Another photographer that, for me, has an inspiring body of work is Jeffrey Stockbridge. 'Kensington Blues' made on the streets of Kensington Avenue, North Philadelphia, features portraits of the area's inhabitants. The area is consumed with drug dealing, crime and deprivation. With that said the portraits, always made outside on the street, portray the subjects with an inner calm. A calm before the storm perhaps, as the visual narrative that can be read on the subjects faces and bodies tells a different story. The subjects are mostly youthful, and their youth gives them a strength to hold out against the abuse of their bodies - but the strain is there to be seen.
'Tic Tac and Tootsie' a portrait of twin sisters that are homeless and addicted, took third place in the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize in 2010. Alongside the portraits Stockbridge has documented Kensington Avenue itself from a Social Documentary perspective. Images of empty houses, boarded windows and rubbish strewn back alleys are photographed along with letters and found objects.
The street scenes and found objects add context to the portraits and the series is a substantial piece of work.
http://www.jeffreystockbridge.com
Paul Floyd Blake
'Personal Best' featuring portraits of young Olympic athletes, is Blake's best known piece of work. He won the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize for his image (from the series) of paralympian swimmer Rosie Bancroft. The subjects look calm and contemplative and have a quiet determination about them. Blake uses a 5x4 film camera to slow down his image making and I'm wondering if this is translated to his subjects as he works through his artistic process. I remember at a talk by the photographer Tom Hunter that he mentioned how more seriously his subjects took the session when what was perceived as a 'professional' camera was used.
Blake states in an article for The Guardian that:
"The series is probably less about sport than it is about young people growing up and the transition from childhood into adulthood," he said. "These teenagers exist in this ultra-professional world that can often be very isolating. It is about them growing up and how the experiences they have now shape them for the future." Guardian (2012).
The images of these young athletes certainly show a different side to their character compared to the usually overly slick action packed commercial photography that we are used to seeing of sports people.
The other work of photographer Paul Floyd Blake shows how portraits can be done in a much less formal style. The work feels like a mixture of portrait and social documentary. Posed shots to the camera, often taken on the street, look so much more natural than traditional studio work. Portrait images are interspersed with landscape and detail shots using a visual language that reminds me of Alec Soth. Portraits are also taken in the subjects home adding another layer of context.
I prefer this kind of informal portraiture to the more traditional studio shots that used to be the stock in trade of more traditional portrait photographers; particularly celebrity and famous people work. They look so terribly contrived to me. The performance by the subjects are usually cranked up to the maximum and so easy to spot. Actors want to look serious, comedians funny, writers thoughtful, etc. Of course we all wear masks and even the subjects of the more natural looking street portraits are still performing in some way. I suppose the more contemporary work just feels fresher - maybe it will look just as contrived in twenty years time - who knows?
http://www.paulfloydblake.co.uk
References:
The Guardian. 2012. [online] [Available] http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/nov/04/taylor-wessing-photography-prize Accessed 27th May 2015.
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