About Portfolio

An artist's portfolio is an edited collection of their best artwork intended to showcase an artist's style or method of work. A portfolio is used by artists to show employers their versatility by showing different samples of current work. Typically, the work reflects an artist's best work or a depth in one specific area of work.

Before, Portfolios were printed out and placed into a book. Nowadays, with the increased use of the internet, most of the artists use website to show their portfolios.

Internet changed the whole world. Website portfolios can reach anybody at any time at anywhere. It is easily edited, with the techniques of website design, it still can show the artists own style. It almost has unlimited capacity. You can put on as many work as you want. It can clearly put your work into different catalogues which will make it very easy for people to find the work they want to see.  It is a very good way of advertising as well. Some artists have their blogs or their social network links on their website, make it easy for people to follow them. And some artists sell their work on their website too.

Compare with the website the traditional way of portfolio has its limitations. But I think it is really personal, it is really depends on the way how you want to show your work. Especially for artists, artworks are so different from normal products. A lot of times, you need to see the real work with your eyes, even samples, not just a image from a computer screen. Also computers can be cheating, images could have been edited with those clever software. A paper book portfolio may not reach so many people, but it is more real.

Fast is not everything. Sometimes, you need to slow down so that you can see and feel!

Here are two links of website portfolios:

http://www.wendeliendaan.nl/

http://www.linea-studio.co.uk/

Photography

Has been taken photos recently, really enjoy it. Had looked through the photos I took from the beginning of this term until now. I can see the progress I made which makes me feel quite pleased. Although we did not learn a lot of about the techniques of using the camera, I do think what we do at this stage is very important. Sometimes cropping and editing can be so interesting, you can come out with something you never expected.

A few photos I am quite pleased with here:

This is my favourite so far. It is cropped from the following photo, how interesting!

I changed this wall

 to this

A few other ones I liked:

Bill Brandt

When I first was told to look at some photographers. I was no idea what to choose. Had been practiced taking photos myself as well as looking at lots of photographs done by professionals, I think I am not that lost now.

Opened Moodle, Bill Brandt's work jumped out to my eyes. 

Bill Brandt (1904-1983) is a German-British photographer, photojournalist. He is well known for his high-contrast images of British society, his distorted nudes and landscapes. He is widely considered to be one of the most important photographer of the 20th century.

 Rainswept roofs 1937

Historians use their pen to tell people about history. Photojournalists use their cameras. For the photograph itself, I think it has a very interesting viewpoint, it is from a 45 degree angles, rather than shot from vertical or horizon view point. Vertical may make the houses forms a strait line, may only can see the roofs. Horizon would get too much view of the houses, which may make less focus on the roofs. 45 degree is perfect, the roofs look like Nomino, very interesting. After rain, light and shadow created a perfect contraction. 

I think this is a landscape photograph, but also a documentary. I always feel this kinds of documentary photographs are very valuable. They are showing you straightly in front of your eyes what the history is like. You may hear bombing behind the silence, you may see war behind this peace, how many stories under each roof?

  

Bus on Battersea Bridge 1940

I feel so peaceful and calm when I see this photograph. I could not imagine there was a war happening. The sky, bridge, river and land forms such a nice shape and contrast. The smooth river and the rough land created another form of contrast. The big faraway faded building and the small but clear lamp post is another contrast. I really like this work. The more I see it, the more I like it.

 

 Nude London 1952

This is my favorite one of his nudes photographs. Pure black and white with a little bit of shadow, 

simple but beautiful shapes. I think this was shot from a lower view, maybe just under her elbow? But I don't understand how Bill Brandt make her neck and the other half of her head invisible. Lights?  

It is so beautiful. The copy of this is on sale for £5875.00! just the copy, wonder how much the original will worth! Sometimes it is hard not to use a money figure to charge a piece of art, especially photographs. I remember from Grayson Perry's talk, he said he asked one of his artist friend what kind of photograph is art and the answer is worth more than 5 figures!!!

Some more photographs from Bill Brandt