Douglas Kirkland – Jeanne Moreau, No Date

Similar to Annie Leibovitz, I think Douglas Kirkland’s photographs represent his models personalities and captures special and intimate moments. For example one of his most famous works was with Marilyn Monroe. He shot his famous ‘In bed with Marilyn’ for Look Magazines 25th anniversary, a year before she died and every shot is filled with emotion and rawness. I really admire how Douglas shows such emotion through his photographs.

Annie Leibovitz – John Lennon and Yoko Ono, The Dakota, New York, December 8, 1980

In my opinion Annie Leibovitz is one of my most influential photographers. I like how each of her photographs captures such intimate moments, and makes her subjects personalities shine through. I want to include these feelings in my photography to give it more depth and meaning.

Mario Testino – Lindsay Lohan, Los Angeles, Allure, 2007

Like the other photographers I have researched, Mario Testino definitely caught my eye. Similar to Nick Knight, I like the contrast between his cinematic shoots and his simple portraits. I like how he uses dramatic lighting to shape out his objects in his photographs.

I like this shot of Lindsey Lohan because of the contrast in lighting and colours, and I think the use of the warm lighting makes the colours more vibrant.

Helmut Newton – Yves Saint Laurent, French Vogue 1975

I admire Helmut Newtons photographs because he broke down the stigma of the female form and made societies views change towards sex and female empowerment.

I like the way he styles his photographs and puts full focus on the model by the use of his lighting. Like the other photographs I have research I am interested in how he uses black and white and how it makes his photos more effective and contrasted.

Bill Cunningham – Naomi Campbell Oct 2016

This photo is one of my favourites by Bill Cunningham. The whole composition is perfect and the lighting has a perfect contrast. I like the effectiveness of the pose and how the model is in the centre of the frame.

I will be using this image as a main reference for my shoots. However I will also want a couple of candid shots as well as posed.

Nick Knight – Blade of Light, Alexander McQueen, 2004

I like the cinematic effect Nick Knight has in his photos. They are very exaggerated and over the top with an abstract feel to them. I like his use of dramatic lighting and slight distortion in his work.

Through my experiments, I will try different techniques of distortion, and see if/how they change my photos and narratives.

Cara Delevingne – Steven Meisel For Vogue UK June 2018

I chose the photos from Steven Meisel Vogue UK June 2018 ’Modern Romance’ because I think the lighting used is so effective and reiterates the romance feel of the title. I think both black and white photos and the colour photos portray the soft romantic feel throughout the whole series.

I will try and incorporate his techniques into my experiments. I will shoot more in black and white with soft, romantic lighting.

For this project I will be looking at a variety of different photographers, ranging from well known fashion photographers such as Steven Meisel to Helmut Newton, to other photographers from cultures such as Japan.

I will be focusing on mainly on the lighting used and trying out their styles of techniques. My main concept I want to look at is crowds and people, so I will be researching a variety of photographers who take both candid and crowd shots. I want to look into different cultures and try and capture some identity and potential mental isolation shots through commuting and crowds, as though they are ghosts in a crowd.

For my primary research I will go to a variety of exhibitions looking at the different skills and techniques used. I will then go and take my own candid photographs of crowds and commuters in places such as train stations and tube stations. I also want to incorporate the cultural research I have looked at so will look at going to places like China town in Manchester and London and other areas in Manchester such as the northern quarter, curry mile, Jewish quarter and the gay quarter for more primary images. I would also like to take some more editorial shots as well in these locations to show some of the contrast between rushing around and not.