Creating my portrait photographs I need to look at music

magazine as the images will be used in a music magazine.

The first magazine that Im going to analyse is rolling
stone, as they are known for being a music magazine. The
layout of this magazine is in an orderly format meaning
when you look at this magazine you read from left to right
this is know as the t layout. This helps the audience to
look at the most important part of the magazine cover,
which are the main image and the dark side pink as it
grabs the attention of the audience. The colour scheme of
this magazine is red, black, grey and hints of yellow. This
gives the magazine a more of mature feeling towards it as
it complements the main image. The main image is Pink
(who is an famous American singer) looking directly into
the camera looking very confident in her pose, this appeals
to the audience as it is 15-24 years old as the magazine content is largely focused on
pop culture as it contains actors, television and pop music. Her black top signifies an
edge to her music and personality as it conveys a rock n roll vibe to which makes it
different from other magazine covers, as many of them are very simple. The effect of
having the background black makes pink stand out as it contrast with her hair and
skin tone which forces the audience to look at those aspects. Keeping her clothing and
makeup very simple makes the audience believe that she wants to show more than
her music. This is because the title does say dark side; this may be to do with
personal life and what she likes to do in her spare time. The title and the background
go really well together because I do feel intrigued to read what they mean by that. A
common convention in all magazine is having the date, time and a barcode for the
price, all of these key features are very small on the magazine illustrating that the
company does not want the audience to focus on that aspect but look at the overall
magazine such as pink as she is very captivating in the pose she gives. The main
image overlaps the masthead emphasising that rolling stone is exceedingly
successful, as taking a glance of this magazine you know its Rolling stone due to the
colour and font. This suggests that rolling stone isnt an independent brand and is
easily recognised.
The layout of this magazine is very simple alluding to the idea that they wanted Sam
Smith to be the main focus as having the V in middle makes the audience look at
Sams face and the audience would be concentrate on the paper below his eye, which
says true as it implies that his music is real and raw. Having the background grey
compliments the Sam skin tone as it looks very flawless but this contrast with the hair
on his chest demonstrating that that there is an edge to him that nobody knows
about. His pose conveys a very strong message as his head is tilted up slightly
showing that he is a musician that people need watch out for. The effect of Sam
looking directly to audience is as if hes addressing them by his fierce sleek posing
that he his pulling off. Looking at this magazine cover you is automatically look at his
name as it the only font that is extremely larger than everything else (other than the
V). This magazine does not showcase the barcode on the front emphasises that its on
the back as having that on the front cover can almost distract the audience as it is
very simple. One aspect that this magazine has that other magazine dont have is
who has shot it as the name of the photographer is below his name. The effect of
having his hair very clean cut emphasises the type of music that he creates which is
soulful music. Also having the light only on its right makes it powerful because the
audience will be focusing on his right eye as the background contrast with his jacket

that this wearing. This is because it is a dark blue, which

connotes that he has stability in his music.

This magazine cover was Adeles

big come back into the music
industry. Since, she took two years
off music this more of
transformational front cover
because she was showing the
amount of weight she lost in the
process as well. Having the pose
over her shoulder shows that she
has authority and that she is fierce.
This is because of red
dress she is wearing as I connotes
passion and power
that she hold in her voice, this also
ties into the over all
magazine as the border and the
word time is red
emphasising that she has so much
things that will be happening with her and her album. She is also addressing the
audience, which emphasises that she is confident with herself as it does almost look
like an album cover. The blue and red has a big contrast, as the audience would not
notice the background as her dress catches all of her attention. Having this magazine
very simple concludes to the idea that shes laid back as it is shown in the interview
within the magazine. The shapes such as her jaw line and her hand is very prominent
as they are very sharp and you can see the creases. The makeup that shes wearing is
simple but to tie in the makeup into the magazine they used a red lipstick. This made
me think that they prioritised the colour theme because it looks pronounced.
The first thing the audience is drawn to is the orange font as it
contrast with background and stand outs the most and it fits in
with the colour scheme of the magazine. The pose of Ed
Sheeran is very sweet and innocent because he has a smirk,
which makes him look young and adorable. By having him
holding his guitar the audience can assumptions that he loves
acoustic music as he is know to busk with his guitar?

FINIAL THOUGHTS
Creating my portrait pictures Ive decide to make the subject of my photograph to
look directly at the camera as it conveys a sense of confidence and power and this is
what a lot of photographs of musicians showcase.