Nicola Callaghan's Photography (North East England UK): Portrait

The first portrait photographer I've chosen to look at is Terry Richardson who is from the USA and born in 1965. He has shot for labels such as Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and Yves Saint Laurent and shot for magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ and Rolling Stone. His portraits of both models and high-profile celebrities are recognisable because of his use of bright white backgrounds, though now some slightly grey as he expanded into different backgrounds and also, in most images, the use of overexposure creating very light and white photos, he accomplishes this by using an attached flash on his camera. He shoots in both black and white and colour and shoots mostly in his studio.
A good example of his black and white overexposure is the images below of the English model Cara Delevingne. She almost blurs into the background, you can only just see her right (view from our left) shoulder which blends into the background, both being white coloured. Although this image, like his other bright, white overexposed images are visible and are very white you are still able to see the visible areas such as the darker areas where there is tone to see. For example you can see the darker zones in her hair, eyebrows, eyeliner and shadows in the first image and actually second image which are very similar, if not nye on the same. The second image is the same sort of style and has more shadows around the shoulders making it stand out a little bit more than the first image as it helps define itself from the background than in the first photo. In the third image of Cara you can see her wearing Richardson's glasses, which is expected in at least one of his shots with her as it is common and well know of him to always pose with the models, as well as the models posing on their own with his glasses, who swap attire and wear his glasses and sometimes his shirt, in return he sometimes wears something of theirs, for example, their glasses and/or headwear. Also in the third photo of Cara you can see that the background is now slightly darker and giving off a more grey tone which he seems to have done deliberately to match the darkness on Cara ( her black jumper and Richardson's black glasses) compared with the previous two images. Also all of these three images are light hearted and seen as fun as she is pulling a face in the 1st one, smiling with a thumbs up in the second and finally posing with his glasses and a slight different face in the third. These are also recognisable of Richardson as he is known to include humour within his images. The hat worn 'High Brow' is a joke on Cara's eyebrows as that is what she is famous and known for in the fashion industry, her thick brows which weren't as in fashion until she started her modelling career and made it fashionable.

Image above found on the link as well as many others of Cara by Terry Richardson. http://thesharper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/cara-delevingne-by-terry-richardson-may.html

Images of Cara Delevingne all belong to Terry Richardson and found between the two links to the sites below;
http://eclectic-society.com/it-girl-101-model-of-the-moment-cara-delevingne/
http://www.czytajniepytaj.pl/fashion/modelki/cara-delevingne-by-terry-richardson-october-2013-1954.html

An example of some of his images he uses without the bright white background and overexposure is also one in colour. This image is of lil' Wayne and the background may look white but in comparison to his other photos you are able to notice that it is slightly off shade and leaning more towards a light grey colour. He has decided to shoot lil' Wayne without a top on making his tattoos visible to the viewer, also his shades on top of his head and the chains around his neck, all of which he is known for. All of these portraying a certain image of him combined. The cigarette a simple prop for the image but has created a focus point in the centre with the smoke shape and could actually be argued that although a prop, for this portrait, is a main point in the photograph as the image itself is cropped from just below the shoulders and he is positioned just off from the centre, making your eyes look at all these things mentioned.

Image of Lil Wayne belongs to Terry Richardson and found on the link below;
http://www.lamjc.com/lil-wayne-gq-interview-terry

The image above of Gisele Bundchen belongs to Terry Richardson and found on the link below;
http://www.vibevixen.com/2013/09/20-favorite-terry-richardson-celebrity-portraits/10/
I have added both Gisele and Beyonce to further demonstrate Terry's subjects posing with his glasses, looking straight at/ into the camera (Gisele) and also including humour by pulling faces (Beyonce) and also the grey backgrounds which he started using instead of bright white all the time.

Beyonce image belonging to Terry Richardson and found on the site, link below.
http://www.kaylinfitzpatrick.com/2013/08/terry-richardsonphotographer.html
Here he has photographed the Current President of the United States Barack Obama. The first image has the least bright white background. It is cropped just below the shoulders like the lil Wayne picture but Obama is more central in this image and is further back, hence more space above the head and not as high up on the crop on the shoulders either. In all these image he is shown with smart attire which is representative of his job however in this first he has his shirt and tie on but with the tie a little loose and with the top button undone and portraying what appears to be a natural, genuine smile. All of this symbolising a relaxed approach compared with his everyday work, it shows him 'taking a break' from Presidential duties briefly. The second image is very much the same with him relaxed and smiling however this one has a more serious look as his top button is fastened, his suit jacket on and arms folded, portraying, still a relaxed look but one which appears to be more reliable and looks the part of being a President as he is smartly dressed for the role. The third image has a much more serious look to it simply because of Obama's facial expression, although his attire is more relaxed like in the first image . In regards to the other pictures shown it is the only one without him smiling yet could possibly be the most powerful. The last image is one of the typical poses that Richardson takes with all his subjects, a thumbs up and a handshake.