After viewing Dawound Bey high school photographs, I have observed several key characteristics that made his work unique. One of these characteristics is using face expressions to give the viewer a sense that the subjects emotions. One portrait in particular is the one that shows a Muslim man named with aggressive facial expressions. His muscles surrounding his eyes are tense in a “V” shape. This is then reinforced with a very manly “cross of the arms” with a clench of his fist. This emotion is backup with the subjects thoughts with follows ; “I know that I shouldn’t but sometimes I wonder how other people look at me. What do they see first? My brown-ness, my beard, my cap, my clothes, the color of my eyes, the design of my T-shirt? I think that people see my skin color first. They probably see me as a brown guy. Then, they might see my black beard and my white kufi (prayer cap) and figure out I am Muslim. They see my most earthly qualities first. Brown, that’s the very color of the earth, the mud from which God created us. Sometimes I wonder what color my soul is. I hope that it’s the color of heaven…”Omar.The subject is clearly expression his mind of what society thinks of him, rather than knowing him on a personal level. This ties back into his aggressive demeanor. In today’s shoot, I would perform a series of images that would play with this central idea of emotion. I would try to answer: “What makes a photograph powerful?”, “How does body language affect the overall photograph ?”, ” How can I show not one emotion, rather multiple emotions?”, ” Does my lighting affect how an emotion is expressed and perceived?”. Today, I would push to answer my question and see if I can create an emotional masterpiece.

The portrait project by Dawoud Bey entitled Class Pictures uses visual elements, such as framing, artificial light, and depth of field to create compelling compositions. The challenge that Dawoud experienced during this project include the random selection of both the model and the room, composing interesting poses, and light.

While working with the subjects Bey allows the subject to take as much time as they need to get comfortable before starting the shoot. He uses this time to figure out what colors that are on the subject work well from the environment.

The success of the shot is greatly increased when he uses shallow depths of field to bring focus on the subject. In addition to this he also works with the environment to bring the elements in to add to the shot instead helping to create harmony. When posing the subject Bey creates leading expressions to help provide emotion. By having a model have a clenched fist over an open palm gave vastly different emotions.

For emotion of lighting is added in way they gives the impression of natural lighting. This is a more forgiving intensity of light.

Dawoud Bey’s photographs of the high school students immediately evoked an emotion in me. This is because they reminded me of my high school days and all the individuals I grew up with. Bey uses a lot of direct lighting on the subjects face to bring attention to the most important. Bey purposely positions their hands in different positions that will emphasize the emotion that is trying to be portrayed. For example, Omar describes the feeling of judgement and his defensive state is shown when Bey photographs him with closed fist and crossed arms. He also conveys it by using the facial emotions which is also evident in Omar who’s has a frowning face like in disapproval. Overall, the hand gesture must compliment the face in order to tell the story. Another detail he pays attention to is the background. Even though he fades out the background in order to tune out the noise and place the subject I’m focus, he is very thoughtful in the background environment. For example, Shalanta is photographed in a very vibrant background which I feel matches her personality which is colorful and full of life. You can also see this vibrancy of color in her clothes, nails and hair. It was also very educational to hear how his thought process allowed him to captivate these students in the amount of time that he was giving. He quickly had to analyze the student and figure out how and where to place them. Overall, I greatly enjoyed seeing his work.

In Dawoud Bay’s series Class Pictures, high school students are captured in a natural essence to evoke sympathy in the viewer. He does this by isolating his subject in the frame. In many cases, he does this by using a shallow depth of field and using studio lights to subtly highlight them. The composition of his photos vary from student to student, but in all cases, the students occupy a majority of the frame, which further establishes them as the focal point. The overall mood of the portraits is a calm and sympathetic one. Dawoud Bey captures the student’s emotion in their posture and facial expressions. This allows the viewer to more easily relate to the subject. Dawoud also excels at creating calmness in the photo despite the calamity that might be taking place in the background. Even without the supporting copy, the students’ posture, outfit, expression give the viewer an idea of what the student may be feeling/thinking.

For today’s shoot, I would take inspiration from the above techniques he used, making sure to capture the subtle nuances that portray my subject’s mood and personality. In addition, I would also be mindful of the environment around my subject and how that might influence the mood I’m capturing. Most importantly I would be mindful of making sure that the photo seems natural and not stiff, staged or rigid.