Terry Richardson, Portraits of Barack Obama, 2012.

Terry Richardson, Portraits of Barack Obama, 2012.

Theme: Politics

formal analysis

The most significant element of this piece is shape. The shapes in this piece are organic- two people. They are the main subject of the piece and they gain your full attention. They are also the only two shapes within the piece. Shape and emphasis go hand-in-hand very nicely in this piece. Because the background is white, the two subjects' shapes are outlined very nicely and really stand out.

The most significant principle in this piece is emphasis. Emphasis suggests that certain elements will assume more importance or dominance in the composition. In this piece all our attention is drawn to the two figures; Obama and Terry. They receive full attention in this piece because they are center. More specifically, our eyes are drawn to their hands, grasped in a handshake.

who is Terry Richardson?

Terry Richardson is a portrait and fashion photographer, born in New York in 1965. He specializes in advertising campaigns for many major brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Jacobs. Richardson's portraits have been featured in many galleries such as TERRYWORLD in LA's OHWOW Gallery, and also in his many books.He is known for photographing on an all-white background while wearing his signature glasses. Terry's work is also controversial because many times he photographs famous models and celebrity's in a sexual manner, at times even while they are performing sexual acts.Many of his subjects have come forward accusing him of sexual misconduct, saying he coerced them into performing sexual acts while he photographed them, including engaging in sexual acts with Terry himself.

description of piece

The piece is simple. Terry Richardson the photographer is seen on the left in his signature glasses. President Obama is on the right, dresses simply in a white shirt. The two are shaking hands, and smiling while giving the "thumbs up." It is a classic Terry Richardson picture,not only because of the pose and the glasses, but also the white background and the fact that the artist is in the picture- he often poses with his subjects. As mentioned earlier, shape and emphasis are dominant in this piece, but I also love how clear the outline of the two figures is, because the background is so simple. It is a fairly simplistic portrait, but something more unusual and playful for a president.

why this is a political piece 2/2

why this is a political piece1/2

A more positive reason why this is a political piece is it shows the connection with the president and the media. Terry Richardson is a photographer known through sites like instagram and tumblr and so for the president to be photographed by a photographer like this and not another high class portrait photographer, shows that he is connecting with the people in a different way that any other president has,and that is through the media.

Let me make this clear, I did not chose this to be a political piece simply because President Obama is in it. This is a political piece because of the artist (the other individual seen in this picture), and why he is taking photographs of our president; this is actually a pretty controversial picture. Most people classify Richardson as a pornographic photographer because of his many pieces where his subjects are performing sexual acts, even on Richardson. He has also been accused of sexual misconduct for coercing people into taking those pictures. That's what makes this political. Our president is being photographed by a man who takes pornographic pictures and coerces young models into performing sexual acts on him. I think that some would say that sends quite the message.

works cited

• http://www.complex.com/style/2013/07/new-political-art/terry-richardson
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Richardson
• The Visual Elements Powerpoint
• The Principles of Design Powerpoint