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