I have read about portrait challenges that photographers have done like 100 portraits in 100 days but they have never really appealed to me. Art is something that cannot be forced in my opinion and quality is far more important than quantity. If I were to undertake a challenge of this sort I feel a high percentage of the portraits would not be very interesting and shot just for shootings sake. However, the sort of project McDiarmid is working on is far more interesting as it focuses on the interesting people he meets rather than shooting everyone he meets.
He has set up a dedicated website for his project and I like the variety in the work that is on display. His has a strong use of colour and at times I find this almost daring as he is not afraid to shoot people with brightly coloured backgrounds as in Chapel Street, Woking where he placed his subject - a vicar - in front of a very bright blue wall. Looking at how I tend to set up my portrait shots this is something I would try to avoid. I suppose I am not very confident in working with such strong colours but I can now see how effective they can be.
His use of bright colours adds a welcoming and almost friendly vibe which makes for candid shots. The subjects display varying degrees of interaction with the photographer and they all look happy being photographed which in turn leads to a more genuine portrait where their personality shines through.
In addition, McDiarmid makes great use of the graphical element available to him like lines, shapes and textures as in the image Marine Road East, Morecambe.
I think what I would like to experiment with after looking at McDiarmuid's work is colour in my portraits whilst also paying attention to the backgrounds more.
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