Jonathan Bielaski
Environmental portraiture captures the essence of a subject in its natural habitat. Every one of Jonathan Bielaski’s photos tell a story of a person’s journey. The focus is greater than the person – it’s the reality of who they are at this time in their life – the background reflecting their personality.
"With making any portrait I do–I like to sit down with the subject and learn about them: what they do, where they come from and where they want to go. I ask them to take me though a typical day, show me some of there favourite places and tools. I really try to get to know them. Sometimes this is done on the same day of the shoot and sometimes it is done beforehand, but the best thing that I have learned to do is listen. By listening, you learn and find the small details that makes them who they are."
"To me a perfect environmental portrait is a portrait that tells a story, you are learning something about the person in the portrait with out the use of words. The background and foreground are just as important as the person in telling the story but they are the supporting cast and the person is the lead roll. On their own they could make good images but together they make a great image."
In these two images bielaski uses his environmental portraiture style very effectively. He has used a wide aperture in order to keep a lot of the scene in focus which is very important. As through the mise en scene the viewer gets an insight to the subjects background and his profession. In this case, the abundance of metals, hard materials and racks of tools and equipment coincide with the central action of the subject hitting a heated piece of metal. All of the aforementioned combined come together to imply that the subject is a blacksmith and gives him a contextual identity. This rather masculine job is enhanced by the use of dark earth tones which add a sense of grit and harshness through the shadows. In the first imagine bielaski uses a candid approach catching the subject natural working in his environment. Alike the metals in the scene, the man's stance is very straight, firm and rigid as carries out his work. It could be considered that the hard metals correspond with the masculinity of the man and resemble each other. The blur of the right arm and hammer implies motion which appears rather strong and aggressive when put into context. The glowing heated metal stands out from the rest of the relatively dark scene and acts as a focal point, drawing the viewers attention to the centre of the piece. Despite the busy scene, the subject still remains the focal point of the piece.
Similarly to this, in the second image bielaski uses a much more posed approach of portraiture. Despite the different technique, the piece still has the same outcome where the man is conveyed to be stereotypically masculine which is once again enhanced through the natural, earthy colour scheme. He is placed once again in his place of work and put in the centre of the frame. There is a light source being directed from the left side which allows him to stand out significantly. Another way in which he has done this is by using a lower aperture which increases the depth of field by blurring out the background, leaving the subject in focus. The man's pose continues his masculine aura which is further through his straight, emotionless, stern face and posture. The eye contact being made with the camera intensifies the piece and the use of the prop of a cigar once again reinforces his masculinity.
In this photography there are several factors which come together to provide a sense of geographical location and identity. The outside setting appears rather tropical due to the warm colour scheme and palm trees in the background. Also the bags hanging from the trees could be considered to be holding fruit or crops which goes hand in hand with the big industrial machine that the subject is standing in front of. This then illustrates the subject's job being a farmer or harvester. The ethnicity of the subject provides a further insight to the placement of the photo and could be considered to be taken in perhaps the South American region. Due to the stereotypical association of hard labour and long hours with this type of job, the straight facial expression and slouched posture of the subject could suggest that the subject is far from happy with his job. Overall, the main aspect of the which provides the viewer with the most insight and information about the subject is the setting and props, the subject himself just adds a different dimension to the piece as it describes how content he is, or in this case not so much, with his job.
I really like the environmental portraiture technique and feel that it would be very relevant to my project. I believe that I could incorporate bielaski's tendency to photograph his subject in two separate ways to my project - firstly in a candid style where they are often seen working and then also the posed portrait as well where he tends to focus more on the subject. I feel that these approaches work very well side by side each other and compliment each other. I also like the way that everything in the scene relates to the subject and all contribute to form a certain identity and character profile for the subject. The scene, costume and props is what provides the subject with a sense of identity.
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