Portraiture Questions-Tony Vaccaro

How has portraiture changed since the invention of the instant photograph?

In my personal opinion the major change in has been the ability to capture the emotion of the moment. To be more specific, before cameras brought the ability to take an instant photo most portraiture was done through painting, this took a substantial amount of time and effort and the people being painted would often change facial or bodily expression throughout the course of the process. But as photographers such as Tony Vaccaro managed to capture, the camera brought a new dimension to portraiture.

Tony Vaccaro became famous initially for his work during WW2, as a front line soldier who carried a camera with him at all times, he was able to capture some of the most shocking images from the course of the entire war. It is mostly thanks to him that we in modern times have such a good understanding of the horrors that men and women went through during those dark years in foreign countries.  Born in Greenburg, Pennsylvania in December 1922, Vaccaro grew up in his families native Italy, before moving back to the States to escape the facist reigeim of Mussolini, he then joined the U.S army in 1943, and shipped back to Europe once again in 1944.

Fashion Photography

1. When is an image a Portrait? When is it a fashion photograph? Are the two the Same?

It is a Portrait when…..

It is a Fashion photograph when……

2. To what degree should an image manipulated to go into a fashion magazine?

In the film the following manipulations occurs

How about manipulations to the photos before they are taken, models, Makeup, sets clothes

1.    An image can be classed as a portrait when it depicts a single person, usually unedited, using their expression to define their character. In my opinion it becomes fashion photography when the picture becomes more about the clothing/accessories the model is wearing, than the model themselves. I don’t think the two types of shot are the same, as portraiture typically depicts humanity, whereas fashion photography is used to sell products.

2.    Although I disagree with it, images must be manipulated before going into a magazine, as you would not expect to see a person’s flaws when trying to sell a product. For example you wouldn’t take a photo of someone modelling face cream, and forget to edit out their wrinkles/spots. I guess in a way manipulation in photography begins at the very start of the process. The need to lather the models in excessive amounts of makeup to smother their true beauty, then cover them  in terrible clothes that nobody is ever going to wear and blinding them with a huge array of lights and camera flashes makes me sad, but clearly modern photographers feel it is necessary.

 

I support my point with the photo to the right; you can clearly see that the image has been manipulated to the point where it no longer looks like the same person. The sad thing is that this is the case for most, if not all modelling shoots in modern times. It brings to light the question of is there even need for models anymore? I mean surely if they edit photos to this extent then they can computer generate a figure and adorn it with whatever clothing they think suits the “fashion”.

A second less obvious example I have here shows the way in which editors can change the skin tones/complexions of models. I would say that this particular example could be classed as racist, considering she has an ebony skin tone, and has been made to appear white.