Introduction to Photography

Topic 2A - Photography Styles

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this topic you will be able to identify some of the more popular
photographic styles today. Hopefully, you will also begin to think about some styles
that you would like to master.

Photography styles

Aerial photography

Images that are captured from above is known as aerial photography. This is an
area that became famous when French photographer and balloonist, Gaspar Felix
Tournachon, took the first aerial photograph in 1858. Unfortunately, the
photographs he took did not survive. However, he continued experimenting and in
1868 he produced this picture above the beautiful city of Paris.

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Architectural photography:

Structural or architectural photography can be really visually appealing – it includes

interiors and exteriors. There are two main challenges for photographers while
photographing buildings. These two areas are:

• Lighting
• Image Distortion
The photograph you see pictured here was taken inside Galway Cathedral, the
youngest of Europe’s great stone cathedrals. The ceiling has a really beautiful dome
that floods the interior with light.

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Candid photography

Candid photography is where photographs that have been taken by chance, in a

split second, without the subject of the photograph even realising it. The subjects in
the photograph are usually unaware of the photographer, so they usually appear
very relaxed and their facial expressions and body language are natural.

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Documentary photography:

Documentary photography can incorporate a wide range of subject matter. Its

focus is portraying a specific subject or a story that a photographer really wants to
highlight. The photography could be based on war, science, sport or social issues.

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Fashion photography

Fashion photography is usually associated with high end cameras and is typically
used as a means to sell something. Some of the best fashion photography is very
creative and it’s a multi-million-dollar industry. This type of photography involves
serious preparation before the shoot. Everything is planned and nothing is left to
chance.

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Food photography:

There is a huge market for this type of photography and restaurants, websites
and bloggers use it to sell their product or service. Make sure to utilise natural
light as much as possible. It will make your shots look better. Using a flash
could mean capturing elements in the texture of the food that you would rather
hide. Grease from a big beef burger is the perfect example.

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Landscape photography:

This is one of the most popular types of photography. The perfect light can help
with your landscape photography, especially when the sun is rising in the
morning or setting in the evening. Use a tripod to ensure that you have a sharp
photograph with everything in focus. Using a long shutter speed will also
increase the quality of your landscape photography.

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Night/Long Exposure Photography:

At night, lights around us can transform the way the world looks. This type of
photography requires skilfully using light, shutter speed and aperture. This is a
style that presents a great opportunity to experiment and have some fun with
your camera. To get good quality long exposure shots you need to practice and
have a good understanding of your camera’s manual mode.

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Photojournalism:

This style of photography is like the documentary style. The difference here is
that a photographer captures live events as and when they happen. We see
these every day in newspapers, magazines and blog posts. It’s all about
capturing those unexpected moments at events that have been planned
beforehand. The photographer must be well organised and although it sounds
like a cliché, he/ she needs to be at the right place and at the right time.
Otherwise, you might miss the moment.

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Conceptual/fine art photography:

This genre is all about the photographer’s vision and their skill as a storyteller or
strength at communicating a message or theme. This photography allows us to
create our own fiction with characters in a constructed environment. Emotion
and the central idea of the photograph are key to the success of this style. It is a
great style if you like to experiment with lighting or photographing objects that
you find particularly intriguing.

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Portraiture:

For photographers, capturing peoples’ moods and expressions is an intriguing

subject, especially if the person is unaware of your presence. This style includes
close-up shots or full body portraits. Often, the face is the focus of this type of
photography. Therefore, it is essential that the subject’s face is sharp and
focussed, especially his/ her eyes.

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Sports photography:

Sports photography is all about getting up-close to the action in a very fast and
action-packed environment. The best sporting event photographs are captured
with very long lenses. Using a high ISO setting on your camera will enable you to
shoot at a higher shutter speed which should give you a pretty good photograph.
Getting shots from various angles will help your work stand out too.

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Street photography:

Street photography is all about the everyday life in public spaces or life as it
occurs in an urban space. It is very like candid or documentary photography, but
the photographer captures the public space as he or she sees it. Being patient
and observant are key here and being able to react to a story developing in front
of your eyes will produce some brilliant photographs.

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War photography:

This style involves the photographer capturing images of conflicts in war-torn

areas. This is often very dangerous and these photographers are devoted to
their craft. War photography often includes documenting the aftermath of war,
which can make for some very aesthetic and emotionally stimulating work.
Keeping shots simple and carrying less equipment are the main prerequisites
for these photographers.

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Wildlife photography:

This is one of the most challenging types of photography, due to the fact that it
can be difficult to capture animals in their proper habitat. To prove this, we have
this picture of a beautiful tiger. You need to be comfortable with your camera’s
manual settings to get the best quality shots in wildlife photography. Of course,
being quick and ready to capture the perfect shot at the correct moment is also
important.

Each of these photographic styles has their very own set of characteristics that
make them unique. The important thing to remember is that you need to know
what look or effect you want to achieve, and you can do this through manual
control of the camera.

What have we learned today? A Summary

We have learned about all of the various styles of photography that are popular
today and hopefully there are a few you’d like to master yourself.

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Topic 2B - Distinct Photographers

Learning Outcomes

In this lesson, we will be looking at some of the finest work from some of the most
famous photographers worldwide. There is no better way to delve into photography
than to study the best work by some of the most influential and creative people that
work in photography.

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was born on the 20th February 1902 in San Francisco, California. He is
probably the most easily recognisable name in photography, even today. Adams’
fame and influence are still strongly felt today and many photographers have been
quoted as saying that he has had an indelible effect on their work. Adams is
renowned for his stunning photographs of a variety of landscapes. He achieved an
unparalleled level of contrast using creative darkroom work. Ansel Adams once
said:

“I hope that my work will encourage self-expression in others and stimulate the
search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.”

He is known to many photographers as the father of landscape photography. One

can visit the official Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park, California.

Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange was born on the 26th May, 1895 in Hoboken, New Jersey, United
States. She is famous for the photographs she took during the Great Depression.
She took the famous photo of a migrant mother, which is said to be one of the best-
known photographs in history. In the 1940s, she also photographed the Japanese
internment camps. Her portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression
greatly influenced later documentary photography. One of the great features of

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Lange’s work is the observational nature of her work, reminiscent of the

documentary filmmaker, Friedrich Wiseman.

Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom is a well-known wildlife photographer. He carefully chooses his shots,

capturing the essence of the animal or wildlife he is focused on. He tends to focus
on the eyes of the animals in his photographs, and in a sense, Bloom is very like a
portrait photographer. Lately, Bloom has branched into photographing people who
live among animals, spending a lot of time in Africa. He uses a similar approach
when framing these people, focusing on getting macro shots of their eyes and
facial expressions.

Christian Åslund

Christian Åslund is a Swedish photographer based in Stockholm. The striking

feature of his work is his use of geometry and people in urban spaces. With Åslund,
the framing of his photographs is key. Everything is finely balanced. Perhaps
Åslund’s greatest work, to date, is the Honkey Kong series (2013). He has said that
this series is a "tribute to classic 2D platform games." To achieve that old-school 2D
feel, Åslund shot from as high above his subjects as possible and used a telephoto
lens to render the images flat. This is a pretty unique style of photography and one
that relies on the photographer’s imagination and skill. The quality in this series lies
in the transformation of a seemingly ordinary street into an immersive, 2D game
screen in which the person becomes a character who looks to navigate through a
series of obstacles.

Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is one the most famous portrait photographers working today. She
has photographed many of the world’s major celebrities. Quite often, Leibovitz

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frames her subjects in elaborate and imaginative set-ups. She began her career in
1970 as a staff photographer working for the recently launched Rolling Stone
magazine. In 1973, Leibovitz became chief photographer of Rolling Stone, and she
held this position for 10 years. Leibovitz’s work is characterised by her intimacy
with her subjects. This is evident in her captivating photographs of celebrities,
which really helped define what came to be known as the Rolling Stone look. She
was awarded The Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary
Fellowship (HonFRPS) in recognition of a sustained, significant contribution to the
art of photography in 2009.

Robert Capa

Robert Capa is well known for the many famous war-time photographs he took
during his lifetime. Remarkably, he covered five wars during his lifetime. The name
“Robert Capa” was only the name placed to the photos that Endre Friedman took
and they were marketed under the “Robert Capa” name. Friedman, like Annie
Leibovitz, felt that if you were not close enough to the subject, then you wouldn’t get
a good photograph. He was often in the trenches with soldiers when he took
photographs, while most other war photographers took photos from a safe
distance. This dedication to his craft produced some hugely intimate photographs
during some of the most turbulent times in US and world history.

Timothy Hogan

Timothy Hogan is an award-winning luxury goods and still life photographer and
director working in New York, Los Angeles, and London. He is one of the best luxury
goods photographers at work today, in a hugely competitive area. Hogan has
worked with clients all around the world and is well-known in still-life and fashion
photography. He recently produced a collection of photos entitled, “The FIN
Project”. The project is built on Hogan’s fervent passion for still life photography
and surfing. It’s a pretty unique topic, one which has not been explored by many

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other photographers. Hogan’s work is always finished with class and style and
nothing is left to chance or out of place.

David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle is known internationally as a commercial photographer, fine-art

photographer, music video director, film director, and artist. LaChapelle is noted for
his colorful, smooth and extroverted style, a style that is charged with sensuality
and fantasy. His work is generally packed with accessible popular images, and
communicates with a wide and demographic audience. His work has featured on
the covers of leading fashion and entertainment magazines. His photographic style
has been described as "hyper-real and slyly subversive" and as "kitsch pop
surrealism". This is most likely as a result from the time he spent with Andy Warhol,
who gave him his first job, at Interview magazine in the 1980s.

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What Have We Learned In This Lesson? A Summary

We have learned about some of the most influential photographers that work and
have worked in our area of study. By learning about these talented and immensely
creative individuals, you should begin to think about what attracts you to
photography. What style do you want to develop? What does your work say about
you? Do you find fragments of your own personality in the photographs you
capture? You will have noticed that each photographer that we have looked at had
their distinct style of working. This is a staple of great photographers, something
that makes their work stand out.

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