Teachers - the Typical Teacher Image

Here I am looking at a few photos of teachers and how they are photographed. I am interested to see if there is a common link between the photos of teachers I have found and to see if there is a certain 'teacher pose' within their portraits/photographs. 

From the photos I have seen, I think there is a common theme within the 5 photos below. There seems to be a common theme of standing in the school they work in while being photographed, or in front of a white/black board. Every single photo below is of a teacher standing in the school, either in the corridor or in the classroom.

Another similarity in these 5 photos is the dress code. All of the teachers are wearing smart clothing, in other words, their uniform. The two similarities I have mentioned already make the viewer know that they are a teacher. Rather than having a photo of just them, they are photographing their occupation and will be known for being a teacher. I feel these 5 photos are quite modern but very stereotypical photos of teachers, and whoever looks at these photos won't mistake them for anything else, other than a teacher. 

Irving Penn - Black and White Portraits

Irving Penn is a famous American photographer well-known for portraits, fashion photography and still life's. Here I am looking at three of his portraiture photographs, 'Nadja Auermann Vogue', 'Freckles' and 'Al Pacino, New York, 1995'. All of these photos are taken in black and white, as are his other photographs. I personally really like Irving Penn's photographs as I feel they all look really professional. The photographs can make anyone professional and like a 'model'. 

This first photo, 'Al Pacino, New York, 1995', to me, looks professional. His hair is styled quite 'funky' and looks quite 'windswept',  his face looks bright however the rest of him looks rather dark. There is the presence of 'counter lighting' in the photo; the light in the back ground (left to right) goes dark to light, and in the foreground (his face) goes light to dark. The lighting is opposite in the background to the foreground. It creates a contrast that looks really effective and brings out the face. It also creates a silhouette of his head and the shape of his shoulders.  

This photo has the same counter-lighting effect. The name of this photo is 'Nadja Auermann Vogue'. This photo, in my opinion, looks very glamorous and again, professional. The lighting effect on this photo highlights her face and makes her eyes stand out. Again, her hair looks windswept and the photo looks very posed, especially with her using her hand to hold her face up, the photo looks quite elegant. 

In this final photo, 'Freckles', the photo is more close-up and shows more detail of the face. The title is very obvious as the main attraction in this photo except the eyes are the freckles. I personally like this photo as I have freckles and long eyelashes, and the freckles are made to stand out in this photo and are still made beautiful. Also, the whole face is well lit and and has very bright highlights. Also, this photo looks very 'vogue' in the way she is looking and posing. She looks to have a confident attitude and has her hand on her face. 

Loretta Lux - Observation

Loretta Lux's photography is based on children. Many of her photos have a child/children in the photos slightly posing and wearing mature clothes. The children look mature in the photos, which is creating quite a contrast as they are young children, and the photos differ to the usual photos of children. For example, photographs of children are usually the children dressed in clothes suited for their ages and doing what children do, such as laughing and playing. Loretta's photos show children looking quite serious. Here are some examples.

This photograph is of a very young child looking away from the camera in, my opinion, quite a dramatic pose. As I have said, children are usually portrayed in a playful way and usually quite happy, however on this photo the child looks quite down and the setting is grey. The expression portrays a depressed person. She is also looking downwards away from the camera as if she is thinking about something and feeling upset. This isn't what children should be doing and feeling, they should be enjoying themselves and learning. 

In this photo, Loretta took an image of someone, again, looking away from the camera and looks to be thinking. However this child in the photo is looking upwards, which suggests she isn't as depressed as the child in the first image, but she also looks to be doing and thinking about something that adults do, not children. Again, the child is posing in a rather mature way and wearing clothes that look too old for her. Loretta has a pattern in her photos, which are children looking grown up and wearing clothes that are too old for them. The body language of this child is far to grown up and not the normal image for a young child.

Finally, this photo looks to be the most grown-up and controversial photo of the three. The child in this photo is posing with quite a lot of make-up on with long blonde styled hair. She is holding a drink which suggests she isn't trying to look like an adult, but it portrays an image of a teenager. The dress she is wearing looks far too old for her and with the make-up, she looks like a teenager who is out at either the cinema or a party. The make-up creates a lot of contrast between this image of the child and the typical image of a child, however I think that it isn't far off what society is doing. The society we live in makes young girls feel they need to do themselves up and wear make-up with big hair, or they feel ugly. In my opinion, I feel the girl in the photo is too young to be dressing like that and wearing that make-up, however, if society carries on the way it is, that's what future children will look like.  

Rineke Dijkstra - Expressions and Representations

Here I am looking at a photographer who takes photos of people doing their natural pose, like the photos I took of Sam Johnson. The photographer is Rineke Dijkstra, I have chosen to research her as I like the way she doesn't tell people how to pose and all the photos are natural. 

These three photographs are, obviously, of three different people standing on a beach. Rineke Dijkstra has asked to take their photo standing by the sea and has given them no instruction on how to pose and these are the results. I have picked these three images as they differ to each other but are in almost identical settings, which really reveals how each person differs. 

The first image shows a girl who is stood with her leg bent slightly inwards with her hand resting on it, tilting her head to one side. The composition is also very central. The girl in this photo looks quite shy, judging by the pose she in standing in and her facial expression. She looks almost as if she isn't confident about being photographed and she is standing there to get it over and done with, although that is only my view on the photograph. The setting looks quite dark, emphasizing the mood of the girl in the picture.

The second image is another woman standing on the beach in the center of the photo. All three photos have a very central composition, focusing attention on the whole body and how they are stood. Differing from the previous image, this woman looks more confident in the way she is standing and looks quite comfortable to be stood there. Also, the setting/background of the photo is brighter and calmer, further emphasizing the mood and expression of this woman.

Lastly, the third image also differs to the previous two. The woman in the last picture is stood in a slightly shyer pose, however give off the impression as she is quite confident or trying to be confident by slightly posing. She looks more made-up on her face and cares slightly more about her image and how she is seen, at the same time and coming across quite shy and doesn't know how to pose to make herself look good. This is my opinion on this photograph and the impressions I get when I look at it. The setting/background of this image is brighter than the first but darker than the second. It looks like they were took at different times of the day but suits each reaction and expression of each person.

The beauty of Rineke's photographs is that they are real reactions to being photographed and show the real personality and feelings of each person in each photo. I admire this as she doesn't make them pose in a certain way or pull a certain expression, they are all natural. For more of Rineke Dijkstra's work, go to http://www.photography-now.net/rineke_dijkstra/portfolio1.html

Close-ups - Sam Johnson

All photo's taken using my mobile phone.

Here is a close-up of Sam's face, showing his nose, mouth, chin and neck. There isn't much to say about this really apart from the fact his facial features, such as freckles and facial hair, are really visible in this image. The closer the camera is to the face, the more concentration and attention all his facial features get.    

In this photo Sam is pulling quite an awkward face. This shows that when the camera is put closer to his face he feels more nervous and doesn't know where to look. He is looking away from the camera indicating he doesn't know how to react to the camera being so close to his face. As said before, his facial features are more visible

and only a hint of the background is shown. 

Again, in this photo Sam looks rather awkward and is pulling a nervous type of smile. The impression I get from not just this photo but many of my photos of Sam, is that his immediate reaction to having his photo taken, especially close-up, is to pull an awkward looking face and not know where to look and what to do. This photo shows more of Sam's face and more of his expression is apparent. 

My opinion on this photo is that it is quite humorous, the face he is pulling shows a clear reaction to the close camera. Again, he is looking away and has a smirk on his face. This photo shows his full face and full reaction to the camera. 

Different Positions - Sam Johnson

Another exercise was to photograph Sam's face using my mobile phone, with the camera horizontally, in different positions in the photo.


Here Sam's face was more to the right of the image showing more of the background on the left. I think this looks really good as the bright background makes the image stand out, as well as Sam's eyes.

Sam's facial expression in this photo looks rather sad, as he is positioned in the middle of the photo. There is an equal amount of blue background visible in this photo and I think it looks rather central.







In this photo Sam is looking directly at the camera as if he is looking down into it. He also has a slight smirk on his face.This image looks like Sam is looking while the camera has moved away from him, as if I have moved the camera and his eyes are following but not turning his head to look.

I personally think this photo is the better photo. Although Sam is stood in a typical traditional place in the photo I think this one is one of the better photos. His pose is rather simple and makes him look as if he is standing against the wall, leaning on it, and having a lazy photo taken. He is looking into the camera pulling a very simple face and I can't describe this photo in any way other than simple.

This photo looks quite humorous as the camera is close to Sam's face and he again looks quite awkward. His facial expression shows that he may not know what to do with himself and has no idea where to look or how to look. The top of his head is cut off and the photo just shows the face, neck and shoulders.

Photography Tester - Sam Johnson

The first simple task in Fine Art & Photography; take a photo of Sam using my mobile phone standing 6 feet away. This photo shows Sam's natural standing pose and how he holds his body. It also shows his body language and posture.

Sam was given no instruction from me about how to stand and this is a natural and immediate reaction to having his photo taken.

I think this shows that Sam is a simple person and feels quite awkward about having his photo taken. His arms are by his side and slightly resting on his legs. He is leaning against the wall and looks into the camera with no expression on his face. I think this shows the kind of person that Sam Johnson is.

See Sam Johnson's blog at samconnorjohnson.blogspot.co.uk