Task One - Photographic Categories

1
PHOTOGRAPHYPRESENTATION
PORTRAITS (CELEBRITY)
ANGUS MCBEAN Angus Mcbean was a Welsh
photographer who enjoyed surrealist photography,
he was influential and famous in the 20th
century as he was the photographer for Vivien
Leigh and The Beatles first cover album. He also
took portraits of Agatha Christie, Audrey Hepburn
and Noel Coward. Mcbeans love of dreamlike
pictures helped him produce elegant and glamorous
portraits of the celebrities he worked with.
Mcbean tries to create an unreal and celestial
feel to his pictures and it ignites the viewers
interest in the picture, he uses objects and
landscapes to enhance the beauty and bizarre feel
to his portraits. In conclusion I think that
Mcbean tries to let us see the beauty of surreal
pictures and also show that something weird can
be appealing.
2
PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTATION
ANGUS MCBEAN
My thoughts Purpose of the photo- Glamour and
Advertisement The Beatles were a popular music
group and this image depicts a carefree happiness
and also fun. For music albums to appeal to
people, the group or the singer has to portray
joy and enjoyment in what they do, thats what
helps people like the music. I think artists need
expressive photos to ignite the interest of the
public, the angle of the camera is not direct and
it makes the image more friendly, they are
leaning over a building so it suggests
childishness or maybe playfulness. Also, the
narrow rectangular bars that are repeated
compliment the uniqueness of this photo, the
keyboard is rectangular and has a series of
rectangular white buttons that makes up a
progression of notes in music. The metal bars are
rectangular and repeated so it is the perfect
representation of what the Beatles do
(singing). I like that the group is leaning over
the building because it makes the viewer see them
as one body rather than different people in a
music group, the background is real and so it
does not confuse the perfection of the image. At
the sides of the image the building is depicted
in a converging manner and it could connote how
the Beatles popularity grew and spread, also the
picture is tightly framed so as to ensure that
they are the main subject of the photo.
TITLE- FEBRUARY 1963 EMI HOUSE LONDON This was
taken for the Beatles first album- Please,
please Me. It was taken in 1963, the group was
leaning over a modernist equivalent of a stone
parapet. This was in the EMI offices on
Manchester Square.
www.theguardian.com
3
PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTATION
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
JEFF KAUCK Jeff Kauck has been in the photography
industry for more than twenty years and he
shoots for magazines, cookbooks and
advertisement. Kauck explains that for a typical
food shot he goes over the recipe with the chef
and also evaluates the silverware and plates that
may go into the set, after the food is prepared
it is handed over to him piping hot and he
takes pictures of it. This process is similar if
it is for advertisement purposes, but there are a
number of differences, the layout and recipe have
to be ready before time and a stand in shot.
The stand in shot allows him to fit things
more precisely and get things the way the client
wants them. Kauck is very creative as he
improvises with natural light, he says his best
shooting times are at dawn or sunset, although he
prefers dawn because the light is cleaner at that
time. Kaucks goal in shooting is to make the
scene look like it is actually happening, and
also beautify the picture. According to him food
photographers should be sure that the picture
makes your stomach growl.
www.popphoto.com
4
PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTATION
JEFF KAUCK
Purpose of the photo - Advertisement I love this
picture because of the meticulous attention to
detail, the stick in the middle gives the pieces
of fruit an appealing look. The piece at the end
of the stick is flat so it helps the rest of the
preparation to fit properly. Fruits are a very
important food in our daily lives and this
picture is appealing to everyone, mothers,
children, even the elderly. A white background
also brings out the rich colour of the fruit,
yellow is a loud colour, so the white compliments
this colour while at the same time brings it
out. Lighting is also important because it brings
out the beauty of a picture, the fruit doesnt
look thin or roughly cut, if the lighting was no
good the imperfection in the picture is
prominent. Overall the shot is not exaggerated,
it looks natural and it appeals to the appetite,
which is very important in food photography.
Another interesting aspect of this picture is the
sharp focus that captures the core of the orange,
the thin lines running to and from the fruits
edge make it look enticing and succulent. The
arrangement is diagonal (movement) and it
suggests that it can be thrown into a drink or
even used to garnish food.
google.com
5
LANDSCAPE (NATURAL)
PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTATION
TOM MACKIE Tom Mackie has been a photographer for
all of his working life, he moved from Los
Angeles to the United Kingdom in 1985 to pursue a
full time career in landscape photography. Mackie
loves Norfolk, refers to it as home, the
scenery is captivating and even though some feel
Norfolk is rather flat and plain, Mackie believes
you can still get iconic shots. A good
landscape photograph can only be created with
time and patience, Mackie says that the
lighting and composition have to go together or
the picture will not come out satisfactory.
Snapshots take seconds but being able to spot
compositions is also vital.
6
PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTATION
TOM MACKIE
Purpose of photo - Artistic I love this picture
because of the presence of water, water
represents purity and serenity, it blends with
the mountain and sky and gives it a magical
feeling, its almost like the viewer wants to be
in that place. The sunrise also creates a feeling
of rebirth, resurrection, because it reflects on
the grass and green is the colour of growth and
change. The land in the distance draws my
attention, I want to know what is going on there
and if it is as beautiful as the waterfall close
by. I also love the mountain colour, the sunrise
makes it look golden and refined, the viewer
almost forgets that it is a rugged mountain, blue
skies overhead tell me that it is dawn and it
symbolises freedom. The waterfalls clear white
fall into the river sends up little tendrils of
mist and you can just see them around the water
through the light of the sunrise, the mist makes
the viewer curious. What is the name of the
waterfall? Where was it taken? The mountains arc
curving into the distance suggests that the rest
of the landscape is just as magnificent as what
we are seeing. The view is amazing and it
captures nature gloriously.
google.com
7
COMMERCIALS MUSIC VIDEOS
Photography PRESENTATION

• HERB RITTS
• Herb Ritts was born into a Jewish family and was
  a fashion photographer, he concentrated mainly
• on black and white photographs. In the 1980s and
  1990s he photographed celebrities like
• Olivia Newton John, Diana Ross and Christopher
  Reeve. Apart from photography Ritts was
• also a music director and actor, he directed
  Michael Jacksons In The Closet.
• This is an example of one of his works

This photo was taken at a live location, I do
not think it was planned as Ritts said he took
the shot instinctively. There was something
compositional about the shooting site for
Richard Gere, in order to create impact and
drama Ritts bent down to capture this picture.
He said it captured the true nature of how Gere
was back then- young, very handsome, a sexy
rebel actor. Although Gere was all these he was
also very vulnerable at the time according to
Ritts, and it showed in some of the other
pictures because he had innocence in his eyes.
Ritts claimed that Gere had a special sensitivity
even though he was rebellious as a youth and that
was what made him distinct in his own way. I
think it is a very unique picture and the
inclusion of the sky behind Gere makes me
consider freedom and the possibility that there
are other sides to the character than what is
portrayed. This is because someone seeing this
picture for the first time would have created
stereotypical views of the kind of person Gere
is- rebellious and hard-core. Like the sky which
brings us rain, sunshine and hailstones, Gere
will also have different sides to his nature and
the picture helps to really bring this across. I
like that the environmental elements are included
in the shot, the old school car gives the
picture a gangster insinuation and also makes
Gere seem intrepid and exciting. The background
colour is black and white so the objects that are
close together bring the focus on Richard Gere.
Also, Geres armpits are exposed and he is
holding his body with his left leg slightly
tilted forward, it suggests sexiness. The rough
and dirty background used help to compliment this
connotation.
wikipedia.org herbritts.com
8
COMMERCIALS MUSIC VIDEOS
Photography PRESENTATION
KEVIN CARTER Kevin Carter was born in
Johannesburg , South-Africa. He grew up in a
white middle-class neighbourhood and he
started work as a weekend sports photography in
1983. Carter was the first to capture a public
execution by black South Africans in 1980, he
won a Pulitzer price for his photo of a sick
child trying to get to the feeding centre in
Sudan.
I think the picture represents pain and agony, it
is a representation of the struggle that is faced
in Africa. The vulture is a scavenging animal, it
does not hunt down its food, instead it feeds off
leftovers. It is a symbol of death and decay, the
child is malnourished but not dead, despite this
there is a vulture nearby. It suggests to me that
the vulture must have had cause to feed on human
flesh in the past and that is why it is in the
distance waiting to feed again. Apart from the
obvious lack of food, I think the deeper meaning
is that death is feeding on the people in this
town, the viewer would be curious as to what
happened to the child. Did the vulture get it? or
did it survive the famine? The straw houses
represent a rough texture and the soil is
littered with dry grass, this indicates
untidiness and chaos, the centre of the picture
has a bit of the babys body and the vultures
body in it, so it suggests death because the
vulture can eat the bay at anytime. The
background is dark and it adds an ominousity to
the image makes it seem more threatening.
wikipedia.org prezi.com
9
HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON
Photography PRESENTATION
I like this picture because it is mysterious, the
people in it are poised as if in a peculiar sort
of play, but further scrutiny reveals that there
is more to it than that. The woman handing the
knife over could represent a presence of violence
and degradation that everyone sides with. Two
women are wearing white and it suggests to me
that they are the same and there is no need to
discriminate or let other beliefs get in the way
of being peaceful. A spotted dress symbolises
that there is corruption and partiality in the
way things are run. I also notice that one of
them has a haircut and is trying to force the
other woman to cut hers too and it could mean
that people are not always given the freedom to
make their own choices. There is a netted window
behind with bars across it and it insinuates that
there is roughness, forcefulness going on in the
picture. Their faces are tough and stiff and it
hints that they are tough and do not see anything
wrong in what they are doing, it is almost like
they are daring the viewer to ask why.