Death

In the last lecture we were talking about the subject of Death in portraiture. We were shown images from different photographers who had captured the image of death through a photo.

One of the photographs that really caught my eye was from a man called Alexander Gardner. The Photograph I am referring to is the one of Lewis Payne. Lewis was one of four men who were trialled and found guilty for the attempt to commit the assassination of Abraham Lincolns cabinet in the 1900's.

The real reason i like this image is because it shows me if you can portray someones true personality through a portrait. Would you believe when first glancing upon this image that the man sitting in front of the camera is in fact an attempted murder of several men. To me I think not. When i saw this image i could never of imagined this of his identity. I think he almost has a peacful look among his face, something in which we all fail to see through.

Another really great example of being able to identify someone through a portrait is the very controversial mugshot of "Myra Hindley". The image below was catured of her when she was arrested for the moores murders in the 1960's.

Below i have found a quick demonstration on how someones image can be deceiving. On the right hand side of the screen below is an image of Myra hindley which was taken some time previous of which she was found guilty of the murders. On the right though is the famous mug shot i was talking about which was captured at the arrest.

To me, and i know this sounds worrying. The image of her on the left makes her seem calm and happy. She reminds me of a mother. Someone who cares, A person who is a kind and caring. How deceitful is this image. Who could have imagined that the image in the bottom right is in actual fact the true monster behind the fassard of the first image. What do you think?