Rankin: Response

As I will be taking photographs during the shooting of my music video, taking good photos is an important skill. So as a response to looking at Magnum photography and, in turn, Rankin a well-known photographer, I think this has made me think more about the mise-en-scene and layout of my shots to make sure they have all of the visual codes needed to make every shot pleasing to look at. This activity has also made me think more about lighting and colouring which will be vital in the shoot as well as experimenting with camera angles.
Photography skills will also be important when it comes to my ancillary tasks also.


Rankin Response
First I took a few portrait photos of my mum, using quite bright, natural lighting. In terms of narrative and costume she wore a music note necklace to sum up her personality as she is a music teacher and a very musical person. I tried to keep things casual and to get natural expressions from her to make a more accurate portrayal of her. Throughout I tried to keep in mind Rankin and emulate his style. 


Here are some photographs from the first session.

Next, I wanted to play with light a little more and look at the visual codes that are important in media language. This includes colour, lighting, costumes, mise-en-scene and editing, as well as the composition of shots such as camera angles, layout and narrative.

I think these accurately capture my brother's personality, while also being relaxed and personal portraits.

Magnum Photography

Magnum Photos

Magnum Photos was founded in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour and George Rodger. It is one of the first photographic 'cooperatives', meaning to be owned and run by its members. And their mission was to "feel the pulse" of the times they lived in, documenting and interpreting the events, issues and people of the world. 

Henri Cartier-Bresson, a co-founder of Magnum Photographers, is acknowledged to be the creator of modern photojournalism and also helped to develop "street photography", a very influential style of photography. 


Rankin

Rankin, born in 1966, is a British portrait and fashion photographer. He and Jefferson Hack founded 'Dazed & Confused' an influential British style magazine. Rankin's subjects are diverse and include some of the most famous faces in the world from Kate Moss, Madonna, Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair, Vivienne Westwood, Colin Firth and David Bowie. He has also shot some world-renowned advertising campaigns including Nike, Hugo Boss, L'Oreal, Leivs, Coca Cola, BMW and Rimmel. 
He makes music promo videos (working with Chris Cottam) for many artists, including Kelis, Nelly Furtado, Robyn and Marina and the Diamonds. 
He also has been involved with making photography documentaries with the BBC and shot front covers for many magazines, including Q, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Elle, GQ and Vogue.


Here are some examples of his work...

I've uploaded this to my flickr page, where all my photographs related to the course will be...