Editorial and Advertising First years respond to a one hour Portrait Brief
10th October 2021
During a lecture which looked at portraiture, first year students on Editorial and Advertising Photography, were asked to respond to a set portrait brief. Students were paired up at random with one another, they then had one hour to get to know their partner and respond to their conversation and produce a portrait of each other. The portrait had to say something poignant, tell us something about their sitter….
Olivia Hanham photographs fellow student Paulina kotarska
This photograph is of Paulina who, after our conversation, I found to be an extremely hard-working, strong woman. Paulina moved to the UK from Poland ten years ago without being able to speak the language. She now has two children to look after, a full time job and is a full time student as well. I find this incredibly inspiring!
My aim was to show how hard-working she is through this portrait; a close head shot makes the portrait feel personal and strong eye-contact lets her eyes tell the story.
Paulina kotarska photographs fellow student Olivia Hanham
one body one soul two lives
The story behind this picture is personal. This photograph was taken behind glass doors. I wanted to show how Olivia was being separated. Her face is divided by her hand, which is symbolic of two lives , living in two different countries.
Molly Harmson photographed by Jasmine Morris
My portrait of Molly was inspired by her passion for photography. As we where shooting, I listened as she told me were her love for the camera began and how she wants to develop it into her future career. I really wanted to present this passion in my images, to make it feel more personal I asked Molly to write a short piece on how she uses photography to express herself, I then scanned it onto the portrait, when shooting I made sure to consider negative space for this copy.
This portrait was taken on my iPhone 11, I was inspired my Lusia Door, who, in 2017, shot 12 covers for Time magazine, using just her iPhone. I loved exploring what the capabilities that the camera in my phone had and how sharp the quality is.
Benjamin Brain photographed by Jess Nock
“My full name is Benjamin Brain, I was born in Wales and lived there up until I moved to University if Gloucestershire. I started my journey in photography as my mother did a degree in photography when she was younger, as did my great grandfather and my aunt, it kind of just runs in the family. Aside from photography I like to keep active by going to the gym. In played football for 10 years and tennis for 8 years in competitive tournaments.”
