DREW ANTHONY SMITH
Drew’s portfolio had a variety of images ranging from several categories like food, portrait, and commercial. Though it is an extensive portfolio, it is not above a critique. Some pros for this portfolio was the order of the images. They seemed to flow very well from one topic to another while also maintaining diverse layouts. One con that stuck out to me was how small some images were on the gridded pages. This made it harder for me to see especially with the glossy page sleeve. It’s a small detail, but as a viewer, it made a difference. From the portfolio as a whole, I get the sense that he strives when it comes to portrait photography. There seems to be an intimate quality that is prevalent throughout the portfolio. Another thing that stood out was the inclusion of occupational photography. These were some of the more interesting portraits of the portfolio as they had great composition and background, but also included big named athletes like Jason Tatum and others. In total, I feel that this is a very strong portfolio that appears to be carefully curated. Drew Anthony Smith does a great job displaying his range with the portrait, food, and occupational images and from these images, I am able to get a strong grasp on who they are as a photographer. Ultimately, I would give this portfolio a 4/5 because it had great images, flow, and diverse categories, but some pages had layouts that were tough to see. Nonetheless, Drew should be proud of his work in this portfolio.
TRAVIS McCOY
Travis McCoy’s portfolio had an abundance of lifestyle and commercial photography. There were definitely some interesting aspects of this portfolio that I’m looking forward to talking about. For starters, a massive positive in this work was the lighting in the images. It varied from day and night, indoor and outdoor, but remained consistent throughout. The artist does a great job at maintaining an emphasis on the product they’re shooting. While flipping through his images, I also noticed that the photographer excels at creating images that involve movement. I feel like I noticed this right away as it is something I tend to do in my own images. Although, I’m very impressed with this portfolio, I had a few critiques. Some images had too much negative space that distracted my eye from what they were trying to promote. For example, the photo of the woman skateboarding on the pier with the bluetooth speaker on her hip, I feel that if the artist were to crop in a a little bit more on the speaker, it would be a stronger image. This is one problem that kept recurring as I flipped through. Another critique I have is that I wanted to see more commercial work from them. Throughout the portfolio, the artist mainly focused on images around 2 products; a watch and speaker. There were a few pages for other products but they were pushed to the back with other questionable images. I believe this portfolio deserves a 4/5 from its use of lighting and subject, but unfortunately was held back by repetitiveness and some composition choices. Ultimately I was left wanting to see more work that he may have created with other products...Perhaps that was on purpose.
