Brester-Portrait

**How do these artists make their portraits become true works of art, not just snapshots?** These artists really take the time to use compositional techniques in their portrait, and they turn out so original and unique. Most of the time, these portraits aren’t just of them but sometimes with objects in the picture to really show who they are. These photos aren’t just in the middle and their face facing right to the camera, but of a unique angle or up close and personal. Some take portraits of people, some of hands, some of celebrities and some of just homeless people. All of these artists have their own way of showing their work through different kinds of people. Whereas a snapshot is just a quick picture to send to someone.

What lighting and compositional techniques are evident in the photographer's work?
Richard Avedon looks like he uses a lot of either dramatic lighting, or maybe even fill light or bounce light, as it did not directly say. But his photos are of just one subject, and that being the main focus of light and the background darker. For his compositional techniques, he used leading lines as her shirt, facial lines, and jewelry will lead you around the subject. He also used focal point and point of view because the lady is the main point and he caught her while she was laughing which gives this photo an interesting feel and look. Andreas Feininger is an artists where one of their portraits really catches my eye and makes me think about how interesting it really is. This artist does look like she uses dramatic lighting as there looks to be like one source of light that is creating extreme shadows that show so much depth. This artist used filling the frame as the person is going out of the frame to fill the space. She also used focal point as the main subject is her model, and she definitely used point of view as she is giving us many things to look at, but our eye is always going right back the middle of the photo. Annie Leibovitz is another artists whose work is very interesting and shows lots of concepts throughout her photos. If I am reading right, I think the name of the photo I picked is “Nicole Kidman.” The portrait I picked from her gallery seems to show artificial light as the light from light bulbs are the main source. She used rule of thirds as her main point is not in the middle of the image, and point of view as she used the model facing a different way and not having her look at the camera.

How might their artwork influence your own?
These artists work are very interesting and they show me that I can really make anything a portrait as I just have to have a strong concept and have compositional techniques. And to show a very interesting point of view. They are giving me a feel of what different lighting type I would be working with and what they would look like before I get to start to experimenting with them.

Connections to your own work and your own experiences. What does it remind you of?
I have not had a lot of work with portrait photographing, but I do like to take a lot of pictures of either my friend or my cats. And I always make sure that the lighting is in a good spot as it would help show contrast and shadows as well as focus. I know it isn't the same, but when I put a black and white filter on any image, it now reminds me of some of these portraits looking through them, as so many have depth.

Works Cited "Interesting Photos of Famous Photographer's Self-portraits." Vintage Everyday. Vintag. 5 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2016. "Celebrity Portrait Gallery." PBS. PBS, 03 Jan. 2007. Web. 01 Nov. 2016. "Portraits." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.