Shoot 5

Because I likes the last image from the previous shoot so much, I decided to take the theme of family, relationships and masculinity further. I decided to shoot people slightly older than my brother, who was the subject of the image I liked from the last shoot. These people are older and more experienced with growing into a man. I chose to shoot these people as I know them and they're all of a similar age. They are all friends and a part of each other's lives as well as mine; a non biological family.

At first, I forgot to tell the model to not smile, and so I had to take more photos of him. The tones in these images are all so similar that they work really well together. Unfortunately none of the images of the man in the coat were in focus, and so I plan on reshooting him. The other two, however are fine. They all were taken from 3ft away for continuity.

This image has little context in terms of the background and location, but it does have a range of tones of neutral colours. This brings the image together as it's not too in your face or ghastly in colours. This goes visually well with the plain grey tones of both his jumper and tshirt along with his skin tone. It has a very neural feeling, emphasised by his brown hair and eyes. I would have preferred more headspace in this image, however it doesn't bother me too much as it doesn't feel uneasy on the eye. The subject looks into the camera with a neutral expression, accompanying the neutral colours. Upon closer looking, there's a slight smile which gives the audience a hint at his personality. This contrasts with the image from the last shoot in which the subject looked bored and uncaring about the fact his photograph was being taken. 

His skin, if looking closely, appears physically uneven, suggesting that the subject is transitioning and forming into an adult. While an adult in the view of the law, the body has not yet finished developing. This can be seen in his faceshape also.

This image was scanned on a lower quality scanner that the image above, and is actually well in focus. The background of this image perhaps isn't as interesting as some previous background in my images, however I think it works like this because the tone of his jumper has something to contrast against, instead of a cream jumper against a cream wall. The curtains behind him don't fall of the way, and some of the wall is shown. This allows for there to be more of a colour range, however all of the colours in this image do appear very neutral. The grey/green curtains behind him, his cream jumper, his warm tones hair and the wall all work seamlessly to create an image that feels complete and well composed. His shadow falls over the curtains, bringing the subject forwards towards the viewer. This is again shot similarly to Monteraz's images with the head and shoulders framing and background visible. The brand of his sweatshirt is visible in the image, which could suggest to a viewer that he believed brands are important.

All in all, these images show two different men who have only just become men and are still changing. If you were to look at these people in 5 years time they would look completely different due to time changing them; you can still tell that theme men are youthful. 

After the images were shot I asked the subjects about their experience of growing up and turning into a man. I was told that people seem to appear to expect much more from them and that there was a lot of pressure to succeed and have responsibilities and get things right first time, especially from parents and other older people they look up to or respect. For example, one works two part time jobs while he looks for a full time job and feels pressured by his parents to find a full time job as soon as possible because they keep telling him how he needs a job.
I don't believe that this is visible in the above pictures at all, which suggests that, like many people, they are hiding their true feelings. Being emotional is stereotypically 'feminine' and so by wearing this mask they are perhaps becoming more masculine, as men are supposed to be in traditional societal values.