Chiaroscuro in art and in this case photography, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. In the words of photography Chiaroscuro is a popular technique used in studio photography as the lighting equipment and backdrops available allow photographer to complete the technique accurately. Chiaroscuro usually consists of a 1 point lighting system in a dark room with a back backdrop, so there is only one source and direction of light It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achieve a sense of volume in modelling three-dimensional objects and figures.
The technique was vey popular during the Renaissance, where the term originated from. It involved drawing/painting on coloured paper and then the artist would work from the paper’s base tone toward light using white “gouache” and would do this using dark ink, body-colour or watercolour.
Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci is said to have invented chiaroscuro, discovering that he could portray depth through slow gradations of light and shadow. Now, rather than using this technique in just painting many photographers, such as the ones below, use the chiaroscuro technique to have a dramatic contrast between the model/object and the background.
Gregory Crewdson (born September 26, 1962) is an American photographer. He photographs tableaux of American homes and neighborhoods. Crewdson’s photographs usually take place in small-town America, but are dramatic and cinematic. They feature often disturbing, surreal events. His photographs are elaborately staged and lit using crews familiar with motion picture production and lighting large scenes using motion picture film equipment and techniques. He has cited the films Vertigo, The Night of the Hunter, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blue Velvet, and Safe as having influenced his style, as well as the painter Edward Hopper and photographer Diane Arbus.
Crewdson’s photography became a convoluted mix between his formal photography education and his experimentation with the ethereal perspective of life and death, a transcending mix of lively pigmentation and morbid details within a traditional suburbia setting. Crewdson was unknowingly in the making of the Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art, earning him a following both from his previous educators and what would become his future agents and promoters of his work. The grotesque yet beautifully created scenes were just the beginning of Crewdson’s work, all affected with the same narrative mystery he was so inspired by in his childhood and keen eye for the surreal within the regular. Fireflies, has become a standout amongst his collections known for their heightened emotion and drama compared to its simplicity of color and spontaneity. the exploration of form within his own work was evident within his transformation of how the photo was taken rather than just focusing on the subject.
The creation of the self defined American realist landscape photographer and his peculiar style originates from Crewdson’s long appreciation for 20th century melodramas and literature, specifically Hitchcock and Ralph Waldo Emerson. These films drove Crewdson to challenge the essence of light and force it in a new direction in Twilight, a dramatic, highly pigmented collection of images that channel dusk to the subject of the photograph. Crewdson wanted to focus even more heavily on the suburban lifestyle that is the focus of his main movie inspirations. Known for their methodical yet rhythmic use of language, Hitchcock and Emerson developed a new challenge for Crewdson by changing language to visuals in the most effective way. The look of sadness and contemplation on the subjects faces was something most major galleries had never seen, intentional sadness yet in such a bland and unexpected way. Similarly, Dream House captures the same “moment between moment” of thought from the subject from creative angles and cryptic perspectives.
Gregory Crewdson’s most recognized and iconic collection is Beneath the Roses, similar to his previous projects, its haunted urgency and profound dislocation from the audience is uncomfortable yet familiar. Branching off of his previous collections, Beneath the Roses was aimed to capture cinematic production in the stillness of one picture. With a budget similar to that of a small movie production, each image involved hundreds of people and weeks to months of planning. Crewdson’s interventions into the streets of typical American suburbia became a nuance interpretation of reality of lifestyle focusing on the most dramatic emotions and complex moments of silence and thought for the subject.
Crewdson explored the idea of challenging tradition with experimentation of his title outside of the U.S. at the abandoned Cinecittá studios outside of Rome. Known for its mysterious stillness and emptied character, the set was new to Crewdson’s typical use of subject and storyline but reflected the same balance and organic nature of a created set turned into an art piece. The simplicity of Sanctuary’s development contrasts Gregory’s tendency for detail and specificity evoking a more compelling landscape that was already created for him and caught the attention of White Cube, Crewdson’s European agent in London. By converting these cinematic scenes into ordinary life, he explores a new and unfamiliar genre of his own focused on naturalizing a manmade scenario in a world already based on the artifice of American lifestyles.
After years of exploring the idea of cinematic photography, Sanctuary was Crewdson’s return to photography, his original hobby and technical training. Most recently, Crewdson has created Cathedral of the Pines, similar to Beneath the Roses and Twilight, a distanced interpretation of exaggerated drama by an intervention into natural in its most synergetic state. The collection was shown at Gagosian Gallery in New York City. The collection returns to his early photographic origins in Becket, Massachusetts set deep in the woods far from familiarity of subject and setting.
Studio photography is used to shoot a wide variety of subjects, including people, animals and wide variety of products, from automobiles to jewelry. A photography studio will usually start out as a blank space, meaning just an empty room. In this case, my theme of portraiture allows the models emotion/expression to become bolder and more intense than an usual everyday background.
In the images that i have picked from particular photographers, they seem to have more character compared to other photos that i have seen. In Lisa Visser’s photos the models look very innocent and the fact that these photos are in black and white make them look even more simple and pure than usual. As well as this, the blank expression on their faces makes it even harder to know what they’re thinking/feeling; this can make the viewer feel slightly unnerving and uncomfortable, especially because they are children and most children are full of energy and would rarely have a blank expression on their face. The studio setting intensifies this unnerving feeling as there is no meaningful background for the viewer to observe to be able to know something about the models life, unlike environmental photography. On the other hand, Mads Perch’s photos express a lot of emotion through colours and contrast. The dark and dramatic black background contrasts immensely with the model that has a lot of colour projected on her. By having a large amount of different colours on the model, her expressions become more meaningful, maybe even more mysterious as the colour is filtering her facial expressions. Her photos are interesting and inspiring as they catch the observers eye as the the lighter colours against the black background make the white shades stand out more and the human eye is automatically drawn to white/lighter colours. Again, the studio setting intensifies this as all you can see in the photo is the model, no background. As for Nicolas Savine, his photos are similar to Lisa Visser’s work, as they are also black and white and a lot of his photos also have the model making a blank expression. Although, he has some models pull a different expression, therefore showing emotion, this can make the viewer even more uncomfortable, especially if they’ve seen the model with no expression, this is because the model can come across a fake; as if they don’t actually have emotion but they are only showing emotion because they are being told to.
Tableaux vivant is French and stands for ‘living picture’, and is a story telling scene containing one or more actors or models. The models are usually told to be: stationary and silent, usually in costume, posing in a certain way, with props and scenery, the setting may also be lit in a certain way in order to make the photo and scene look more dramatic. In order to take good tableaux photography it works well to combine both theatre and the visual arts.
“Tableaux is used to describe a painting or photograph in which characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect and appear absorbed and completely unaware of the existence of the viewer. ” – Sarah Jones
HISTORY OF TABLEAU PHOTOGRAPHY:
French philosopher, Denis Diderot was the first to use ‘Tableau Vivant’ in the eighteenth century to describe paintings with a certain type of composition. Tableau paintings had the effect of walling off the observer from the drama taking place, as well as that they were natural and realistic. In his desire to make paintings that were realistic rather than idealised, Édouard Manet, a French modernist painter, decisively rejected the idea of tableau as suggested by Diderot in the 1860s, but the concept of tableau reached a crisis due to this. He painted his characters facing the viewer with a new vehemence that challenged the beholder. In the 1970s, a group of aspiring young artists such as Jeff Wall and Andreas Gursky began to make large format photographs that resembled paintings, that were designed to hang on a wall. As a result these photographers were obliged to take on the very same issues revealing the continued importance of tableau in contemporary art.
In this photoshoot I took the photos in St Helier in town whilst it was fairly sunny to be able to capture facial expressions in better lighting. The majority of the people I took photos of were un aware that I was taking photos of them, which is why there are some confused expressions after people realised I was taking a photo of them. I have also chosen to crop some parts of the images to make them more focused on a specific part of the photograph. My best images were the ones where the models were pulling the correct facial expression, such as neutral, I also quite like the ploys where I capture the moment where people realise I’m taking a photo of them and they look directly into the lens.
Unedited Images
I have specifically chosen these photographs as my best images as because they had the best lighting on the models face and in the background/the models had the best facial expressions. These images were also the most in focus due to the camera moving around as I was walking.
Best Images Edited
On photoshop I adjusted the brightness to allow you to see the mode more clearly as the image came out quite dark. Although I brightened the photo I still tried to have a good contrast of the the darker and lighter tones to get the final image I wanted. As well as this I changed the intensity of the shadows and highlights to ensure certain points were more exposed to the viewer as well as drawing their attention to it particular parts of the photo. I also cropped this image on photoshop to allow the model to be in the centre of the photo.
I have edited the photos in black white because the photographer Eric Kim’s photography is all in black and white and he was my inspiration for this photoshoot. I changed the exposure and contrasts to have more variation in certain tones in the images. There HDR toning also helps to make the photos look more dramatic.
I took my environmental photoshoot in the art department at my school. I chose to take the photos in this particular spot as the large windows allowed a lot of good lighting to shine through into the. room and directly on to the models work and faces. I set the ISO at a lower setting to make the image less grainy to make the photo look as sharp as Anthony Kurtz’s images. In the foreground of the phots I made sure I was taking photos of the models working environment as clearly as possible as it allows the observer to interoperate what the models natural environment is like.I changed the aperture as wells depth of field in the photos are quite shallow to make the most sharpened part of the image is the model, again like Anthony Kurtz’s photography.
Contact Sheets
Best Photos
I have carefully selected my best photos out of my photoshoots. The photos I have picked are the ones I think are most related to the photographer Anthony Kurtz as they have a variety off colour and have their environment telling the observer what job they may have. Each photo has something that the eye is automatically drawn to and they each have a main focus which is the individual in the photograph as this is meant to be portraiture photography.
Best Photos
Editing My Best Photo
On photoshop I adjusted the brightness to allow you to see the mode more clearly as the image came out quite lighter than I wanted it to. Although I lowered the brightness in the photo I still tried to have a good contrast of the the darker and lighter tones to get the final image I wanted. As well as this I changed the intensity of the shadows and highlights to ensure certain points were more exposed to the viewer as well as drawing their attention to it particular parts of the photo. I also cropped this image on photoshop to allow the model to be in the centre of the photo. I tried to enhance the colours and the vibrancy in the photo to look. more like Anthony Kurtz’s work as his photos seem to be highly saturated/more vibrant.
Eric Kim is an international street photographer based in Los Angeles. He has traveled the world and shot in cities such as Paris, London, Venice, Florence, Prague and has even taught a street photography workshop in Beirut, Lebanon. His photos consist of mainly black and white photographs and he usually has juxtapositions in his images. The reason that he chose to do this type of photography is because out of all the types of photography out there, street photography is the most pure due to the two reasons: you can capture candid moments of everyday life while showcasing the human condition. In street photography, it is less about the image but more about the story behind it. An effective street photograph will be able to immerse the viewer in a world of awe and wonder, and place them in your shoes. No other genre of photography does that.
Photo Analysis: Photographed in Korea
Technical
Lighting – the lighting in this photograph may have been flash due to the faces in the photo being well lit although it may just be fluorescent lighting from the street lamps. It is more likely that the photographer used flash as it exposes the faces better in order for the observer to clearly see and observe their facial expressions. Eric Kim may have also wanted to expose their faces so that their hair contrast nicely with their face.
Aperture -The depth of field in this photograph may be shallow as the background of the photograph isn’t as sharp as the models faces. Kim may have done this to focus the observer attention on the faces in the photo rather than the entirety of the photograph.
Shutter Speed – Some parts of the photograph seems to be more exposed than other parts and some parts under exposed giving variation in contrast.
ISO – This photo seems to have a low sensitivity as the picture is very sharp, it also has a variation of tonal range which contrast nicely with each other.
Visual
There is a variation of light and dark tones in this photograph and there is also a repetition of extremely exposed parts (rain and water) of the photograph scattered around the photograph. This photograph is nearly a perfect square shape which is pretty standard, the photographer may have done this in order to not distract the observer from what’s being shown in the photograph.
Anthony Kurtz’s works often focuses on marginalization and alienation. He documents people and places that exist on the edges of society, sometimes physically, mentally or both: excluded by choice or by circumstances. Recently in his photographs he has been using control and has been trying to use conformity and has been trying to represent both of these opposing forces within a single photograph. In his photographs there is a lot ideas surrounding our recent generation and he likes to question ideas of democracy, security and progress. The element of time also plays an important role in his work. He often refers to the future societal collapses and a world where humans are no longer in control. The images he captures with a camera are merely foundations upon which he builds by manipulating light, shadow and color to dull out tones or make the colours more vibrant. He also attempts to create a mood and atmosphere, a sort of “hyper-reality” that contains both a sense of mystery and sadness, hope and beauty in each of his photos individually.
I think Anthony Kurtz’s work is very inspiring as the colours that expressed in his photographs usually impact the photo in a dramatic way. In my photos I would like to experiment a lot with colour or even just have a wide variety or contrast with darker tones or lighter tones. I also admire how the photographer tries to make statement about recent society issues in each of his photographs.
Photo Analysis
Technical
Lighting – In this image there seems to be natural lighting in the foreground but a lot of shaded areas in the background that look under exposed. A lot of the natural lighting reflects off the models skin which allows there to be some tonal range and the lighting also brightens the back drop behind her.
Aperture – The depth of field in this image seems to be quite shallow as the most sharpened part of the image is the model.
ISO -The light sensitivity is fairly low on this photo because the image doesn’t look grainy.
White Balance – There are warmer tones in this image.
Visual
There are subtle colours in this image meaning they’re not highly saturated and there is a lot of variation in tones, darker tones towards the back ground. There is also texture on the bench and on the girls dress but its not the sharpest. There doesn’t seem to be any 2D elements in this photo as it’s doesn’t seem to have been photo shopped too much. There is repetition of dull and brown colours in this photo other than the dress and maybe the cup. There is a fair amount of space surrounding the model as well as the cup making those two things the main focus of the image.
Contextual/conceptual
This photo is meant to represent what most young people have in third world countries and what little colour and liveliness surrounds them. By making the model slightly off center, it allows the viewer to focus on the cup also and the lack of cleanliness surrounding her.
People/artists at my school in their natural environment. Most of my photos will be focused on one person in the image like the majority of Anthony Kurtz’ photos but there may be a few where there might be two or more as the art rooms can get quite busy depending on whether there are lessons happening at the time of the photoshoot.
What
The background behind them has to relate to their life/work somehow, whether its art on the wall behind them or just the art room itself.
When
In the day time as that’s when there is the most natural lighting coming in through the large windows. I would also like to go to the art room when it’s not as busy so around 3/4 so I can take photos of people when they are more focused on their work therefore they won’t be distracted by the camera.
Where
I will most likely take photos of my friends sitting at the table drawing or painting in their sketchbook. Some of the photos will be taken from lower angles and others at eye level to make the photo look even more natural.
Why
The art rooms are usually vibrant and would add a lot of colours to the photograph like some of Anthony Kurtz’ photos which I was inspired by. I also like how the art rooms are usually quite messy and don’t look like other rooms in the school and the untidiness relates to the majority of Anthony Kurtz’s photos as it expresses how hard work can still occur in cluttered environments.
This is some of Anthony Kurtz’s work that inspired me with my photoshoot:
How
With a normal aperture and I may use a tripod to keep the camera steady. I won’t tell the people/models to pose as they’re meant to be in their natural environment and acting in their natural environment also. I’ll take some photos from lower angles to capture more of the persons body and to capture even more angles of the room the in the photos.
Environmental photography is a mixture of lifestyle photography and traditional photography. With this type of portraiture the environment surrounding the person plays a key role in the photo. The environment in the photo is meant to tell you a lot about the person and what they’re like or what they enjoy. Unlike lifestyle portraits where the location isn’t important, this type of portraiture’s environment is just as important as the person in the image and the person can pose in the photo.
Here are some famous photographers that demonstrate environmental portraiture. These photographers have inspired me with my own photography. Each photo has a story behind it as each background behind the person or objects surrounding the person says something about them. Each of these photographers are inspiring and i will use some of their techniques (such as their use of lighting and positioning of the model) when I am taking my own photographs to do with environmental portraiture.
