Artist Research - Sebastiao Salgado

This is again another photographer that I liked the work of when I came across his books in a shop in Brazil. I have looked through an Internet library of his work and picked out some that I think are relevant as they show a great use of depth of field. 

I think that this image has a fun factor about it. The black and white gives the image a timeless and classic feel but I think its fun the way that he’s got a fish stuck on the end of his finger. Images like this are often very serious and have a sad feel but I think that this one could be taken a little light heartedly almost like "this is all I’ve been able to catch?" I just really like the attitude that the model seems to be portraying.. (Well this is what I get from the image). 

I think that what is going on in the background, although out of focus because of the mid depth of field, it is still easy to make out what is happening. This adds to the image in the foreground as you can see those in the background are fishing. I think that this is something I could think about, just because the background may not be in sharp focus it could still help and strengthen the story that is in the main aspect of the image in the foreground. 

This is a really good example to show the distance and range of the depth of field. You can see the man in the foreground of the image that is the main focus. He is sharp and full of detail, yet the 2 in the back are blurred. I would say that this is a mid depth of field. I like this because it isn’t a typical portrait, there are other people in the content of this shot but they aren’t the main focus. I think that the intention in this image is to try and get the emotion of the workers through in the main subjects face, and that is why he is sharp and full of detail, but the fact that there are other workers behind him shows that he isn’t the only one who is feeling this emotion, there are many.

This is a real shallow depth of field (well it looks it to me) only the eyes appear to be in clear focus. This is exactly the look I am going for I think that the eyes are the area that tells the story in an image and especially the emotion of the subject so it seems fitting that these are the only thing in focus. I like the framing of the image; it’s a simple standard portrait. The photographer seems to be at a bit of a low angle looking slightly up at the man. This makes me think that maybe he has a bit of power or feels threatened by the man? I also quite like this as the sky makes for a neutral background, almost like a studio background.