Initial Ideas & Planing for Photography project

Hi team!

Today I will be researching and planing my thoughts and ideas about portrait photography, and I am really exited to start!

I was thinking for a long time about what idea I wanted to express and show through portrait photography, and then I recalled that I have been really interested in the psychology of human behaviour for the last three years, reading books, articles and listening to lectures about psychology. So I wanted to connect my personal hobby with the photography. At the moment, it sounds quite confusing and perhaps difficult to put into a photograph, but step by step I believe this interesting idea will be possible to present.

Step 1: Planing 

Firs of all, I started with planning on a piece of paper and wrote down a few ideas that came to mind, described what it looked like in my head and what I needed to realise the plan. I separated this plan into three parts, including the main issue I want to address in my portrait shoot. 

I also decided that my photo would be natural from the outside, I chose the location where I wanted to shoot, wrote about the attributes I would need and a few ideas of the visual look from my head.

Step 2: Inspirations

Personally I like to use Pinterest to get inspired by other work, especially in photography, so I decided to go there and look for examples and ideas similar in style to mine. 

photo by Silvia Conde

I really like the sense of privacy in this photo, the girl is both in front of us and hidden from us. Perhaps because of discomfort or slight excitement. I want to take this photo as an example and I think it will work well for my idea.

Miki Ehara by Bjarne & Takata, June 2018

I like the fact that this photo is not completely clear, the girl looks a little washed and at the same time in motion, I think it can describe the character of the main character and also fit the style of my idea. 

Model agency studio 

From this photo I get the feeling that the main model is hidden somewhere inside herself, which I also like, as well as the unemotional expression in her face, which suits my idea. 

I paid attention to the fact that in order to convey feelings or emotions, you need to be able to use light and shades, as well as shooting angles, as Peter Gróf writes in his article The Origins of Emotions in Photography (2020) "Using light accentuates emotions. Shoot low-key (dark tones) to promote mystery, fear, and the unknown. Shoot high-key (light tones) to promote comfort, happiness, and well-being. Know what you are after and work with light accordingly.

Different perspectives will give you even more freedom of expression. Shoot from below to show power, dominance, or strength. Shoot head-on to imply confrontation. Shoot from far away or above to express how little we are in this world. Shoot details and use negative space to leave areas for interpretation." 

Step 3: Ideas & The issue of the question I am trying to raise

As I wrote earlier, I want to develop a problem related to the psychology of human behaviour. The internal conflict of a personality regarding his or her own feelings, which are always hidden inside us and we do not dare to express them verbally, for many different reasons. In my idea, it's not about the reasons, it's about how it affects us, and as a result, makes us cold and distant from many things in this life, because at some point we chose to hide and not show who we are. Even when there is a storm inside of us, there can only be a show of coldness and calmness on the outside. 

Reference:

Gróf, P. (2020). The Origins of Emotions in Photography. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/photo-dojo/the-origins-of-emotions-in-photography-b188869aebc0 [Accessed 28 Jan. 2024].