Portrait photography or portraiture is the capture by means of photography of the likeness of a person or a small group of people (a group portrait), in which the face and expression is predominant. The objective is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is the person's face, although the entire body and the background may be included. A portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the camera.
Unlike many other photography styles, the subjects of portrait photography are often non-professional models. Family portraits commemorating special occasions, such as graduations or weddings, may be professionally produced or may be vernacular and are most often intended for private viewing rather than for public exhibition.
However, many portraits are created for public display ranging from fine art portraiture, to commercial portraiture such as might be used to illustrate a company's annual report, to promotional portraiture such a might be found on a book jacket showing the author of the book.
Below are some examples of potrait photography:
Anton Corbijn
Anton Corbijn was born 20 May 1955; he is a Dutch photographer, music video and film director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2. Some of his works include music videos for Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence"
(1990) and Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" (1993), as well as the Ian Curtis biopic Control.
I like this music portrait because it shows a different side to the group members, Keith Richards’s posture in the picture makes him stand out from Mick Jagger (left). This means that the photograph is dominated by a simple change of a subject’s position in the frame. This is a style that I would like to try out.
I like this music picture portrait. I like it because the band members are all doing their own thing and they aren't worried what is happening.
I like this music portrait picture, I like it because it is different from most other portrait pictures as the subjects are in their own position in the frame rather than in just one position.
Jill Furmanovsky
Jill Furmanovsky is a rock photographer. She has photographed many of the biggest names in rock music, including: Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, Blondie, Police, The Plea The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Pretenders, and Oasis. She has also produced videos for Oasis and The Pretenders, and continues to work in the music industry. Her book, The Moment - 25 Years of Rock Photography was published in 1995, and an exhibition of Oasis photographs, Was There Then, toured the UK and Ireland in 1997.
I like this music group shot, because the band members are all positioned in different part of the photo, I think this adds depth to the photograph as they are not all just standing beside each other.
I like this music portrait photo as it show the subject in another light - as in the picture they are about to smash their guitar on the stage. I think this show the energy that the subject puts in to his performances and I feel that if this picture had been done in a different style then it wouldn’t have the same effect on the people who viewed it.
I like this music portrait photo, I like it because of the posture of the subject as it separates them from the background and it show more than one side of the subject.
Main idea for shoot with the Music students
* Bleached background but contrasted enough that the band members stand out.
* Surgical mask on members – abandoned hospital style.
* Abandoned hospital style.
* Studio shoot.
Below are the ideas that we came up with when we talked to the Music students
After some dicussion we decided that the idea would be based around an abandoned hospital idea with all the band members wearing masks like the one below:
Studio shots
Below is the magazine layout that I will base the final layout around as the style of text and imagery used is the same as the style that I want to use in the layout:
So for the final idea we decided to shoot all of the shots in the studio with a white backdrop. We also chose for the band members to all be wearing plastic drama masks to cover their faces, and that we would then photoshop them into the picture when we had finished.
Final pics:
Above are the final images that we used to create the double page spread and below are the images layered onto the background that we chose to use:
