photographer 5 - David Bailey

Photographer 5 - David Bailey:

David Bailey is an English fashion and portrait photographer. I have chosen to include his work as a part of my project because of his work in photographing fashion and his portraiture. His portraits focus on the use of tone and composition and include the use of lighting to help create the perfect shot. In his fashion images Bailey captures many different looks and again with the use of tone is able to evidence many different looks.

In the image above, fashion is shown through the choice in clothing, the hat of the model immediately draws in attention and then allows the focus to move onto the outfit. Baileys use of composition has enabled him to clearly show the whole outfit as well as to show the pose of the model. The use of tone all means the image is not over barring but is subtle enough without going unnoticed, by doing this Bailey is able to show a bold fashion choice without the use of bright colours.

The image above is an evidence of appearance, the photo doesn't just focus on the outfit choices, but focuses on the overall appearance in the positioning of the models and the facial expressions they hold. The use of composition allows Bailey to clearly show a true representation of the appearance. The use of tone allows the image to be simple yet effective. The styling of the models adds to the appearance as the facial expression that aren't expressing any emotion help to add to the simplicity of the image.

The image above is an example of Baileys portraiture. In the image tone is being used to bring a serious undertone to the image without having the model express any emotion.  Bailey has thought about the composition of his image and by having the model at an angle it changes the feel to the image slightly and includes Baileys own personal touch. The image is effective as it is easy to look at and doesn't hold any distractions for the people looking at it.

In this image Bailey has made it to appear almost as if the camera is looking down on the model. In doing so Bailey is changing some of the expected ideas when it comes to portraiture. The use of tone in this image helps the angle to appear sharp and doesn't make the image look over done by bright colours. I like this image because i like the originality of the angle of the shoot adding a twist to portraiture.

Bailey's work is an influence to me as it makes me more considerate of composition and the use of tone when it comes to things like portraiture. Baileys use of these elements is so effective that it makes me want to consider a shoot in this style in an attempt to achieve something like this to evidence emotions. Bailey's work with fashion is also influential for me as it is a different route that i could take the topic of evidence that i had not previously considered.

To summerise, i will include the influence of Baileys work into my project to help to improve my use of composition when shooting. I will also use his work as an influence for the topic of fashion as it is effective and simple which is something that i aim to achieve.