Workshop1-Creating an older look in photoshop

Hombeline's emulation of Karsh

Assignment2-Emulation of Yousuf Karsh's work

Ernest Hemingway, 1957

"Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize."

Yousuf Karsh, Karsh Portfolio,1967

Georges Bernard Shaw, 1943

Albert Schweitzer, 1954

Francois Mauriac, 1941

Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photographer of Armenian heritage. He photographed many of the great and celebrated personalities of his generation. He offers an intimate and compassionate view of humanity.

Yousouf Karsh’s style is very recognizable: he uses a very dramatic lighting, one main light on the upper right corner of the frame (short lighting) to illuminate the face, 2 hair lights and often a background light to isolate his subjects, or a black background. The image is very sharp, there is a lot of details and contrasts. For example, we can feel the texture in Ernest Hemingway's portrait. He also often place the person in the center of the frame, shoulders parallel to the frame, giving a more powerful impression of the person. He also used a red filter to darken a bit the skin tone.

The facial expression of his subjects is very intense. Those are not smiling pictures, but Karsh managed to grasp an intense moment. Subjects are most of the time not looking at the camera. They seem lost in their train of thoughts. Karsh presents his subjects in an heroic manner, often filling up the frame with their face.

 

Yousuf Karsh

"Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera."

Yousuf Karsh.

Churchill ,1941.

Pablo Picasso, 1954

Georges Bernard Shaw, 1943

Dramatic lighting is an important part of Karsh's composition. Hi subjects are often placed in front of a dark background, Karsh uses one main light, positioned very high on the right side of the frame, emphasizing texture and shapes. He also uses frequently a strong background light placed right behind his subjects to separate them from the background. We become really aware of lines and diagonals in his composition.

Karsh made most of his career thanks to his photograph of Churchill, 1941, for which he had the brilliant idea to confiscate the man's cigar to obtain a stronger expression. Karsh's portraits carry a very strong emotion. The viewer can feel the respect between the photographer and his subject. Karsh manages to reveal the human nature of the extraordinary people than shaped the 20th century.

Richard Avedon

"A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he's being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he's wearing or how he looks. He's implicated in what's happening, and he has a certain real power over the result."

Richard Avedon.

Avedon's portraits are recognizable by their out-of-the-ordinary framing and the use of the white background. Even if he was re known for his portrait of celebrities, Avedon chose to do this serie about real-life characters with a lot of personality, uncommon subjects with particular faces. Unlike Diane Arbus' use of direct, unflattering flash, Avedon's lighting is very well controlled, revealing texture and details in the faces and the clothes.

Those portraits are not fashion shots, they do not promote beauty, but they reveal a deep aspect of the subject's personality, they offer a look upon human condition that echoes in our mind long after seeing the pictures.

Diane Arbus

'' I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them. '' 

Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus does not take flattering photographs. Her pictures would not be found in fashion magazines, they are meant to be tough, representing a slice of life.

Arbus uses a strong flash mounted on brackets, giving a snapshot look to the image.
The light quality is very harsh, not flattering for the subjects who are often filling up the frame in an extreme close-up.
The background becomes less important. Her use of square framing is also unconventional.

Diane Arbus was often described as a "photographer of freaks", but I consider her portraits an anti-fashion statement : real life is not made out of perfection. Arbus presents her subject in a very harsh light, but with a lot of respect.