Assignment 4 - research (3 )

What can I learn from photographers Arnold Newman and Hannah Starkey ?

I’ve been looking at the work of Arnold Newman (1918-2006) and Hannah Starkey in the context of the work that I am doing for my Assignment 4 project.

Environmental portraiture

Newman is interesting in that he is often credited with being the first photographer to use environmental portraiture. I understand that this is where the photographer places the subject in a carefully controlled setting to capture the essence of the individual’s life and work. You can see from images on the website dedicated to his legacy and work   (www.arnoldnewman.com ) that he normally captured his subjects in their most familiar surroundings and surrounded by visual indications of their professions and personalities. It occurred to me that it might be useful to keep this approach in mind when out and about in Albert Road knowing that I want to capture the feel of all the different businesses that trade there.

Newman used a large format camera and tripod and is probably best known for black and white images though he did work in colour. I like the idea of using surroundings to add to the composition and understanding of the person his earlier work. I also like his earlier work which has a lovely abstract quality – see below:

 

©Arnold Newman:  Ironing Board Cutout  West Palm Beach FL 1941

It was definitely worth checking Newman’s website as I found a fascinating insight into a particular commission for a photo story for an article entitled ‘What Do U.S. Museums Buy? For example, here’s how he conceptualized the possible magazine spread – 

©Arnold Newman

 And below played around with possible poses and setups for the shoot… 

©Arnold Newman

 

Hannah Starkey has also specialised in staged settings too- of women in city environments.The image below is an example, a London café , which is part of the Tate Modern collection  ( see this link from Tate  http://ow.ly/QRF4P ) and was one of the works exhibited in her degree which she called ‘Women watching Women. For these images she advertised for actresses and then photographed them in urban locations in London.

©Hannah Starkey: Untitled - May 1997

Interestingly, unlike Newman, in Starkey’s work the narrative suggested by scenery and accessories are deliberately ambiguous to leave the viewer to imagine what this might be…and it can make for a real sense of isolation within  the cityscape. I like her earlier work but have yet to track down later works. Certainly from research so far these would seem to have moved away from a series of staged scenarios to more individual contemporary images. Charlotte Cotton make an interesting comment in her review Hannah Starkey New Work (1) referring to one of her compelling qualities :

‘that the viewer’s take on what constitutes the shifts in this contemporary version of the human condition is triggered by something so finely balanced between a critical reading of where we and Starkey have come to and visual pleasure’

 (1) Cotton, Charlotte (2004 ) Hannah Starkey: New Work. Portfolio, No. 40, December

Not sure what I can take away from what I've learnt so far from researching Starkey that I can apply to this particular assignment - certainly I cannot easily stage a scene nor look to create an ambiguous image easily or intentionally as so much is outside my control...perhaps on this occasion I shall wait and see what the viewer's interpretation of the images might be...