Jamie Simonds

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Jamie Simonds was suggested by my tutor to have a look at. I couldn't find much about him on the web and his website is very simplistic with no information about himself but he shoots portraits and headshots of celebrities.

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Above are a few shots from Simonds website. The shot of Emily Blunt is brightly lit with only a small amount of shadow on the left side of her face. She looks to be unposed and natural which is similar to the photos in my series. Ralph Fiennes is lit from above on the right, similar to the Rembrandt style of lighting. The light flows diagonally down and a shadow starts to form moving diagonally across his face down toward the bottom left. The photo of Stephen Graham is an interesting one. The flood of light creating an almost square like spot light looks like it could be light shining down from a window.

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Although I couldn't find much information on Jamie Simonds, I enjoyed looking through his website. His photos are crisp and clean and pleasing to the eye. I did find that a lot of his photos were very similar to mine, with the use of low key lighting.

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The photos above by Simonds look to have used a split lighting pattern with broad and short looks. This is a simple lighting set up but creates a powerful high contrast.

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Brian Griffin

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Birmingham born Brian Griffin has been influential as a portrait photographer, working with many recognisable music industry names such as; Brian May, REM and Ringo Starr and producing album covers for them. Helen Mirren and Vivenne Westwood are but a few other note worthy names he has shot photos for. His style of photography often incapsulates a feel for surrealism and the film noir style.

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Griffin moved away from photography for a while and started to shoot film, working on tv adverts and music videos but soon found photography again. In 2009 he began work on an exhibition for London's National Portrait Gallery called 'The Road to 2012'. This was an exhibition that celebrated those involved in the 2012 Olympics in London.

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Jane Bown

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Jane Bown's career covers around sixty years worth of work. She photographed a range of notable names that include actors, writer and political leaders within that time frame. Her first crucial job came when she was asked to photograph philosopher Bertrand Russell for The Observer Newspaper. This shoot started her relationship with portrait photography and with The Observer.

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Bown mostly worked in black and white and used natural light or light that was available to her at the time of shooting. Her photos were not over complicated and were naturally posed with a relaxed feel.

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Probably her most famous shoot was when she was asked to photograph Queen Elizabeth ll for her 80th birthday in 2002.

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Comparing Griffin and Bown

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Griffin's style of photography is definitely different and more exploratory for the viewers eye. He clearly thinks in a unique way when posing his subjects for a portrait. Bown's portraits and subtle and a little less 'in your face' than Griffins. They don't seem to be as staged as Griffin's are and her subjects look far more at ease in front of the camera. There is an air of calm to Bown's photos whereas Griffins photos seem more suitable to a rock star subject. Bown used natural light to her advantage whereas Griffin's images look to use artificial light.

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My preference for these two photographers goes to Jane Bown. I enjoy the naturalness of her work and the sense of ease that comes with them. I can relate my assignment to her style of naturally posed photos and making her subjects feel relaxed. This really does come across in her shots, which is what I hoped for mine and what my tutor picked up on.

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Reflection

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I've found looking at the three photographers above extremely helpful and its made me feel even more at ease with my assignment and that my photography seems to be flowing in the right direction. Comparing Griffin and Bown's work has made me realise that I really do prefer natural photography over staged and posed and I think that is shown in many of my photographs as my work has progressed throughout the course and is something I hope I can include in my final assignment too.

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