The "Environmental Portraiture" Photographic Method

By Michaela Meyer | Photography for Non-Art Majors Class

For my Photography class assignment, I had to recreate a photo made by one of the three photographers given to me. I could have chosen any photo taken by either Arnold Newman, Edward Weston, or Bill Brandt. I decided on the photo, Igor Stravinsky by Arnold Newman, who was known for pioneering the “environmental portraiture” photographic method.

These photos were part of a collective project focused on portraits in different lighting situations.

The picture of Sam in the record store is an example of bouncing light, where the light is coming from one light source, bouncing off of an object, and hitting her face.

The picture of Sam sitting on a chair is an example of side light, because the light is hitting her face from the side.

The picture of Same smiling is an example of shooting into the sun, where the light is hitting her face head-on and creating a cool ‘transparent’ effect in her hair.

These photos were part of another project, where we had to take different types of shots that Michelle assigned us.

The ones shown here are blurred motion (train approaching a station), “who cares” (cat lounging in the sun), storytelling (nature trail in Sintra, Portugal), and panning (vespa driver). Blurred motion is when you slow down the shutter speed to get an object in motion to blur. “Who cares” photos are when the photo doesn’t have a foreground or background, and everything is in focus. Storytelling is kind of the same as a landscape photo: everything is in focus, and the photo is a long shot (meaning the distance between the camera and the subject is great). Panning is when the camera follows an object in motion at the same speed that it is passing, creating an effect where the subject is the only thing in focus and the background is blurred. The first 3 of these photos were taken when I was in Portugal!

"Train approaching a station"

"Cat lounging in the sun"

"Nature trail"

"Vespa driver"

This was taken during a photo walk that was assigned, where we had to go on a walk and take nine photos! I walked along Park Avenue, back in Orlando.

"Person clicking their heels in a parking garage"

This was our very first assignment for photography!

We just had to differentiate between a “snapshot” and a “photograph” - this was my “photograph.” This was taken at the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore di Firenze.

"Shadow taking a photo of the Duomo"

And more...

"Friends watching the sunset in Madrid"