Imogen Dyer - One Face Fifty Ways: The Portrait Photography Idea Book

FROMTHETEAM BEHIND YOUTUBE PHOTOGRAPHY HIT WEEKLY IMOGEN

ONE FACE

FIFTY WAYS

THE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY IDEAS BOOK

Imogen Dyer & Mark Wilkinson

An Hachette UK Company www.hachette.co.uk

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by ILEX, a division of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd

Octopus Publishing Group

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment London, EC4Y 0DZ www.octopusbooks.co.uk www.octopusbooksusa.com

Octopus Publishing Group 2017

Illustrations MarkWilkinson

Distributed in the US by

Hachette Book Group 1290 Avenue of the Americas 4th and 5th Floors NewYork, NY 10104

Distributed in Canada by

Canadian Manda Group 664 Annette St.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6S 2C8

Publisher: Roly Allen

Publisher, Photography: Adam Juniper Managing Specialist Editor: Frank Gallaugher Admin Assistant: Sarah Vaughan Art Director: JulieWeir Design: JC Lanaway Production Controller: Meskerem Berhane

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Imogen Dyer and MarkWilkinson assert their moral rights to be identified as the authors of this work.

ISBN 978-1-78157-430-0

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.hachette.co.uk

www.octopusbooks.co.uk

www.octopusbooksusa.com

CONTENTS

PREPARATION IS KEY | GEAR & WHATTO PACK FORA SHOOT

INTRODUCTION

ONE FACE, FIFTY WAYS

INTRODUCTION

The beauty of photography as an art form is in its immediacy. Photographs provide a snapshot of a moment in time and capture a scene or person in a moment that is fleeting but forever remains in a still form. Our journey with portrait photography has aimed to do just thisto capture the raw and vulnerable essence of human nature in a still, contained image.

Mark has been drawn to photography since he was a teenager, snapping away on film and processing in a dark room. For him, the joy of photography is in its ability to document events in a raw and emotionally impactful way. For his portrait photography, he likes to work with models over an extended period of time, following their journey and capturing an aspect of it on film.This is certainly true for the images captured in this book.The shots of Imogen to date document seven years and are a wonderful visual journey through the period. In terms of themes and style, Mark explores ways that female beauty in all its forms can be captured, focusing on creating an image which is realistic and presents something of the personality and internal state of the model he is working with. He has a life-long love of black-and-white images and their ability to capture texture, shade, and emotionbut hes also drawn to the color green, an aspect that features heavily in the color matching of his images.

For Imogen, one of the wonderful aspects of modeling is to see the photographers unique depiction of an individual.

The joy of photography is in its ability to document events in a raw and emotionally impactful way.

INTRODUCTION

One of the beauties of photography is that it connects the viewer, the model and the photographer through a visual channel.

Each photographer will display their vision of a model in a personal, stylistic way, and it is fascinating to gain insight into the artistic eye of the photographer and to visually see yourself presented through the eyes of another. One of the beauties of photography is that it connects the viewer, the model, and the photographer through a visual channel, each bringing something of their own emotion and personality to the image.This linking of three individuals creates a sense of intimacy and lasting impact.

Photography and the process of working with a model is a wonderful journey of developing a human relationship and exploring all the complexities, joys, and fragilities of human naturecapturing these in a still and lasting image. Through exploring the many different ways to shoot an effective portrait, model and photographer are able to work together to find the most creative ways to capture something of the human spirit.This book demonstrates some of these techniques, providing practical ideas for photoshoots without the need for expensive equipment.

ONE FACE, FIFTY WAYS

PREPARATION IS KEY

We believe that the key to a successful photoshoot is careful preparation. It is important to have clear communication with the model before the shoot to ensure that the times, location, and necessary looks that you need are clear and prepared for. Make sure that you have clarified all of the arrangements and that you are both clear what items each of you need to bring.This will allow both photographer and model to feel at ease on the shoot.

As a photographer, visit the location where you are shooting the day before, to find the locations you wish to use for each shot and to test the light. When using natural light, an element of spontaneity will always be needed and it is creatively important to embrace the moment when on a shoot; however, shoots are usually most successful when the basis of the day has been thought through and considered.

To help with the spontaneous moments on a shoot, Mark uses an ideas book.This is a compilation of images that he finds inspiring or wishes to emulate. He uses paper notebooks that he fills with cutouts from books, the internet and magazines, although an ideas book could also be created online. Inevitably, there will be moments on a shoot when both photographer and model are stuck in the same cycle of poses and expressions and need some visual stimuli to kickstart new ideas and patterns of working. By turning to an ideas book, you can reignite your creative juices and help visually explain to a model the look you are trying to achieve. We hope that this book will be able to act in some way as an ideas book for your own portrait photography.