These two celebrity shots feature Demi Moore and Beyonce during their pregnancy.  The Demi Moore photo was taken by Annie Leibowitz and Beyonce’s by Awol Erizku.

To start off just by looking at the photos you notice that they both face a similar angle.  The left shoulder is pointed towards the camera and they are both looking over their shoulder at the camera.  I assume that the angle was taken in order to emphasize that both of them are pregnant. This of course becomes the focus of the photo and what is trying to be captured within the photograph.  

However look at both photos side by side you notice of course that the portrait of Beyonce is a lot more busy.  She is wearing a bra etc. and has flowers in the background. It seems that the way she’s dressed and the flowers sort of create this lively  and pure setting which really adds to the natural beauty of what the photo is about, birth.

On the other hand Demi’s photo is bare. Very literally.  She is nude and so is the background. In this case the photo has a very blank and open feel.  It very much centers around her as a new mother. It gives off this feeling that it is just her and her child.  During pregnancy it is truly just mother and offspring. That’s the center of focus, and that is what is given off here.

Both really surround the miracle of pregnancy and birth.  They just shine different light on specifics about pregnancy.  One being the natural and liveliness of birth (Beyonce) and the other being the center of the world, mother and offspring (Demi).

Avedon’s portrait style seems to be very case by case.  Each photograph he is looking

for some individual characteristic that can be expressed within his subject.  Sometimes it is tight framing or even framing skewed to the left or right. It may be a wide full body shot or just a close up of one’s face, but all the images seem to really give character to the subject being photographed.  

Mannion uses photo to capture mood or emotion in a very similar way that Avedon did.  He shoots more in color which is interesting because it sort of looks like a evolved Avedon style.  Mannion uses similar methods to crop and frame his subjects. None of the photos follow the same equation.  It looks as if a different direction was taken for each portrait. Again Mannion uses his subject effectively and really brings out specific character traits in his portraits.  Not a single one of his subjects are posed or framed the same way because everyone is different and has a glow of their own that needs to be captured in its own light. In the portrait of Jay Z, Mannion really expresses Jay Z’s timelessness and sort of power that he holds as a hip hop icon.  The attire gives off a sort of “mob” aesthetic that emphasizes the sort of power dynamic that Jay-Z expresses. And of course the look and framing of him. His shoulders add to a strong center frame against a white background and Jay really jumps off the background as he floats towards the viewer.