The Portrait Issue

Finlay MacKay, ‘Changing Pace, David Weir’ for ‘The Road to 2012’


He's known from his dynamic action photographs, group portraiture, street art, and illustration.


In 'Changing Pace' MacKay is one of commissioned photographers by London’s National Portrait Gallery to work on 'The Road to 2012', a 3year project that aims to highlight the journey to Olympic Games 2012. In the portrait of David Weir he photographs the paraolympic athlete at his traning zone. 


Camera position is set on the eye level to give a feeling that person in the picture is not different from us, beacuse of his disability.
Photographer used really fast shutter speed. Also there is large depth of field and viewer can see small details of the trees in the backgroud.
Probably picture is suported with artificial light.

Toby Glanville, ‘Actual Life’, 2002


Toby Glanville photographs people in their work place.  
Camera position is on the eye leavel which make neutral realtionship between model and viewer. 
Lighting in this photograph is natural, because of the sun reflecition on the green board. There is large depth of field.
Colors of the photographs are muted and makes a feeling that this picture looks like taken quite long time ago. 

Ulrich Gebert, ‘Freischneider’, 2004


Close-up portrait of a garden worker, wearing protection clothes. 
Camera position is set on eye level but model is not looking straight, which doesn't give any relationship between camera and photographed subject. 
There is shallow depht of field, which gives focus only on the worker. 


All of those photographers are dealing with normal, working people. They have different aproaches to their models. Photographs are respectful and giving neutral look. 
In  In Glanville's image, photographed person look into the camera, unlike MacKay and Gebert, where models look more busy and focus on what their thing. 
Also Glanville's portraits are surrounded by a feeling of stillness and calmness, totally opposite to MacKay's where picture is really dynamic.
Gebert in his work doesn't show working environment, he's concentrating only on the facial expression and props which build the picture.