Assignment 1, Part 1

Hello again!
Today I'm going to be writing about portrait photography, then and now.


What are the main differences and similarities between portraits in the early days of photography and portraits today?

There are many differences from then and now. There are even many different styles and types of portrait photography now because we have so much more technology. Sometimes it's artistic like the works of Annie Leibovitz, and sometimes it's boring like your high school graduation photo.
The only two things that remain the same in my opinion is that portraits usually contain one subject in the shot and that it's a longish exposure to get all the details in one's face.
I find now there is also more lighting involved, especially if you're shooting for a magazine or a high-profile person/event of some kind.

This old family portrait was taken in 1891 Ireland most likely using the Daguerreotype process (This process was discussed in my last post and also a little bit below). This family would have had to hold perfectly still for at least 30 seconds, if not then they would be blurred. Most photos in that time were taken against really plain backgrounds and people had to sit so they would be less likely to move. All the white dots are just from the aging of the actual photo.

This photo of legendary musician Iggy Pop was taken in 2000 by Annie Liebovitz. The lighting is perfect and the shot, although probably not 1000th of a second, still much faster than that of the family above. Look at all the detail everywhere! Face, arms, torso, and even his jeans!


And finally the embarrassing middle school portrait. Nothing too special but there is still clearly much more detail and you bet the exposure time was still faster than the portrait of the family. The photographer may have used a lighting kit as with the other two but this one was probably doctored to take out blemishes or other unflattering bits (More about lighting and doctoring later).

Who was the photographer and who was the subject of photographs in the past and today?
The process of Daguerreotypes process was developed by Louse Daguerre together with Joseph Nicrphore Niepce. Although not used for portraits at first, with time they became more popular around the world by other people making the same instrument (See my last post for more details).
Eventually it did catch on one could be charged a minimal fee to have their portrait taken, much like one can get their passport photo done today.

Portraits in this digital age can be done by anyone, anywhere, and with anyone or anything in them. I mentioned before that there are different types of portraits and here are some examples of modern portrait photography, and of course, pay attention to the detail and note that they're all in pretty amazing colours!

Environmental portrait: a portrait of someone that tells a story about what they do for a living. This is of a cranberry farmer.


Wedding portrait: Every couple does them, and they're almost always "action shots" which absolutely could not be done in the past.


Pet portraits! This one is of my cat by local photographer Piotr Organa. Could you imagine trying to photograph a dog or cat in the 1800's, you'd get a big blob.

What was the impact of technology on the portraits in the past and today?
Technology has had an immense impact on portrait photography and the photography world as a whole. There are new technologies being introduced everyday from many different companies. Portrait photographers are lucky to be able to use more lights, more light trickery, Photoshop programs, better lenses, better bodies, and of course it's all digital!

This is the basic lighting setup for a portrait. Light trickery plays a part in modern portrait photography because you can change the mood of the photo as well as the subject itself. For example, you can make something look dramatic, or fun, or straight-up insanely amazing.


I'm not at all saying that Photoshop programs are the devil because it surely has other uses than just making people look better. Touch-ups like this are okay, when limbs go missing it's a problem.


This Canon 50mm f/1.2 will set you back $1600.. talk about fancy new technology!

Sources:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype
*I hope I credited everyone, and I left watermarks on pictures that had watermarks