Mariyah Mahmood : July 2013

Friday, 5 July 2013

STUDIO

Yousef Khanfar is an award-winning Palestinian-American photographer and author. He was born in 1956 in Kuwait to Palestinian refugee parents who fled their homeland after the establishment of the state of Israel. Khanfar began taking photographs at the age of six, when his father gave him his first camera .At the age of 17, Khanfar moved to the United States, and spent the next twenty years travelling the world taking photographs. He currently resides in Oklahoma City. Khanfar's photography has been published widely, including in magazines such as Oprah, International Photo Art, and Outdoor Photography. He has also published two books of his work: 2000's Voices of Light, and 2007's In Search of Peace, recipient of the 2007 IP Outstanding Book of the Year Award.

Example of Yousef’s photographs.

One of Khanfar’s favourite portraits is that of his good friend Gene Rainbolt, legendary Oklahoma banker and philanthropist.

“Rainbolt and I have been friends for a long time,” Khanfar said. “He is probably one of the most generous people I have ever met in my entire life. He is constantly raising money for non-profit organizations of all kinds, for the arts, for the youth and the city”

STUDIO

A photographic studio is both a workspace and a corporate body. As a workspace it is much like an artist’s studio, but providing space to take, develop, print and duplicate photographs. Photographic training and the display of finished photographs may also be accommodated in a photographic studio. Accordingly, the workspace may possess a darkroom, storage space, a studio proper - where photographs are taken, and a display room, as well as space for other related work.

As a corporate entity, a photographic studio is a business owned and represented by one or more photographers, possibly accompanied by assistants and pupils, who create and sell their own and sometimes others’ photographs.

Since the early years of the 20th century the corporate functions of a photographic studio have increasingly been called a “photographic agency,” leaving the term “photographic studio” to refer almost exclusively to the workspace.

Today many studios have sprung up to serve the ever growing media industry. Some of these studios have a resident photographer others operate mainly as a space for hire. An example of a photo studio for hire in London is Dizzy finch Studios in Wharf Rd near Old Street.Today many studios have sprung up to serve the ever growing media industry. Some of these studios have a resident photographer others operate mainly as a space for hire. An example of a photo studio for hire in London is Dizzy finch Studios in Wharf Rd near Old Street.

Yousuf Karsh is an example of a studio portrait photographer; Yousuf was born in Mardin a city in Turkey. He grew up during the Armenian Genocide where he wrote, "I saw relatives massacred; my sister died of starvation as we were driven from village to village." At the age of 16, his parents sent Yousuf to live with his uncle George Nakash, a photographer in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Karsh briefly attended school there and assisted in his uncle’s studio. Nakash saw great potential in his nephew and in 1928 arranged for Karsh to apprentice with portrait photographer John Garo in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. His brother, Malak Karsh, was also a photographer famous for the image of logs floating down the river on the Canadian one dollar bill. Yousuf was a master of studio lights.

Here are some examples of Yousuf's work

1958

1956

location research

This image was taken by Liz Callan on December 31, 2009. This image is in a lot better focus than mine but darker, the image I took was lighter than this. Liz has taken the image a lot closer than mine and in a better angel.

This is the image I took quite similar to the one above; my image has a lot more lighting and is further away. The reason why I like this image is because you can see the waterfall in the background.

Thursday, 4 July 2013

Location research

This image is by Dainis Derics; they took a good angle and got the full building including the waterfall. This image is better than mine because it’s got the full picture whereas mine only has half. This image is taken in Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre. The time the picture was taken was very quiet and no rush so it was a good time because the focus was on the image itself and not on the people.

This is the image that I have taken, as you can see it’s not got the full picture as the one above. I didn't get the full building or the waterfall and the focus and lighting wasn't as good.

Location research

This image was taken by the virtual tourist, I have taken a similar image and I also edited it. They have taken a clear angle and better focus than I did. This is in Victoria square city centre Birmingham, where the library, museum and the Birmingham council house. This was also further than my image; my image was a close up.

Location research

This picture was taken by Graham Taylor, who is a retired government officer. Graham Taylor has been doing Photography for over 50 years now and has thousands of pictures over the UK. This image is similar to the image I took. When I took the same image the Bull was decorated and has its own garden whereas when Graham took the image it was plain and normal. I think Graham has taken a better angle than I did. The lighting is very nice and the background is very clear. Graham took a close up of the Bull, but I took it from a far. Which is why I think his image is in better focus and has a better angle.