Lara Chinn Portfolio

Genre

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Summary of post:

A genre is a specific style or category, which share specific characteristics, or codes and conventions. Through the way in which society and cultures have adapted to recognising the stereotypes within such codes and conventions, it becomes a lot easier to identify the genre when analysed.

In photography, some of the main photography genres include:

As shown below (Understanding Photo Genres, David A. Larson, accessed on 9th November 2018 ), genres are split into four basic categories:

Many of the genres above fit within the creative genre, as they often fit under the aesthetic evaluation field. Much like trying to find the meaning of a photo, mise-en-scene is used to help identify genre. Specifically, as stated by David Bates (Photography: The Key Concepts, 2009):

“In each case, particular features and combinations of elements (figures, specific lighting, colours graphics etc) are used to help the spectator understand what time of film genre it is”.

Of course, it works exactly the same within photography.

Below are some images that I have taken, in which I describe the genre for each one.

This creative photo that I had previously planned on using for a project, though was never used or looked at,  counts as fitting within the genre of art, though not through the use of lighting, or costume, but through the texture and the shapes created through the shreds of paper carefully placed on top of the photo. Especially within experimental images the genre of art is often widely used and fits well within the area, as it opens up a new, almost post modern style to it. Conclusively, this can give suck photos originality. For this image, I decided to stick to the portrait style in the studio, as I feel that this is my strongest point. Though whilst I cannot remember the original artist that I had originally been inspired by, I found artists that created similar projects, such as Amanda Clyne.

 

Continuing on with the theme of portraiture images, to suit the pattern of “portrait” within the modes of operation, I decided to base this image on fashion. Connected to another project I am currently working on, I wanted to express the genre of “fashion”, and what students or people of similar age ranges dress like. Inspired my photographers such as Laura Pannack (1985), I found that having an image stand out against their background is crucial, especially for the fashion genre, and that having the model’s facial expression blank advantages this. Unless the colours match, the facial expression can often come as a distraction, as well as backdrops that blend in, or do not contract the outfit altogether. To conclude, I also agree that this is within the creative genre, much like above, due to its focus on the clothes she is wearing.

 

Experimenting with an area I do not touch on often, I decided to create a landscape image, touching on the genre of architecture. When doing another shoot with a film camera I decided to also take a few with my digital at a slightly canted angle, and almost on a worm’s eye view. This photo, unlike the other two, is considered editorial, due to the fact that it is a landscape photo. Though not inspired by anyone, I enjoy the way in which the lighting had been portrayed on the cathedral, as not only does it almost create a reversed silhouette, due to the pitch black background against the building, but also because the colour almost seems to be sepia, with a hinge of “golden hour”, giving the image a unique look and outlining the details well.

 

Bates, D. (2009) Photography: The Key Concepts, BERG, 1st edition

Larson, D, A. (2018), Understanding Photo Genres, Shuta, http://shutha.org/photo-genres [accessed on 9th November 2018]

 

November 9, 2018

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Aesthetics

Mise-en-Scene

Semiotics
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