Album cover
Album cover
Album cover
Emily Lee
Studio lighting and model use
Artist Analysis - Richard Avedon
Born in 1923 in New York City, Avedon’s interest in photography began to manifest at the age of 12 when he joined a Young Men’s Hebrew Association Camera Club. Beginning his photography journey with his family’s Kodak Box Brownie, Avedon’s original model was his younger sister who became progressively more detached from reality and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Photography was Avedon’s escape from his rough family life, but through his work we can see that he was strongly influenced by his early encounters with mental illness, with his images often seeking to capture tragic beauty. As a result of his early experiences, he was most well known not for his images, but the way in which he constructed them. He sought to capture his subject’s true personalities, not merely the mask they hide behind, and was preoccupied more with the looks and gestures of the models than the equipment he used to take the image.
Working in advertising photography in a department store in 1944, Avedon was soon spotted by the art director of Harper’s Bazaar - Alexey Brodovitch - and by 1946 his work featured in the magazine, and he soon became the chief photographer. After working at Harper’s Bazaar for a few years, Avedon left the magazine for Vogue and became Diana Vreeland’s staff photographer in 1962, then proceeding to become the lead photographer - a post which he held from 1973 until 1988.
In the late 1970s, Avedon expressed his longing to photograph people of accomplishment rather than celebrity. Following this, he went on to photograph 750 subjects as part of his series ‘In The American West’, a series that took a minimalist approach in showing soles the people from the West in order to make the smaller details about them more obvious and focus the eye more on their “gestures of humanity”. This project was commissioned by the Amon Carter Museum in Texas over a period of 6 years and resulted in over 17,000 sheets of 8x10 film. In his age, Avedon admitted this body of work to have been his best, exposing not only the people from the West, but new dimensions within himself.
Avedon was an avid photographer, working on projects right up until his death in 2004 on yet another commission. At this time, he was additionally working on a series which he named ‘Democracy’, focusing on the lead up to the US presidential elections in 2004.
“The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.”
— RICHARD AVEDON
Fashion Photography - Harpers Bazaar
‘Dovima with Elephants’ for Harpers Bazaar by Richard Avedon - 1952
Between the years of 1945 and 1962, Avedon worked under Alexey Brodervitch at Harper’s Bazaar, graduating to chief photographer from 19-1962.
This image in particular (‘Dovima with Elephants’) was originally published in the September 1955 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. Photographed at the Cirque Mendrano in Paris on, the image features the model Dovima (Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba), with arms elegantly outstretched between a pair of circus elephants. It is the visual manifestation of ‘beauty and the beasts’ and consequently in the past half century, it has “transcended fashion editorial”.
Avedon’s great care for positioning is the most striking feature of this image. The purpose of the image is to advertise fashion, and yet here the dress worn by the model is possibly the least pivotal part of the photograph. The elegance of the extension in the model’s limbs juxtaposes the boisterous stamps of the elephants, producing a conflicted image. Having the elephants take up more of the frame than the model, yet remain chained to the floor creates an emotive piece, suggesting that fashion and beauty comes at a cost. Further contrast is produced by the old, wrinkled skin of the circus elephants juxtaposing the clear, pale complexion of the model - again linking to Avedon’s knack for creating images representing tragic beauty, in this case it is the removal of the beauty of the elephants in their own habitats by keeping them chained up in a circus that is the cause of the tragedy.
In the image there is a distinct lack of distracting shadows presented on the background, allowing the viewer to remain focused on the subject of the photograph, rather than having their eyes wander over the backdrop. This effect was most likely created via the use of multiple studio lights. There was evidently a greatly diffused light from the front left (looking at the scene) at a height level to the model’s head - shown by the length and direction of the model’s shadow on the floor- allowing for the subjects to be lit beautifully, but letting the left hand sides of the subjects fall into soft shadows. There was most likely also a light directed towards the backdrop in order to dispel all shadows that may be cast onto it.
Celebrity portraits - Marilyn Monroe
Portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon - 1957
Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson) was an American actress, model, and singer, and became one of the most popular sex symbols in the 1950s. She put on a show of happiness and confidence to maintain this status, however beneath it all she was really hiding her struggles with substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. Avedon conducted a photoshoot in which he was able to capture Monroe’s breaks in her smiley character, showing her true self without all the walls she had built around herself.
This shoot is a testament to Avedon’s incredible ability to entirely relax a person to the point where the feel comfortable enough to let their guard down. Avedon took his shots at times when the model was least expecting it in order to capture their ‘breaks in character’ that show the true ‘gestures of humanity’ rather than the actions that we fabricate out of vanity and the obsession for acceptance.
For this image in particular the model is shown in a head and upper body shot. This allows for her famous cleavage to be included, whilst her face juxtaposes this ‘sex symbol’ appropriation. The parted lips and downward gaze gives Monroe an atmosphere of vulnerability, contrasting with the pretences of the images she is more widely known for. This shows how important each detail of the model’s positioning is, as a simple change in a single detail can change the entire atmosphere of an image. For instance, in this image a small adjustment in the line of the model’s gaze to make her look more upwards would give produce a more confident mood.
The lighting here also plays a part in the general ambience. The model is quite well lit, bright against the darker background, isolating her and hence adding to the atmosphere of loneliness. The light appears to be originating from the front left, greatly diffused and thus casting soft shadows down the model’s left hand side.
In The American West
‘In The American West’ by Richard Avedon - 1979-1984
These images are from Avedon’s altered priorities for photographic subjects. After spending many years as lead photographer for several different fashion magazines, Avedon expressed his longing to photograph people of real accomplishment rather than celebrity. In order to exact his desire, Avedon accepted a commission from the Amon Carter Museum in Texas and spent 5 years in Texas, photographing working class people - a far cry from his previous models.
This shoot still carried through Avedon’s principals of the importance of model positioning, producing images shoeing more accurate ‘gestures of humanity’ from those less concerned with vanity.
In both of these images, Avedon used a portable white backdrop, secured to whatever was available at the time. This allowed for the models to be taken out of their context, thus allowing the viewer to more thoroughly observe the details of their personality. This composition isolates the people from their surroundings, allowing them to be seen clearly as individuals. Displaying the
images (taken on 8x10 film) as life size prints along the clean walls of the museum allowed the people to be even further removed from their situations, elevating them to an almost celebrity status.
Behind the scenes of Avedon's set up for his series "In the American West", 1979-84.
My response
In response to Avedon’s portraiture, I borrowed a film camera and with a team of two others, explored a public place (Lyme Regis), aiming to each take several film images of strangers in order to work on our model positioning skills, attempting to channel Avedon’s uncanny knack for relaxing people in front of the character and hence capture the person behind the ‘mask’. The ASA (ISO of the film) was 125 and we set the shutter speed at 1/250 in order to avoid camera shake. This meant that we could only control the aperture to adjust the exposure (which was mainly situated at around F5.6 - a larger aperture - as a result of the large volume of clouds in the sky demising the light from the sun).
Due to the taking of these images in an outside situation at 2:00 in winter, the sun was fairly low in the sky, producing long shadows on the models. To counteract this, I used an assistant with a reflector to bounce the light onto the other side of the face and make the lighting more flat and even, more resembling Avedon’s work. Unfortunately this did not work exactly as I had planned, with many of the images involving harsh shadows across the model’s faces (as evidenced in the digital shots). However, I feel that I did manage to capture some brief peeks through these people’s facades.
Film images
Developing film -
In order to develop film, you must first rewind the film inside the camera back onto the roll via a small lever on the top (once there is no more resistance on the wind, the film is entirely ro-coiled). After this, you must open up the back of the camera and remove the roll of film. In complete darkness, you must then pry open the canister and remove the film from inside, cutting off the internal spool. Next, you must wind the film onto a specific spool that spaces the film out so that the developer can get between it and develop it. This spool ins then placed into a Patterson jar which is light safe. The jar can then be taken into the light to add the chemicals. The developer is added first (at 20*C) and agitated a specific rate for a set time that is dependant on both the film and developer brands. The developer is removed and the stop is added, and then the fix afterwards, both with a specific rate of agitation for a set time that is dependant on both the film and developer brands. After these three chemicals have been added and removed, the negatives can be removed from the jar and washed under running water for several minutes. The film is then washed with water and rinse aid, squeegeed off and hung out to dry in a contained environment with a small weight on the bottom to keep it stretched out.
Contact sheet
Traditionally, a contact print of all the negatives from a roll of film is made in order for the photographer to be able to view all of the images at once and decide which ones - if any - they would like to take further and perhaps produce a larger print of. This is known as a ‘contact sheet’.
My contact sheet was not particularly clear due to the cloudiness of the film so I took it into lightroom to increase the contrast in order to be better able to see the individual images on the film.
Here I conducted a test strip in order to experiment with the exposure of the paper. I slowly uncovered a small strip of the photo paper over a period of 10 seconds to show a spectrum of exposures as a basis from which to work for the exposures of my larger images.
After producing the contact sheet of my group’s negatives, I saw two images that mostly worked and that I wanted to make larger prints of. Unfortunately during the process of developing the film, the negatives had become clouded and hence did not produce clear prints. This may be as a result of dodgy chemicals due to the fact that the same problem occurred for almost the entire class.
I produced a single print of each of my negatives initially, placing the negative in the enlarger and shining a light through it for 15” for the man and 10” for the woman. After developing theses images, I then chose to narrow down on a single negative in order to experiment with exposure times in an attempt to produce a clear print in spite of the cloudy film. However this was to little avail. I produced a series of prints of exposures 5”, 7”, 10” and 15” all of which produced a clouded print, all of varying shades of grey.
I feel that with more practice, my film developing technique will improve, however I am still slightly disappointed in the way that these images turned out.
Edited
I took my film images into lightroom to boost the contrast in an attempt to make them as clear as possible in spite of the disappointing developing. The boosted clarity revealed many impurities in the image, such as small white spots and brown/black spots. These impurities are as a result of scratches to the film itself and also residue left on film from the rust in the water that the film was washed in. This effect can however be used to add depth to the image, perhaps as a juxtaposition on an image of a natural scene that could perhaps represent how our world is poisoning the natural one. I may seek in future to make use of this in my work.
Digital images
For my Avedon response portrait images, I also took a digital version. When taking a digital image, you are able to see almost instantly the photograph you have taken, hence there are a lot more variables under your control. For instance, it is far easier to adjust the lighting to correct your shot. When taking a film image it is much more difficult as the shot captures a unique moment in time which may be impossible to re-enact and hence if the film is not developed properly (as happened to mine) or the lighting was slightly wrong, the shot is missed.
Annie Leibovitz
As the third of six born to a Romanian Jew mother and father, Leibovitz has somewhat of a crowded life. Her father was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Airforce and consequently the family spent most of their life in a car, moving from place to place for his assignments. This provided an early photographic/artistic influence of Leibovitz, seeing the world outside of the car window framed by the structure of the vehicle. Her first images were taken at her father’s placement in the Philippines during the Vietnam war. She wandered about the military base and the local towns, taking photos of the soldiers and the villagers. Taking inspiration from the artists Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson - whom she was taught about in school - Annie spent a few years developing her photography ability in Amir, Israel before returning to the United States to become a staff photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. After a few years at this post, Annie went on tour with the Rolling Stones to photograph them and was the only photographer to have not had to go into therapy afterwards which is a testament to her unbreakable character.
The photographer is best known for her “captivating” celebrity portraits that are commonplace on the front of magazines. We often get lost amongst the beauty and impossibility of these representations and tend to forget the effort that the photographer went to to take the photographs. Leibovitz directs her subjects in such a way that they are able to bring their own personality to the images. She guides the models towards the shot that she wants to capture, but does very little to change the person in the image in order to maintain the authenticity of their story. I personally find the way these photos are conceived and then executed, absolutely extraordinary.
Despite having taken various images of celebrities and even royals, Leibovitz considers some of her most important work to be her more personal portraits of her family, in particular the images documenting her long time partner (Susan Sontag), and her father (Sam Leibovitz) in their last few weeks of life. These raw images carry immense emotion and consequently are incredibly powerful.
Fashion photography - Vogue
Wizard of Oz shoot for Vogue by Annie Leibovitz - 2005
Beginning her work as a commercial photographer in the 1970s at Rolling Stone magazine, Leibovitz still regularly contributes to magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue to this day.
In this particular image - part of a series for Vogue magazine incorporating a ‘Wizard of OZ’ theme - Leibovitz’s incredible eye for detail is evident. Everything, right down to the individual bricks on the trail, is precisely positioned to produce the exact composition in Annie’s mind. This effect could not have been achieved without the help of an army of assistants on hand to set up and dismantle scenery allowing for the perfect shot to be created.
As a photographer it is crucial to be able to explicitly describe the set up required in order that your team will understand exactly the look you are aiming for and can hence help to produce the desired effect. This skill is one that Leibovitz is particularly proficient at, being able to take a series in under 15 minutes as a result of her immense pre-planning and preparation with her team. This is something that I really admire about Annie and would love to be able to replicate the enormous effort she puts into her images to make them the best that they can possibly be.
Despite this shoot being outside and hence the weather and lighting are uncontrollable, Leibovitz still managed to produce incredible images that are beautifully hyper realistic, producing a pleasant, serene atmosphere. This is done via the use of large studio lights, each with larger beauty dishes to refract the light, spreading it to make it softer and remove and harsh shadows produced by the sun. The sheer volume and size of these light sources produces such a soft lighting effect that almost all shadows are completely eliminated, making the image seem even more fantastical. The models are also positioned in such a way to enhance this atmosphere. The representation of Dorothy holds her arms effortlessly to the sides in order to get a better look at her feet. This scene is one of the most recognisable from the film - the point at which Dorothy receives her ruby slippers from the Good Witch of the North after landing her house on the Wicked Witch of the East. Consequently, these shoes have become one of the most valuable items of the film memorabilia and can be easily identified. The model’s gaze creates an implied leading line that draws our eye to the shoes against the yellow brick road, producing a distinguishable link to the film.
Celebrity portrait - Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence for Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz - 2016
What Annie is perhaps most famous for is her entrancing celebrity portraits. When we think of celebrities, we regularly forget that they are people just like us. People are only what we make of them and hence celebrities only exist due to the public’s desire for idolised life.
This image is one of my favourite portraits due to its simplicity. Despite being an image of a celebrity, the way in which she has been photographed makes her seem more gritty and sincere. Leibovitz uses her portrait images to convey the people as they are, rather than turning them into a idealised version of themselves. In this particular image, the actress is stripped of any fancy clothing and makeup with a basic black turtleneck jumper and minimalistic makeup, producing a conservative appearance which allows for her to be seen as a real person rather than a distant dream.
By using a Sara Oliphant backdrop in the same shade as Lawrence’s eyes, Leibovitz is able to isolate the irises from the rest of the actress’s face, making them a more central focus of the image, hence adding to the sincerity of the portrait. This colour echo makes the eyes pierce the viewer and see the actress as more than a plastic person made for the silver screen. This backdrop is also part of the muted colour scheme of the image which - combined with the phenomenal clarity - produces a photograph reminiscent of a renaissance painting.
The light is particularly clever in this image with a large studio light coming from the left to produce a soft, daylight feel, allowing the right side of the face to become mildly darkened. Meanwhile on the backdrop there is a light coming in from the right, producing a gradient with the left hand side falling slightly into shadow. This juxtaposes the areas of light upon the model’s face, isolating each side individually from the background. This also plays a part in the renaissance replication, with the inclusion of the dual tonality on a countercurrent making the image seem more three dimensional and again relates back to the invocation of a steadfast authenticity. This type of lighting is known as checkerboard lighting.
Personal images - Susan Songtang
Susan Sontag leaves Seattle by air ambulance, by Annie Leibovitz - 2004
Whilst Leibovitz takes her assignments extremely seriously, she considers some of her most important work to be her images documenting the passing of her partner Susan Sontag. Here, there is a stark contrast between Leibovitz’s usual work as the image lacks any real set up and is much more of a candid shot.
This image is much more raw and emotional with the monochrome removing any sort of distraction that may have been provided by the colours. This allows for the viewer to focus purely on the subject of the image in its candor.
In the photograph, there are still some strong compositional feature included despite the image being taken as a candid rather than a specifically engineered shot. The strong diagonal of the hospital bed creates a sense of dynamic tension, juxtaposing the sense of stability produced by the horizontal line of the aeroplane. This is representative of the emotions that Leibovitz must have been feeling at the time - seeing her whole world veering out of control.
Placing the people in the image slightly off to the right in the image adds to this sense of instability as it produces an unsymmetrical image that establishes a feeling of unease within the viewer. This unease is then continued through the perspective of the shot, seeing the scene from a third party viewpoint and hence the viewer becomes something of a voyeur into the personal life of the photographer. This is an uncomfortable position for the viewer, making them feel like an intruder into a private matter, yet we continue to stare in order for our eyes to be able to gather every detail from the scene so that we may try to understand the context.
I hope to be able to produce candid images such as these that inspire emotion in the viewer. However, with these kind of shots, it is very much a case of luck and of being in the right place at the right time and therefore may be hard to replicate.
My response
Taking inspiration from this image, I decided to attempt to replicate the checkerboard lighting used by Annie Leibovitz to produce a ‘captivating portrait’ of my own.
For my set up, I used two strobe lights, one of which was on the left in front of the subject to light their face and produce a gradation of tone across it (1/64 power). The other was behind the subject and off to the right to produce a gradation of tone on the background (1/32 power). I used soft boxes to diffuse the flash lights, providing soft lighting on both the model and the backdrop. Furthermore, I used an assistant to hold a reflector off to the right of the model in order to light up the other side of the face to try and partially flatten the light so that it would resemble more the lighting by Leibovitz.
Camera wise, I used an aperture of F4 in order to create a small focal plane to blur out the background and isolate the model. Secondly I used an ISO of 250 in order to reduce grain as much as possible whilst still producing a good exposure. Lastly I used a shutter speed of 1/200” to avoid camera shake due to the fact that I wasn’t using a tripod - also to avoid motion blur from the model.
In my portrait series, I began by using a relatively clear, pale blue wall in the school dance studio as my backdrop. I believed the smooth wall would reduce distractions from the model and hence make the image more clean and appealing. Unfortunately, this wall was too light in colour to be able to see any gradation in tone produced by the rear flash unit. I then moved the set up to have the model sit in front of a darker blue curtain. This allowed for the flash unit to produce more of a gradation in tone, however the folds of the curtain made the background cluttered and distracted from the model. To amend this, I made use of two assistants to hold the curtain tight, providing a smoother background, more effectively isolating the subject.
Despite the inspirational image being one of direct address, hence making the image incredibly striking, I decided to also experiment with other implicit sight lines by having the model adjust her head position. It was incredibly surprising to see how much the mood of an image changed by just a slight movement from the model. For instance, just the most minor raising of the chin of the model in one of the images changed the atmosphere from doubt to confidence.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t applied quite the right lighting to the model and consequently I used lightroom to adjust this. I increased the exposure whilst dropping the contrast in order to make the lighting appear slightly flatter and produce a smoother gradation of tone across the models face, reducing the effect of the harsh shadows. I also adjusted the highlights and shadows to the same effect. I was attempting here to produce the same - almost painting - feel as the portrait of Jennifer Lawrence by Annie Leibovitz. Furthermore, I decreased the vibrance and saturation to reduce the distractions from the colours in the image and attempt to focus the viewer solely on the expression of the model.
Overall, I think this shoot effectively replicated Leibovitz’s checkerboard lighting.
Alternative versions
For this sequence of images, I returned to the original photographs and re-edited them, this time by boosting the contrast and clarity in order to produce a more dramatic lighting effect in the images. I also re-saturated the images slightly, but kept the blues moderately de-saturated in order to reduce the distraction from the vivid colour of the background. Furthermore, I decided to emphasise the eyes of the model by changing the hue of the green and then pushed both the saturation and the luminance of it right up. This strengthens the direct address of the images and additionally, a visual echo of colour is produced where the lighter blue background has become more green due to my alteration of the hues.
I then chose to alter the crop of the images in order to see what effects I could create through the exclusion of various parts of the images. I feel that this again made the images more dramatic and exciting, as the missing information allows the viewer to produce their own interpretation of the model and their appearance. I also like the unconventionality of these images, making them slightly more uncomfortable to view as they are not the typical composition that we are used to for a portrait image. However, I do feel that they are far more ‘captivating’ than the original images for this reason.
Image deconstruction
Dan Winters - Barack Obama
President Obama - Washington, D.C. - New York Magazine, by Dan Winters - 2016
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Broad side
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high key
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small fill
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beauty dish
In this shot of Barrack Obama, Dan winters makes use of body positioning and several different lighting types in order to produce a powerful portrait image. The subject has been positioned with his body parallel to the camera whilst his head is turned on a 45 degree angle, his eyes producing an implicit leading line off the the right of the image. Obama’s hands are comfortably clasped in front of his body, arms resting on the surface in front of him. This helps to produce an air of control, but not overconfidence, portraying him as a calm and collected leader.
Lighting wise, Obama’s face is lit on the broad side (the key light and the model’s line of sight are on opposite sides of the camera), which lights up the ear, leaving only the rear of the cheekbone in a soft shadow. The key light also creates a small, circular catchlight in the model’s eye. There is a slight butterfly lighting effect, with a small butterfly shadow produced under the model’s nose. This implies that there is yet another light, positioned above and slightly in front of the model, lighting primarily the forehead, but also the tip of the nose, hence producing the minute butterfly shadow. This type of lighting is most commonly used for female models to give a softer, more feminine look. Therefore here it allows Obama to be seen as a gentler person, yet his masculinity is still maintained due to the lack of the full butterfly.
The lighting for this entire image is very soft - resulting from larger, more diffused light sources - decreasing the drama in the photograph, as it may be detrimental to the public image of the politician to be seen in such a way. There is also a light projected onto the background, highlighting the area around the model, allowing the rest to fall out into a vignette hence isolating the model and emphasising the body positioning.
The image was taken with a fast shutter speed (but no faster than 1/200 if off camera flashes were used in order to maintain synchronisation) eliminating any form of motion blur. The large volume of lights also allows the ISO to be minimal - reducing grain - and the aperture is able to be smaller, allowing for the capture of immense detail in both the hands in the foreground and the face further back. I suspect that the clarity of the image was also boosted in post production, in order to highlight every detail about the politician and help to promote his appearance as a clear, honest man, thus maintaining his public image.
Marco Grob - Leonardo Di Caprio
Leonardo Di Caprio, by Marco Grob - 2013
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short side
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fill light
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badger
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slight rim
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inverse rembrant
This image of Leonardo Di Caprio by Marco Grob is far more dramatic than the previous image of Barrack Obama. This is as a result of the short side lighting being slightly stronger, creating more contrast across the face. This light still appears to be from quite a large source due to the smooth gradation of tone across the face, however this gradient would imply that the entire face should be lit by this large light. Thus we can infer that some form of flagging was used on the light in order to prevent it from reaching the centre of the face. This theory is supported by the rectangular catchlight visible in the model’s eye. The rectangle is produced by a strip light that is large enough to produce a flattering, diffused light source, but is narrow enough to light only a small portion of the face.
Additionally, the fill light on the broad side is flagged off, producing a badger lighting effect, with a vertical shadow cast down the face, between the two light sources. The fill light on the broad side appears to consist of a clamshell of two lights, illuminating both the upper and lower parts of the right side of the face and producing definition in the hair and along the jawline. This style of lighting also allows for an inverted Rembrandt light (i.e. the ‘triangle of light’ under the eye opposite the key light is in fact a shadow, cast by the cheekbone).
There is also some slight rim lighting evident predominantly on the left hand side, a slight halo effect spreading down the side of the face and across the shoulder. This halo effect is
produced by a light shining from behind the subject and seeping over the edge of their figure. This produces separation from the background, better isolating the subject and thus making the viewer focus more on the expression. The lighting is overall more lowkey, increasing the drama of the shot, therefore better representing the acting profession (as opposed to Winters’ higher key lighting to represent a civil servant).
Again we see the use of 45 degree angles, with the subject staring off camera, giving the image a more voyeuristic atmosphere - much like the standard videography style used in films. This positioning works well with the lighting, increasing the suspense as we feel tense not knowing what the model is looking at.
Yousuf Karsh - John F Kennedy
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short side
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slight rim
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rembrant
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hair
In this shot of JFK by Yousuf Karsh, the lighting first appears incredibly flat and plain. However our eyes are led to linger on the image as a result of the clever rim lighting creating a halo effect around the front of the model’s face. This aids the isolation of the model from the background, hence making their visage more pronounced. By highlighting the front of the face, Karsh produces a visual echo with the whites of the eyes, drawing the attention here and hence engaging the viewer in the image.
Additionally, the use of the short side backlight causes a small triangle of light to be formed under the side of the face opposite to the key light (Rembrandt lighting). This further highlights the eyes in the image, visually engaging the viewer. There is also a downlight over the head of the model, illuminating the hair and defining the individual strands in order to create contrast.
As for model positioning, the clasping of the hands in front of the chin gives the implication of thought, hence portraying JFK as a prudent leader. A similar approach is evident in the positioning of the photograph of Obama by Dan Winters. The clarity is also very high in this image, assimilating an atmosphere of professionalism.
John F. Kennedy, by Yousuf Karsh - 1960
Nadav Kander - Boris Johnson
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short side
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hair light
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fill light is key
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strip light across face and reflected in
The lighting of this image of Boris Johnson by Nadav Kander is particularly interesting as - despite the key light in the image evidently coming from the short side - the main light source is actually situated behind the model. By using a large strip light in the back right, Kander is able to produce some slight rim lighting along the right hand side of the model, whilst the use of a reflector on the short side allows for the majority of the light from the strip modifier to actually be reflected onto the short side of the face, hence adding drama to the image. the reflector is angled to bounce the light from slightly below the model’s face, allowing for the eye to be completely illuminated, hence producing an illusion of innocence and honesty. The rectangular outline of this reflector is also visible in the eyes as a catchlight.
The background of the image is a hue of khaki brown, yet the news report of the shoot shows the background to actually have been a shade of grey. This evidences Kander’s use of post production modification to change the background in the image. Additionally there is a background light coming from the left, echoing the lightness of the left side of the face, allowing the right hand side of the image to fall into shadow. This style of lighting is opposite to Leibovitz’s checkerboard lighting (producing isolation on both halves of the face via the use of a counter gradient), producing a softer, more contemplative shot.
Boris Johnson for the Telegraph Magazine, by Nadav Kander - 2014
Class response - recreating lighting
For this response I was in a group of four, rotating positions through photographer, assistant, and model. These photos were all taken using a large studio light set up with a variety of light modifiers, alternating the use of different lights for different lighting effects in the images.
Hard and soft
Hard Light
On the left, the lighting is more harsh on the face, producing darker shadows and greater contrast between the light and dark areas of the face. This style of lighting is much less complementary to the face, emphasising the blemishes on the skin.
Soft Light
On the right, the light is coming from a much larger source and is hence much more greatly diffused, casting smoother shadows across the model’s face, resulting in a subtle graduation of tone. This style of lighting is far more complementary, smoothing out the skin and making the overall image more visually appealing.
High and low key
High Key
On the left the image is bright due to a large volume of light entering the camera. This allows the entirety of the medal’s face to be visible and hence produces a much calmer image. Additionally, the model’s eyes being more open here helps to produce an atmosphere of innocence.
Low Key
On the right the image is much darker. The minimal lighting allows for only a small section of the face to be seen and thus creates a dramatic atmosphere. This atmosphere is further emphasised by the narrowing of the model’s eyes, creating tension in the image.
Broad and short key
Rim
The lighting here is coming from behind the model, producing a halo effect around the head. This image is also very low key, and therefore the highlights on the model’s hair help to produce almost a silhouette effect. Unfortunately the use of a large aperture (F1.8) caused the backlit edges of the hair to be out of focus due to the minute depth of field that only captured clarity on the face. For this image a continuous light source was used, so the shutter speed was able to be over 1/200” as it did not have to be synchronised with any strobe lights. The shutter speed used here was 1/1000 in order to overpower the ambient light.
Badger
Similar to short key, badger lighting illuminates a small strip of the face, leaving an area of shadow. However, badger lighting involves the use of two of these lights, highlighting each side of the face and leaving a dark stripe down the middle. This lighting is far less complementary, but is efficient for producing dramatic effects due to its capability for obscuring identity. The shutter speed had to be reduced to 1/200 for this image as a result of the change to use of strobe lights to illuminate the shot. This was not a great issue however as we had moved to a darker room and hence there was less ambient lighting to overpower.
Broad Key
On the left the model’s face is lit on the broad side, allowing the image to be overall more high key and hence more placid. This type of lighting is very complementary as it is most often a larger light source, hence shining softer light across the face.
Short Key
On the right the model’s face falls mostly into shadow, with only a small strip down the left side lit. This creates a more dramatic portrait due to the vast area of unknown. The use of a rim light here produces a halo effect around the head, creating a silhouette effect that adds to the feelings of tension. There is also a slight Rembrandt effect as a result of the key light being further toward the camera.
Hair
Coming from above, the hair light is a form of downlighting, illuminating the hair of the model. This type of lighting defines the hair of the subject, helping to produce isolation from the background. Here, again, a continuous light source was used so the shutter speed was able to be greater than 1/200. Unfortunately, the face is slightly out of focus as a result of the minute depth of field that captured a section of the hair, rather than the face. This image is also an example of broad key lighting, however it is relatively low key in this case due to the low power of the continuous lights after having increased the shutter speed to the point of overpowering the large amount of ambient lighting. The broad side light did however produce a neat little square catchlight in the model’s eyes.
Butterfly
Defined by the presence of a small, almost butterfly shaped shadow cast under the nose, this type of lighting is most commonly used on female actresses as it is very complementary to a more feminine face. This image in particular is not incredibly complementary as a result of the lighting being overall more low key, however alongside the use of a soft broad side light, this lighting technique can be far more flattering.
Checkerboard
This style of lighting is used to produce isolation form the background on both sides of the face. The face is lit from one side, whilst the background is lit from the other, creating a cross-gradient of light. The light side of the face is separated from the dark background, whilst the the dark side of the face stands away from the light background. This type of lighting is normally used alongside other techniques (such as hair lighting and butterfly lighting) in order to produce underlying isolation from the background to emphasise the model’s countenance. This lighting style is quite often more high key, allowing the entirely of the face to be seen, with only a slight gradient of tone (Jennifer Lawrence for Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz - 2016). However it can be used in a more low key scenario to produce a chiaroscuro effect (high contrast of light and dark to achieve a sense of dimension in images).
Rembrandt
The painter was famous for his depiction of light in his portraits. Lighting fully one side of the face, the other was left to fall slowly into shadow, save for one small triangle of light below the eye opposite to the side of the light source. This lighting can be achieved by placing the light at approximately 45 degrees from the camera to the model, and 45 degrees downlighting. This allows a shadow to be cast by the nose, but light light to be high enough to illuminate a small section of the cheek above this shadow, thus producing a triangular section of light. This image is also an example of low key, short side lighting, producing a dramatic atmosphere. The continuous light source (an LED panel) also produced a small catchlight in the model’s eye, highlighting the eyes and isolating them slightly from the darker face.
Clamshell
Clamshell lighting makes use of two lights, one above and one below the subject in order to simultaneously illuminate the top and bottom of their face. This creates distinction between the face and neck due to both lights casting shadows below the chin, hence emphasising the line of the jaw. The strobe light set up was used again here, resulting in the use of a shutter speed of 1/200”, preventing the shutter from being too fast for the strobe flash, hence avoiding the inclusion of a thick black bar down the image (the shutter being caught by the light).
Hendrik Kerstens
Born in the Netherlands in 1956, Kerstens did not initiate his career as an artist until 1995. Leaving the world of business at age 40, Kerstens took up photography, spending his days both studying the art and caring for his daughter Paula. Through photography, Kerstens explored the feelings of responsibility following childbirth, beginning his journey with documentary family photographs. As Paula started to mature, Kerstens pursued an artistic expression of these changes within her and hence found himself producing stylistic interpretations of 17th century Dutch Masters paintings, for which he is most well known.
In the series ‘Paula’, Kerstens explores the use of a variety of common household items as headpieces for his daughter in the style of 17th century fashion. These photographs appear to be incredibly serious portraits, with the model’s face blank, eyes on the camera creating a direct address. However the use of these more modern ‘junk’ headpieces produces an anachronism, juxtaposing the gravity of model’s expression.
Furthermore Paula is lit on the short side via an incredibly large, square light modifier (visible as a catchlight in the eyes) which diffuses the light, making it extraordinarily soft. There is very little light elsewhere than the face, suggesting that large black boards were used in order to absorb the light from the subject, hence allowing the lighting of the face to contrast more with the darkened surroundings. This soft lighting is inspired by the paintings of the old masters (such as Rembrandt and Vermeer), in which the subjects were isolated against primarily dark backgrounds through soft gradients of light across their bodies.
Despite the absorbance of the light by the black boards, some still spills onto the shirt worn by the model, illuminating it slightly. This helps to create isolation from the background.
‘Book’ by Hendrik Kerstens - 2012
As a response to this shoot, I hope to recreate a composition reminiscent of the old masters composition combined with the lighting features exhibited here to produce my own alternative interpretation of Fleming paintings. Kerstens’ work ties nicely into my theme of impossibility, fitting neatly into my chapter discerning the deception of the eye. The image first appears to be the work of a painter such as Hals or Vermeer, yet upon closer inspection it is revealed that the intricate headpieces are in fact miscellaneous everyday items, providing an anachronistic feature in the image. In this way, I will be producing a piece of work that tricks the eye in order that it takes the viewer a moment to comprehend the image, rather than just glazing over it.
Vermeer comparison
There are clear similarities between the works of Vermeer and Kerstens, but perhaps the most evident comparison is between Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ and Kerstens’ ‘Paula’ series.
Both of these images are incredibly similar in model positioning, with both models having their bodies facing off to the left, faces turned slightly towards the viewer, and eyes staring straight at them. Additionally, both models have almost entirely blank faces, with hair pulled back in accordance with the fashion of the era.
‘Girl with a pearl earring’ by Johannes Vermeer - 1665
‘Book’ by Hendrik Kerstens - 2012
Romina Ressia comparison
Romina Ressia is an Argentinian born photographer who is well known for her anachronisms and use of “the absurd” in her work. Similarly to Kerstens, Ressia’s inspiration comes primarily from classical paintings, upon which she bases her modern interpretations. Both artists are proficient in the use of lighting to replicate Fleming paintings, however the key difference in the two artist’s work is the temperature of the light used. Ressia tends towards slightly warmer lighting with more arranged hues, whilst Kerstens applies cooler tones, making his images overall more clinical.
‘Pink dog balloon’ by Romina Ressia - 2018
‘Book’ by Hendrik Kerstens - 2012
My response
My chosen theme is the idea of impossibility, with which the use of anachronisms by both Ressia and Kerstens links particularly well. Both of these artists play on ideas of deception through the inclusion of unusual items within their works. Ressia highlights these anachronistic features with her use of bold colour against the subtle tones of the period dress. On the contrary, Kerstens integrates the features into the portrait, tricking the eye of the viewer. Many of Kerstens images involve the use of plastics and hence delve into the idea that it has perhaps become normalised to see pollution so commonly.
In my response to this work I intend to produce a similar image to Kerstens, attempting to deceive the eye with a modernised old masters replication.
In this shoot, my set up included a small soft box with a strobe light beginning at 1/128 power - which I later adjusted to 1/8 as there was not enough light in the image. I used a shutter speed of 1/200 in order to remain synchronised with the strobe light and not catch the shutter in the photograph. My aperture was set to F4 in order to create isolation from the background (although it could perhaps have been higher due to the use of a dark background) and my ISO was therefore set to 50 in order to overpower the ambient light - allowing none of the ambient light into the camera, meaning that the subject was only lit by the strobe light - and reduce grain.
For this response, I took a series of images attempting to replicate the lighting and pretence of Kersten’s work. I dressed my model in a black jumper in order for his body to blend mostly into the dark background, isolating his face. For my anachronistic feature, I used a kitchen pan placed on the model’s head similarly to a top hat. Initially, the pan sat low on the head, resembling more a roundhead (Parliamentarian) helmet of the 1640s-50s. I then altered this by placing some cloths beneath the pan to prop it higher on the head, showing more of the face.
In some of my images the flash did not trigger, however in the ones that did, there are some clear similarities with Kersten’s images. The subject is lit from the side by a soft light that falls only the face, creating separation from the dark background. However my images are lit more from the broad side, whilst Kersten’s work displays a short key with broad side fill. My use of only one light therefore resulted in an area of shadow on the far side of the face. However still, within the eyes of the subject can be seen a square catchlight, similar to that in the eyes of Paula in ‘Book’ (2012). My lighting is also harsher on the face, producing some dark shadows around the nose area. This implies that the light source used by Kerstens was far larger, making it more diffused and hence softer on the face.
Taking 6 of my original 15 images forward, I attempted to further the similarity between Kerstens’ and my own work. Paula’s skin is already rather fair, lending itself to an old masters replication, however my model has a slightly redder face. I therefore decreased the saturation of the reds and oranges in lightroom in order to make the skin seem more pale and reminiscent of a Fleming painting. I also increased the exposure and boosted the highlights in order to further isolate the face from the background.
In the majority of paintings, the subject is shown with almost an expressionless face as they were expected to hold this position over a period of hours on several days and hence a blank facial expression was far easier to maintain for this length of time. Unfortunately, due to the limited number of shots taken, I was unable to capture an image in which the model conveyed a facial expression similar to these paintings. The model shows raised eyebrows with a slight impish smile, highlighting the inaneness of the pan as a headpiece, rather than fooling the viewer into believing that it is truly a piece of 1600s fashion. This also removes the juxtaposition of the sternness of the face with the absurdity of the pan.
The intentions of this image are to deceive the viewer into seeing the photograph as an old masters painting. It is only upon a second glance that the viewer should notice the inconsistency of the time period and hence realise the trick. I feel that perhaps the use of a pan did not work as well as I had hoped, with the band of reflected light down its side distracting from the face of the model. Additionally the reflective surface resulted in the replication of the surroundings within the image, therefore again producing distraction from the subject.
Despite this, I am happy overall with how my images turned out, however I would like to repeat this shoot using a short key with a fill light to more flatly light the face, as opposed to my use here of a single broad key light that allowed for the far side of the face to be wrapped in shadow.
“Pan” - 2019
Attempt 2
For my second attempt, I used a small strobe light behind a medium sized diffuser in order to soften the light and make the short side lighting seem less dramatic. I also used a medium reflector on the broad side to bounce light onto the face and reduce the shadows to produce a greater likeness to the work of Hendrik Kerstens.
Initially I used a shutter speed of 1/160 in order to remain synchronised with the strobe lights, and aperture of F4 to capture a minute depth of field and produce separation from the background, highlighting the eyes against the rest of the face. This left only the the ISO under my control so that I could adjust the exposure of the image. Finding that my initial ISO of 50 produced an underexposed image, I then moved up to ISO 125 in an attempt to properly expose the image yet still minimise grain. However I feel that this was still slightly underexposed and I should have increased the ISO again, up to perhaps 200 or 250.
I also experimented with my model positioning. With the lighting on the short side of the face, I adjusted the angle of the model’s face in relation to their body angle in order to produce a slight feeling of dynamacy within the image. In addition I also maintained a direct address throughout the shoot, replicating the style of Fleming paintings (in fact, the style of most portraits). Having the model stare straight down the lens of the camera allows the creation of an almost defiant atmosphere, daring the viewer to call out the anachronism within the image.
In post production, I attempted to amend the underexposure of the images via the boosting of the exposure, highlights, and whites sliders in lightroom. This allowed me to lighten the face of the model, drawing more similarities with the work of Hendrik Kerstens, in which the model’s face is almost entirely white - which is actually largely down her skin tone, rather than the lighting. As my model had a slightly redder face, I also reduced the saturation (in general, but also in the reds and oranges) to make my images comparable to Kerstens’.
Overall, I decided that this was the best of my images. The slightly shallower angle of the face allows a more direct address in the image, hence producing a more visually striking image, reminiscent of a 1600s portrait (such as the work of Rembrandt or Van Eyck). This combined with the anachronistic feature allows for the production of a juxtaposing image, thus presenting the idea of impossibility as the viewer’s eyes linger over the image, subconsciously aware that there is something amiss, yet taking a second to work it out.
However still, there are imperfections within this image. For instance there is some highlight clipping evident on the forefront of the cap, resulting from my pushing of the highlight and whites in the image to increase the exposure. I intend to fix this fault in the image via a composite of two images, edited to two different levels of exposure.
In order to reduce the clipping of the cap I produced a second edit of the image, this time correctly exposing the cap rather than attempting to lighten the face to the standard of Kerstens images. I then took these two images into photoshop where I overlayed them and used layer masks in order to combine the correctly exposed cap with the lighter face so that the clipping was diminished.
In my resulting image, the clipping of the cap is minimised, consequently reducing the distraction from the facial expression of the model.
“Cap” - 2019
Martin Schoeller
Martin Schoeller is a German born photographer who is most widely know for his tight crop portrait images of all types of people, levelling them to a point from which comparisons can be drawn between each individual. Famous or not, each face is treated with the same lighting and composition. As a child, he was greatly influenced by August Sander’s portraits of “the poor, the working class, and the bourgeoisie”, along with the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher in their typologies. His photography career was very much impacted by his occupation as a lighting assistant for Annie Leibovitz. It is consequently that Schoeller has a great understanding of the use of lighting for an image, a competence which is evident throughout his work.
In his series ‘female bodybuilders’ Schoeller photographed women who had dedicated their lives to enhancing their muscular appearance. His aim was to capture them in as relaxed as possible a state in order to strip away any facades and present the people as they are. The high key lighting gives a soft glow to the face, making it appear more feminine. This is a stark contrast to the mesomorphic body of the model, hence proposing a challenge to our embedded ideas of femininity and beauty. It is hard for us to say that this image is beautiful, despite the soft lighting alluding to such as a result of our deep-rooted conjunction of beauty with sleek bodies. We have come to associate a muscular stature with the idea of masculinity and this image hence poses the questions both of gender roles and idealisms, and the concept of beauty itself.
"11" from "Female bodybuilders" by Martin Schoeller - 2010
In his “Close ups” series, Schoeller takes tight cropped portraits of the famous and the non-famous alike “levelling them in an inherently democratic fashion”. The main purpose of these images is again to present the honest character of the subject, without the embellishment of expression or the distraction of a context. One of the defining features of Schoeller’s portraits is his use of a pair of strip light modifiers on either side of the model’s face, eliminating shadows across the facial features and therefore producing a flat lighting effect. These two lights are visible within the irises of the model in the form of catchlights, helping the better illuminate the eyes, thus drawing the viewer’s attention more to the supposed ‘window to the soul’ and consequently aiding Schoeller’s intention of representing the subject’s true character.
As for the lighting of the rest of the face, the two strip lights appear to be flagged off on the far side, allowing only the front of the face to be lit, leaving the edges to fall not only out of focus (resulting from the shallow depth of field capturing only a short depth of the face) but also into shadow. This effect is complemented by the use of a background light, illuminating the backdrop behind the model, hence creating separation resulting from the contrast of the dark edges of the face against the lighter background.
Anne Hathaway from "Close ups" by Martin Schoeller - 2014
Taken in exactly the same fashion as his “Close ups” series, Schoeller also produced a series of images of identical twins. By placing their portraits next to one another, Schoeller initiates a subconscious game of spot the difference as the viewers eyes flicker between the photographs searching for distinctions to prove that they are in fact two different people and not the same person twice.
"Katie Parks and Sarah Parks" from "Identical" by Martin Schoeller - 2011
Response
In response to Schoeller’s ‘Close ups’ series, as a class we set up and adjusted each of the individual lights within the 6 light set up that we produced to replicate the portrait images. With two large strip light modifiers - positioned in front and slightly to the side of the face - we were able to flatly light the model and produce the same catchlights in the eye as can be seen within Schoeller’s work. We also used a beauty dish as a downlight with a reflector blow the face, producing a clamshell that also aided the production of flat lighting on the face of the model. Furthermore, the addition of two flash units next to the background, bouncing light off of the ceiling and down onto the subject produced a greatly diffused hair light that helped to provide isolation form the background.
I ensured that when shooting I lowered myself to the eye level of the model so as to intensify the direct address. This action also removes any feelings of inferiority or superiority from the image that may have been produced via the camera angle looking up or down at the model, thus allowing the viewer to create their own interpretation of the character of the subject, rather than it being pre-determined by the angle from which they were photographed.
Fixing my aperture at F4 in order to produce an incredibly narrow depth of field so that the viewer’s attention would be drawn to the sharply focused eyes, with the tip of the nose and the ears blurring out, creating separation from the background. I also had to maintain a shutter speed of 1/200 in order to remain synchronised with the strobe lighting, and hence it was the ISO that I could have adjusted to produce the correct exposure. I picked an ISO of 125 which worked well throughout the shoot, allowing enough light into the camera, whilst still maintaining a low amount of grain within the image. I used the flashes mostly on their lowest power settings in order that I didn’t overexpose the image, however upon turning the key light (inside the beauty dish) to its lowest power, it did not emit enough light to fire the other flash units. I had to therefore use a slightly higher power on this light, whilst the others remained on their lowest.
After taking a few images with the original set up, I altered it slightly, removing one of the strobes at the back and moving the other to directly behind the model. This allowed me to create a background light, producing almost a halo of light around the model’s head, which I felt was more similar to the ‘Close ups’ by Martin Schoeller.
Upon editing my images, I noticed that I had used a much wider composition than that of Schoeller and hence I cropped the photos down to only show the head and neck of the model. I also increased the exposure in order to try and lighten the images slightly, making them more high key, however I reduced the highlights so that no clipping occurred. Alongside this, I pulled up the shadows slightly so that the face was as clear as possible and the flat lighting was maintained. However, I did increase the contrast and clarity of the image so that the detail of the face was preserved, allowing for a more striking image.
I also desaturated the image slightly, paying close attention to the colour balance in the reds as the warmth of the lights had begun to cause the model’s face to become slightly flushed. I counteracted this in lightroom by dropping the saturation in the reds and the oranges slightly, whilst booting the luminance for these colours which allowed for the image to remain high key.
“Carl” - 2019
Despite having a final selection of 9 images, I feel that this is my best due to its combination of technical skill and model positioning.
Technically, the lighting of this image is remarkably similar to that of Schoeller’s work and hence I feel I have succeeded with this image as my final response.
As for the model positioning, Schoeller’s aim was to capture the person as they are with no glamourising in order to produce a true representation of the person (similar to the aims of Richard Avedon’s portraiture). It is for this reason that I chose this image. The model directly addresses the viewer - in the same way as Schoeller’s portraits - with an almost blank face. However there is a slight curling up of the lip, hinting a smile that is carried through the eyes. To me this accurately represents the character of the model and is hence the best of my images.
Attempt 2
I reattempted this shoot in order to consolidate my my knowledge and understanding of the setup, alongside my ability to put it into practice and produce images comparable to the work of Schoeller. I again used two gridded vertical strip light modifiers in order to diffuse the light to flatly illuminate the face and produce the two catchlights that are synonymous with Schoeller’s portraiture. With the use of a beauty dish as the key light (held above the model’s head by an assistant), I also produced a clamshell light with the key light being bounced back up onto the face by the white reflector below. Learning from last time, I attempted to ensure that the power of the key light was not so low as to not emit enough light to fire the rest of the set up. Therefore keeping the beauty dish at a minimum of 1/32, and adjusting the other three lights to suit. For the background, I used a single strobe light in order to produce almost a halo effect. This, combined with the dark edges of the face produced by the light falloff and the distance of the model from the background, allowed me to show separation, hence directing the viewer’s eyes toward the face of the model, with minimised distraction.
Despite my best efforts to ensure that each light fired every time, I was unsuccessful. However, I believe that this may be down to the position of the lighting assistant adjusting slightly between shots (which unfortunately cannot be helped - human error). I feel that perhaps the use of a boom would have fixed this issue.
Additionally, I began my shoot at F4 to produce a small depth of field, ISO 125 to minimise grain, and shutter speed 1/200. This should have been fine for my photos, however I was capturing the edge of the shutter within my image as the shutter speed was slightly too fast for the lights. To amend this I decreased my shutter speed to 1/160. Unfortunately this slightly slower shutter allowed additional light into the image, making it overexposed. Consequently I reduced my ISO to 50 to adjust the exposure - leaving the aperture at F4 in order to maintain the minute depth of field.
In post production, I attempted to alter the images ever so slightly in order to make them as close as possible to the style of Martin Schoeller. I hence increased the exposure slightly, dropping the highlights and lifting the shadows so that the image was as flatly lit as possible, without any clipping occurring. However this made the image quite plain, so I boosted the contrast in order to highlight the minute details of the face, making it seem more genuine. I also pushed the clarity to the same effect.
Desaturating the image slightly, I also altered the hue of the reds to make them less vibrant. This made the face overall slightly orangey, but less flushed from the heat of the lights. This also related back to Schoeller’s portraits, all of which have an ever so slightly cooler feel to them (though not as cold as Kerstens).
For my final image I again selected for the expression of the model alongside the lighting technique in pursuance of creating a portrait of the true character of the model.
I feel that of my final 5 images, this is my best as it captures the essence of the model’s personality in his mild smirk which is carried through into his eyes.
By arranging the images next to one another, the two people are levelled, allowing comparisons to be drawn between them. The context of these two people is entirely irrelevant as we are given only a tight cropped portrait from which to formulate an opinion of their character. This is the intention of Schoeller in his ‘Close Ups’ series.
"Alfie" - 2019
Following the same line as the democratic levelling of personas in the ‘Close Ups’ series and the comparative ‘Twins’ series, I produced a composite image. This image is - upon a first glance - a triptych of the exact same portrait. The repetition here draws in the viewer in the same way as Schoeller’s ‘Twins’, urging them into a subconscious spot the difference in order to be able to distinguish each photograph from the next with the belief that these three portraits cannot possibly be the same.
Upon this closer inspection it is possible to determine the actions I have taken in photoshop to produce this image. I began by placing three of the portrait on a plain white background, equidistant in order to ensure an aesthetically pleasing alignment. Next, via the use of the rectangular marquee tool I cut the face down the centre, copying each half of the face onto separate layers which I then laid over the outer copies of the face - using a feather of 10px for a smooth blend of the layers. Opening the edit menu, I then used the transform options to flip both of the halves horizontally, making each of the outer faces a reflection. Due to the symmetry of the model’s face there is little difference between each photograph, yet enough to produce a slightly unsettling image overall. I feel that it is quite ironic that the symmetry of the outer faces makes the viewer uncomfortable due to the emphasis on symmetry as a major contributing factor to what we see as beautiful. It therefore surely goes to show that we actually have no real idea of what constitutes beauty and hence should not simply conform and be bound to a definition that is spoon-fed to us at an early age. It is thus that I can draw a further comparison to the work of Schoeller in his portraits, aiming to challenge our idealisms of ‘beauty’.