Vanity Fair Exhibition

Hilary Swank, by Norman Jean Roy, December 2004, publ. March 2005.

Bette Davis, by Maurice Goldberg, 1934, publ. February 1935.

These two photographs from the Vanity fair are very different in terms of composition and style. The older photograph is alot softer, the natural lighting is very soft and the models gaze is also very soft as it looks like she is daydreaming. The modern photograph is alot harsher as the lighting is very direct and the models gaze is very focused as she is running.

The subjects' body language, facial expression, gaze etc influence's the way we read the models personality. Take the in the first photograph for example, we believe that the models personality is a very focused athlete as you can tell she is running extremely fast as you can tell by her body language, her face is very focused and she has the body of an athlete. Although she may or may not be when you see the photograph you believe that is her personality

Photographic techniques haven't changed alot between the two different eras of Vanity fair apart from the advance in technology. This made the change to colour although some modern photos are still black and white and photos can now be manipulated as some photos have been intensely manipulated. Though through all this most lighting techniques are still the same apart from using flash rather than older styles of lighting.

The photographer contributes immensely into the construction of the models identity. The create the impression on the audience of the model whether it is a celebrity or not. The celebrity's in the Vanity Fair have been photographed almost as their characters in movies or their stereotyped image they have created during their career. the photographers have put the celebrities real personality's to the side and using lighting expression and other techniques to create the character or mask they inhabit in their movies.

References

http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/vanity_exhib17.php

http://media.photobucket.com/image/george%20clooney%20vanity%20fair%20portrait/hollyNhollywood/george.jpg

Bromoil Prints

Bromoil Printing is a early photographic process mainly used by the pictorial photographers. The bromoil prints have many quality's of paintings making these perfect for this genre. The Bromoil prints were introduced by E.J.Wall in 1907. The process consisted of enlarging the image then bleaching the print in potassium bichromate. Then using greasy inks and special brushes the inks pigment the surface of the gelatin giving this artistic effect.