Assignment 208: Eve Arnold: Research into Portrait Photography

Eve Arnold: 1912 - Philadelphia

Eve Arnold is one of the most famous portrait photographers to represent Magnum, and is possibly best known for her portraits of Marilyn Monroe, she is also well known for her portraits of Queen Elizabeth II.  

During an interview with BBC Radio 3 she talked about her approach to photography and how she works to achieve the images.  She talks about the relationship between the photographer and the model and how it is important to respect the privacy of your subjects, and work to build a relationship that will have the model reveal something of themselves.

This approach echoes that of other portrait photographers that I have researched - Jane Bowen and Steven Pye.  

Again her images are largely taken away from the studio environment and rarely used anything other than natural lighting.

Many of the images I have selected as work I would like to emulate are black and white, with minimal or no surroundings to provide additional context to the photograph.

The black and white images are done in high contrast, providing greater emphasis on skin tone's and drawing the eye into the main focus of the picture.

The next few images I have chosen retain the same composition - minimal background distraction drawing the focus on to the model - the difference in these images are that these are in colour.

I was interested in bringing these images into the research as a demonstration that the same 'gritty' definition of high contrast black and white can be achieved in colour.

The colour in these two images are not highly saturated, but placed against the deep black background the images become striking.

This may also be in part due to the subjects chosen - with their faces having significant texture to provide interest and emphasis within the image.

Reference:

www.photography-art-cafe.com/famous-portrait-photographers.html

www.magnumphotos.com

www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/johntusainterview/arnold_transcript.shtml

www.picsearch.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Arnold