Photography: Travis Shinn

INTRO

Travis Shinn's work first caught my eyes in an issue of Guitar World Magazine. He has done many shoots with a lot of famous musicians, and his work has appeared in numerous music magazines like Scratch, Rolling Stones, but does he most of his work for Revolver and Guitar World.

CAPTURING PERSONALITY

What makes his photographs meaningful is his ability to bring out the personality of the person or group he is shooting. He does this very well despite the difficulty of doing so without the use of words or movement. What I've noticed is that in a lot of his photos, although they are posed, they feel natural and never out of character. Either he knows his subjects well enough to set up what he feels is the perfect shoot or he just allows them to be more of themselves during the shoot, or perhaps a combination of the two, whatever his method, it works well and the end result is stunning.

To elaborate, this is his photo of musician/actor Diddy. The image shows a kind of laid back type attitude but it doesn't quite feel like a laziness its more of a confident, clam relax pose and the monochrome adds a sense of classiness to it. It feels right, and he doesn't seem out of place or out of character

PLAIN BACKGROUND PORTRAITS

Quite a few of his photos are simple plain or white backgrounds which would mean that he needs to rely on other aspects of photography like lighting and color as well a poses of the subjects to create a nice image.

For example the ones below:

As you can see even without a backdrop to help tell a story or help draw the eye, Travis does a good job keeping the viewer interested and understanding his point. To get more in depth, a good example is his photo of guitarist Slash, now the background isn't white like the above but its still pretty plain .

Its a simple pose nothing flashy, just Slash standing there with a guitar in his hands, yet it's still interesting. For one the setting is odd its just an empty room made of woodchip walls, and since it's empty the man focus is still Slash. What makes this photo though, is the lighting which is possibly why this location was used. It's a one directional light pointed at Slash, but small enclosed area helps bounce the light around creating a nice effect, and resulting in a nice image.

THEME PHOTOSHOOTS

There's also a few theme photo shoots that Travis does. The theme seems relevant to the subject/subjects being photographed, meaning they never feel out of place it somehow feels right. This time he has the added help of costumes and backdrops and props to give a sense of environment and he uses this well, just the right amount without going overboard resulting in cluttered scene. The people are still the man focus as they should be, and his use of lighting and colour seem very thought out and again relevant to the scene.c Examples below:

Now I'm not very familiar with the musicians above but after seeing these images I get a sense of their personality and style of music.

SCENERY

A lot of his other work non-musician related material is also worth a look. They say every picture tells a story and that seems to be the case here as well. Whether it's photo with people or just of the scenery.

The images above are all monochrome and implies a more sad tone combine that with the theme of loneliness, (the single house in the woods, the lone chair at the beach, the one tree by the side of the road and the single stream in the field) and you get a sense of a story. Change one thing as little as the colour and the whole story can change too, so Travis does a good job of tying all his elements together to express his vision.

CONCLUSION

Overall Travis Shins work's are very well done. He knows well enough what he wants to represent and express in an image, how to create it and then capture his vision and share it with others. From the first time I saw some of his work till now I'm still a fan.

Here are some more of his work:

WORKS CITED

All images are taken from Travis Shinn's official site at www.travisshinn.com

Assignment 4 - Virtual Essay

The photographer I have chosen is David Lindsey Wade.  He has a certain style that is just pleasing to the eye. His photos are very raw and his use of light is very well utilized,  it's able to highlight what's important and make it stand out.  The poses are also well done, they capture the mood of the image and character of the subject. 

Here are a few of his photographs taken from his official website: http://www.davidlindseywade.com/ 

 

Like with any other form of art it is easy to spot similarities in other photographs taken by other photographers.

One image that pops to mind is the promotional poster used for the WWE payper view, Royal Rumble, back in 2009, which I found similar to the image directly below it.

WWE Royal Rumble 2009 

http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/history/2009/

Image by David Lindsey Wade.

What I find similar between these two images is the dark color palette. There is a lot of greys and blues used which gives it a darker, scarier, more serious tone. The overall theme of chaos and anarchy is also similar, there are bodies all over the place, the people all have angry, determined expressions on their faces. The people also appear to have a litle bit of a shine to them due to the lighting. The backgrond is very plain and unintresting but it doesn't need to be anything else. When looking at each it's easy to get the same overall feeling, because of the close similarities.

Some other images that remind me of David Lindsey Wade photos are the ones below. One is a photo taken from a concert and the other is the album cover for Pearl Jam's album Ten, the last one is an image by David Lindsey Wade, that they are similar to.

Raised Hands http://www.apathyisboring.com/en/the_facts/news/4452

Pearl Jam "ten" album cover http://pearljam.com/music/releases/studio%20album/ten

 

Image of Hands raised Taken By David Lindsey Wade

 

 

In teams of looks there are differences, like the colour and the directions of the hands, for example in the concert image the hands are straight up, in the Pearl Jam image the hands all meet in the middle and in the Wade picture the hands lean towards the middle. Concept wise all these images are the same.  The camera is place above the heads of everyone in the image, as if to say the people in which the hands belong to are not important. The hands in the concert image and the Wade image are a silhouette due to the very dark setting and the one direction light shining from behind, which helps ad mystery and also makes the hands predominant.

Below is a poster for the movie The Dark Knight, and an image of the current US President , Barack Obama , which I found similar to the two below them, taken by David Lindsey Wade. 

Poster for the movie "The Dark Knight" http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2008_the_dark_knight_poster_007_big.html

Picture Of U.S President Barack Obama http://greenspaces.in/blog/2009/01/

Image of boxer Floyd Mayweather taken by David Lindsey Wade

Image by David Lindsey Wade

 

The similarity lies in the black background with one directional light hitting the subjects, with the exception of the Obama image which has two directional lights. The light is able to highlight part of the figure and leave the rest in shadows which creates a mysterious feel and gives the subject of the image the same sense of mystery. Since the background is black the glow of light comes across really strong, thus making the subject more noticeable and predominant, and really draws the eyes to them.

The similarities of the images below are obvious. Top one is a destop wallpaper for computers the bottom is by David Lindsey Wade.

Busy Highway http://www.hd-wallpapers.com/wide/photography/landscapes/

Car going down a road, taken by David Lindsey Wade

They both show cars going down a road, but instead of seeing still cars all you see are the headlights and backlight in a beam that runs down the road, this created by using a technique called light painting.  Seeing as how light painting works better in dark setting both images are taken at later times in the day, around dusk. Light painting and espcially using it for cars on roads is very common and similar images can be found online easily, but Wade is able to create a different feel, in his photo it seems more peaceful, and relaxed, where as the other one come off as more busy and hectic. It just goes to show that one technique can be used to create many different feelings.

Below is the poster for the movie The Road and an old promotional image for WWE taken by David Lindsey Wade.

The Road movie poster  http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1642761728/tt0898367

Former WWE superstar Batista, taken by David Lindsey Wade

 

At first glance The warm colour palette stands out. The use of brown, orange and grey are common between both images. When looking closer the similarities of the subjects start to show. They both look dirty and gritty like they've been through a battle or a demanding journey of some sort, this is also shown through their facial expressions. There is also a glow which appears directly behind both subjects, possibly representing a glimmer of hope in the world of despair that these people appear to be in. Or it could be revealing, or representing  these characters as the saviours or heroes.

 

With all these similarities it's still hard to say who influenced who. The similarities in all the images above are more simple techniques that are common amongst artist. Such as using dark colours express fear, and mystery.  David Lindsey Wade takes these well known techniques and applies his little twist to it, and combine them, thus making it his own, and that is usually how styles are created.

Assignment 1 Photo Journal PART3

Alterations in journalistic photography

Photo alterations have always been around and have gotten more and more popular as technology rises. Ethically altering photos is undeniably wrong, the reason being that it's deceitful and defiantly a straight up lie coming from the photographer. People will often look at these photos and expect the truth but sometimes the photo is alter in order to exaggerated the message because the photographer is hoping that he/she will more easily get the point they wanted across and have it more easily received. Or maybe the original photo just doesn't contain the message the photographer wanted. It could also solely be to gain fame and fortune. Sometimes though its really hard to understand why. In the article  Photojournalism in the Age of Scrutiny  it is stated that SND and National Press Photographers' Association are both trying very hard to raise the standards of ethical decision-making in the practice of visual journalism, but it's not an issue that will easily be wiped away

Sometimes, I'm not sure all the blame can be put on just the photographers, because we as consumers often claim we want the truth, but in reality we demand more because deep down we know the truth can at times be boring to us, or maybe our expectations are always to high or something needs to be really big, in terms of shock and awe, in order to grab our attention. In the case of photos that contain people, there are many out there that are superficial and shallow at want to see someone that is flawless, or if the aim is for the opposite effect, which is to show people in despair or harsh environments, photos are edited to make the people look more unpleasant.

Sometimes, I'm not sure all the blame can be put on just the photographers, because we as consumers often claim we want the truth, but in reality we demand more because deep down we know the truth can at times be boring to us, or maybe our expectations are always to high or something needs to be really big, in terms of shock and awe, in order to grab our attention. In the case of photos that contain people, there are many out there that are superficial and shallow at want to see someone that is flawless, or if the aim is for the opposite effect, which is to show people in despair or harsh environments, photos are edited to make the people look more unpleasant.

 

Photographs were once the medium to provide evidence for the truth. Although there is an artistic side to photography that should never be lost the main objective of these photo journalist should be to visually tell consumers about the news, and that should always come first. Photographs are always taken with a grain of salt nowadays. Even big name companies with some credibility have been caught with altered photos, eg. New York Times and CBS news. People are more aware of what they are looking at and what to believe. This is also a bad thing because it causes confusion and uncertainty, and now people don't really care and therefore truthful photographers out there may, more often than not be mistakenly ignored or questioned too.

 

Sources: 

Kenneth Irby . “Photojournalism in the Age of Scrutiny.”  PoynterOnline. Sep. 15, 2006.

< http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=110342>.

Assignment 1 Photo Journal PART 2

Press photography

USA. NYC. 9/23/2001. Outside the Prayer for America ceremony at Yankee Stadium.

Photo by: Bruce Gilden

Website : Magnum Photos

URL:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/CoreXDoc/MAG/Media/TR3/b/d/5/c/NYC14500.jpg

SOUTH VIETNAM. Tien Giang. Near My Tho. A bunker inside a peasant hut to be used as shelter in case of incoming artillery fire. The area is controlled by the Vietcongs (Communist guerrilla).

Photo by: Abbas

Website: Magnum Photos

URL:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/CoreXDoc/MAG/Media/TR3/6/1/e/4/PAR55899.jpg

Art photography

Photo by: Daryl Benson

Website: Photography.ca

URL:

http://www.photography.ca/fine-art-photographers/benson

Photo By: Phil Borges

Website: Photography.ca

URL:

http://www.photography.ca/fine-art-photographers/borges/

Compare and Contrast

Press photography and Art photography are similar and different in many ways. From the photos I selected, I can see many similarities. They all are monochrome or really de-saturated. The two press photographs are of situations or topics that are not really pleasant, so the black and white was picked to help express the sadness of the situation in these photos. The art photographs seem to express the same kind of mood, therefore monochrome seemed like the right choice. Children are present and seem to be the main focus of these photos with the exception of one. The mood is already be established with the colour scheme and I feel that focusing on children really brings that mood out even more, children have a innocent aura to them and when they are place in photographs they seem to more easily and more effectively express the feeling the photographer wanted. Location is also important and it seems like in all these photographs the photographer carefully chose the setting. The setting helps to not only to establish the mood, but also in telling the story that the photographer is trying to tell. Even with all these similarities there are also some differences. The press photographs have more people in them, while the art photographs seem to be focused on one or two. This may be because the press photos are taken in the moment and the number of people that appear in the photos were uncontrollable or it could be because these press photos are mainly about telling a story, and not just one persons story but a story of a situation at affected many people's lives, and the art photos are more about expression and emotion. In my opinion it is easier to express an emotion more strongly when its more focus so the eye won't drift around to much. The art photos also seem more touched up and edited this to exaggerate the photo to help the photographer express their vision even more so than they already have, and to make it even more appealing to the eye. The press photos aren't edited to help preserve the authenticity and realism and to avoid bias. So even with all the similarities and differences press photographer and art photographers are able use one medium to do two different things and the outcome is undoubtedly stunning.

Assignment 1 Photo Journal - Part 1

Contrast and Comparison

There are plenty of similarities between portraits of the past and portraits today. The main purpose has always been the same, which is to capture the image of the subject, so that it can be printed and displayed, and viewed later on in life by others. Also used so one could visually affirm his new social status both to himself and to others. Just like portraits in the present day, portraits of the past were used as a keepsake something one can carry around to remember friends, lovers, or faraway members family . Back then there were miniatures that can be printed on powder boxes and pendants, nowadays some people wear lockets many carry pictures in their wallets, or use images of these people as their cell phone wallpaper.

Portraits also differ in many ways as well. Portraits of the past have generally been very posed, and stiff, this can be attributed to the fact that it took longer to set up and take a photo than it does compared to today, subjects were generally seated against plain backgrounds and lit with the soft light, and staring directly at the camers. Portraits today can be like that too, but many photographers try to capture a more natural pose, one that looks like the subject is not even aware that a photograph is being taken. There's more artistic expression in present time portraits compared to those of the past, many photographers today will often apply a theme to their shoots as well. Another thing is that in the past cameras an photographers weren't so easily accessible, therefore it would have cost a lot to get a portrait taken so one must be wealthy or important enough to get a portrait done. Nowadays portraits are relatively cheap and done as a way to remember something special, such as a graduation, or as just a way for parents to visually record the growth of their child, it's more mainstream.

 Photographers and Subjects

Daguerre – Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 1838

Photographers of the past include people like William Henry Fox Talbot. T, and Louis Daguerre, whom were both pioneers of photography, the subject of photographs in the past were of scenery, and then with the relatively low cost of the daguerreotype portraiture became really popular. Studios sprang up in cities around the world time. Today subjects of photos are similar, but with the popularity of magazines, celebrities are a popular subject for photography. Annie Leibovitz is a well known celebrity photographer. Some of her work has been for magazines such as Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. Some of her famous shoots include, John Lennon and Yoko Ono for Rolling Stone cover, shot the day of Lennon's death and Queen Elizabeth II on during her visit to the United States in 2007.

Annie Leibovitz- John Lennon and Yoko Ono Rolling Stone January 22, 1981

Impact of Technology

With the constant change of technology it has become easier for portraits to be captured, and shared. From day one the simple goal was to make the process of taking photographs more simple and to improve the quality. From the invention of William Talbot's calotype process (the first practical negative-positive photographic process) to the current digital camera, photography has been impacted significantly by technology. Thank to the digital camera, photo’s now exist in a digital world too, and with computers, and programs in them like Photoshop, it enables people to edit and tweak photos to fit their liking. Another aspects of technology that have also impacted photography, is the internet. With sites like Flickr and Facebook, photo's can easily be shared with everyone. 

 Link for pictures

Daguerre – Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 1838 - https://corkap.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/a-short-history-of-photography-at-the-lewis-glucksman-gallery-week-1/

 Annie Leibovitz- John Lennon and Yoko Ono Rolling Stone January 22, 1981 - http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/9729637