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Artist study: Henry Mullins – George Blake

Info:

Henry Mullins, a photographer who arrived in Jersey in 1848, lived in the parish of St Helier. During his time here he owned a studio near the royal square where he would take professional Carte-de-visite’s of wealthy middle class of Jersey. With his most active amounts of work being around 1867 to 1872, This was due to the Royal family having their portraits taken on Carte-de-visites. Inspired by the monarchy people came to him in St Helier from his advertisements to get their picture taken. During this period he took numerous headshots of Jerseys ruling elite as can be seen from the Military styled uniforms worn by most of the men in his photos.

(From right to left, Cpt C de Quetteville, Mr Anley and Lt Egre)

(Cpt – Captain & Lt – Lieutenant)

(Advertisement for Mullins photography in the royal square)

From the period of 1852 to 1873, he produced 9,000 portraits of Islanders when the population of jersey was around in the 55,000s. Creating multiple Albums of the people of Jersey, this documentary photography formed a sort of ‘who’s’ who’ on the types of people in Jersey at the time (during the 19th century). This included examples such as Jurats, figures in the government and other people of a wealthy status.

(Part of Jerripedia’s list of names of who had been photographed by Mullins, note the Jersey last names, familiar to some locations)

(One of his portfolios filled with his portraits)

Now stored in the Societe Jersiase photo-archive, his work contributed largely into understanding the historic past and atmosphere of the people of Jerseys past. With around half of the population today, his achievements on capturing a large majority of it, helps show Jersey’s social classes at the time. And with Local last names possibly trace back, identify and visually see their ancestors.

His Experiments:

Using the whites from egg yolk, Mullins was able to create a faded effect on his portraits, this isolated the rest of the body until it was just the shoulders neck and head in the frame, this process of early editing created an interesting Headshot, and became more apparent in some of his portfolios in the mid-late 19th century.

Another one of his experiments can be seen with Diamond Cameos, where by having 4 angles of headshots placed in a diamond shape created a unique way of capturing his subjects.

Taking influence from Mullins, In my next blog post I will attempt to recreate this edited style with some of my own images.

Intro to Headshots – George Blake

Headshot – A photograph of someone’s face, head and shoulders.

Developed from portraits, they find there origins, traditionally from passport photos, résumés for actors musicians etc.

This style of portrait helps to clearly define the subjects facial features as well as provide a clear basis for people to make assumptions on someone’s character, possibly based of appearance (like how they dress).

The classical origins, find themselves dating back to 1839, where photographer, Robert Cornelius was one of the first to experiment with the ideas of headshot portraits.

In 1854,  André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri  produced a more cost effective way of producing these headshots by cutting up full-sized plates into 4 separate small portraits. These photos soon became known as Carte-de-visite, translating to visiting cards.

These grew in popularity across both Europe and the US, where families of wealthy class got them to exercise their wealth. With some people such as queen Victoria getting one to flex her status.

In the 20th century, they soon developed into a secondary purpose of being used as promotional material.

(promotional photo of Katherine Hepburn in the 1940s)

The modern headshot is now used as an art form, used for exploring different ways of portraying the face. Some elements of the classical headshots can be found in Professional headshots, used for marketing purposes, someone’s influential status and image, such as a celebrity can be sold for their likeness.

Studio lighting/Edits and Evaluation – George Blake

Rembrandt

For my Rembrandt shoot, I believe my photos could improve by more experimentation with the positioning of the light.

Out of the shoot, these where my best, with the recognisable light triangle on the cheek of the subject being the aim to be captured.

3 Best photos:

Edits:

Creating a black and white effect it added more tone and contrast to the image. I liked these edits as by converting into a black and white image, its makes the subjects form look separate from the background, making this interesting 3D effect.

(Such as this one, the grey background separates with the contrast of his white and black hoodie. I Made this effect by altering with the saturation and adjusting different areas with the use of contrast, highlights and temperature).

(With this photo, I tried to lessen the highlights to make the light triangle more predominant, this, alongside with the use of some contrast it adds more depth and form to the image. By making the white higher it creates that strong lighting effect, ruminant of Rembrandts early use with portraits in Hollywood).

(Although the light triangle is more circular with its lines, I used texture, clarity and de hazing to create a dark toned portrait. Additionally by lowering the highlights and black aspects of the image, it allowed the bright parts of the image to create a tone shift of a different merge of shades).

Butterfly –

3 best photos:

I like how these images created the recognisable ‘butterfly’ below the subjects noses, this alongside the use of shadows surrounding them, it creates an nice composition.

For next time, I will try and create more photos with this effect as I find it, Interesting to play around with.

Edits:

For my Butterfly edits, I altered with texture, shadows and highlights to create a very stark trio of photos.

(For this image, by lowering the saturation, altering the images temperature as-well as the texture it creates a gritty but cool effect on the subject. With a sort of 2D effect, it looks as if they where painted onto a black canvas).

(With some good shadows already present, I edited further by lowering them as-well as some other elements such as highlights and the whites and blacks to generate a more matte effect on the image).

(Going for a different style, away from greyscale, I tried to make the shadows more faded by decreasing the black, and increasing the exposure, this creates a more higher toned lighting effect).

Chiaroscuro –

3 best photos:

I believe these are my best Chiaroscuro photos, I like how the light creates an interesting 3D effect, with shadows being created through creases in clothes.

For improvement, I will try to improve the brightness of the light.

Edits:

(By increasing the image temperature I was able to increase the lights brightness with this image. To create a more standout effect with the shadows).

(With the original image I found that it wasn’t bright enough, so by using a low saturation alongside a darker shadow effect the contrast of the white tones to the black makes a distinct composition).

(With the outcome of this it already fitting the aesthetic, I added only little by altering the texture, clarity and dehazing, sticking to the genre of my mainly greyscale images, I lowered the saturation).

Full photos:

Rembrandt

Butterfly

Chiaroscuro

In conclusion, I like these images and believe they are a good first attempt at trying Studio lighting techniques.

Studio Lighting/contact sheet – George Blake

These images are from studio lighting portraits:

My Intention with these shoots was to play around and experiment with the Rembrandt, Butterfly and Chiaroscuro lighting techniques.

Recreating these, in the studio we used a DSLR camera, with a flash adapter, additionally with a reflector to try out with.

camera settings:

Studio set up:

Rembrandt –

5 – 4 star rated photos:

(These are also white flagged – meaning they consist of photos that are taken clearly and match the Rembrandt light triangle).

These photos, capture the visual elements of Rembrandt, with the light positioned at a 45 degree angle and Rembrandt light triangle present on the cheek.

3 – 2 star rated photos:

(These are also white flagged – meaning they consist of mostly clearly taken photos or just didn’t fit the look I was going for, such as not containing a clear indicator of the light triangle or too poorly exposed).

These could improve, by altering the exposure on the camera or by repositioning the light to create a starker contrast of the triangle.

2 – 1 star rated photos:

(These are black flagged meaning they do not appeal to what I was aiming for during this photoshoot).

These, to me didn’t fit the look I was going for, therefore this is why I have given them a low rating.

Butterfly –

5 – 4 star rated photos:

(These are also white flagged – meaning they consist of photos that are taken clearly and match the Butterfly lighting effect).

These images, best represented the effect of butterfly lighting as shown with the shadow casting on the top lip.

3-2 star rated photos:

(These are also white flagged – meaning they consist of mostly clearly taken photos or just didn’t fit the look I was going for).

These images were clearly taken but did not fit what I had In mind.

Chiaroscuro –

5 – 4 star rated photos:

(These are also white flagged – meaning they consist of photos that are taken clearly and match the tonal contrast of Chiaroscuro lighting).

These are my best of the shoot, the contrast with tones, and balance of colour most represent examples I’ve looked at.

3 – 2 star rated photos:

(These are also white flagged – meaning they consist of mostly clearly taken photos or just didn’t fit the look I was going for).

The poses to me created to much brightness, which isn’t what chiaroscuro is.

2 – 1 star rated photos:

(These are black flagged meaning they do not appeal to what I was aiming for during this photoshoot).

The exposure for this image was too low.

Conclusion –

In conclusion, I think these shoots turned out well, in terms of the visual composition they are inspired from and recreated to fit the techniques to a decent standard. I would improve by experimenting more with the light and try to get better at Rembrandt. as that proved the most difficult to create.

Studio lighting: Chiaroscuro lighting – George Blake

What is Chiaroscuro lighting?

A visual element originating from art, Chiaroscuro comes from the Italian word for light dark. In art however, it is defined as the bold contrast between light and dark.

First appearing in portrait paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, Their birthplaces can be found in Italy and Flanders (Holland). In these paintings the subjects, in a dark environment, would be casted in a singular beam of light, that was emitted from an unseen source.

(These paintings were also attempted by a previously mentioned artist, Rembrandt, Who’s own lighting in art was stylised In photography also).

(Most likely the most famous example of Chiaroscuro, Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Girl with the pearl earring’ 1665).

Origins in film –

Used by Hollywood, Chiaroscuro can be seen in elements of film noir, where it is used to emphasise Moral ambiguity, enigmatic presence and sexual motivation. Seen in old detective films from the 40’s and 50’s, its use can connote the idea of interrogation lamps casting a singular beam or street lamps illuminating one part of the sidewalk. It additionally has its roots in German expressionist cinematography.

(Noir detective films using Chiaroscuro).

Origins in Photography:

In Photography, Chiaroscuro lighting is used artistically to create dark and dramatic portraits of a subjects face.

It has been played around with since the invention of the camera, further exploring the same techniques of light seen in painting.

How to create Chiaroscuro lighting:

Light –

To take Chiaroscuro, either a constant or flash of key light must be on the subject.

Additional edits:

A black back drop is the best for this as it creates more of a stark contrast on the viewers facial features.

Additionally the option of a reflector to soften the light on the facial features is also available if the photographer is not opting to go for an extremely dark image.

Lens – Using 35mm or 55mm is the best Lens size for Chiaroscuro as close-ups are the main aim for lighting technique.

Examples of own work:

Studio Lighting: Butterfly Lighting – George Blake

What is Butterfly lighting?

Butterfly lighting is a form of lighting technique used mainly in a studio where artificial light can be used to create the effect. The lighting technique got its name from the butterfly-shaped shadow that appears under the nose when the light comes from above the camera.

Like Rembrandt, Butterfly lighting found its origins mainly in Hollywood. Additionally referred to as ‘Paramount lighting’ or ‘glamour lighting’, its earlier and still current use was on model stars, its purpose was to highlight the models beauty in detail. such as Audrey Hepburn modelling here, under this lighting technique:

Why use Butterfly lighting?

By having the light positioned above the camera onto the subject, this highlights the cheekbones which then creates shadows underneath the nose and neck, this makes the subject look thinner. Overall it good for taking flattering portraits and create a beautiful symmetry.

(The shadows on this model creates an eye-catching symmetry)

How to create Butterfly lighting:

Light

To create the Butterfly lighting effect, either natural or artificial light can be used, as well as either hard or soft light. If soft light is being used, modifiers such as a beauty dish is useful to help distribute the light evenly on the skin. In order to create an effective butterfly lighting effect, the subject must be facing the light.

(Examples of Soft light VS Hard light)

Lens

A 55mm is a good lens for a close up of the subjects facial features, For this lighting technique, its purpose is for a subjects face so this lens is best applied to this.

optional add-ons:

Additional experimentations can be made with the use of reflectors to soften shadows either on the chin or the face.

Examples of own work:

Studio Lighting: Rembrandt Lighting – George Blake

What is Rembrandt lighting?

Developing from a Dutch portrait painter, Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn, it refers to the way of lighting the face in which an upside-down triangle is formed under the eyes with shadows of the subject.

With the invention of spotlights in Hollywood in the early 20th century, Rembrandt lighting in photograph emerged from this as people were able to experience with light artificially instead of relying on it naturally.

Becoming widely used with film stars for promotional material it soon became a well known lighting technique.

Why use Rembrandt?

By using Rembrandt lighting, it creates a interesting shadow and contrast, with the triangle of light being casted on the subjects face.

Drawing in the eye with an interesting lighting technique, the portraits subject is made the main focal point with a shallow depth of field as an additional method helping to achieve this.

Rembrandt can be used with either hard or soft light creating a choice in how the photographer wants to create an individual look on the viewer.

(As seen here).

Hard light

Soft light

(As seen in both images the reoccurring triangle of light below the eye signifies this lighting technique as Rembrandt).

How to create Rembrandt:

Light – By using one singular light source, at an angle of 40 – 45 degrees, placed higher than the subject, this creates the Rembrandt technique.

Lens – A 35mm or 55mm is the best lens types for Rembrandt lighting. 50mm is best for a good depth of field and shallow aperture. 35mm is best for a wider point of view and is able to capture the subject entirely.

Examples of own work: