Harry Borden

I came across Harry Borden whilst watching the Channel Five TV series "How to take Stunning Pictures" where he did a masterclass for a couple of amateur photographers.
Harry is from New York, but moved to the UK and grew up on a farm in the South West. He studied at Plymouth College of Art and Design before moving to London where he got commissions from the NME and the Observer.
He still works as an independent and provides images to magazines throughout the world. Much of his photography is taken of the rich and famous .
Recognised as one of he worlds leading contemporary photographers, he now has some 100 photographs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
I have viewed all of the images on his website and come up with the following as they particularly interested me.

 I especially like this image of Ian McKellan (I think), as the light enhances the creases in his face. There is so much interest in the face. The combination of the light and his white air and beard, focuses the eye on his face instantly.

 In this picture the plainness of the whit background really emphasises the contrast of the model.

These two pictures work well independently. On the left, the red of Jimmy's tracksuit contrasts well and adds a serious amount of colour against the white walls. Also, he is boxed in by the lines created by the floor, the wall, the roof over the door, and the support pillar.
The picture on the right captures the zaniness of Jimmy in all its glory. the facial expression captures his personality and the ;ling' with the cigar, and the tracksuit, are all caricatures of his personality.

 Huge irony exists by putting Gordon Ramsay in this setting. As one of the world's most well know specialty chefs to put him in what looks to be a cafeteria works. Also, the food too. Nothing special just simple stuff. In addition the mimicking of his dad, Gordon's son adds a duplicity to the image.


 Harsh lines and the stairwell create a perspective in this image. Off setting Murdoch to the right and lining the wall up to the left, splits the image into thirds (rule of thirds) creating a classic format for the image. The shadows combined with the white walls and black stairs give this image an almost Black and whit equality. Given the subject matter, a person, the eye wanders throughout the picture, following the lines of the shadows, the hand rails and the stairs themselves, after first looking at Rupert Murdoch.

What I like about this picture us the fact that I am thinking of doing something very similar for my assignment, so it is nice to see something professionally done, to compare. The model is slightly offset and the colour in her outfit contrasts massively with he grey wall. In addition positioning is everything. Standing in the image, scantily clad, almost looking like a prostitute there is irony in the grey marking on the wall, which looks like a cross! So we have the contrast between Saint and Sinner, or virgin and prostitute.