Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010

Whilst researching artists and contextual references for this project, I came across the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010 that is currently being exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The photographs shown in this exhibition relate to this project perfectly and are exactly the style and approach that I find inspiring and interesting. 

  Merel, by Clare Shilland

Huntress with Buck, by David Chancellor 2010

Chancellor comment on his photograph: "The contrast between the peace and tranquillity of the location, plus Josie's ethereal beauty and the dead buck, was what I wanted to explore. Here was a vulnerability and yet also a strength."

Wafa, by Felix Carpio 2010

I found there to be so much different variety and approach at the exhibition; each portrait captivated a different personality and told a different story about the person, their emotions and their lives. The compositions of most of the images seemed to be simple, but that was what made them so visually striking and interesting. Their environment told the viewer something about who they were or what they were doing, which I felt was important for the works as it tells a narrative about the subject and lets the viewer's imagination roam free. 

There were two main things that I began to notice whilst walking around the exhibition and looking at the work; firstly, was that in almost every photograph the subject wasn't smiling, they had a neutral/blank expression on their face. Secondly, a lot of the photographs were taken in natural daylight, without artificial flash lighting added. These two features have made me consider a lot of aspects regarding my own images. I feel that the photographs in the exhibition worked much better without the subject smiling - when someone smiles in a photograph, although it can sometimes tell you a bit about their character, it doesn't always leave the opportunity for the viewer's imagination to create it's own narrative about the person and their thoughts/feelings, and it somehow gives a sense of age about the image, as though it is slightly dated and 'stale'. However, most people's first instinct when you ask to take their photograph is to smile, so I feel that it is important for me to control this and direct my subject to adopt a pose how I want when I'm taking my photographs. I have also reconsidered using flash when taking my photographs for my second shoot. Although it will come in very useful in very poor lighting conditions, I am going to try and use as much natural daylight as possible when shooting my images. The non-use of flash in the photographs at the Taylor Wessing exhibition suggested a sense of purity and truth about the person and who they are, which is what I am to capture in my own work.