Photography with a really good narrative element is something that gets me very excited. I've recently been more open to fashion for this very reason. I find an image that poses questions is much more interesting than one where the intent is obvious.
If it was up to me, I would just post the entire works of Los Angeles photographer Alex Prager. Her use of narrative in fashion is stellar to say the least. As a person who is heavily inspired by cinema, her work excites me like nothing else I've see to date. A photographer like Gregory Crewdson definitely has a cinematographic quality to his work, but I find the huge scale of the production behind it a bit of a turn off. He is more of a single frame film director. Prager, on the other hand, works on a much smaller scale but achieves similar results. Taking ideas from old films such as "Valley of the Dolls"and Hitchcock's "The Birds', Prager illustrates scenes that leave the viewer asking questions.
NARRATIVE EXAMPLES
She recently crossed from still frames to film in her short film "Despair"
MY WORK
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Assignment 3 - Environmental Portraiture
The Bad
I was surprised at some of the finds I made on flickr. Many of these environmental portraits have corny smiles, backgrounds that give no idea of the environment, and awkward posing. Two of the photos that really don't do it for me are the one of the owner of the magazine stand and the girl on the beach. The cropping of the head in the later begs the question "Why was this considered a portrait?". I find the relationship between the subject and background in the photo of the girl with glasses and a braid really doesn't work. The cabinet makes her appear to be in some kind of lab and therefore really out of place.
I was surprised at some of the finds I made on flickr. Many of these environmental portraits have corny smiles, backgrounds that give no idea of the environment, and awkward posing. Two of the photos that really don't do it for me are the one of the owner of the magazine stand and the girl on the beach. The cropping of the head in the later begs the question "Why was this considered a portrait?". I find the relationship between the subject and background in the photo of the girl with glasses and a braid really doesn't work. The cabinet makes her appear to be in some kind of lab and therefore really out of place.
&
The Good
These portraits are clearly superior to the others. I really like the simplicity of the first photo. The lighting works really well in complimenting the setting and the relationship between the subject and his surroundings makes for a successful environmental portrait. Krishnendu Saha's image of the little boy in a doorway uses a very small piece of the environment as a tool to invoke questions about the context. This makes the image stand out so much more than the image of the little boy in the bad section. Although I was not all that attracted to Jessica Yoakam's photo, I thought that the introduction of props into the environment worked really well in the creation of a story. It gives viewers ideas of what this girl is about and what she is concerned with.
My Work
I find that even though the background is out of focus in my first portrait, there is enough information left to inform the viewer of what is going on. I like the relationship between her expression and the background populated with limbs and the bottle. The next three images are from a series I did at a 24 hour bakery. The photos are pretty standard in terms of environmental portraits. What I like about this set is that environment is full of interesting shapes and details. The subject does not take up very much room in the frame but is still clearly prominent.
These portraits are clearly superior to the others. I really like the simplicity of the first photo. The lighting works really well in complimenting the setting and the relationship between the subject and his surroundings makes for a successful environmental portrait. Krishnendu Saha's image of the little boy in a doorway uses a very small piece of the environment as a tool to invoke questions about the context. This makes the image stand out so much more than the image of the little boy in the bad section. Although I was not all that attracted to Jessica Yoakam's photo, I thought that the introduction of props into the environment worked really well in the creation of a story. It gives viewers ideas of what this girl is about and what she is concerned with.
My Work
I find that even though the background is out of focus in my first portrait, there is enough information left to inform the viewer of what is going on. I like the relationship between her expression and the background populated with limbs and the bottle. The next three images are from a series I did at a 24 hour bakery. The photos are pretty standard in terms of environmental portraits. What I like about this set is that environment is full of interesting shapes and details. The subject does not take up very much room in the frame but is still clearly prominent.
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