Documentary Image Bank -

Photo-Documentary - 

Photo-Documentary : Photography that documents significant moments within society or in an individuals life.

Robert Frank:

Frank had a series called 'The Americans' published in the late 1950s. Frank himself was Swiss but decided to document the American lifestyle. The work is in the style of Street Documentary. 

Corey Arnold: 

Arnold documents his life through photography focusing mostly on his occupation as an alaskan fisherman who spends most of his life at sea on a crab fishing boat. Arnold also is part of film documentary on the Discovery Channel titled 'Deadliest Catch'. Therefore, it is interesting that Arnold continues to document his life in photographs rather than relying on film.  

Low Key Lighting Straight Images / Work Diary -

Straight Images - 

I like this image as the the low key lighting is known for hiding segments of the face but somehow elves deeper into the concept of identity. The central focal point is the light reflection on the eye of the subject. The negative space surrounding the face gives the impression of isolation. The stark contrasts between light and dark tonal areas helps to emphasise contours of the face. 

This second photograph is another of my favourites as I enjoy the side composition of the subject rather than being central. With this piece I intended to study perceptions of youth in society. The right sided weight of the image gives the impression of being parted from the norm, implied as deviant from the norm of society, and the lack of lighting on the eyes, supposedly the window to the soul, gives the impression of ambiguity and that the individual serves almost as a figurehead for all youths. 

This is my final favourite of the low key lighting series as it doesn't explicitly study identity or the hiding of identity. The shadows create an idea of battling light and dark and the hand is often referred to as displaying identity through fingerprints. This image was created to replicate the ideas of Macbeth in which Lady Macbeth asks why her hands will never be clean of her sins. The idea is that low key lighting can help display ideas of light and dark. 

Low Key Lighting Contact Sheet -

Portraits - 
All of these images were taken in the studio on a Canon EOS 450D. Using the mono-block with a snoot placed on the end to create a modelling light I used the settings of ISO: 200, shutter speed of 1/125 and an f/stop value of f/16.

Low Key Lighting Image Bank -

Portraits - 

Irving Penn : 
Penn is an interesting artist who studies identity through his portraiture; Penn does this through a technique known as low key lighting that evokes a sense of mystery and other such emotions.  I especially like the second image as some would say that it is not necessarily identity, however, in my opinion I believe it is identity as it is the hand of Miles Davis, a trumpet jazz musician, playing a trumpet chord. As a result I strongly hold the belief that it is an example of portraiture in the study of identity even though arguably it can be said that portraiture is when a face is present in the image.

Low Key Lighting Setup -

Portraits - 

Low Key Lighting : is a style of lighting used in photography, it makes parts of the image appear dark whilst the others lighter. (This is also known as the chiaroscuro effect).

Low Key Lighting Set-up :
This set-up usually consists of a three-point lighting.
Key Light
Fill Light
Back light
Snoot
Honeycomb
Reflector Dish

Honeycomb : 
The honeycomb is a tight grid structure which is fixed to the end of a light to make a concentrated beam of light. (the reflector dish also does this to a greater extent).

Reflector Dish :
The reflector dish reflects light in order to create a more concentrated beam of light.

Snoot :

A snoot is a tube that fits over a flashlight used to control the direction and radius of the beam of light.