcome of the portraits rests entirely with you. If during the course of this exercise you are challenged in any way, be prepared to delete what you have shot. If you can see that you are annoying someone, or making them feel uncomfortable, stop shooting immediately. You’ll be required to operate with a degree of common sense here and not take unnecessary risks. There are ways of completing this exercise without incurring risk, such as shooting the work at a party you’ve been invited to, where all the guests have been invited for a particular celebration.

The reflection about your methodology (your approach to how you have achieved the images in relation to why you chose what you have chosen), will be as important as the final five images, so be prepared to write about how you found the experience (around 500 words) and present your findings via your learning log or blog.

Introduction

I started thinking about this exercise shortly after researching Walker Evans’ series Subways. His work was pioneering in capturing people off guard, but for me the way that it really works is the fact that they are completely unaware of the photographer working. What sets him out from the other practitioners in Part 2 is this stealthy approach. With Parr’s similar series, I suspect that his subjects were not entirely unaware they were being photographed in some cases. As discussed in Project 1 [1], I base this suspicion on the way that Parr shoots, close-up with flash. If the subjects were asleep, they would not be aware, but they could similarly be defensively trying to hide their faces. Japanese culture is one of deferential privacy, particularly on public transport which led me to conclude that some would just be hiding their gaze from Parr. diCorcia’s Heads series has the aesthetic of people being caught unaware through his use of a camera trap. However, diCorcia freely admits that he made himself visible throughout shooting and that people could see what he was doing[2]. They were certainly aware of being photographed as soon as the flash went off. With Tom Wood’s series Looking for Love, again the subjects were aware of his prescence but had gotten so used to him that he effectively became invisible. When Meyerowitz walked the streets of New York with his Leica, he shot people from very close up and in their sightline. Meyerowitz stated that people just didn’t believe that he was interested in them [3]. For me, the only practitioner that achieved complete anonymity was Evans, although people clearly found his attention to be suspicious – they weren’t aware of what he was actually doing.

For this exercise, I was inspired by Evans’ hidden camera. Instead of looking at people, I decided to shoot people who were behind me and outside of my sightline. I wanted to capture people moving behind me, queueing for something or just going about their business completely unaware of my presence. For me, this would be shooting the very unaware, with the added complexity of my also being unaware of the exact composition as the pictures were being made.

The Setup

I thought about which camera to use from my collection and actually determined that my phone would be most suited because of its high resolution, wide angle lens and silent shutter. It also had a sophisticated automatic focus and exposure system that would avoid the need to pre-setting as Evans had do in the 1930s. The phone also had a remote shutter release in the form of its cable headphones, which meant that I could very discreetly take the picture through the seemingly unconnected gesture of adjusting the volume control. The next consideration was how to get the camera to face backwards, which I solved by installing my phone in a modified backpack. Although tricky to fabricate, I managed to get an aperture that the phone camera could view though and disguised in a way that it was hidden from my subjects. The completed rig is shown below:

The images show the makeshift phone holder, remote extension cable for the headphones to connect to and the apertures at the back of the backpack. The left hand aperture was aligned with the camera and the right hand one was a dummy. The badges were added to distract from the apertures themselves.

The rig was challenging to use because of the fact that I could position myself in what felt right relative to the subject but there was always the risk of it being completely off in terms of composition. Even if I was aligned properly, the angle of the backpack to the subject made for some interesting horizons. I also had problems with the phone itself – the cable kept coming out of the socket on the bottom, which meant that I missed many shots that I thought had worked.

The Images

When I reviewed the images that I did get, I was interested to observe how people interact with their environment and each other when they are not obviously observed. To add to my deception, I carried one of my old film cameras (without any film) so that I could pretend to be photographing in the opposite direction to the backpack. In shot One, one of the subjects can be seen looking in my direction – I assume it was the sight of the old camera that drew his attention. It was this sneaky look, coupled with my own subterfuge that led me to make the series about being ‘going unnoticed’

Reflection

In this series, we have a mix of subjects with some single, some couples and a group shot. One each photograph, the subjects are going about their lives completely naturally without any idea that they are being photographed. To that extent, I think the photographs work in terms of The Unaware. As a series, the only anchor is the fact that they are all shot outside in my home town. Unlike Evans’ different subjects in a common environment, my series uses this anchor as well as the fact that they are all unobserved. With Evans’ series, the viewer is challenged to question what the subjects are talking or thinking about. In my series, the questions are more broad, e.g. in Two, the gentleman appears to be strolling through he park with a thoughtful expression on his face, where in Three there is a lively conversation taking place. What is the lone man thinking about as he walks and what are the two people talking about that creates such a lively expression through their gestures? I showed the series to a friend of mine when complete and he immediately pointed out that “he’d seen that person or those people before”. When I reflect on the series, I too see people that I recognise, not because I know them, but because of how familiar their activities are. The family walking through the park is typical of most families I encounter when I spend time there, often with 3 generations out enjoying each other’s company. The climate protestor is a regular sight in town as she sits motionless and disengaged from the people around her. Her demeanour clearly shows her determination to speak for the planet, not its people. Most of Malvern’s residents just walk past her and at first, I wanted to represent her apparent invisibility. However, where she now sits makes it easy to completely avoid walking past her, so there were no opportunities to capture this. Instead, we are left with the idea that she is a lone voice that nobody is seemingly paying attention to. The couple surrounded by plastic containers are part of a familiar group who drink the spring water from the well at the centre of town. As a Spa town, the consuming of the waters has been a fixture for over a century. These people are clearly taking it seriously judging by the number of containers. I loved the irony of their drinking takeaway coffee in preparation for collecting their water.

Overall, I am glad that I took the decision to try something similar to Evans but with that unseeing perspective. It had the same ‘hit or miss’ element to Evans in that I couldn’t guarantee what would be in the frame, but because I wasn’t actually watching my subject I feel there is a complete detachment between us. Yet, the impression that I have of the people of my town is reflected in the images when collected as a series. The main challenges with the exercise were technical, but I guess also my reluctance to put myself in a difficult position also drove me down this path. No doubt I could have shot better photographs technically with one of my proper cameras, but I am pleased with how the mobile phone performed here.

References

[1] Fletcher R, 2021, “2) Project 1 – The Unaware”, OCA Blog Post, https://richardfletcherphotography.photo.blog/2021/05/24/2-project-1-the-unaware/

[2] CIACART, 2018, “Interview. Philip-lorca diCorcia”, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67U-0_wExLA

[3] BBC, 2007, “The Genius of Photography”, Television Documentary, BBC

The Brief

In this exercise, you’ll build on your ‘Background as context’ exercise in Part One by taking the relationship between your subject and their surroundings a step further. The objective here is to try to create a link between the two components of your image, i.e. the subject and their surroundings.Make three different portraits using three different subjects. Prior to shooting your portraits, engage with your subjects and agree three different specific locations which have some relevance or significance to them individually. You’ve already tried to give a particular context to a portrait by considering how the background might link to the subject positioned in the foreground, but now you must go one step further and negotiate a specific physical location where you’ll photograph your subject. This can either be inside or on location, but the key to this portrait is the interaction you’ve had with your subject in identifying a place that has specific meaning for them.

Each portrait should be accompanied by a very short piece of text explaining the choice of location or venue. Don’t be tempted to create a work of complete fiction here; it might make life easier for you, but you’d be missing an opportunity to really engage with your subject and collaborate with them in the image-making process.You have complete freedom to work this out as you feel appropriate; for example, you may choose to theme the narrative behind all three portraits. Think carefully about how these images could work together as a set. For instance, if you plan to shoot outside, try to make sure the lighting conditions/ time of day/weather conditions all work coherently.

Present all three images together as a series​ and reflect upon how successful this exercise was in your learning log or blog. Write around 500 words.

This is my Church

For this exercise, one of the first things that occurred to me was that of comfort or peace. The past year or so has been tough on most people, with the restrictions on social contact and the constant anxiety of potentially catching the virus. When I think about my own situation, I know where I am most at peace. This past few months since leaving my job, I have found this place to be my morning visits to the local park. That realisation led to the series that I shot for Assignment 1 [1], where I sought to reveal something about why people specially visit the place and how it makes them feel. For this series, I decided to continue that theme and ask my subjects to take me to a place where they felt most at peace, for whatever reason. This wasn’t about being able to sleep or relax, but somewhere where they felt calm and balanced. It might be a room in a house, an outdoor space like a garden or somewhere that distracts them from what worries or stresses them. It could be more a state of mind than a physical space, which would potentially present a challenge in representation. The idea of This is My Church was to place the subject in their peaceful place and use the background context to tell the story. This exercise called for the use of a small amount of text to explain the location, which is something I had adopted for Assignment 1. In my feedback, it was suggested that care needed to be taken not to make the text more meaningful than the photograph that it accompanied. I managed that successfully before, but would need to be mindful of it here.

This is My Church

Hazel is at peace in in her literal church. She’s both worshiper and warden, so her connection to the space is both spiritual and functional. Giving something to the community, whilst being in a sacred place gives her a great sense of peace.

Peter is a yoga teacher who has been working from his home studio during the pandemic. When he is not teaching, he is able to achieve peace through creating and practicing new routines for his classes.

Jamie is a 6th form student who uses video gaming to achieve his peace. Games offer a sense of escape, for him, his headphones shutting out any distractions that may invade his space.

Reflection

My original intention for the series was to let the subject define the circumstances in which they achieve peace and how their environment helps create that sense. On each occasion I was struck by how powerful this sense of place was for my subjects. The first image of my mother-in-law was shot when her church was empty. She is a key-holder so this wasn’t a problem. I noticed during our time there that she still went about some of the activities that she would normally do as part of her warden role. In this pose, she is holding a large candle that she told me was actually a fake holder for mini tea light candles because they were more cost effective for the parish. I loved the way this contrasts to the opulence of the alter decoration and the silverware in the photograph. The other element that I think works well is the contrast of Hazel’s petite stature against the large alter which almost belies how crucial she is to the running of the church. In the second shot, Peter’s space is uncluttered simplicity which one would expect for a yoga studio. However, the space is used to broadcast his classes so not shown is the lighting setup he uses. What I like about this shot is that he looks as though he is working but his pose is a typical yoga stretch. This contrast is set off by the natural light that is flooding through the window to the right. With the final image, Jamie described his environment as a ‘typical teenager’s bedroom’, which is clear from the elements in his desk area. Unlike the other shots, I deliberately didn’t suggest stage-management of the background as I wanted it to speak directly to Jamie’s personality. His room is full of references to his growing up, with the added inclusion of his student card hanging on his monitor. I liked the inclusion of the fork along with his pens and pencils, suggesting he likes to snack in his room. Jamie’s pose with the game raging on his computer screen suggest someone for whom escapism is important. When I asked him about when he plays, he replied that it was he wanted to be at his best which sometimes meant playing after a good day but also after a bad one. I like this sense of balance, which I think comes through in the photograph itself.

Overall, the learning from this exercise was how a portrait can evolve from the conversation between photographer and subject. In each case the subject contributed to the inclusion or exclusion of elements that supported their idea of what makes them feel peace. Only in the last shot did I left the placement of the contextual elements as they were because I felt that they were more representative of the subject’s personality than we could probably manufacture between us. I’m really happy with how all three images turned out.

References

[1] Fletcher R, 2021, “Assignment 1 – The non-familiar”, OCA Blog Post, https://richardfletcherphotography.photo.blog/2021/04/11/assignment-one-%E2%80%8Bthe-non-familiar/

“Memories evoked by a photograph do not simply spring out of the image itself, but are generated in a network, an intertext, of discourses that shift between past and present, spectator and image, and between all these and cultural contexts, historical moments”

Kuhn, A.​ Family Secrets: Acts of Memory and Imagination​ (2002) London: Verso. Pg 09.

Look through your own family archive and try to discover a series of portraits (four or five) that have existed within this archive, but have never been placed together before. The portraits can contain individuals or even couples; they may span generations, or just be of the same person throughout the years (chronotype). Whichever way you wish to tackle this exercise, there must be a reason or justification for your choices. What message are you trying to get across about these portraits?

Through doing this exercise, you are physically bringing together portraits that have never been viewed as a series prior to your intervention. Therefore, you need to think really clearly about what your choices are and who you decide to select.

You can either make physical copies of the originals and work with these in your learning log, or re-photograph them digitally (or scan) and post them on your blog. Either way, your thoughts about these portraits will be the key to this exercise. Try to articulate what is happening when you bring these images together for the first time. Apart from the obvious – the subject, perhaps – is there anything else that links the imagery together? The location? Dates? Activities?

Moving back to Annette Kuhn again here, think about any inscriptions that might be made on the imagery, detailing whom these inscriptions might have been for, in terms of perhaps owning the memory evoked by the image. In relation to one of her own family portraits, Kuhn describes a caption written by her mother, stating:

“This power-play was an attempt by her mother to force other memories into line with her own. Her mother was pinning the moment the photograph was taken of her daughter to an event that had happened in her own life. Her mother thus literally ‘writes’ herself into the picture (although not being present in it literally), by trying to claim the right to define the memories evoked by it, she is thus attempting to dictate the memory to the viewer.”

Kuhn, A.​ Family Secrets: Acts of Memory and Imagination​ (2002) London: Verso. Pg 17-18.

 Write 500–800 words reflecting on this exercise and include it in your learning log or blog.

Initial Thougths

My collection of images naturally fell into two types of portraiture; those that were posed and those that were ‘opportunist’. Within these were the sub groups of ‘photographs of one subject’ and ‘group shots’. I was interested in the latter as they revealed a great deal about the interplay between the subjects. In each group shot, there was a clear sense of love, generosity and support that I associate with my family. It goes beyond the simple idea that families are loving environments, instead more to generations providing protection as well as support.

Central Themes

From the initial idea that my family means ‘support, protection and love’ to me, the following central themes started to emerge. The first was that there was usually a subject more important than the others who acted a the focal point for the others in the image. This theme applied to the posed portraits, but also to the more natural shots, where an obvious sign of affection was being seen without interruption. The second theme was more about the common signs of affection in the family. In some cases, the support being given was physical and in others more a small gesture where the obvious size and age differences created the context that supported this particular narrative. The final theme was the familiarity between shots. In the much older photographs taken before I was born, I obviously could have no memory of the events. However, the physical similarities in facial features etc that are strong in my family invoke memories of similar events that I was around for.

The Selection

The Photographs

This photograph shows my family gathers in the 1960s for a celebration of my great grandparents, possibly a wedding anniversary. I chose this photograph because of its composition with the couple seated at a table, surrounded by circles of extended family members. The other connections that stand out personally for me are my grandmother (the only one dressed in light clothing), who was one of the most important people in my life growing up, and my Dad who is the tallest person in the room. When I look at pictures of my Dad when he was younger, I see myself.

Fast forward to the early 1990s when this family portrait was taken. Here we see my mum sitting surrounded by her family. The family resemblance between the men in the picture is obvious, but for me link is stronger with Dad and I through 1). The supportive theme is strong in this image (my mum died only a few years after this was taken) with the family and the our dog all forming a bubble around my mother.

This shot is was taken a couple of years before 2. It’s B&W because by this time my Dad had become a professional photographer and was shooting, developing and printing at home. When I look at this photograph, I first see a happy representation of my mum and sister. However when I look closer, I notice the gestures of both. My sister’s hug is both affectionate and strong, while my mum’s hand is reassuringly placed around back. I know that this shot was taken on a hill walk where everyone was enjoying the outdoors, but when placed out of its original context and into this series, I believe the picture supports the protection narrative.

This photograph is deliberately unlike the rest of the series in that it only has one subject. I wanted to include it here because when in the context of the series, it supports the narrative. The photo is of my grandfather Charles who, like my grandmother was a huge influence over me growing up. To my generation they were particularly generous with their time and what money they had, always providing a wonderful environment for us whenever we visited. This shot though was taken well before I was born and shows my grandad in the kitchen preparing what looks like Christmas dinner. He was a very funny man with a wicked sense of humour, which doesn’t come through in this picture, perhaps because he had not long been part of his new family (he was my step-grandad), or maybe as a result of his continuing troubles with what he saw during his war service.

The final image is again one of my sister, taken on her 40th birthday last year, holding her son Charlie. What struck me about this photograph was the similarities between the way that he is holding on to her and the shot of his mum in 3.

Reflection

As with many exercises in this degree course, taking the time to observe and make connections between images is the key learning for me. My family archive is a mess, it’s too big and has no structure. However, looking through the shots with a theme in mind and recognising the contextual elements that lend themselves to that theme is an interesting and emotional experience.

The Brief

In response to the work of the artists you’ve read about so far, try to create a photographic portraiture typology which attempts to bring together a collection of types. Think carefully about how you wish to classify these images; don’t make the series too literal and obvious.

Once complete, post these portraits on your blog or in your learning log, with a written statement contextualising the work.

Introduction

The brief asks us to consider the artists we have studied so far and their approach to portraiture. The two artists that I was most inspired by in this part were August Sander and Michael Wolf. Sander’s portraits are deceptively simple in their composition, yet they reveal a great deal about the subject through their expression and use of background. In Wolf’s case, his portraits of commuters on the Tokyo subway capture people who are united in their journeys to and from their places or work. Both artists used typology to connect together their portraits in both obvious and subtle ways. Sander was attempting to categorise professions of the people of Germany just as the Nazi party was rising to power. His typologies were factual, but they told a great deal about the social standing of differing professions within society which lent themselves to the fascination with the pseudo-science of physiognomy in the country at the time. While I learned to appreciate how the different elements work together in Sander and Wolf’s portraiture, I didn’t want to simply reproduce the ideas of these two artists for this exercise.

Initial thoughts

Over the past few weeks I have been visiting my local park with my camera with the intent to photograph an elusive kingfisher that visits the lake there. Although that remains a challenge with the bird not putting in an appearance when I am present, I have been noticing a number of other things about the park, its wildlife and the people who visit. The first was that the wildlife has become accustomed to being fed and while not particular tame, the animals are are more readily available to see and photograph. The second was that the same people visit the park every day and how familiar we had become with each other’s presence. In some cases, we engage in conversation and others, a quiet nod to acknowledge each other. I started to think about Assignement 1 at the end of this section, which calls for portraits of people that are unknown to us. These people in the park were indeed unknown to me, but that situation was slowly beginning to change over time. I started to think about the connection between the photographer and the portrait subject. In Sander’s work, the engagement was clear, the subject posing for the shot and looking straight at the photographer. In Wolf’s portraits, the people were being shot often without their knowledge and on occasion, in the cases when they realised they reacted badly. In both, the task of ‘revealing’ the subject was mostly down to the photographer, whether there was a specific typology or not. In the case of Vivian Maier, her street portraiture was shot with little awareness on the part of the subject that a picture was being made. Maier’s use of a TLR camera made this discrete way of shooting invisible to the subject; they simply engaged with the seemingly odd woman standing before them[1]. An example of this can be seen below:

My Typologies

I decided to make my portraits of the people of my local park, but as strangers and from a distance. The intended typology was the fact that they were all interacting with a common space (the park) but were unknown to me or each other. I shot them with the 300mm lens that I was using for the wildlife to create the sense of observation and waited until they were specifically facing away from me to maintain the ‘anonymity’ and ‘stranger’ theme.

The Photographs

Reflection

With these images I wanted to show the common location of the park through the use of the colour green in the frame. Each has a visual reference to this place, but some people are pausing to interact and some are transient, moving through the space. The park is central to a number of walking routes through the town, so I am happy that images Three, Four and Five reveal this about people moving through the space. It’s also hugely popular with dog walkers, so it was important to include the dog in Three to represent this. Finally, like me people stop to interact with nature so to capture the context of feeding the ducks (Two) and the man with the robin (One) was also important.

I feel that the central typology of ‘strangers in the park’ is clear but not necessarily obvious as there are many other potential typologies for the collection, namely the park itself and recreational activity within it. Overall, I’m happy that the set meets the brief.

References

[1] Maloof J & Siskel C, 2013, “Finding Vivian Maier”, Ravine Pictures

[2] Maier V, 1953, “May 1953. New York, NY, by Vivian Maier (VM1953W03398-08-MC)”, Image Resource, vivianmaier.com, http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/street-1/#slide-19

The Brief

Study Sander’s portraits in very close detail, making notes as you go.

Look at how his subjects are positioned in relation to each other or their environment. Are they facing the camera or looking away? What, if any, props does Sander use? Do these props seem relevant or are they strange? What physical stance does the subject adopt?

At this point it might be useful to employ the ‘five element model’ as described by David Bate, which includes:

The Face:​ This can be used to illustrate the feelings of the sitter, given that facial expression can signify a repertoire of different states and moods including happiness, sadness, anger or frustration. It should be noted however that the expressions worn by the face are not necessarily indicative of a fixed state of being.

The Pose: ​Can be described as a visual argument in itself, or a form of rhetoric. The various body language conveyed by a sitter can be read in combination and can connote all kinds of perceived characteristics. Just as the expression of the face is the rhetoric of mood, so the pose contributes to the signification of character, attitude and social position.

The Clothing:​ Can be used to indicate a great deal about a sitter’s social identity and how they relate to that identity in their pose. Uniform’s for instance can not only differentiate a factory worker from a police officer, but can also specifically identify rank and the different regiments within the armed services.

The Prop:​ Can significantly alter the meaning given to the identity of the portrayed figure.

Detail was extremely important to August Sander and the background in his portraits was never left to chance.

Study the backgrounds of Sander’s portraits very closely and reflect upon what you see. Where does the subject sit in relation to the background? If location-based, does the head sit above or below the horizon? Has the background been deliberately blurred through the use of a wider aperture and therefore shorter depth of field? Does the background offer any meaning or context to the portrait?

Make a portrait of someone you know, paying very close attention to what is happening in the background of the shot. Be very particular about how you pose the subject and what you choose to include in the photograph. Ideally, the background should tell the viewer something about the subject being photographed. Reflect upon how successful this project was in your learning log or blog, discussing specifically what your intentions were in terms of the background you chose in your image.

Introduction

For my critique of Sander’s portraits, I have selected the following 3 from his wider project People of the Twentieth Century, shown below:

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Part one of this exercise is to closely examine the portraits for the details contained within the composition. I started by looking at each image in turn and annotating what is immediately apparent, using the five element model as a guide. The yellow annotations are my observations about the man, his clothes and his props and the blue annotations refer to the background and setting.

Photograph 1 ‘The Master Bricklayer’, 1932

Here we have a man pictured at his place of work. The title refers to him being a master bricklayer but it is also obvious from his surroundings that this is his profession. He is standing in front of a stove between the partially completed fireplace structures that he is clearly building. Both side walls of bricks rise up to shoulder height and the man is leaning on one of them as if emphasising that he had created it. The fresh mortar between the bricks is visible, while the background wall and floor show signs of building work taking place with splashes of what we assume to be water. The man is dressed in plain, functional clothes that bear the signs of a physical trade (creased and with the sleeves rolled up). He is holding a brick laying trowel in one hand and a plasterer’s trowel in the other and in front of him is a large square bucket that looks like it has clearly been used for some from of brickwork or plastering in the past. The man’s stance is one of pride but his expression is of someone who looks annoyed at being disturbed. There is a fixed stare and no smile evident on his face. When I look at this picture I see a man who is clearly a skilled craftsman, standing in amongst the fruits of his labours. The way he is posed in front of his work, leaning with a fairly nonchalant stance on one of the brick pillars shows a pride in what he is doing, but his expression is blank, almost as if he is being interrupted. There is an eagerness to return to what he was doing before posing for the photograph. The main puzzle for me is that he is holding two trowels. The one in his left hand is what would be traditionally associated with mortaring bricks while the one on his right hand is more like a plaster’s smoothing trowel. From this, it appears that the man is more generally a builder but that is not the title that Sander gave him. Perhaps when it came to his typologies, Sander wanted to be more specific than general builder as a profession or perhaps the setting for the portrait presented itself before the subject, i.e. he came upon the man laying bricks. Either way it both classifies and unclassified the man’s profession which makes the image more intriguing as an artwork.

Photograph 2 ‘Circus Artist’ 1921

Here we have a woman standing in front of a waggon. The wheel and steps leading into the waggon can be seen in the background, along with two side windows and bodywork that appears to be two different colours. The woman is dressed in loose trousers, an open robe with elaborate under garments and lots of beaded jewellery. Her shoes are smart sandals that look like ballet or dance shoes. Her stance is a relaxed pose, leaning against the side of the waggon with her left hand by her side and her right holding the beads that hang from around her waist. Her expression is one of engagement, as if she wants the photographer to see her in a seductive way. Her slight smile and the way she is standing with her robe open suggests her wanting to invite the photographer into her life in some way. The interesting thing about this image is that we can immediately tell that she is either a gyspy or circus performer of some sort because of her clothes and the waggon in the background. Her specific profession is not that clear, although her outfit, which is provocative for the era, suggests some form of dancer. If we assume that she is a dancer, then her expression makes more sense. As a dancer, she would engage with her audience by facial expression as well as movement so this photograph gives us an insight into her life and therefore her personality. With this photograph though, Sander catagorises her in more general terms than the previous one. As this preceded the previous image by around 11 years, it’s possible that Sander was evolving his project and the nature of his typologies as he was working.

Photograph 3 Lackarbeiter (Varnisher) 1930

Here we have another tradesman posing with the tools of his trade. We are told by the title that he is a varnisher, which again shows Sander’s interest in specific typologies as well as more generalised ones. The skill here is distinguished from that of a carpenter or joiner and the what is contained within the image reflects that. The man is standing in front of an open doorway of a building. The interior of the building is in very dark shadow with no detail visible, but the photographed is framed by the surrounding woodwork and area of outdoor ground that the man is standing on. The man is wearing dirty clothing and an apron that covers most of his torso. His clothes point to a man whose profession involves getting dirty and never really being able to keep anything clean long term. As with the first image, the man’s shirt is functional and has the sleeves rolled up in order, we assume to prevent him getting dirtier than necessary. His long dark trousers are almost entirely obscured but what we can see looks functional as one would expect from someone in the building trade. His shoes are interesting, being wooden clogs with no laces. This type of footwear may have been what was worn on a building site of that era, although curiously the bricklayer was wearing less robust shoes in his photograph just two years later. Perhaps then, this skill was less valuable and therefore the people employed in it were poorer than the builders and bricklayers. This detail challenges us to think about the position of the man in society, which was very much what the German fascination with physiognomy and class was about in the 1930s. The man is holding a single prop, which looks like a paint kettle (presumably filled with varnish). The only other details I noted when looking at this photograph were his relaxed stance and expression, which tells of a man who enjoys his work, as well as the condition of the wooden frame of the doorway. The man’s stare is intense but unlike the bricklayer, he is grinning as if the idea of being photographed amuses him in some way. Perhaps he wasn’t used to the attention in his given profession. Whatever the reason, Sander has captured someone who is engaging the camera in a friendly manner as with the circus artist. The detail in the woodwork reinforces the idea that this man works in decoration as the timber looks as though it needs attention. This minor element for me is part of Sander’s creative use of background to create the context for the photographs without the really obvious use of props. His prop use itself is subtle, but the background for me is what makes his images stand out. When we look at the original image in the brief of the pharmacist, the background is a combination of foliage and plain wall. We could interpret the foliage part to be about the man working with nature, which could connote biology just as easily. When combined with the plain wall, the background takes on a level of beauty, suggesting that the portrait has been shot in a classy area. When we combine the background with the subject himself, we see an older, distinguished-looking gentleman dressed in middle-class attire, which suggests a learned or scholarly professional. If I had seen this image without its title, I would have thought ‘doctor’ or ‘surgeon’ from his dress. The subtle use of background and absence of props means that the role of pharmacist is entirely believable.

Part 2 – My Portrait

Concept

Owing to the current restrictions caused by the COVID pandemic, I decided to shoot a portrait of my wife. This would mean that I didn’t need to work with someone outside of my household during a delicate phase where restrictions were planned to be lifted. The other reason I chose my wife is purely because she has an interesting passion. She is a triathlete who has competed in multiple distances and for the GB age group teams in European and World championships. I planned to use the observations of Sander’s work in this exercise to shoot a typographical portrait of her.

The Photograph

Reflection

The idea for how to shoot this photograph came at an opportune time as Jayne had been asked to provide a picture for a local news article on triathletes who had competed for Team GB. The kind of portrait that the newspaper as after was a simple shot of her in her triathlon suit, smiling at the camera or doing something related to the sport. For my portrait, I wanted to create something that represents her as a triathlete with the background context that would suggest someone who is serious about what is essentially a hobby. I decided to shoot my portrait in a similar style to Sander’s, with her placed almost centrally in the frame and as full-length. As triathlon is a sport consisting of three disciplines with a variety of equipment needed, I was concerned that including too many elements that describe it would be too obvious. Instead, I focused on cycling and wanted to emphasise the competitive side of her personality. Her triathlon suit clearly indicates Team GB and the inclusion of the high-performance bike suggests serious competition. However, the inclusion of the helmet with unrelated race sticker suggests that she competes elsewhere too. I asked Jayne to pose with her ‘race face’ on rather than having some impassive or smiling expression. I selected the location in order to emphasise the ‘racing’ theme; the winding road resembling a track of some sort. The presence of the trees counter this idea but neatly tied in with the weather conditions at the time. We were experiencing very windy weather that had brought down debris from the trees over the past few days. When we shot this photograph, the wind kept blowing her hair across her face. I selected this version of the picture because that effect works with the other elements in the composition to sat that she means business.

On reflection I am happy with the way that the portrait came out. If I take the fact that I know the subject well out of my assessment of the image, I note how she is represented as someone who belongs in the category of ‘athlete’. In this case, the background elements support this notion in a similar way to the circus performer by Sander. My portrait doesn’t show Jayne interacting in any way with her surroundings or the props that are included in the composition. Nevertheless, I think the balance of costume, props and background work well together.

Conclusion

I found this exercise interesting as I hadn’t previously considered how a portrait could use the composition, and in particular, the background to reveal a narrative about a subject. Sander’s work showed that the combining a simple composition with a few contextual elements in the background can result in a powerful ‘representation’ of the subject. His work trying to categorise the German people by professions and social class introduced ideas of how we recognise certain types; the portraits themselves tell what appears at first glance as being the obvious story, but in reality they offer the viewer more to look at. In the case of his master bricklayer, we get a sense of the pride the subject has through both his expression and the inclusion of his work in the background. Both of these elements also suggest that the man is a skilled tradesman, more than the other example included her, the varnisher. In the latter image, the man is far more engaging with the camera but the overall composition gives a sense that this is a less skilled member of society. Both pictures are very similar in composition, but their meanings derived from looking at them are very different.
When it came to shooting my own portrait, I was happy that the result took cues from Sander’s work. I portrayed my wife in a way that doesn’t reveal much about her beyond her passion for competing as an athlete, which was the intention.

References

[1] Unknown, “Identity and Place – Part One: Origins of Photographic Portraiture”, Image Resource, OCA Course Notes.

[2]Koetzle H-M, 2012, “August Sander: A Profile of the People 2002”, Image Resource, American Suburban X Magazine, https://americansuburbx.com/2012/04/theory-august-sander-profile-of-people.html

The Brief

Do some research into historic photographic portraiture.

Select one portrait to really study in depth. Write a maximum of 500 words about this portrait, but don’t merely ‘describe’ what you see. The idea behind this exercise is to encourage you to be more reflective in your written work (see Introduction), which means trying to elaborate upon the feelings and emotions evoked whilst viewing an image, perhaps developing a more imaginative investment for the image.

The portrait can be any of your choice, but try to choose a historic practitioner of note. This will make your research much easier, as the practitioner’s works will have been collected internationally by galleries and museums and written about extensively. Read what has already been written about your chosen practitioner’s archive, paying particular attention to what historians and other academics have highlighted in their texts.

To help with the writing, you might also want to use a model developed by Jo Spence and Rosy Martin in relation to helping dissect the image at a more forensic level, this includes:

The Physical Description:​ Consider the human subject within the photograph, then start with a forensic description, moving towards taking up the position of the sitter. Visualise yourself as the sitter in order to bring out the feelings associated with the photograph.

The Context of Production: C​ onsider the photographs context in terms of when, where, how, by whom and why the photograph was taken.

The Context of Convention: ​Place the photograph into context in terms of the technologies used, aesthetics employed, photographic conventions used.

The Currency:​ Consider the photographs currency within its context of reception, who or what was the photograph made for? Who owns it now and where is it kept? Who saw it then and who sees it now?

Post your thoughts in your learning log or blog.

Introduction

For this exercise, I chose the portrait ‘The Roaring Lion’, by Yousef Karsh in 1941:

The portrait is Karsh’s most famous, that of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. He is dressed in a three-pieced suit with his trademark bow-tie and is seated in what appears a formal office setting, with wood panelling in the background. He is lit by a single light that emphasises his face and although some spills onto his hands and the background, there is little definition of the rest of his figure placed in dark shadow. Churchill’s expression is a direct gaze into the camera with a gruff, grumpy appearance.

At the time Churchill was visiting the cabinet chambers of the parliament of Ottawa, as a guest of the Prime Minister [2]. Karsh had been invited to listen to Churchill speaking but in a opportunistic way, set up his camera and lighting in speaker’s chambers the night before he was introduced to him. When Karsh switched on his continuous studio light it took Churchill by surprise as he hadn’t been told about the portrait. However, he duly sat for it. Karsh asked politely that he remove his trademark cigar, which was refused. Karsh then decided to grab the cigar from him.

“By the time I got back the four feet to my camera, he looked at me so beligerently that he could have devoured me. I clicked and this is the picture”

Yousef Karsh, recreating his most famous picture on 60 Minutes with Morley Safer, c1977 [2]

“You can even make a roaring lion stand still for a photograph”

Sir Winston Churchill to Yousef Karsh after the shoot was finished [2].

This image of Churchill is instantly recognisable, most likely because of the many years of documentary about him that has followed. When it was shot, the war was in its relative infancy, which is almost confirmed by the fact that he was across the Atlantic in Canada to begin with. Karsh’s formal setting provides Churchill with the statesman-like presence, but the use of a large format camera, with its higher degree of separation between in and out of focus areas, means that the background is a texture but not a distraction from the subject. The shallow depth of field also means that his hands are also not the first thing we look at as they too are soft. The single key light used on Churchill’s face draw us into his expression which is one that we now associate with his personalty. Karsh admitted that once this shot was done, Churchill invited him to take another portrait. In that one, we see a more relaxed man whose demeanour is staged for the photographer. The first image is the most famous and now hangs in the same speaker’s chambers. In 2017, Karsh’s portrait was immortalised in the public conscience when it was selected for the new polymer 5 pound note [3]. I believe this to be because of the way that Karsh managed to capture the entire essence of Churchill through one provocative act and the subsequent opening of the shutter.

References

[1] Karsh Y, 1941, ‘The Roaring Lion’, Yousef Karsh.org website, https://karsh.org/overview/#0

[2] Karsh Y, c1977, ’60 Minutes with Morley Safer: Churchill’, Yousef Karsh.org website, https://karsh.org/videos/60-minutes-with-morley-safer-churchill/

[3] Unknown, 2017, ‘£5 Note’, The Bank of England, https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/5-pound-note