These three images were captured by American
photographer Ryan Muirhead. Born in 1981 in Orem, Utah, USA; though still
relatively young when the digital age flourished, he has all but completely
rejected the use of digital cameras continuing to shoot solely in film.
Muirhead is known mostly for his portraiture, however he is also well known in
the music photography industry after touring with well known bands such as The
Used documenting their tour and album production.
These photos are of a man named Tim who Muirhead met walking home through the streets of St Johns, Oregon as he tried to capture an image of the bus stop seen in the first image when this man started yelling "You taking pictures?! Take a picture of this!". He was drunk and disorderly, he divulged his life story to Muirhead; his wife had recently died of alcoholism and he was dying of leukemia."His fits of yelling were punctuated with several moments of intense calm."After one of his fits of rage Muirhead asked if he could make a frame of him, the real him, and he managed to capture the third image shown above.This series of photos stood out to me immediately, not only did they appeal to me aesthetically with his composition and use of black and white vs colour film, but also because of the raw emotion captured.
To me, these three images are a narrative, it starts off with a setting and an intriguing character, you get a little closer and learn more about the character and as it draws to a close, everything is calm.
These photos are of a man named Tim who Muirhead met walking home through the streets of St Johns, Oregon as he tried to capture an image of the bus stop seen in the first image when this man started yelling "You taking pictures?! Take a picture of this!". He was drunk and disorderly, he divulged his life story to Muirhead; his wife had recently died of alcoholism and he was dying of leukemia."His fits of yelling were punctuated with several moments of intense calm."After one of his fits of rage Muirhead asked if he could make a frame of him, the real him, and he managed to capture the third image shown above.This series of photos stood out to me immediately, not only did they appeal to me aesthetically with his composition and use of black and white vs colour film, but also because of the raw emotion captured.
To me, these three images are a narrative, it starts off with a setting and an intriguing character, you get a little closer and learn more about the character and as it draws to a close, everything is calm.
Muirhead has shot the first two images in black and white
and chosen to shoot the last portrait in colour which I feel adds a certain
warmth and human character to an image, showing Tim as the real man he is. Both
images of Tim are focused sharply on his face, drawing attention to the raw
emotion on his face.
I love that there's a story like that behind these images. It makes the last one, the "real" one, stand out all the more.
ReplyDeleteThe composition, depth of field and use of colour is all used to great effect, and I agree each one is very expressive both in the man's facial expression and body language.