Arnold Newman: Portrait Wave-Maker

American photographer Arnold Newman is best known for his work in environmental portraits. His work differed from normal portraiture because instead of just sticking with a head shot, he would bring his subject into an environment that represented who they were and what they did, and their personality. A prime example of this would be the environmental portrait of Alfried Krupp, an industrialist who had connections back into Nazi Germany. In this portrait, Newman asked Krupp to lean a bit more forward causing ominous, dastardly shadows to appear on his face ("Arnold Newman"). The portrait framed him for the grimy, evil man that he was, and Krupp hated that. From reviewing his work, Newman has a habit of going back to minimalism as well as symmetry. You can see this all the way back to his earliest photographs made in West Palm Beach.

Out of all his work, one photo that really stuck out to me was his environmental portrait of Igor Stravinsky shown above. I hated this photograph. I thought it was weird how the main subject, the person that the photo is about, could be so small. I also strongly disliked what feels like empty, wasted space inside the negative of the piano and the white wall background. This photo didn't really tell me who Igor Stravinsky is except that he plays the piano, but perhaps that is the point. I found out from research that Newman had an exhibit called, "Artists Look Like This" where he displayed various artists from music, painting, and other genres of creative arts. After hearing about this exhibit, I better understand the choices Newman made. My new interpretation of the piece is that we don't actually know Stravinsky, we only know him through the lens of his piano. The reason he is so much smaller and pushed aside is because it's really the piano works he plays that makes him recognizable. Putting him in any other setting would create a disconnect with the viewers of his portrait.

Despite not agreeing with the sizing of his subjects, I do admire how he changed the game of portrait photography. He painted a whole world for his subjects that isn't portrayed in normal portraiture. It is a goal of mine to create a wave of change in my future profession whether it be film, photography, or music. Seeing someone accomplish this level of advancement in their work is inspiring. I may not agree with all of his photos, but I enjoy his tenacity for sticking with his style even if people were critical of it. 

"Arnold Newman." YouTube, uploaded by The Art of Photography, 13 Jan. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_EdCBhmBzc.