Black & White PortraitureAdam Green

My Photographers

Yousuf Karsh

David Bailey

Sebastião Salgado

Elliott Erwit

#1 Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh’s work includes portraits of statesmen, artists, musicians, authors, scientists etc.

He has an extraordinary portfolio of black and white portrait photographs.

Photograph #1

This is a photograph of Jean Sibelius. The subjects eyes are closed. He looks concerned, and the fact that it is a dark scene means that he could be in deep thought, or be anxious about something. It was taken in 1949.

Photographer #2

This is Ernest Hemingway. The photograph was taken in 1957.

Photographer #3

This is another black and white portrait photograph. It was taken in 1948. The way that Einstein’s hands are positioned and the look in his eyes represent he is thinking.

#2 David Bailey

David Bailey is a photographer from Eastern London, and is a famous portrait photographer.

He has spent his career focusing on fashion and portrait photographs.

Photograph #1

In this photograph, the model looks focused, and is giving the audience an angry stare.

The subject looks about 50 or 60 years old. He is wearing dark clothes.

Photograph #2

This is a photograph of a famous musician. He is looking into the camera with a straight face. Not much emotion is conveyed from his face.

His arms are crossed, so despite the fact he has a straight face, we can establish he is trying to portrait some serous emotion.

Photograph #3

This photo is much different to any of the other photographs that I have showcased of David Bailey’s.

The contrast is quite high and the brightness is quite low so the levels of the shadows are even more visible. This adds to the sense of mystery, as we are not quite sure what emotion he is trying to portray. We can however see some fear in his eyes.

#3 Sebastiào Salgado

Born in 1944, Sebastiao Salgado is a famous photography.

He focuses on black and white photography. I will be looking at his black and white portrait photography.

Photograph #1

Photograph #2

Photograph #3

#4 Elliott Erwit

Elliott Erwit is another black and white photographer, however I am going to be looking at Erwit’s black and white photography works

He has photographed a range of famous people, including Churchill.

Photograph #1

As you can see, the subject in this photograph has a neutral expression,

Photograph #2

Photograph #3