The Portrait:
This chapter talks about the portrait and how in the last
half of the twentieth century the portrait started out being a realistic
representation of the individual before moving towards the calculated artifice
as humans became more self-conscious due to the media and misrepresentation of
image in the world.
Defining Beauty
through Avedon:
This section talks about Richard Avedon who was a
photographer known for taking photos of women. He first started out taking
fashion photos of his sister and later became a photographer for prestigious
fashion magazines such as Vogue.
Avedon’s photographs were successful at animating women with spirit and
determination. He sometimes used elements of surprise as well as showing the
sophistication of each era.
Self-Portrait as
Obscure Object of Desire:
Opposite from Avedon, photographer Jack Pierson is known for
his photographs of attractive men. The main theme seen within all of his photos
is desire. His compilation of fifteen photos of beautiful men he has labeled as
Self Portrait. Pierson’s work brings
up the discussion and thoughts about the construction of one’s self being based
on society and culture. Although none of these photos are actually
self-portraits, they still tell the viewer about the artist such as the desire
he may have towards his subjects or his own desire to be as desirable as those
he admires.
Is that Portrait
Staring at Me?
Fiona Tan used her film and video skills in her project
called Correction to make videos of still portraits. Her subjects were
different convicts and prison guards who she filmed for about twenty to fifty
seconds with them standing straight, not moving and looking straight at the
camera. The final result was more of an installation featuring six video
screens as well as background sounds from the prison. Fiona has always been
interested in the grey area between photography and film, which she was able to
better explore with this project. The idea was that the videos show the passing
of time but by having the subject stand still, they are also stationary as time
passes around them. It is a combination of capturing one moment in time as well
as showing the passing of many moments in time.
A Pantheon of Arts and
Letters in Light and Shadow:
Irving Penn is known for photographing well-known cultural
figures of the twentieth century. His photographic style uses rich tones and
contrasting light to focus the viewer on the subjects’ physicality as well as
making them look monumental. To help show his subject’s legacy, he relies on
their personality such as their attitude, manner and countenance over things
like props and ambient lighting. Penn believed that his photos’ client is not
the subject themselves but the viewer. Before taking photographs of his
subjects, Penn would purposely not study the work of his subjects, as he did
not find it necessary nor would he give them much instruction on how to pose.
A Photographer’s Lie:
The author was not a big fan of this artist named Annie
Leibovitz. Annie’s photos somewhat resembled a personal diary but would lack
the personalization or truth about her. There were photos of important people
in her life as well as professional portraits she took of celebrities. Her
style features high-production, saturated portraits that are clever, staged and
unrevealing. A huge part of her book is of photos of her lover Susan. The
author of Photography After Frank,
Philip Gefter comments on how the personal diary feel of the book implies that
there will be a level of personalization and intimacy in the photos but there
isn’t any and that it is somewhat artificial. He says that in this book of
work, Annie fails to expose her soul to the viewers and instead uses it to
assert her ego.
Embalming the American
Dream:
This section is about photographer Katy Grannan who decided
to photograph random models. Each session involves Katy spending hours getting
to know her models by asking about their lives and finding out what was
meaningful to them. Part of her success capturing a portrait of her models is
that she tried to identify with them. She tries to find the common ground
whether it is desire, vulnerability, physical characteristics or even
psychological scars. Some of her more recent work no longer features indoor
locations but has now moved to the outside landscape. Like Jack Pierson, her
work reveals a lot about herself even though it is pictures of others.
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