RE: Sharp plane of focus

Gary Shank> ...what is the advantage of the camera position he used?
John C.> http://www.cartermuseum.org/Exhibitions/avedon/

I had a couple of other thoughts on the camera position (above the subject).

--
In a lot of Avedon's "West" work, it looks to me like the subjects are
looking up slightly, into the camera.  Looking up can flatter people's neck
lines (by stretching out wrinkles) and show more (not less, like I said
earlier) neck.  It can also allow the subject to uncomfortably confront the
viewer--they aren't just looking into a camera and smiling; they are
actively moving to face directly into a camera inconveniently placed above
them.
Again, consider the meaning...was this just pragmatic camera placement to
flatter his subjects, or could you compare an upturned face to those you see
in, oh, 15th to 19th century Western paintings of people beseeching or
fearing God, or pleading with a victor?  Or consider a portrait of a
conqueror in front of a battlefield...to show the battlefield in
perspective, the camera would have to be aerial, with the person in the
foreground...looking up at the camera.
Now erase the battlefield from behind them.  I don't think you would take
away the pride and confidence from their face.  That, personally, is what I
see in Avedon's "West"--people standing forthrightly in front of their
lives, as shown by their faces, their skin, their clothes.
There's no battlefield, just white.  But there doesn't have to be, when you
can see what James Story has been doing all day, perhaps all his life, just
by looking at his eyes.
--
A teacher of mine, Rod Klukas, also reminded me a few weeks ago about the
scale of Avedon's prints.  Does it change the meaning of the piece to
present it at 40"x50" instead of, say, 8"x10"?  At 50" tall from torso to
head, they are now life-size or more--a slightly super-human scale.  This
could indicate considerable respect for the subject, a desire to aggrandize
or celebrate them.  Or maybe it's just an attempt to make a big print for a
big museum space--or big ego?
But this idea of scale is something one might consider in alternative
processes, where, many times, presentation size is limited to film size (or
your computer printer's maximum transparency output size).  I'm not going to
be aggrandizing much of anything with my 4"x5" contact prints!
--
So, because of this scale, the work of Avedon's that I've seen seems
precisely focused--not made intentionally soft with aberration, diffusion,
or blurring agents.  In those of his I've seen (especially at 40x50), you
can see the stubble on men's faces, the downy hair on the upper lips of
women who haven't waxed and plucked (something to consider when making an
8x10 headshot of a woman), and the fine hair on people's arms.  (John
Cremati (this thread) said "There is not a woman alive that wants her
portrait taken with a normal lens!")
That precise focus can also show reflections of the camera setup, even in
the subject's pupils; like David H (this thread) said, "an image made in
this way would not show reflections of the camera set up".  Shift and fall
are great tools to use to get the reflection of your camera out of the shot.
--
John C.> ...he was trying to obscure the back ground...
There is also a video (PBS, around 1995?) about Avedon, showing him working
and talking about how he works.  He does purposely seek out specific, often
non-distracting, backgrounds for all his work.  "White" seems to be
predominant.  So yes, I'd agree he certainly does control depth-of-field and
focus to get the effect he wants, for a print that stands up under scrutiny
at 40x50 and has no distracting background elements.
	- Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: John C. [mailto:johnjohnc@core.com] 
Sent: Sunday, December 25, 2005 12:36 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Sharp plane of focus
They have a few of Avedon's prints on line...... My  best guess is that he
was trying to obscure the back ground with the plane of focus on the front
of the subject........jc
http://www.cartermuseum.org/Exhibitions/avedon/