My portrait photographer is Irving Penn. He was born in 1917 in Plainfield, New Jersey. He studied at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art from 1934-1938. He was offered a job as an associate in the Vogue magazine Art Department. Penn worked on the layout for the magazine before he was asked to do photography for them. Irving Penn mainly took portraits and in the 1950s he began taking pictures for advertisements. I chose to use one of his portraits because I enjoy the quirky style of his photos and I like how they are usually in black and white. I like how the model's crazy face make-up and facial expression doesn't take away from the simplicity of the photo.
I asked Logan to be my model for the emulation. Like Penn's portrait, mine has lots of contrast. The dark black face make-up contrasts the highlight from the light hitting her. Penn's photo has a very high exposure in some places while mine is not as exposed. The photo is in focus and does not have any blur. Both photos were taken straight on. They are relatively symmetrically balanced. The photos somewhat meet the rule of thirds because the main focal point, the black make-up, is in the top third of the photo. The plain white background in Penn's photo and the plain grey background in my photo don't distract you from the main focal point of the black make-up. The photographs are both vertical and this is effective because there would be too much blank space in the background if the photos were horizontal. There is not really a foreground, middle ground, and background in the photos because it is a close-up photo of the model's face and the background is very plain. In Penn's photo the model's chin is tilted down so your eyes are led from the dark make-up down to the model's collarbone. The subject matter is interesting because of the crazy, smeared black make-up. The point of view is common, but I think any other point of view would take away from the photos effectiveness. The mood of the photos is wild and loud almost, because of the facial expression and crazy make-up. I think the most successful thing about my photo is the way the light hits Logan's face in almost the same exact spots as the model in Penn's photo. To improve my photo I could take the picture against a white background instead of grey.