In this lesson you will take a series of portraits without faces. Portraits are typically all about faces. Your senior portrait, selfies, photos of your friends, even your pet portraits include faces. We are drawn to the eyes in a portrait, but we can still know who a person is without seeing their face. Feeling is conveyed in photographs by what we leave out just as much as what we choose to include. The emotions of our subject can be evident in body posture, hand gesture, and context. A portrait without facial features forces the viewer to read more into the photograph. Why is there no face? What does the photographer want you to see, or feel? Look at every detail in the photograph. Is there a story being told?
A portrait without a face can be intentionally created by observing someone and shooting only their hands or their feet. Uncooperative subjects can be photographed from behind or while doing something they love. Crop in close to reveal a part of your subject. Consider the elements you include in the frame and how they contribute to the story you want to tell.
A portrait without a face can be intentionally created by observing someone and shooting only their hands or their feet. Uncooperative subjects can be photographed from behind or while doing something they love. Crop in close to reveal a part of your subject. Consider the elements you include in the frame and how they contribute to the story you want to tell.
Assignment # 1: Ideation
The purpose of this assignment is to help you form an idea or concept for the faceless portrait series. One example of an idea is to take photographs of people with blue eyes. With an idea you can form a mental image. A concept is a little different in that it is an abstraction or a process. One example of a concept is to take photographs of the passage of time. This concept can generate numerous ideas or methods of accomplishing the concept.
Let's get started...
Answer these questions on your Weebly website.
1.Choose one photograph from the above gallery. Write the numbers on your website.
2. Why did you choose these photos? Do you like them or not? Did the colors attract your attention or was it the lighting?
3. How are the facial features blocked? Is the face in a shadow? Is the image a shadow? Is the person's back turned toward the camera?.
4. What is the subject of each photo? Since there is no face what is the focal point? The focal point is what you focus on. Is it the dark value where the face should be? Is it the whole person? Is it hands, etc?
5. How is the photo composed? Is the subject in the center of the frame? Is the subject aligned to the rule of thirds? Do leading lines direct you to the subject? Is the subject framed by light, shapes or something else?
6. Take a look at the background behind the subject. REMEMBER, the background is just as important as the subject. It can make or break a photograph. What is in the background? Is is a blank wall or a busy scene. Is the background in sharp focus or blurred out?
7. Is this photograph telling a story or communicating a feeling? Describe in detail your answers to this question.
Assignment # 2: Homework
Shoot a series of 5 faceless portraits. A series is a group of photographs that have a common theme.
View people through blurred glass or capture people's backs at the same location.
This series or theme might be called, "waiting".
Use mirrors to block the face and reflect the world...
This series of theme might be "reflections".