Initial Research – Richard Avedon
The first portrait photographer I decided to research is Richard Avedon. What I like about his work is the emotion shown bythe subjects – it is genuine. For example, one of the most famous stories about him is when he told his subjects that he had run over a dog on his way to photograph them. Knowing how attached the subjects were to their own dogs, their faces reflected an expression of horror in that moment.
My favorite of Avedon’s images is of Marilyn Monroe. He talks about photographing Monroe in the first photo as if she were playing a character. Then when she was finished with being photographed, she changed and suddenly became more vulnerable and real. This is when the second photograph was taken, with her permission. This shows a more natural and genuine side to her. She is described as looking distant and miserable, which is possibly considered unusual for someone as successful and famous as Marilyn Monroe.
“There is no such person as Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe was an invention of hers. […] and then there was an inevitable drop because she was someone who went very high up and went very way down, and when night was over she sat in the corner like a child with everything gone.” – Avedon on photographing Monroe
Further Research – Martyn Scott
Similarly to Avedon, Martyn Scott captures portraits at a moment of vulnerability, using strangers on the street as his subjects. His ‘Window Shopping’ series’ captures strangers and scenes that would usually pass unnoticed. He chooses to mainly photograph in black and white in order to focus the attention on the person being photographed rather than the colour and overall look of the photo itself.
I like Martyn Scott’s work as it is spontaneous and natural, allowing the subjects’ personality to be shown through the photograph without the need for words. By simply observing the subject’s reaction to the camera, the way they’re dressed and whether or not they are alone we can learn about the person in the photograph, even though to both Martyn Scott and the person viewing the photographs, these people are complete strangers.
More examples of street photography
Richard Sandler
Ronya Galka
