Nick Fancher Analysis.

Photographer residing in Ohio, his website (nickfancher.com) includes protfolios of his own personal work and 2 different ones for fashion photography, this photograph resides in the second one. It is untitled which the majority of fashion photographs I have looked at are, this is because they are usually used for catologues, billboards and even from catwalks in which a title is unnecessary because its purpose it to promote and sell whatever garment/accessory they are showing off. Beginning photography in 1997 at high school, being fairly young Fancher's work is modern and contemporary.Clients include JackThreads and the Ohio State University, as a freelancer he has become well established with his work, particularly the fashion styles. The above photograph is fairly simple in terms of props and location, the normality of it, the year it was made is unclear, information is limited on the specific use of the photograph although advertising is the purpose. I have chosen to analyse this piece because street fashion has interested me, the simplicity yet effective style where everyday casual fashion is presented as it is on a normal looking person so that mor epeople can relate or be interested in it. It has influenced me to produce similar work and set up my own photoshoot in a normal loaction that anyone everyday can recognise.

Fancher emphasises on his academic achievements on his website but personal information is limited, I have noticed that in both his commercial works and personal photography, he often chooses familiar locations such as cities with buildings clearly in sight, streets with artistic looking walls and also plain backdrops for portraiture, which shows his link to work he has to do with his preference because he brings this into it. The genre I would describe the work as is portraiture combined with landscape, the setting is very important because it shows the busy city where work and occupation is very important, this models clothing symbolises an occupation that requires formal clothing and is commonly seen in this setting, the focus on his lets his clothing and style be the first part of the photograph we are drawn to, the landscape background that represent his lifestyle is still recognisable but more of an element symbolising and not the most important part of the photograph because it isn't the clothing. The fact he is on top of a building with rubble around suggests that the clothing is tough and good quality because it hasn't frayed or been ruined by a harsh position. The height of the shots location goes deeper to show that wearing these clothes is positive because they aren't normal, they are better because he is higher up and has managed to be at an unusual and udually out of bounds place, showing danger meaning bravery in the garments, and could symbolise being 'on top of the world'. Him sitting slightly towards the right side rather than the middle shows a more casual style to the formal clothing, it also matches his stance which is casual which works well to appeal to all classes of working people, pulling his tie and sitting rather informally adds a sense of rebelling and differenciating to the normal which will help the photograph stand out as different and more appealing than a usual photograph which would perhaps show him in a more serious stance contrasting to what looks like he is attracting female attention which aims towards persuading men to buy the clothing.

Aesthetically, the process is simply a DSLR camera that Fancher often, if not always uses, and editorials for smoothness and contrast such as photoshop. The lighting is natural and it must have been a sunny day but with the sun not directly shining in the photograph or at the camera lens, instead creating a relaxed but positive mood with the calm weather. The use of colour is not too broad but instead kept to sky blues and various shades of grey which are the same/similar in the clothing and the sky, buildings and rubble in the photograph, this works well because what we see isn't overpowered by too many bright colours but it sits there calmly, drawing us to the clothes as it aims for. I think the work would work best at a large scale, it can be digitally scaled to any size but I can imagine it working particularly well as a billboard because there is room in the composition for the writing which is necessary such as the desginers name ect. Also because billboards are usually found in the city, it will be broadcasting to the appropriate audience - working people with formal, urban located jobs. Colour is the most important formal element, pattern comes into play with the building because of their varied modern architecture which adds action and interest to the background, line is harsh on the rubble presenting the rough location and way the model is sitting on the clothing.

My first reaction to the work was that is was surprisingly casual for the class and status of clothing it was presenting, the colours also stood out to me as symbolising him as free like the sky or as rough as the rubble. the focusing drew me to him first and then the background elements came into play. I like the work because of the meaning I have found in it such as colours and choice of location, it doesn;t remind me of anything or any photographer I have looked at before but influenced me to take a shoot in a more casual and relaxed location.