Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice

Research of other photographers work

Photographer: Mick RockMick Rock is sometimes known as the “man who shot the seventies”, he shot most of the images of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust but has shot a lot of 1970’s rock groups in his career such as The Sex Pistols, The Stooges, Thin Lizzy, Motley Crue and many more. He is still shooting music artists today and has some shots of artists such as: Dave Grohl, Ellie Goulding, Cee-Lo Green, Michael Buble, Lady Gaga and many more. Mick Rock was born in London in 1948 but currently lives in New York City with his wife Pati and their daughter Nathalie.

Examples of photographs

Choose an image…. Describe itThe photo is an image of David Bowie with is hand loosely on his head making on side of his face look darker than the rest. His mouth is covered by the clothes he is wearing. This is all done to add quite a mysterious element to the photo. The photograph was taken in 2003 and was taken around the time he released his album ‘reality’. The photograph was taken against a dark background to keep a dark effect on the photo.

CompositionThis photo was set up so that David Bowie was covering the entire image and there were few blank spaces, this was done so we could really pay attention to the detail of the photo. It has been taken from about the shoulders up so that we get a good close up of Bowie’s face and we can see the emotion and detail. It has been taken this way so that it isn’t just a bland photo of David Bowie looking at a camera, it has a much deeper aspect to it.

Techniques usedI think techniques used may have been lighting techniques. You can see that some parts of his face and his hand are very light where parts of his face are very dark. This has probably been done to add the deep element of this photograph and to give it something more than just a man looking at a camera.

Strengths & WeaknessesI think Mick Rock is a very good photographer. His strengths are that he can take a photograph and give it a lot of depth, he can make a person look at their best in the way he sets a photograph up and his photo’s always look interesting instead of just a person looking at a camera like some photographers.