David Bailey
The first photographer I am focusing on is David Bailey, a fashion and portrait photographer who specialises in photographing models and popular celebrities (such as Johnny Depp, The Rolling Stones, Kate Moss, etc). I find David Bailey's work fascinating as he captures simple portraits however makes them unique and interesting due to the positioning of the models and the clothing they are wearing- I am astounded by how his portraits look so professional yet effortless at the same time. I am also intrigued by Bailey's work as quite a few of his images contain nudity in a tasteful way, this is impressive as nudity can often easily be viewed as vulgar and distasteful rather than a form of art as Bailey has portrayed it. I am highly interested in Bailey's work in particular as his focus is on fashion and editorial shots, which is something I am interested in, therefore I hope to study his images and discover techniques he uses in his images in order to produce my own images in a similar style. In order to investigate David Bailey's work further I will first study images that he has taken, I will then aim to produce images inspired by Bailey's work by experimenting with different lighting, camera settings, locations, etc- alongside experimenting with photoshop techniques. For my own images I will be unable to capture images of models/ celebrities therefore I will experiment with using different people within my images and prepare them (e.g hair, makeup, clothing, etc) before capturing the images in order to make them look as professional and editorial as I possibly can.
The images shown above display that Bailey uses the technique of using a black and white filter on many of his images, this is a simple technique yet works quite well due to the filter ensuring that the background is a solid colour as this draws the attention to the model in the image by eliminating any imperfections in the background that may distract the eye.
Inspired Images
After capturing images, I then took them into photoshop in order to edit them in a style similar to David Bailey. To start with I edited the images by turning them black and white, I also adjusted the image slightly to disguise any imperfections, e.g. cropping where background isn't completely white, turning up the brightness, etc. The images I edited in this style are shown below.
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Henri Cartier-Bresson
Comparing and Contrasting Photographers
The two photographers I have chosen to compare and contrast are Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon, the images I have chosen to describe are shown below.
Both of the photographers I have chosen specialise in portraiture photography, however they have different approaches to the way in which they compose their images. From the image on the left it is clear that Henri Cartier-Bresson’s images are composed in a more natural sense as there appears to be little arrangement within the image, this makes the photograph look busy therefore showing that Cartier-Bresson has captured the image as the situation was occuring; this adds a story to the image and as a result makes the image more intriguing. On the other hand, Richard Avedon appears to spend a lot of time composing his images (as shown in the image on the right)- this is evident as the models are posing in a specific way and are interacting with each other, whereas in Cartier-Bresson’s image the models are not all interacting with each other- adding to the realism of the image. The way in which Avedon has composed his image is effective as it makes the image look editorial and professional. Although both photographers capture portrait photography, it is clear from the composition of their images that Cartier-Bresson focuses more on the street photography aspect of portrait photography whereas Avedon’s images show the fashion aspect.
A similarity between both photographers is that they both capture black and white images, as shown in the images. The images also both appear to include a slight grain effect, this is effective as it makes the images look dated due to grain relating more to film photography, the black and white effect also helps this. The dated feel to the images is especially effective for Cartier-Bresson’s image as this adds to the story being told within the image. However, despite the images both being turned to black and white it is clear that the lighting used in the two images differ as Avedon’s image is more illuminated; this means that it is likely that Avedon used a lower aperture number when he captured his image and Cartier-Bresson used a lower aperture number in order to decrease the amount of light able to reach the digital sensor. It is also likely that Avedon used studio lighting to illuminate his image further due to the context of the image. The different lighting used helps to create different moods within the images, for example in Cartier-Bresson’s image the lighting is quite dull- this creates a ‘moody’ feel to the image; on the other hand, the lighting used within Avedon’s image is bright therefore adding a happier feel to the image.
The use of background is effective in both images. Within Henri Cartier-Bresson’s image the background is busy as it consists of a group of children and aeroplanes; this is effective for this image as it adds to the natural feel and conveys that there is a story behind the image. The busy background also suggests that the image did not have much composition behind it, making the image appear more real. On the other hand, the background within Avedon’s image is plain; this is effective for Avedon’s style of photography as it draws attention to the models in the image and shows that they are the main focus.
A similarity between both photographers is that they both capture black and white images, as shown in the images. The images also both appear to include a slight grain effect, this is effective as it makes the images look dated due to grain relating more to film photography, the black and white effect also helps this. The dated feel to the images is especially effective for Cartier-Bresson’s image as this adds to the story being told within the image. However, despite the images both being turned to black and white it is clear that the lighting used in the two images differ as Avedon’s image is more illuminated; this means that it is likely that Avedon used a lower aperture number when he captured his image and Cartier-Bresson used a lower aperture number in order to decrease the amount of light able to reach the digital sensor. It is also likely that Avedon used studio lighting to illuminate his image further due to the context of the image. The different lighting used helps to create different moods within the images, for example in Cartier-Bresson’s image the lighting is quite dull- this creates a ‘moody’ feel to the image; on the other hand, the lighting used within Avedon’s image is bright therefore adding a happier feel to the image.
The use of background is effective in both images. Within Henri Cartier-Bresson’s image the background is busy as it consists of a group of children and aeroplanes; this is effective for this image as it adds to the natural feel and conveys that there is a story behind the image. The busy background also suggests that the image did not have much composition behind it, making the image appear more real. On the other hand, the background within Avedon’s image is plain; this is effective for Avedon’s style of photography as it draws attention to the models in the image and shows that they are the main focus.
The images above show more of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work. After researching a collect of his images, it is clear that he specialises in street photography, street photography features unmediated chance encounters within public places (‘candid photography’). In his work, Cartier-Bresson uses techniques such as zone focusing and hyperfocal distance, this allows him to focus on specific subjects that he finds to be the most interesting whereas auto-focus would chose the subjects for him. The hyperfocal distance technique allows the whole image to be sharp, including the detail in the background- this makes the image more interesting as there is more depth and meaning added to it. On top of this, Cartier-Bresson may have used waist-level finders and articulating screens as this is common within street photography; this allows the photographer to be subtle whilst taking the images in order to prevent any unwanted attention and unnecessary aggression from the public.
Contrasting from Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work, the images shown above were taken by Richard Avedon. Where Cartier-Bresson specialises in the more candid side of portrait photography, Avedon’s work shows that he focuses on fashion/ editorial photography, this type of photography focuses on the people featured in the image and the way they are presented (e.g. the clothes they are wearing) and is often used for advertisements and magazines. One technique Avedon uses for his images is finding appropriate models- for fashion photography this means finding models who are confident and know how to pose to make the image look as good as possible. Another technique Avedon uses is capturing all of his images within a studio- this allows him to have a blank background, drawing attention to the model. A studio setting also allows Avedon to achieve the best lighting as he would be able to use extra setup such as studio lighting, ensuring that the image looks as professional as possible.