Photography Inquiry pROJECT

Driving Question: How do I create emotion in my portraits through storytelling?

This year I really liked our work with portraits and I want to continue that work in my final project. I was really drawn to portraits thought conveyed lots of emotion such as the Humans of New York series. I want to look into how to replicate this theme and do it for myself. I also want to look into other photographers who do this as well. I’m interested in because photos that convey someone’s emotions such as pain can be very powerful and you feel sympathy for them. And all this is done without saying anything. To do this I want to start by researching how photographers convey emotion. I want to create a sort of list or formula on what these artists do. I don’t know how plausible it is but maybe I could try and do it myself through a portrait series. One of my big inspirations will be Brandon Stanton and I want to look into Chris Hondros as well.

I decided I was going to shoot with three groups of people. Family, friends, and people at my school I don't talk to as much or strangers. I also decided to interview my subject. I used a sheet with some questions that I got from Humans of New York. This sheet also had tips for approaching people and getting them to open up. I first interviewed my friends at school asking them questions to try to find out more about them. The whole purpose of this was to get them to open up and feel a little vulnerable. I chose to take the photo of my subject right after the interview. I did this because I thought it would feel the most natural and anyone who sees the photo can see what the looked like in the moment.

Overall, I thought my project was a success. I felt like I got some really good responses out of people and I had a fun time doing it. I thought I took quality photos and I edited them well. I think I showed my understanding of the Elements and Principles we learned by really paying attention to the aperture and lighting. I really wanted to make sure that my subject was the focal point of the photo. I still have to interview people that I'm not as familiar with and I'm going on a camping trip with my class which will provide the perfect opportunity.

Cathy

“My mother used her voice in many ways. I think she used it to cope with the stress of her life and she also used it to bring us happiness because it was fun to hear her sing. It was the way she soothed herself and without realizing it, soothed us.”

Daniel

"Peace and happiness, everyone being kind. Spreading kindness and everyone being able to walk to work with a smile. Too me happiness means having choices, being aware and being able to feel. It's also comfort in spending the day doing what you want to do. Happiness is being able to see your son smile... and your wife, never forget the wife."

Noah

"When I'm older I want to be comfortable. I want to feel content with what I've done. I want to feel safe."

Anna

"I think I'm scared of not achieving things, not achieving really basic goals. I want to succeed. In the future I want to do something I enjoy, finding my passion.

I would say my grandmother is someone who inspires me. She was a kid in the war and immigrated.

Max

"I want to be successful. To me that means making money and having friends."

Photographer Analysis

Here we see a young Liberian man celebrating after firing a rocket into rebel territory. One of the themes the photographer regularly works with is war and typically works in war-torn countries.

The young man in front of us is clearly supposed to be the focus of this picture. We can clearly see the excitement in his face and is body language gives of a happy or successful feeling. We can also see signs of a high aperture with most of the photo being in focus, only the buildings far behind the subject are blurry.

This man, Mickey, was friends with a gay artist named Micheal when he was a young man. Michael was a very big part of his life and he was a big influence on him. He said he was like a father to him, someone who understood him better than his own parent. He was someone that he could talk to about his depression without being judged. They eventually started dating despite their large age gap. Later on, they both tested positive for HIV. While Mickey was one of the lucky ones, Michael was not. But after living with the disease for so long it finally got to him. Michael loved to paint murals. Especially palm trees. After his death, a critic wrote, “The palms aren’t swaying quite as much as they used to.”

This image is very focused on the man in front of us and gives us a strong focal point. I also notice things like light and form. The lighting here feels slightly dull as it might have been a cloudy day but I don’t think it hurts the picture. In addition, form is a big part of this photo with his turban and unique mustache and beard being right in front of our faces.

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