LO1 Comparison of Photographers

Category and Meaning

Martin Parr specialises in social reportage, where as Irving Penn specialises in portrait and fashion photography, Duncan Philpott specialises in action/adventure and sports photography and photojournalism. Duncan Philpott's  and Martin Parr's work is very vibrant and full of colour and life compared to Irving Penn's work which is monochrome and focuses on the story telling and facial expressions instead of colour and vibrancy.

In a way Duncan Philpott and Martin Parr are working in some of the area's in terms of genre as Duncan specialises in photojournalism which is capturing the moment, usually in sporting scenarios and adventurous situations and Martin Parr specialises in social reportage, which is photographing people and social situations and reporting that, so in a way both photographers capture the moment but in a different way. Duncan's work captures life and passion and Martins work captures the real life grittiness. Irving Penn also captures the moment but in a completely different way to the other two, instead of capturing an event or social interactions, he captures the emotion and story with his photography, the emotion and facial expressions presented in his photography shows a narrative which could entice the audience into looking into his photography. All these different photographers will have different audiences which look for different aspects in photography, whether that's life and emotion or reality and social interactions.

Category and Meaning

In terms of the photographic elements Duncan Philpott specialises in focal points and composition as well as light and colour, he spends a lot of time getting the right angle for a photograph, getting the amount of light in the photograph perfect, he also spends a lot of time focusing on a specific aspect whether that is a theme or an object or person; this may be because he is a commercial photographer and is set certain briefs but also because he is very creative. Martin Parr also specialises in composition heavily, he captures social interactions and documenting real life so not only does he need the people within the shot to be positioned anything that could add to the theme also needs to be added or moved around, e.g. with his piece documenting the sea side there was litter scattered around which had been purposely placed there for effect. Also this sort of photography needs a perfect view point so he needs the right angle for the piece, to add a certain effect and further the understanding of the piece to the audience. In terms of photographic elements with Irving Penn focuses on light and colour and view points, most of his work consists of monochrome photographs, that is perfect for his genre and his style, it adds depth and emotion to the piece and really allows the audience to appreciate and understand his work. The view points and angles of the work is essential as it can completely change some of the photographs, from different angles you can capture different emotions and themes.

In terms of creativity, they are all very creative photographers with original styles, but sometimes Duncan Philpott could be restricted as he is a commercial photographer and works to briefs, he has been known to bring out unique and creative pieces when working with a brief, but has also mentioned that briefs can sometimes be restricting not allow his creativity to surpass. The other two photographs; Martin Parr and Irving Penn do not have this problem, they do not work to briefs, they work to suit their creative ideas, this allows their creativity to be encouraged rather than tarnished, this means that they can create whatever they want and suit their style.

Meaning, Analysis and Purpose

All of these photographers link to the theme identity in all their different ways, they all contain emotion and life in their pieces and could inspire my future photography heavily. Irving Penn could inspire my work in terms of a driven narrative and facial expressions, this links to identity very well as it shows the emotions and story of person in the piece. Duncan Philpott could inspire my work in terms of identity as his work is very full of life and energy and capturing the moment and that could capture someone's identity, whether its a sporting event, a beautiful landscape view, he is capturing someone's hobbies, interests and identity. Martin Parr could inspire my work also in terms of identity, his work depicts real life events and various peoples true selves and identity's, he presents social interactions and what they show, this can help us to evaluate someone's identity and learn about ourselves. They are all very creative and influential photographers in their own specific styles.