Mapplethorpe - ideas for Assignment One

I know that it is a while away yet but I'm starting to think how I might approach my first assignment. This is all about creating between five and eight different portraits differing in type and style and each from a separate photographic session. Since the subject has to be the same person for all the images, I shall need to think carefully who that lucky person will be..

Came across this interesting take on photographing the human physique while reading 'Face The new photographic portrait' by William A. Ewing with Natalie Herschdorfer...(p225)

Robert Mapplethorpe  1980   Alisdair Butler

I really like this image - simple and complex at the same time - the sculptural aspect beautifully brought out by the lighting. I would love to know how Mapplethorpe how 'took' the image and the processes he used to achieve this amazing result. 

Wonder whether there might be some mileage in exploring a 'sculptural' approach ? Not sure exactly what I mean here ...more thinking around this to be done....

That said, black and white photography, let alone portraiture, is a real challenge for me and an area where I definitely need to improve my skills - at the moment very little of what I produce really seems to work...so need to crack on here, reading and experimenting ..

Exercise An active portrait

How about geocaching?

I like geocaching as it combines walking with the challenge of finding a hidden 'geocache' using GPS. I'm not alone either as geocaching has become a worldwide activity - often described as outdoor treasure hunting for the digital generation.Typical 'geocaches' are small waterproof containers containing a logbook for geocachers to record the date they found the cache and sign with their established code name. Then the cache has to be replaced exactly where found. Some boxes contain items for trading, usually small toys or trinkets of little value. 

So casting around for an interesting activity, though at the risk of coming over as somewhat of a 'geek', I thought our next local geocaching outing might provide an opportunity to capture an active portrait. And P720 is the result ....

P720: f2.8 @ 1/320  40mm  ISO 100

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Exercise Thinking about location...

My starting point here was to find six very different but effective locations suitable for a whole body or torso portrait starting at Gunwharf Quay in Portsmouth. Then it was a question of considering which one might work the best ...

 

P713: f3.5 @ 1/1250  18mm  ISO 100

P714: f7.1 @ 1/640   70mm ISO 800

This shot of the Butter Cross in Chichester was taken some time ago but I wanted to revisit it thinking it might well serve as a good location if a challenging one due to  being a popular spot for meeting people,taking the weight of your feet or as an artistic venue for local artists.

P715: f5.6 @ 1/400  31mm  ISO 100

Thought this railway bridge had some possibilities for both whole body or torso but decided positioning my portrait subject would need very careful thought to make the patterned texture of the  bridge work for rather than against the subject.

P716: f5.6 @ 1/60  43mm  ISO 100

P717: f5.6  @ 1/100   22mm  ISO100 

Originally thought at the time of taking this image of a playground slide that it might offer some interesting angles / stance for the subject but back home, it struck me that the very bright colours might distract the eye unless the portrait is a close up. Does offer the possibility of a 'frame' for the subject though.

Then walking back home I spotted the opening of an alley to the back of a disused cinema and it just felt right for this portrait..why? P718 presents an interesting but less complicated backdrop which might give a slightly 'edgy' feel perhaps...

P718: F4 @ 1/80  22mm  ISO 100 WB Shade

  

P719: f5.6 @ 1/25  26mm ISO 100

Not surprisingly I took many images from different angles- whole body and torso.I eventually opted for this shot as I like the close up directness set off by the backdrop...

John Lyndon etc..

Can't look at any magazine now without looking closely at pictures of people. Really liked this portrait of John Lyndon by Robert Wilson which appeared in the Times Magazine on 25 October 2014. It illustrated ' John Lyndon at 58',an article by Deborah Ross triggered by the publication of Lyndon's autobiography, 'Anger is an Energy: My Life  Uncensored' published this year by Simon and Schuster.

It reminded me a little of Jane Bown's famous black and white image of Seamus Heaney emerging from a dark passage way...I guess it's something do with the direct pose and beautifully captured 'lived in ' face..

Exercise: Portrait - scale and setting

A pragmatic choice for this first exercise all about composition and the weight of attention to place on the face of your subject.

I opted for an outside setting i.e. our garden. Two reasons - firstly I wanted to try out a new 'pancake' lens so reckoned that I'd be taking quite a few images- this plus the limited time available as far as my 'model' was concerned suggested a setting close by was the most practical option. A walk round had already suggested a few settings within the garden bearing in mind I wanted to complete four scales of portrait in one session i.e. 

• Face, cropped in close
• Head and shoulders
• Torso, taking into account arms and hands
• Full figure

P708 : f6.3 @ 1/50  128mm  ISO 100 AWB

                                                        

P709 : f 5.6 @ 1/60  87mm  ISO AWB

Decided to shoot P709 slightly offsetting the face and shoulders though I'm not sure this position works as well as the two below.
 

P710 : f4 @ 1/80 31mm  ISO 100

 

P111: f4 @ 1/50 26 mm ISO 100

Looking at the first two images, it seems to me that though the eyes are very dark, they draw you in, possibly because the look is very direct i.e.  the subject is looking straight at you. In P710, we stand further back and the eyes still look out in the previous direct way but are less the main draw as there is less detail to see and they seem more balanced by the smile. The pose is becoming more dominant and in itself suggesting a little more about how the subject is feeling. 
In the last image, the full figure,the pose is far more dominant and in this particular image the background intrudes. Though the direct look of the eyes challenge you to look at the figure, the background threatens to pull your look away. Wonder how this would look if the background were more plain or blurred?