Nil Santana’s Advanced Photography class joined us in the Learning Studio last month for a couple days looking at studio lighting. Thanks to Kyle Trafton, one of our media production specialists, who helped Nil’s students to get the most out of a variety of lighting solutions.
Here are a few of the portraits Nil’s students produced in the studio as well as a few of their final submissions. For a glance at Nil’s complete assignment, see the links below.
Project Brief
You’ve been asked to produce a “cover story” in the style of a popular consumer magazine that you like. You will submit a copy of the magazine along with your assignment for comparison. In this assignment, you will produce one “cover” portrait photo, and in addition, you will produce two more “inside” story shots, either black-and-white or color, one of which will be a performance shot (environmental), and the other a more relaxed “everyday person” portrait that lets us see something of the person behind the performance role. . .
The nature of consumer editorial portraiture centers on celebrities, or at least people of particular notability. There is frequently an emphasis on performers of one sort or another, be it show biz or politics or science. The performance aspect may be overt or implied, but it is usually there. You will do well to seek out as a subject someone who either is a performer, or has aspirations to be in the public eye. Try to discover the specific nature of this desire and draw upon it for your work.
Remember that the essential purpose of editorial portraiture—and the stories these pictures accompany—is to explore and/or report on the life and personality of the subject. Action shots may be included to illustrate what this person does, but such photos alone cannot give the viewer a sense of having “connected” with the subject. This is the province of the more confrontational portrait photograph.
from Advanced Photography blog
Magazine Editorial Portrait assignment
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