Street Photo Treasures

FINAL

Anyone can try to imitate Richard Avedon's style, but as we noticed it is very difficult to be fully successful. I think the most important aspect of this style of photography was having the right model. Talking through the photoshoot really helped capture that real, soulful gaze. There were no props, no special lighting, black and white, and little to no shadows. The final draft shows the very best from the previous 3 drafts. I think the best photos are when the models make direct eye contact with the camera.

3rd Draft

Avedon continued...

Portraits

This series was inspired by Richard Avedon, we tried to follow in his footsteps of simplicity with real expressions. No fake smiles or emotions are shown, the pictures show truth in the model's eyes. The photos reveal hidden emotions and feelings. We worked with a white wall and no other props. The most difficult part was finding a cooperative model, now people automatically smile when they see someone taking a picture of them, its become a basic instinct. This was not a problem for Avedon who used an interesting technique to have his models express abnormal facial expressions. It took a lot of tries to get the perfect picture that encompasses this idea of real, not glamour. Avedon caught the wrinkles, freckles, etc. Black and white was also a prominent theme in Avedon's pictures.

Shadow

We were so lucky to have such a great sunny day. It really emphasized all the shadows. My favorites were of the interesting shapes the leaves and plants made on walls. It really added the theme of mystery and showed a variety of shapes. We also focused on abstraction and length. The tree pictures demonstrates the idea of repetition even in shadows and shows length. The shadows are also blobs, which add to their mysterious element. They are open to interpretation. Weather creates for very interesting photography, if it was foggy we would still get the mysterious vibe but in a different way. Those pictures would show more closed and blurred pictures, while with sunlight the photos are inviting and opened. Different background textures also have a big impact on the end product. Overall I would say this album was successful.

Depth

Leading Lines

It was interesting to see that many of the lines kept going, it was almost impossible to see the end of the lines; from street cracks to pole lines. All these man-made lines can lead the eye. Although it was difficult to find unique lines that were not so obvious, not just things on the street. So I tried to make it more creative and create my own leading lines with clothing and zippers. Leading lines are very good at making the viewer look deeper within in the image and think of what lays beyond what's shown. it makes you focus on the intended subject or focal point.

Repetition

Repetition was the easiest thing to find because you see it everywhere you go! Now creating depth within that repetition was much harder, I had to experiment with different angles to make the picture look longer than it really was. Having a hallway type environment helped emphasize this depth. Repetition can create a lot of patterns in your photography and adds for an interesting composition. I tried to use different techniques, like in the pole with staple and chair pictures I focused more on zooming in and filling the frame with a repetitive pattern to give the impression of the size and large numbers. In the cubby picture, the one bag sitting there gives an interruption or break from the repeating boxes; it adds a contrasting object.

Foreground/Background

The purpose of this type of photography is to illustrate the different forms depth can take and interact visually when other subjects are put into the equation. I struggled with this series the most and found I often had to manipulate the situation and add the foreground into the background or vice versa. To unify this set, I made all the photos black and white. We had to slow down the F-stop and put the ISO to 400 to create a clear foreground and background. The first photo is very interesting because there is a subject there are three moving subjects shown in different times, so they get smaller and smaller the further the photo reaches. The background has to complement the subject.