Gestures & Expression.

  Time for a little background work again before I get to my next set of projects, the section I've come to is called Gesture and Expression and it starts off by looking at how a common place image of a person can become something more simple by capturing an expression or a body movement, in other words if you can lead the view to feel a certain way about the subject because of the way they appear you're doing something right. I'm no great portrait photographer and I'd say that I don't really take much pleasure from this kind of work but for my major project I'm doing a whole section on people so I need to become a little more aware of the ways to make a good image in this respect. There are two examples it gives you to look at and now I'm going to have a look at them and the reason's why they work.

Winston Churchill by Karsh.

Above is said to be one of the most copied images of the 20th Century capturing Churchill during a visit to the Canadian Parliament during the World War II, but how was it captured and why does it works so well?

The best person to explain this first question is the photographer himself  in his own words " He was in no mood for portraiture and two minutes were all that he would allow me as he passed from the house of commons chamber to an anteroom, two niggardly minutes in which I must try to put on film a man who already written or inspired a library of books, baffled all his biographers, filled the world with his fame, and me, on this occasion with dread." In the moment he had Churchill regarded the camera " as he might regard the German enemy" but the problem was his usual cigar which Karsh didn't feel suited the scene " Instinctively, I removed the cigar. At this the churchillian scowl deepened, the head was thrust forward belligerently and the hands placed on the hip in an attitude of anger." What he'd just captured was an image which captured was a photo which represent the defiant attitude of the British nation at this time towards its enemies, did he realise this the answer probably not because Karsh preferred the image bellow taken a short time after where just the change of expression on Churchill's face alters the feel of the image to a much more lighter mood. This is clear a great example of capturing a moment if there ever was one because with these two photos you can see how this small change can have a drastic effect on the feel of the image.

Quote taken from Faces of Our Times.

Images taken from http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/winston-churchill-by-yousef-karsh/

The Kiss by Robert Doisneau.

Image taken from Masters of Photography.

What we have here is a photo capturing a couple kissing on a busy Paris street during the 1950's, this became a symbol of young love in Paris during this period but it isn't all it seems. The couple was actually a pair of actors hired by Douisneau and he attempt capturing a simliar scene at the Place de la Concorde, the Rule de Rivoli before finally taking this shot outside the Hotel de Ville. What's good about this work is even though it's staged by using two actors it looks very natural just look at the way the rest of the public seem completely oblivious to what is going on as they pass by. I like the way he's captured a very intimate moment    from an unusual vantage point, I think I saw somewhere that he was seated at the time in a pavement cafe, this would explain the top of a head and shoulders which appear in the foreground but you hardly notice these because you are draw quickly to the focus of the image. The question I still need to answer though is why it works, to me its because its one of those images that captures a moment in time perfectly, then on the other side you could argue it portrays the idea of young love in the changing world of the 1950's either way it clearly struck a cord because it has become one of the most reproduced images of all time.

   So what will I take away from this study, from the Churchill photo I've learned that small changes in a persons expressions can drastically alter the feel and meaning  behind a photo while with The Kiss photo tells me that gesture can be an equally powerful way of getting a message across but that the more clear and powerful they are the stronger the results will be. I know as ever with photography it's still all about timing but it's a matter getting this stop on for the best results, I'm not a great portrait lovers as I've said before but I'd hope that the next time I have a crack at this kind of imagery my work will show some kind of improvement.