Avedon-Inspired Portraits

          This assignment was inspired by the work of photographer Richard Avedon (www.richardavedon.com).  Many of Avedon's collections focus on a single model being photographed on a simple background in black and white with the idea that the viewer is able to connect with that character on a deeper level that the simple action that was taking place at the moment the photograph was taken. I attempted to emulate this technique by having the model stand in front of a white background a bring to mind a specific memory or thought that was associated with a specific emotion or photographing them while they told me a story. This assignment helped me both realize and combat the difficulties of working with a human subject as apposed to an inanimate one as well as identify the positive nature of the subjects ability to convey emotion.

Repetition

          We are continuing are unit on depth by adding repetition to our photography. The idea behind this technique is that the photographer finds an object or scene that repeats itself while moving into the background thus tricking the mind into seeing a leading line moving from the foreground to the background and giving the illusion of three dimensional space. For example you could photograph down a street looking at several parking meters and while the parking meters are not actually connected they are organized in such a way that the viewer sees a leading line.