Francesca Woodman, famous for her black and white images of nude women/ herself. Her images are somewhat disturbing, and deflect from any meaning or definition I ever had about portraiture.  It happens so often that she eliminates the exposure of any facial features, however, in turn, allows the body gestures speak for themselves. Her photos are so dense with meaning and symbolic intensity that you could probably never completely understand the main subject behind the photo. Whether in a complete static state, or moving a bit too fast for her adopted shutter speed, she manages to communicate her intentions through body language/ chosen backgrounds of untouched feels.  Symbolic elements are also added. Doors seem abundant in her self representations, whether shes represented hiding under a fallen one, or even hanging from one. Hiding/ suicide/ unhappiness and sorrow also appear a lot as common themes serving as the main inspirations to her photographs.

Meet my friend Nick Dareau. 

If his straightforward, goofy, monotonic, uninterested and playful character is evident in these photos, I deem my portrait assignment successful. 

- Kafue National Park , Zambia   by Sebastiao Salgado -

Sebastio Salgado's GENESIS exhibition at the Ara Pacis, Rome was the first professional project I've been exposed to. I always knew photography was of huge interest to me, but to notice the enhanced depth and emotion that could potentially be conveyed in a photo was rather promising upon exposure to the talented Salgado. 

Although many images caught my attention in particular, I choose to focus on the simplest of them all. An elephant rushing back to its comfort spot, struck with fear of possibly an approaching predator. It runs for its life. It is represented as a profile in motion, and not in the foreground although still conveyed as the subject of the photo. My interpretation for this would be to stress on the photographer himself, as present but unseen - camouflaged. 

The black and white affect, consistent throughout his entire project, ingeniously captured the emotions of all his viewers, leaving them awe-struck by the end of the exhibition. In his photographs, he conveys an extra layer that immaculately adds drama, suspense and interest in his subjects. In this particular photo, the layer of light shining strictly on the elephant- reminds us of this subject and could also be interpreted metaphorically as "walking into the light : its home"- its safe spot.  Everything else that isnt deemed necessary to communicate or convey what he wants it to is blurred.

A busy day in Piazza Navona, Rome. 

After several projects, Ive come to realize that you only really get to know a place once you've photographed it. The colors, the different characters, the natural untouched beauty, as well as the everyday patterns we remain oblivious to- act together to define a spot and give it its own identity. 

The Found Object

Diane Arbus was also famous for her street photography. However, unlike Cartier-Bresson, she didn’t adopt the “Decisive Moment” technique, rather saw things in specific people that others didn’t, and asked them if she can photograph them. She had a high interest in street portraits with a medium, and through her pictures, we notice a repetition of certain qualities and effects taken on her previous pictures.

Her photos leave her readers feeling unease and somewhat, disturbed. The unusualness of her contexts and depiction of her victims, leave you puzzled with the relationship they shared. She focused on “capturing the space between who someone is, and who they think they are” (Arbus, 1968)

Uncentered subjects, tilted horizons, depth of field, increased flash and perfect carelessness were all somewhat recurrent features of her photographs. In addition, her subjects shared common features in the sense that they were all strange looking. The abundance of black and white settings also maybe tells us that colors are insignificant in the telling or representation of her subjects.

In her photo of a child with a grenade, her lack of concern with the surrounding context is noticeable. The boy stands relatively close to her with a weird facial expression, in a public space clasping onto a grenade (Why does he have one? How did he get it? How does SHE know him?) His suspender is slipped off his shoulder onto his arm, there is another figure directly behind him, and out of focus. The context seems overexposed, and there is a loss of detail towards the left hand side of the photo.  He stands still, a bit twisted to the side, and doesn't pose for the camera. The picture has such a natural, spontaneous vibe to it, yet feels too good to be natural, maybe somewhat, practiced.

Diane Arbus held a high level of interest in portraits, yet her chosen subjects were always unusual and imbalanced. She managed a perfect balance between such a carefully chosen subject and context, versus appearing spontaneous and representing the subject as they are, even behind a camera lens.

In an environment as dynamic as a street, photography mainly revolves around a concept called “The Decisive Moment”: A moment you await and prepare for, to achieve a certain desired effect, fulfilling a missing segment in your frame, usually of something abruptly disturbing the stillness of the overall photo composition. However, this disturbance or “imperfection”, adds a natural, casual feel to the scene, and soon became his “technique”. In his photos, we notice the equality in the importance given to both the foreground and the background of his subjects.

Cartier-Bresson would pre-focus, set his desired depth of field, and just wait. We notice an emphasis on geometry in his pictures, whether it’s a continuation or pattern formed by different elements, or a geometrical element within the lens limit, setting a distinct frame. 

In his photo of a street kid holding two bottles, when looking through a general eye, we’d notice how the kid is solely in focus, while all other subjects are blurred. The photo is in black and white, giving no importance to origin, inviting us to emphasize on certain details. We also notice the lack of alignment with geometrical elements in the frame- giving us a sense of spontaneity and quick thinking. The child appears to be somewhat posing, celebrating a successful act of mischief, probably theft. However, his absence of attention suggests his lack of interest or ignorance that he is being photographed. The girls in the background seem to be talking, also don’t seem too prepared to be photographed.

The level of spontaneity depicted here, categorizes this photograph as a pre-set, long awaited sight- yet still achieving something so accurately purposeful, making him one of the best street photographers there is.