Photographic Applications
Advertising Photography
Using photography in advertising is incredibly effective in promoting a product to a target audience, making the product interesting or appealing in some way to the customer. There are a few different styles of photos that will be used in advertising, primarily Pack Shots and Extreme Close-ups, both of which are used to display the product or highlight something about it.
As an example, Coca-Cola enjoy putting water droplets and ice around their drinks in the advert, making it seem like the drink is cool and refreshing, making the audience for Coke clearly people who need to be refreshed and hydrated at that moment in time.
Another good example would be Intel, in their adverts they use close-ups of their products, mostly processors, showing lots of high-tech equipment to try and impress people with how advanced their new product is. The target audience will mostly be geeks and computer experts but this kind of advert can appeal to someone who is also just casually interested in computing.
As you can see here, the Coke glass has lots of water droplets around the outside and has been made to look refreshing and tasty. The use of a glass instead of a Can makes the drink look classier and also helps to display the product so anyone who has not heard of Coke before knows what it looks like.
Using photography in advertising is incredibly effective in promoting a product to a target audience, making the product interesting or appealing in some way to the customer. There are a few different styles of photos that will be used in advertising, primarily Pack Shots and Extreme Close-ups, both of which are used to display the product or highlight something about it.
As an example, Coca-Cola enjoy putting water droplets and ice around their drinks in the advert, making it seem like the drink is cool and refreshing, making the audience for Coke clearly people who need to be refreshed and hydrated at that moment in time.
Another good example would be Intel, in their adverts they use close-ups of their products, mostly processors, showing lots of high-tech equipment to try and impress people with how advanced their new product is. The target audience will mostly be geeks and computer experts but this kind of advert can appeal to someone who is also just casually interested in computing.
As you can see here, the Coke glass has lots of water droplets around the outside and has been made to look refreshing and tasty. The use of a glass instead of a Can makes the drink look classier and also helps to display the product so anyone who has not heard of Coke before knows what it looks like.
This advert for Calvin Klein underwear is not the typical advert, as you would tend to expect to just see the product, but in this case they have mixed Advertising Photography with some Fashion Photography, by using two models to display their products. It also helps to appeal to male/female audiences by having it look like the two are in some way in a relationship and that by buying the underwear this’ll happen to you too.
Subway are very effective at advertising their product in a way that does not accurately represent what the customer will be receiving, the products on their advertisements look very well made and stacked neatly together, but when actually getting a sandwich from subway it is not the case, as the food is much more squashed and not anywhere close to looking as appealing as the product. These adverts are made to appeal to all audiences as food is needed by everyone, and the sandwiches look healthy too even if that’s not the case.
Promotional Photography
Similarly to Advertising, Promotional Photography is used to promote a new video game, musical artists tour or a TV Show. Colour is very important when considering Promotional Photography, as the scheme can drastically effect the meaning of a Promotional Piece, for example, in a TV show where there is a lot of violence, using a photo with bright colours may not accurately show the content of the show.
This advert for Game of Thrones uses colour very effectively, as the show is very dark/light themed, with there always being two sides to everything, but the photo is overall very grim as the character depicated is scarred and dirty, showing the real themes behind the show.
This advert will clearly appeal to people who are already fans of the show, but also to anyone new who likes the themes that are being displayed in this advertisement.
Similarly to Advertising, Promotional Photography is used to promote a new video game, musical artists tour or a TV Show. Colour is very important when considering Promotional Photography, as the scheme can drastically effect the meaning of a Promotional Piece, for example, in a TV show where there is a lot of violence, using a photo with bright colours may not accurately show the content of the show.
This advert for Game of Thrones uses colour very effectively, as the show is very dark/light themed, with there always being two sides to everything, but the photo is overall very grim as the character depicated is scarred and dirty, showing the real themes behind the show.
This advert will clearly appeal to people who are already fans of the show, but also to anyone new who likes the themes that are being displayed in this advertisement.
I believe that this promotional photo is very effective, as it displays many different pieces of information from the box of the game as well as giving an idea of what can be expected. The title of the game is already very well known and the content is clear to most people, however for someone new, the dark and evil themes present will clearly give an idea that this game is full of monsters like the guy on the front cover.
It also displays a PEGI rating which is good for parents who are worried about the content of the game.
It also displays a PEGI rating which is good for parents who are worried about the content of the game.
This photograph is of a main character in a new movie, and it shows the character dressed in futuristic style clothing and wielding a laser weapon, having this photograph on a poster promoting a movie shows not only a bit of the content of the movie, but also helps to get people excited who have seen the trailers.
The colours here are very action themed and futuristic, with lots of laser beams and unnatural sky colours being used.
The colours here are very action themed and futuristic, with lots of laser beams and unnatural sky colours being used.
Fashion Photography
Fashion Photography is used to highlight the clothing that you can expect to see from the designer that has taken the photography, this type of photography is very popular in the modern era, leading to vast amounts of money being invested by companies to try and show off their products to make people want to buy them. The two types of Fashion Photography are Haute Couture and High Street.
In this photograph, the woman is looking very laid back and provocative, the clothing is clearly displayed and is done in black and white to give the photo a sense of style and add neutrality to the scene.
Fashion Photography is used to highlight the clothing that you can expect to see from the designer that has taken the photography, this type of photography is very popular in the modern era, leading to vast amounts of money being invested by companies to try and show off their products to make people want to buy them. The two types of Fashion Photography are Haute Couture and High Street.
In this photograph, the woman is looking very laid back and provocative, the clothing is clearly displayed and is done in black and white to give the photo a sense of style and add neutrality to the scene.
Similarly to the photo above, this picture is also taken in black and white, for the same reasons. The woman here however is looking more engaged but once again, the clothes are very clearly advertised, and the company has also made this advert appealing to men by choosing an attractive woman wearing not much clothing at all.
Haute Couture fashion is clothing that would not typically be worn but is however still made for the fashion shows where the clothing is shown off to hundreds of people. This photo is done in colour as I believe the theme of the clothing is very much based around sadness, as the woman looks like she is wearing a ripped up wedding dress made of feathers, and the black makeup makes her look dark and depressed.
Portraiture
In Portraiture, there is very little room for experimentation, as this type of Photography is a picture of someones face, in an extreme close-up fashion, however sometimes the shoulders may also be visible. The portrait is typically used to show someones personality in some way.
The portrait of this man shows that he is looking very serious and questioning towards the camera, this may depict that his personality is quite serious, or that when this photo was taken some event was causing him to feel this way.
In Portraiture, there is very little room for experimentation, as this type of Photography is a picture of someones face, in an extreme close-up fashion, however sometimes the shoulders may also be visible. The portrait is typically used to show someones personality in some way.
The portrait of this man shows that he is looking very serious and questioning towards the camera, this may depict that his personality is quite serious, or that when this photo was taken some event was causing him to feel this way.
Similarly, this photo is of a woman in black and white, she is smoking a cigarette and looks stressed out, this photo could be used to display her at a point in her life where she has taken to drugs in order to help cope with what is going on.
In this photograph, the man is looking incredibly upset and alone, he is wearing very basic clothing and looks dirty and his hair is unwashed, this photo could be displaying how the life of a homeless person is, in order to bring awareness to people as they may not quite realise how bad things are for those that live on the streets.
Fine Art Photography
Fine Art Photography is created typically with the artists vision in mind, this type of photography has no real goal and is just created for the sake of being art.
This piece of fine art shows a very still lake with a pier that has a bench on the end of it. I believe this art represents relaxation and calm, but also that there is more to come, as the sky looks very cloudy and there is a rainstorm in the distance.
Fine Art Photography is created typically with the artists vision in mind, this type of photography has no real goal and is just created for the sake of being art.
This piece of fine art shows a very still lake with a pier that has a bench on the end of it. I believe this art represents relaxation and calm, but also that there is more to come, as the sky looks very cloudy and there is a rainstorm in the distance.
Ralph Gibson took this photograph, it is very stylish and uses black/white photography very effectively to make elements of the picture stand out much more than others, such as the hand, wrist and pen.
This photo shows a man walking down a pier with a very blurred out background, he is reading a book also, to me it shows that this photograph is themed around solitude, as the man seems to not be involved in the world about him.
Documentary
Documentary Photographs are typically done along a theme or to display a message. Such as pictures taken during the world wars, there will be many pictures with similar themes but completely different people/locations.
A common theme in the current world is poverty and war, these two children look like they have been affected by both, as they are dressed quite dirtily and look like they have not eaten properly recently, the barbed wire fence also shows that they are locked in somewhere, potentially at a POW Camp.
Documentary Photographs are typically done along a theme or to display a message. Such as pictures taken during the world wars, there will be many pictures with similar themes but completely different people/locations.
A common theme in the current world is poverty and war, these two children look like they have been affected by both, as they are dressed quite dirtily and look like they have not eaten properly recently, the barbed wire fence also shows that they are locked in somewhere, potentially at a POW Camp.
This photograph is of German soldiers during one of the world wars; this theme clearly is the tyranny of Germany during the war, as it shows them walking down a semi-destroyed street without much care for the destruction that has been caused.
Martin Parr’s photography is done in colour instead of black and white, this photograph is strange in the sense that it shows two children stood outside of a shop, looking slightly upset or frustrated at something, perhaps this photograph is themed to show that ginger kids often get bullied for various reasons.
Architectural
Rather self-explanatory, Architectural Photography is the photography style where the photographer takes pictures of buildings.
This photo is a good example of the different methods that you can take pictures of buildings to create art. Firstly it is done in black and white to add style to the picture as well as neutrality.
The photo is taken at a distance rather than from up close, giving an idea of how the whole building looks, which is informative as it covers a large portion rather than just one section.
Rather self-explanatory, Architectural Photography is the photography style where the photographer takes pictures of buildings.
This photo is a good example of the different methods that you can take pictures of buildings to create art. Firstly it is done in black and white to add style to the picture as well as neutrality.
The photo is taken at a distance rather than from up close, giving an idea of how the whole building looks, which is informative as it covers a large portion rather than just one section.
This photograph is the opposite, it is taken from directly below several buildings, and although stylish, it does not give much of an idea of how the building looks as a whole, and is more of a snapshot of what city life may look like as a civilian.
This photo is not done in black and white, and I really like it as it is taken looking into a very strange perspective, making it hard to actually understand what we are looking at, the colour helps to make the photo more interesting as the section at the bottom almost looks like the ground rather than the sky, making me question how this picture was taken.
Martin Parr
Martin Parr’s Photography often contains strong themes, in this case there are families running from a fire, carrying their children and looking panicked, it shows the protection of parents well as they are all holding their children, trying to get them away from danger.
Martin Parr’s Photography often contains strong themes, in this case there are families running from a fire, carrying their children and looking panicked, it shows the protection of parents well as they are all holding their children, trying to get them away from danger.
In this picture it shows the dedication of people when they are passionate about something, in this case it is a sports team that they are cheering for, and you can see that everyone is supporting them and that the man in front of the photo is wearing nothng but a scarf, when it looks like a very cold day, showing his devotion to the team.
This photo shows the differences between people and uses fashion sense/clothing choices to display this, as the women are all of different ages and the way they dress has changed over the years.
Overall, Parr’s photos are very exaggerated and perhaps reflects on the way he views the world, even if things are not often that way, these photos are just a snapshot of what he thinks.
Overall, Parr’s photos are very exaggerated and perhaps reflects on the way he views the world, even if things are not often that way, these photos are just a snapshot of what he thinks.
Ralph Gibson
Ralph Gibson is well known for his style of photography, as he often incorporates themes of mystery and eroticism.
In this picture I am left wondering what is being covered up by this persons hand, as the contrast between light and dark is used to make it seem like there is something being hidden on purpose. The Black and white also makes the photo more exaggerated towards mystery.
Ralph Gibson is well known for his style of photography, as he often incorporates themes of mystery and eroticism.
In this picture I am left wondering what is being covered up by this persons hand, as the contrast between light and dark is used to make it seem like there is something being hidden on purpose. The Black and white also makes the photo more exaggerated towards mystery.
This photo shows the more erotic side of Gibson’s photography, while also maintaining his mysterious style of hiding aspects of his photographs, leaving many questions to ask about what is going on in the photographs.
Different from the other photo’s this picture does not feature any erotic themes, but does still have some mystery, leaving the viewer asking questions about who the gun is being pointed at, who is holding it, and why the gun is needed.