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#41
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Politically biased lighting?
"Paul Heslop" wrote in message ... no_name wrote: Chris Down wrote: wrote in message oups.com... British National Party leader Nick Griffin, as portrayed in the London Times April 17, 2006, two weeks before the local elections, the lighting equivalent of shining a torch under the chin. http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/pic...,289298,00.jpg I only just got around to reading this thread and it seems to me that everyone has got a little away from the subject of the original post. Anyone with just a passing knowledge of photographic lighting and composition will know that lighting a portarit from below will make the subject take on a sinister air. Shooting from below also has a strong bearing on how the viewer will perceive the subject. The question is do we want photograhers to take "pictures of record" ie. a flat picture that shows the subject was at location A on date B..... or do we want the photographer to use his craft to paint a picture and convey an idea? There is little doubt here that the photographer was attempting to give an impression of the subject by lighting from below... my own view is that the shadow cast by the hand pretty well ruins the shot as it makes the upward lighting very obvious and hides part of the face. Well, you have a couple of different discussions going on here ... There's the suggestion of bias in the choice of lighting, although as it turns out the image is a single frame video capture. So the decision on the "photograph" was apparently made by the newspaper's editors, not by an actual photographer. I'm not sure about this actual shot but I think Nick holds a lot of his meetings in small places, probably badly lit in the first place. I've done a bit of searching for meeting shots... found http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap...16/nbnp16b.jpg http://scot.altermedia.info/images/bnp.jpg http://www.bnp.org.uk/freedom/regions/1709kirklees.jpg (Spot the skins, jees no wonder I don't feel safe on the streets!) That's not to say the image wasn't chosen deliberately though. He's an easy target. Perhaps these pictures says as much about the lack of expereience the BNP have in lighting their own speakers to best advantage as they do about any bias on the part of the photographers. Certainly the major parties in both the UK and the USA take great care in image management.. in every sense. You comment about the "skins" is interesting, although I must say that you are perhaps reading a lot into the shaved heads. Suggesting a shaved head and a t-shirt makes a man a "skin" and a dangerous hooligan is hardly any different from suggesting a man is a terrorist because he has a sun tan and dresses in a particular style. It does of course show how important images, and how we perceive them, can be. Opponents of the BNP should perhaps be thankful that there are the "skinhead" type supporters. It is a fact that many people are attracted to the policies of the BNP but repelled by some of the personalities. Students of history will recall that the Nazi part in 1930s Germany relied heavily on the bully boys of the SA. Once the party had power and wanted to consolidate it the SA bully boys no longer fit with the image they wished to promote....on the "night of the long knives" (June 1934) the SA were removed, most of their leaders murdered in their beds. The fear for the major parties must be that one day the BNP will have slick PR people and the less wholesome looking supporters will he hidden or encouraged to leave. The Nazi party became great experts in propaganda and image management. Triumph of the Will (1935 Triumph des Willens) by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl is perhaps one of the best examples of what they managed... a move of course rather than still photographs, but a fantastic example of how to light and compose. Anyone who sees this film cannot help but be at the same time impressed and terrified... and in no doubt that Germany was a country preparing for war. If you have never seen the film but are serious about lighting and composition to convey a message you really should watch it. The film was banned in the UK, a great pity as this act of censorship concealed the true nature of Nazi Germany from the people of the UK.... or was it that the government feared the people would absorb the message? The best way to avoiding repeating history is to remember it. |
#42
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Politically biased lighting?
Chris Down wrote:
Perhaps these pictures says as much about the lack of expereience the BNP have in lighting their own speakers to best advantage as they do about any bias on the part of the photographers. Certainly the major parties in both the UK and the USA take great care in image management.. in every sense. Quite, or maybe they really don't care. The major parties have every intention of being seen to be squeaky clean even though they are anything but. The BNP have a wish to appeal to their core voters, but yes, they could obviously do with some lessons in lighting. There may well be better images of their meetings, but most shots seem to be of them outside courtrooms lately :O) You comment about the "skins" is interesting, although I must say that you are perhaps reading a lot into the shaved heads. Heh, not really. I lived In Keighley (one of their 'strongholds'), I was a skin when I was a lad, but soon learned the error of my ways Suggesting a shaved head and a t-shirt makes a man a "skin" and a dangerous hooligan is hardly any different from suggesting a man is a terrorist because he has a sun tan and dresses in a particular style. It does of course show how important images, and how we perceive them, can be. Plus it shows exactly how these people wish themselves to be seen. I know people with shaved heads who i wouldn't think were skins in a month of sundays. I've seen BNP supporters in action, they ARE skinheads. Opponents of the BNP should perhaps be thankful that there are the "skinhead" type supporters. It is a fact that many people are attracted to the policies of the BNP but repelled by some of the personalities. Yup. Spot on. Students of history will recall that the Nazi part in 1930s Germany relied heavily on the bully boys of the SA. Once the party had power and wanted to consolidate it the SA bully boys no longer fit with the image they wished to promote....on the "night of the long knives" (June 1934) the SA were removed, most of their leaders murdered in their beds. The fear for the major parties must be that one day the BNP will have slick PR people and the less wholesome looking supporters will he hidden or encouraged to leave. They do try now, but looking at Our Friend and His Friend in news images after the trial recently I have no doubt what they are. You can't polish a turd http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...re/4723896.stm The Nazi party became great experts in propaganda and image management. Triumph of the Will (1935 Triumph des Willens) by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl is perhaps one of the best examples of what they managed... a move of course rather than still photographs, but a fantastic example of how to light and compose. Anyone who sees this film cannot help but be at the same time impressed and terrified... and in no doubt that Germany was a country preparing for war. If you have never seen the film but are serious about lighting and composition to convey a message you really should watch it. The film was banned in the UK, a great pity as this act of censorship concealed the true nature of Nazi Germany from the people of the UK.... or was it that the government feared the people would absorb the message? The best way to avoiding repeating history is to remember it. I agree, I don't know how anyone on the outside had any doubts about the Nazis... but hopefully we WILL learn. -- Paul (Take my hand, I'm standing right here) ------------------------------------------------------- Stop and Look http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/ |
#43
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Politically biased lighting?
Paul Heslop wrote:
Chris Down wrote: Perhaps these pictures says as much about the lack of expereience the BNP have in lighting their own speakers to best advantage as they do about any bias on the part of the photographers. Certainly the major parties in both the UK and the USA take great care in image management.. in every sense. Quite, or maybe they really don't care. The major parties have every intention of being seen to be squeaky clean even though they are anything but. The BNP have a wish to appeal to their core voters, but yes, they could obviously do with some lessons in lighting. There may well be better images of their meetings, but most shots seem to be of them outside courtrooms lately :O) Now that imaging has gone digital, they always have trouble with the contrast control. They want to set the white point so it covers their spokesmen entirely, and they refuse to set a black point at all. |
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