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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> one man - many preconceived notions
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01/05/2016 12:33:56 PM · #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-TyPfYMDK8

Message edited by tanguera - parsing.
01/05/2016 01:39:15 PM · #2
I believe this was posted a while back. As I said then, I believe this would have been far more interesting if they'd all been told the same story, or were all given access to 6 people each with the story told and seen how the results compare. As is, it's an interesting exercise, and I believe it shows that each photographer did what good portrait photographers do (capture the whole person and not just a photograph of them), but I can't extract anything learnable in the comparison of the shots.
01/05/2016 01:43:50 PM · #3
Ha, that's why candids are the only true portraits :-) thanks for the link.
01/05/2016 03:33:25 PM · #4
Originally posted by jagar:

Ha, that's why candids are the only true portraits :-) thanks for the link.

I'm not so sure that's true, John. A candid of a person screaming in anger may be "real", but it's a very narrow slice of reality. Any candid shot is. In *theory*, the accomplished portrait photographer, the really good ones anyway, have a human story in mind that they want to convey to the viewer, and if they do their job well it's as real as, say, any written biography could be. Neither would be all-inclusive, but at least they make an informed attempt to memorialize the whole person. That's what a portrait IS, actually, at least the thoughtful ones.

Yousuf Karsh would be an example of such a portrait, old-school. Look at the details; see how much they tell us about the man.

01/05/2016 05:28:34 PM · #5
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Look at the details; see how much they tell us about the man.


Well, I see that he has all his clothes on, so we're already missing something crucial about old Winston.
01/05/2016 06:01:44 PM · #6
That portrait, best known simply as 'The Lion' was taken by Yousef Karsh of Winston Churchill. Karsh had the lights all set, Churchill came on and made it clear that he did NOT want his picture taken, and before he knew it, Karsh had snatched his beloved trademark stogie away from him. Hence the pugnacious expression. Later on in the session (which didn't last long, maybe 10 minutes max) Karsh did get some shots of Churchill smiling, but this was by far the best shot. This is one of the most iconic portraits Karsh ever shot, inmsho.

Message edited by author 2016-01-05 18:02:54.
01/05/2016 07:27:20 PM · #7
This is fascinating. Thanks for the post, I enjoyed the video. Most (all?) people are complex and images surely could be captured that show A variety of expression or emotion and yet would still be valid portraits of that person. Isn't that part of the charm of an image to see a glimpse of realness despite the fact that whatever was captures was fleeting?
01/06/2016 06:35:57 AM · #8
Originally posted by posthumous:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Look at the details; see how much they tell us about the man.


Well, I see that he has all his clothes on, so we're already missing something crucial about old Winston.


and he seems very steady and sober, which is unnerving.
01/06/2016 07:35:39 AM · #9
Originally posted by snaffles:

That portrait, best known simply as 'The Lion' was taken by Yousef Karsh of Winston Churchill. Karsh had the lights all set, Churchill came on and made it clear that he did NOT want his picture taken, and before he knew it, Karsh had snatched his beloved trademark stogie away from him. Hence the pugnacious expression. Later on in the session (which didn't last long, maybe 10 minutes max) Karsh did get some shots of Churchill smiling, but this was by far the best shot. This is one of the most iconic portraits Karsh ever shot, inmsho.


So it was a candid of sorts ;-)
01/06/2016 04:42:17 PM · #10
Originally posted by snaffles:

That portrait, best known simply as 'The Lion' was taken by Yousef Karsh of Winston Churchill. Karsh had the lights all set, Churchill came on and made it clear that he did NOT want his picture taken, and before he knew it, Karsh had snatched his beloved trademark stogie away from him. Hence the pugnacious expression. Later on in the session (which didn't last long, maybe 10 minutes max) Karsh did get some shots of Churchill smiling, but this was by far the best shot. This is one of the most iconic portraits Karsh ever shot, inmsho.


Originally posted by jagar:

So it was a candid of sorts ;-)

With his sheer presence, could any image of him be candid? LOL!!!
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