Photography UNIT 57: Assignment 1 - Task 1 - RESUBMISSION

In The Following Report we will be looking at three different aspects of photography and how the imagery is used in them to get messages across to the viewer. We will be analysing a series of photographs that will relate the aspect in question. I have chosen three different areas of photography to assess, Advertising, Fashion and Portrait. We will be looking at these in detail and discussing thoroughly the messages behind the photographs. As well as critically evaluating each one through my own opinion and what I personably think of the picture. (All resubmitted content have been added in bold)


Advertising Photography

Advertising Photography is when the photographer takes a picture of a product in a correct environment to highlight that in a way the product is being advertised. Such as using Focal points and rule of thirds to draw attention to the product in question. The usual and main focus of an advertising photograph is to get a certain message across about the product itself. Here is an example of advertising Photography.

   

This picture was extracted from http://kurtsdiary.weebly.com/blog/advertising ,  

which is a blog. We will now discuss this image further evaluate its overall message and structure. This campaign was launched in 2011.

By Looking at this image I can analyse it and understand the Heinz who make the ketchup released the advert with the intention of the viewer knowing what is contained in their ketchup, on this case we can see that it is tomatoes and the message of this advert is that it is Tomatoes are the main ingredient in their ketchup and that no other sources are used to make its delicious flavour. 

While viewing the image I can see that the rule of thirds is being used here as the bottle is centrally placed on a white background in order for the redness of the tomatoes inside the bottle to stand out. This advert also comments on the campaign that Heinz launched globally, the fact that their ketchup contained only “Sun dried tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and Sun dried tomatoes!”, therefore they claim that due to no additional ingredients, they are said to be the only REAL Ketchup and this picture illustrates this. By studying this image, we can also evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this image and therefore determine if it is a strong image or a weak image that recognizes the advertising of the Heinz company.

A Strength of this particular advert would be the fact that the position of the bottle is right in the middle of the page and it is on a clear white background which means your attention is totally focused in the bottle and the contents of it rather than any background image distracting you from the focal point. The red of the tomatoes is then brought out as the only colourful item on the page, it also makes the actual bottle look more appealing as the tomatoes look fresh and juicy, therefore it makes the whole product look more appealing.

However, a negative of this particular advert would be the fact that although the aim of the message has been across and it is done so in an intelligent way, this advert can be considered to be plain and boring upon first sighting. The reason why I say is that this advert is not eye catching enough and does not draw my attention as much as other Heinz adverts would. The fact is because some of the darker edges around the photo take away from the focal point in the middle of the page. Although this advertising is simple and is effective and the purpose of the ad is clear, the lighting does not focus solely on the point of advertising and therefore takes away from the advert as a whole.


The reason why I chose this photograph out of all the advertising images was because I liked how the red stood out against the glass as well as the white background, it was also convenient how the label says "what you see is what you get" however its covering the majority of the tomatoes in the picture. Which means that otherwise Heinz could be contradicting itself or could be symbolising what Heinz's competitors are putting in their own bottle. Either way I think this advert is clever, snappy and you can easily understand the point. However, what I dislike about this advert is the brightness of it, although the white and the strong lighting it brings out the colour of the tomatoes and the overall bottle shape, I find it difficult to look and read the label while analysing the picture because the overall effect hurts my eyes and have to even bring the contrast on my monitor down so that I can fully asses it. Whereas other Heinz adverts and even other images this page, I don't really have this issue. It's ironic the nature of the advert yet, I can't actually see the image for long's period of time without my eyes starting to hurt.

Overall, I can say to a large extent that the strengths do outweigh the weaknesses in terms of this advert as we can clearly see that the fact that the bottle is right in the centre of the page makes sure the viewer focuses solely on the contents on the bottle and the message behind it. The tomatoes redness also stands out on the white background making them look more appealing, this does outweigh the fact that the darker edges around the advert take away from the centre of the advert because the actual message of the advert isn’t compromised by the lighting.

  

We will now be analysing this photographic advert. This particular string of adverts was extracted from an advertising agency’s website called John Knowles Photography. The link is http://jknowles.co.uk/blog/jk_project/diet-coke 2/jknowles_dietcokehunk_pour_v14crop2/  

We will now look and assess the message that is trying to get across by using this photo. These Photo's were released in 2015.

I can understand that the purpose of this advert is promote how good the existence of Diet Coke is compared to other pleasurable things. Such as in this case, the male upper body. Being in the 21^st century, Desire and sex is a strong advertising technique for photographs and are used as an attention seeking initiative.

These bunch of photographs have been positioned in a clever way in order to advertise the product which in this case is Diet Coke. The photographer has positioned each shot that you can see above, making sure that the viewer sees the diet coke before they see the model. This draws attention to the cans or glass of coke because they stand out of the picture due to the difference in colour between the model and the coke. The fact that the model is shirtless and outside in the sun makes the product look all the more appealing as the picture is photographed looking as if he is enjoying a nice, refreshing cool glass of coke on a hot day.

 Which is therefore the reason why he is shirtless and the given fact that the heat that he is in is apparent in each picture i.e. The sun or blue sky’s which symbolize high temperature and heat.

Another message in the photo is the fact that in none of the images is the models face shown fully. This gives off the message when looking at this photo is that anyone can drink diet coke, as the face is the unique part of any person in the world and it is hidden meaning it could be anyone in the world. Just like this model can be anyone, anyone can be this model and drink diet coke.

We can now look and analyse the overall strengths and weaknesses of this image. I can see that a strength of this image would be the fact that natural lighting is enhanced in this picture as we can clearly see it was taken in a natural setting.          

The natural lighting therefore enhances the body of the model and makes him look more attractive and lighter, the darkness of the coke is then brought out and looks more compelling especially with the ice and it is therefore made to look more refreshing ad enticing to drink.

However, a weakness of this advert would be the fact that a male model being used aims at specific market of women, others who may loom at this advert may not capture the idea for the advert as much and therefore won’t see the product being advertised in the refreshing way in which it should be. Therefore, the fact is that in some eyes of the viewers the product won’t see as enhanced as it should be based on the fact that they may not find the backing image of a man’s torso attractive and the product could decline in attractiveness therefore.

In my opinion, this image is effective and advertisers the overall product extremely well by a simple picture it gives off so many positive elements of drinking Diet Coke. such the joke "six pack next to the six pack" And that as we don't actually see the man's face fully, it symbolises the fact that anyone can drink diet coke no matter who you are. The reason I chose this photograph to post on my blog is not because of the actual advert, but the way it advertises the product such as tricking viewers into seeing the product before the man behind it. Although it s effective and does successfully promote the soft drink, it can appeal to be sexist and the use of sexual desire can come across as offensive such as the fact that this adverts shows that the corporation are now using bodies to get people to want to drink their merchandise. It can give off the aspects that you drink diet coke you get a body like "like this", it is similar to adverts those adverts that use Women in bikini's to advertise a certain produce when it isn't relevant to the brand. However, I do personally agree that this isn't the original purpose of the advert and therefore it beneficial to the advertisement of Diet Coke.

Overall we can evaluate that this image that strengths again overtake the weaknesses, the reason why I say this is because is the natural lighting that the photograph was taken in emphasizes the models six pack and lightens it up to emphasizes the contrast in colour to the actual cola drink. although this does criticize the fact that the model is male and the advert is only aiming at a certain market that makes the coke look more appealing to them as the ripped torso is also only appealing to that market, despite this coke sells around the world in many countries and is in taste for everyone.

 The final piece of advertising photography we will we looking at is for Levi’s Trousers as seen above and it differs from the other two adverts above as they are Contemporary and captured in essence of the 21^st Century whereas this one was created around the mid 70’s. I will continue to analyse this photo keeping in mind the time around its release. This picture was sourced from http://wellmedicated.com/50-inspiring-vintage-advertisements

This advert overall is really clever piece of photography as it once again uses the idea of sex in the picture. The advert is about how attention is draw to the men’s trousers that the viewer doesn’t realize till after how there is a woman in a bikini stood underneath there. As Levi’s are specialized in men’s trousers this advert is aimed at the male market.

The photography is extremely interesting at this point, because the men who wear the trousers are portrayed as being giants much like the fact that they have taken over the world. Or that they are Kings because of the trousers that they wear and the way that they are posed. So the aim of the advert is to show buyers that will Levi you will feel like a king.

This is different to contemporary photography because compared to the Coca cola photo, the idea of sexiness is not as obvious considering it was a Taboo subject back in the 1970’s, the actual colour of the picture is in lower quality but the overall style was different such as using different angles to make the model seem taller or more attractive rather than using Photoshop. The colours of the shirt are bland so the jeans can stand out and therefore the stripes on them can as well standout.

Overall I can identify the strengths and weaknesses over the is photographic advert. A strength of this would be the fact that the jeans are the overall standout of the advert as they contradict bland sweaters with quirky stripes and are accompanied with colours that contrast them such as Navy and green. The fact that also a sexy woman is not noticed until after the jeans are analysed which therefore proves what draws more attention. The fact that also the models are portrayed to be giants and overtaking the scene really captures the feeling of what Levi jeans are supposed to make you feel like.

However, a weakness of this element of advertising photography would be that the editing of the photo could be better, We can contrast on many different levels the professionalism of editing between now and the 70’s but the fact is that you can see that the girl standing there has been airbrushed in rather than having it taken naturally as well as the fact that the sky seems not to be there as there are no clouds or sun present, although this doesn’t take any less quality away from the focal point. Which are the genes, the poor editing takes away from the advert as a whole.

   

While critically evaluating this advert, I can understand the point of the image is to show at that time (although it was perfectly acceptable at the time of print), that these trousers were more eye catching than a women in bikini. The reason I chose this advert was mainly because of the vintage style that they exhibit in this photograph which I personally think looks awful, but were classed as very popular the time. The idea of the advert is also two show that with these trousers....you can do anything. We can see this as these men are giants compared to the women who is to scale at the bottom of the page as well as the rocks that she is sitting on, which is very effective advertising, as it gives the trousers  a better look on the advert rather you would see in the Levi's Shop. However, there is a similar issue a seen in the previous, where women's bodies are actually used to advertise a male product and therefore come across as offensive to people who view this picture. Personally, this does not offend me but I do hope that they stop using this photographic technique, in the near future as it's almost been 40 years since the decade in which it was published and people still use this technique of sexualised women and men in order to get their products off the shelves. However, that being said, I do believe that this advert is extremely effective and promotes the product really well in the photograph due to the fact that they are truly appealing trousers yet it looks like when you wear them, you have the power to take over the world, as seen in this photograph.


Overall, I believe to a large extent that once again, the strengths outweigh the weakness’ of this advertising photography, I believe this because the focal point that is the trousers is very much clear as they stand out from the rest of the background because they are eccentric as because of their interesting green colour and the pinstripe style and the fact is that when the male market see that advert, it is likely that will look at the trousers before they look at the girl in the bikini.  

Fashion Photography

We will now be looking at areas that are in fashion photography. Fashion Photography look at clothes and fashionable items such as Shoes and accessories. Fashion photography is also extremely important in showing others who see the images what us trendy and what is currently in style so that others can follow what they see.

The following images that we will be analysing ALL come from this book Vogue 100: A Century Of Style, which I purchased when I went to see the exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. We will be evaluating pictures that I have taken from this book, furthermore we will be looking at three different pictures from different era's of Vogue magazine
it should be noted that these images were captured on my phone, so the quality may be compromised in some photo's.

This piece of fashion photography  was taken in 2002. By Corinne Day. Therefore due to it's age this photo is considered to be  non contemporary. 

  This picture is of Gisele Bundchen who is a Brazilian supermodel. She  is seen wearing a strappy designer dress with a flowery pattern and with rips in the fabric. However as you make your way fodder the image she is seen holding a cup which is dripping tea onto the ruffles at the bottom the dress, a old and scrappy pair of converse trainers and the set of the studio.

I have researched this picture to understand the fact that Gisele Bundchen was a huge model back in 2002 and although she was known for wearing heavy makeup and having her hair done up in the right way. This is one of the pictures that express the true identity of the Brazilian supermodel, Who is said to have liked wearing Converse trainers and to have enjoyed British culture such as Tea. we can see in the photo how the photographer wanted to express that as well as still showing off the models trendy style.

I can also say that this picture is type that was taken in order to promote clothes that were fashionable and how to get the look that the model was wearing. But by studying magazines, Though the clothes are advertised they often come along with prices and what shops to purchase the item of clothing from. In this case we can see that that part of the photograph was edited in after.

These pictures were taken from OK Magazine to illustrate my point about what I think the purpose of the main picture above of Gisele Bundchen was used for when the issue of Vogue as released in June 2002.

Overall we can evaluate out the positives and the negatives of this photo.
A strength of this photo would be the angle in which the model is in shows her entire body including her figure which therefore makes the dress and the shoe combination all the more appealing in the photo. The angle at which she is standing, this gives confidence to the outfit as she is seen here standing straight and slightly posing, whereas if she was slumped over or sitting down the outfit and the idea of the picture wouldn't look as good as it does in this photo.



However a negative of the photo would be there are too many focal points in the image so therefore whereas the viewer should usually be focused on one which gives an overall emphasis in this photo the dress, shoes and the tea all steal attention from each other and therefore neither one of them stand out from the rest of the image. The fact that also the lighting can be consider to be too bright. As this image was take on a white background, whereas therefore not so much lighting should  be used to enhance the picture. this affects the tea dripping on the side of the photo, as there is so much lighting it is difficult to see the tea dripping on the dress but it goes onto her shoes straightaway and makes the photo looks out of proportion because the lighting blinds out the tea on her dress or has been edited out.

The reason why I chose this particular photo to feature in my blog post, is because i found it interesting to see the different elements that were within the photo. in such a small image; there is so much going on. If you scroll down the photo you can see that it starts of normal and by the end it looks bizarre, it goes from a model using towards the camera all the way down to her wearing a ripped dress, dirty converse trainers and a cup of spilt tea. Following on from this, it is pictured on a white background, which means that the floral design stands out more and the colours look more vibrant and appealing to wear.
This is an interesting image, however the reason behind is it unclear when you first look at in and unfamiliar with model. In my opinion, I felt confused with picture and had to delve into further research of the particular picture and the model behind it. As well as the fact that I dislike the outfit as whole as it ripped and it doesn't look attractive. It is understandable that this might have been the fashion back in 2002, however, nowadays it wouldn't have been seen as trendy.


In conclusion, I believe to a large extent that this photo is a positive rather than a negative image due to the fact that it completes it purpose in making the dress look good and advertising it in a way that looks appealing to potential buyers, who were reading the issue at the time. this is done to the way that the model was positioned and the dress was portrayed on the model itself. Therefore this makes the strength weigh out the weakness' of the image.

This Image has been described as Claudia Schiffer in Paris. taken by Herb Ritts in 1989. This picture was used to accompany an article in the October edition of Vogue that year. the caption that accompanies this photo is "A Dream of a blonde, a boy on a motorcycle and a couture wardrobe fit for a star".


This image is a fashion photograph of Claudia Schiffer on  the back of a motorbike in the middle of a busy street in Paris. Claudia s is wearing trendy fashion of that era, which was the 1980's, from general knowledge, I understand that it was big bows, high hair and clashing colours. such as Yellow and Pink in this case. She is seen holding the waist of what seems to be the perfect man on a motorbike in the greatest city. This photo shoes the perfect example of the life a star leads and it's even complete with a French tourist photographing her in the background of the shoot.



The purpose of the photo is too show what the perfect life was described at the time of the release every day. Being a fashion photographer and living in the fashion capital of the world and taking photo's like the one seen above can be described at this time "the perfect life." which is what the editors of Vogue wanted to show the readers, Another reason to produce this photo were too show the fashion trend at the time of release. Which as I mentioned previously was big hair, and bows such as the one seen in this picture.







A strength of this image, Claudia in Paris would be the colours used, which are yellow, black and pink. The reason why these colours are good is because they complement each other especially, the yellow and black. A positive of this particular image would be that the brightness of the yellow brings out the darkness of the black and enhance the whole outfit overall. The issue is that the fact that although this is a fashion photograph for Vogue, due to the amount of black used in one aspect of the page as well as the natural lighting, it can seem difficult to separate the biker and the models clothes and admire them individually, therefore by adding yellow in to the picture we can do both easily as well as the fact that in my opinion, because of Claudia’s Blonde Hair, the yellow compliments the rest of the outfit.







However, a weakness of the image in my opinion, would be the fact that despite the name of the photo being called “Claudia in Paris”.  I wouldn’t think that this photo was taken there as there is nothing significant in the photo determining that this picture was actually captured in France. In the photograph itself, not in the background there is nothing actually showing the spirit of France such as the Eiffel Tower, or any French lettering or any typical French fashion trends which although doesn’t affect the quality of the image itself but rather it’s realism. Especially as this picture is considered to be non – contemporary it would have been effective if there were some French fashion statements of this time blurred into the background.


Furthermore, we can continue critically evaluate the photo above, The original reason why I chose this photo to go on my blog post was the mainly because of the time period that it was taken in. How the picture represents what was trendy and fashionable back in 1989. when looking through books I always finds how interesting it is to see how clothes and outfits were seen throughout the different decades. As this represents the 80's,  we can  see that the fashion back then was as mixture of dark and light colours. In this image we can see both of these here, that the yellow scarf and bag differentiate the black from the rest of the picture, such as from the motorbike and the boy's jacket that she is clutching on to. Another positive of this aspect of this picture, is that it shows the general goal that al girls want to achieve in life  ("A Dream of a blonde, a boy on a motorcycle and a couture wardrobe fit for a star".)
and it shows me that although this picture was taken decades ago, this photo still show that the dream is still; achievable even the 21st century as the clothes and fashion trends may be different but the idea is still the same. However, a contradiction of that point and the overall photo is that I personally believe that the dream is too unrealistic to become a reality, no matter what year it is. I therefore believe this photo (albeit a fashion shoot) looks staged, and those who might look at it would feel false hope that this could become them one day. I believe that the jist of this photograph is too staged to be a reality, however, it is understandable that the company "Vogue" were only trying to promote the trends and latest style at that time rather than promote the messages behind the photo-shoots.







Overall, I can conclude to a large extent that this picture is more positive that a negative one in term of a fashion photography, the reason I believe this is that despite not actually representing true French culture, the colours used are brilliant and compliment the photo and the model as well as truly represent the dreams of fashion that were widely believed in the 80’s. This picture also represents really the position that any star wants to be in, while in their lifetime which is as the caption reads “The Blonde, A Boy on a Motorcycle and a couture wardrobe fit for a star”

The last fashion photograph that we will be looking at is titled Sienna Miller and was captured by Ryan McGinley in 2012. It was released in the April edition of Vogue for that year. This image was extracted from the book Vogue 100: A Century of Style. We will discuss this further.

This picture of the British actress and model was taken in order to celebrate the release of her film The Girl. This TV Movie was about the real life story of what went behind the scenes of the famous film director, Alfred Hitchcock’s famous Movie The Birds. The story is about how Hitchcock acted around the films leading lady Tippi Hendren of whom, he had an obsession with. Therefore, in the photo above as Sienna Miller was playing Tippi Hendren, this photo commemorated the film’s release hence the supporting cast of birds.

In this photo, Miller is wearing a Lilac Corset with elements of Swarovski crystal which compliments the sky blue background she is up against as well as having a flock of birds joining her on the set to symbolise the release of the film. Unlike most fashion photographs, this image is not staged and is done in a natural environment, which in my opinion makes the photograph all the better and more realistic. We will now discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this photo.

A clear strength in this particular image is the natural atmosphere that it was taken in, such as the fact that they have left the models hair fly over her face and captured her general reaction of what was going on at the time and although natural lighting was clearly not used we can clearly see the natural beauty of the birds themselves. A main strength is that the photographer captured the picture in the perfect moment whereas the birds were flying in front of the model but still not hiding the clothes that she was wearing which is the purpose of why fashion photographs get released.

However, a weakness of this particular photo is that the angle of the model is ultimately covered by birds and compromising the outfit that she is wearing, In any photo that is in a  fashion magazine, the key is always to get the fashion trends out there and tell the reader what the model is wearing whereas in this image although the picture was taken in a natural state and can be difficult to identify what Sienna is actually wearing  as there are birds covering it, this contradicts the whole idea of putting a photographic image in the fashion magazine so it  would say that not showing the whole corset that she is wearing, is a weakness for this picture.


Finally we will be looking at this fashion photography and will continue to critically evaluate accordingly, What I really like about this photo is the genuine surprised facial expression that the model has, as the photo was taken when a flock of birds were let out on the set an d the natural atmosphere that the picture was taken in as well as the fact that's it's one of the few fashion photographs that I have studied which don't expose the expensive dress or fashion trends. I also take into account the fact that Vogue have taken advantage of the fact that she was promoting the new movie and based the photo-shoot around it. Which is the reason that I chose this particulatr photo to focus on my blog p[ost rewgarding fashion photography.

However, the reason why this may have been done, was that the outfit was expensive and could not be bought in a regular shop, in my opinion, a trend is considered to be something that is a thing can be followed by others. However, this could be considered impossible or unreasonable to do so as the dress was made with expensive crystals sewn into the seam, as well as  specifically for this shoot.
So, Vogue ( who administered the photo-shoot) didn't keep to their policy of advertising fashion specifically, rather than promoting for her new movie and using the fashion to enhance the looks of the model. Which can be seen as disappointing in my eyes, as vogue was always known for clothing and specifically looks/make up, In this photo-shoot despite the fact that use the same photographic and camera operating techniques as their  previous images, They chose not to stick to their own beliefs and values and produced a photo like any other magazine would.



Overall, I would have to once again agree that this photo has more strengths than weakness's, despite the fact that there are so many birds on the set that they take away from the actual fashion in the photograph, the original reason why this image was produced in the first place was to promote Sienna Miller's new movie. Which featured the story behind Alfred Hitchcock's the Birds so therefore, the idea to take the outfit out of proportion to advertise the film which it does in this case, making this image more positive than negative.




Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is when a photo that is being taken is of an individual person rather than a group or a certain object. They are used to tell the viewer about the personality that subject has in the photo. We will analyse the following images which have all been extracted from YouTube and evaluate the positives and the negatives of each portrait.

This photo is known as Afghan Girl and it was taken by Steve McCurry is 1984, it is one of the most famous portraits in the history of photography and is one of McCurry’s Best work. This picture was extracted from the video National Geographic: The Last Roll of Kodachrome whereas Steve McCurry travels around the world using up his last roll ever of Kodachrome film which he used to take iconic photo’s such as the one above, before he switches to modern film. This Documentary is available to watch at this URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUL6MBVKVLI

By analysing this non – contemporary photo we can look at why it was considered to be so iconic. The image is of young woman with a red headscarf and bright green eye looking directly at the camera and has even been compared to the Mona Lisa which was painted by the incredible Leonardo da Vinci. 
This particular photo resembles a part of history whereas when the photo was taken, which was when the Soviet Union took over Afghanistan during the cold war. 
This women story is likely to be that she was an afghan refugee during this time and her frightened face represents the way that many over refugees felt during this hostile period of time. Since this photo was released on the cover the National Geographic of April of 1984 this photo has become emblematic of the refugee girl in a distant camp which represents millions who have the same title.

We can now look at the actual image and analyse the photo itself. A strength of this photo is the nature of it and how McCurry really captured the fear in the subject’s eyes and how although the girl is young and looked about 13 years of age, she has seen more horror in her thirteen years than most would have done in a lifetime. This is the aim that McCurry wanted to capture in the photo and just by a glance he has definitely aught that in the photo. The natural lighting and the positioning also has an effect on the final image and its stunning result.

However, a negative of this portrait would be that although it is both an accurate and iconic representation of what many looked and felt like in soviet occupied Afghanistan, it is interesting to note that this refugee is wearing red which at the time represented communism which took over Afghanistan at the time of the pictures release it doesn’t reflect the true nationality of Afghan or Islam which this girl has conformed to. By wearing red she is hiding her true identity compromising image own name as the afghan.

We will now continue to critically evaluate the portrait photography in the remainder of the blog. The reason I decided to post this particular photo on the blog is because of how well the photo is known, I would therefore like to input my personal opinion on this particular piece of portrait photography. What I really like about the picture is the simplicity of it yet, so effective. The fact that with only two colours seen in the entire photograph. which are red and green, the fact that these two colours make up one incredible picture are outstanding,. furthermore, which such simplicity, you can still see the personality and fear of the "Afghan Girl" through her eyes.
 This photo also shows me that's it's ,ore about just a portrait, it's a real life woman who has suffered through  Occupied Afghanistan and just her eyes alone make you intrigued to find out more about the life of the woman behind the photo though. 
This is actually  the only photo on this blog that I can't feel i could personally criticize, as I am finding almost impossible to find anything in this portrait that is bad.

Overall, I believe to a large extent that this photo weighs out strengths over weaknesses because although this photo doesn’t represent what could be true Afghani culture it however does represent clearly what many Afghani female refugees felt at that time which is what I believe the photographer was trying to get across with the piercing green eyes and the red torn shawl which therefore makes this once again, one of the iconic portrait photographs of the 20th Century.

This portrait that we will be analysing is the academy award winning actress, Meryl Streep. This photo was taken by Annie Leibovitz who is another famous portrait photographer who made an impact on the 21st century. This image was sourced from another documentary online, about Annie Leibovitz and the celebrities that she has photographer, it is called Annie Leibovitz: Life Through the lens and can be watched at this Link: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/annieleibovitz

This photo of Meryl Streep is not just representing her film career but about the things that the actress personally believes in outside of the big screen such as individual and women’s right which is what I believe this photo represents. By looking at the photo we can see that is simple but effective by the way that Ms Streep is portrayed. It should also be noted that this particular picture was on the June 2008 edition of Rolling Stones magazine, making this picture non – contemporary.
She is wearing a simple white, shirt and wearing white foundation just covering her face, she is also pulling it at different angles, this photo can be seen in a number of different ways

 The reason why Meryl is painted white can represent purity and angelic which she is perceived to be, Meryl Streep at the time the photo was taken had already won 2 academy awards and had 12 Nominations making her one of the most successful actresses of the 21st Century and she has been given this title a numerous amount of times. The reason why she may be pulling her face because as she plays many different roles she has to changer herself and she has to force herself to be someone who she’s not. Which is what the motion she is making in the photo represents 

Alternatively, She may be dressed in simple attire and having her face covered to remind the readers of the magazine that she is a normal human being just like anyone else and she doesn’t always have to be seen as glamorous and she is just like anyone else which is why she is pulling at her face in order to break her persona and all the characters she has acted out over the years. We can now evaluate the photo itself and look at the positives and negatives of this piece of photography.
A strength that is in this photo is the fact that the message is clear about what Meryl Streep may believe in and why she is dressed and is acting in this attire as well as the fact that the lighting in this photograph is crisp and clear and we can easily see the actress’s facial expression and physicality in the photograph.

However, a weakness of this photograph is that the focal point can be misdirected based on how many meanings are behind a single photo therefore it over complicates the message to the viewer such as the fact that it may be the viewers pulling Meryl or it could be herself based upon the fact that the viewer of this photograph do not understand who arms is pulling her face or whether the white dress code represents her energetic career or her quiet personal life. I believe that this is a good photo but has lots of complex messages behind it which take away from the Overall image of Meryl Streep.

The penultimate photo that we will critically evaluate would be this photo of the Oscar winning Actress, Meryl Streep. 
The main reason why i chose this image to feature in m assignment, apart from being a huge fan of Meryl Streep and the work that she does, i decided to include this photograph because of the many messages behind the photo that represent the life of Meryl Streep, as i previously mentioned, the white make up and the positioning of her hands carry ,many messages behind it, Personally i believe that the point she is trying to get across is that being in Hollywood, she always has to play different characters and that she can never be herself. I see this through the fact that she is pulling her face which means pulling towards different characters, as well as the white face paint is covering her true identity s when i first saw the photo i found it difficult to recognize her.

What I dislike, particularly about this photo is the message behind it that "Meryl Streep is normal, like everyone else" such as the fact that she is wearing a plain white shirt and no make up except a splash of white face paint. Although this is a nice message to base the photoshoot around, it can come across as condescending, Some people might find it irritating for someone like Meryl Streep to say that she blends in when everyone else, when at the back of her mind she knows she doesn't, as a normal person wouldn't have been able to hold a record for Oscar Nominations. However, i believe that people would have rather seen this photo than one of Meryl Streep in all her glory, holding her academy wars, wearing expensive jewelry. As this would have cause jealousy and they would struggle to see Ms Steeps point about "being normal like everyone else"

Overall, I believe to a large extent that this image is extremely successful because despite the complex messages behind it The overall image portrays the actress in a positive light which is what the photographers hopes for when doing a portrait of a celebrity and the actual lighting is equal and crisp and behind the make-up you can clearly see the face of the beloved actress.

The final portrait and photo that we will be looking is another contemporary piece by the great Anne Leibovitz is of Caitlyn Jenner who rocked the front cover of the Vanity Fair in July 2015. She is the first transsexual person to appear on the front of this magazine. This was an incredibly hot topic as it was her first appearance as Caitlyn rather than Bruce who she previously was; we will continue to discuss the actual image that appeared on the front of the magazine. It should be noted that I extracted this picture from a short interview released on the Youtube.com known as Caitlyn Jenner is finally “Free” on Vanity Fair’s cover and is available to watch at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OwDp2LMVbg

By analysing this picture, I can see that it is meant to be the debut of Caitlyn Jenner to the world since she had a gender transition surgery last summer, Bruce Jenner is famous for being a Decathlete and especially known for winning a gold medal back in 1975. He is even more famous of being the father of the Television personalities, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and the former stepfather of the Kardashian who are also television personalities. This picture aim is meant to show Caitlyn Jenner as exposed and showing all aspects of a woman that are supposedly different to men.

She Is wearing a white in order to stand out from the rest and to really show off the corset that she is wearing and enhance all the parts of her that she could to again show off her new boy which was the whole purpose of this picture. To show the final result after over two years of surgeries and appointments that she at points didn’t keep it to her private life but rather blasted it all over social media and on the show “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. The reason why she may also be wearing white was to emphasis the title and the main headline “Call Me Caitlyn” which as you can see is in big bold writing. We can now discuss the ultimate positive and negatives of this image.

It is positive and it is very inspiring to encourage other people who are part of the same communities in order to free themselves and be proud of who they are and to follow I n the footsteps of Caitlyn who although was famous before and during the transitional period, she has got a lot of support after. The image also has a strong focal point as it has centred Caitlyn right in the middle of the image wearing a tight fitting corset and has the big bold headline underneath so that now reads will get the message instantly as it is completely straightforward what the image represents

A downside to this particular portrait is how natural the whole image is and it enhances the nature that is supposed to be the new Caitlin Jenner. From this image I can tell that there is a lot of editing going on and as its not her natural look and has been filtered I believe that it can be misleading to give others false hope of how beautiful one can be after gender reassignment when they don’t look like that beautiful in general the fact that the nature of the photo is compromised and there is a lot of editing really takes away from the overall purpose and message of the photo.

he final photo that we will be evaluating is the publicized appearance of Caitlyn Jenner, after she had just gone through gender reassignment surgery from previously been known as Bruce Jenner, a TV personality as well as member of the famous Kardashian – Jenner family. The reason that I decided to include this particular portrait in my assignment is because of how recent it is, as it was huge Headline last year, that a famous TV personality was coming out as Transgender, People who even watched the |Television show that Bruce appeared followed his journey from man to woman, this photograph is the final result that both Bruce and the general population had been waiting almost 6 months for. This is why I like this photo, because it shows the final result after months of waiting. This photograph shows Caitlyn baring basically all that she can (within reason) so that everyone can see what had changed exactly. I really like the simplicity of the photo as well, how it is just her naturally sitting on a chair wearing basic colours and a plain dress/corset, however the overall “Call me Caitlyn message” still shines through.

However, a negative aspect that I can see on this image is the fact that the photo is unnatural and I can easily see that it has been manipulated and toyed around with. I personally think, that if you are going to debut an image of the “New You”, it would be preferable to do a natural photoshoot that’s how’s the real you rather than a touched up version of yourself, understandable, I assume that Ms Jenner knew that this photograph was going to be shared globally on the cover of a well-read magazine so it would be better option to look desirable rather than show off her beauty without the use of makeup. However, I still believe that having been wearing basic colours and simple lighting, she should have been seen really committing to the headline that went along with this image.

In conclusion, I believe to a large extent that the positives in this image weigh out the negatives, I believe this because despite providing false hope and not showing realistic and natural looks, the focal point of the article is heard loud and clear and the headline accompanies it and that it gives readers hope to be proud and not ashamed of who you are which is what the article main aim is to do to those who read it.