Portrait Theory: Single Light #2

I was going through my old fashion portfolio and came across this shot of Ron Ames and thought is would make a good illustration for a second installment about classical portraits and single light setups.  I think it is always the case that that a classical style photographic portrait aims to emulate window light.  I this case, the "window" has Venetian blinds to add a little drama and mystery.  I found when I was lighting this shot that adding any additional lights or reflectors detracted from the overall graphic effect.

The lighting came from a single Broncolor flood/spot head in spot mode shown through blinds suspended from a boom arm.  Lighting from the left adds tension because is breaks from the convention established in painting.  The background is just white seamless paper. 

This picture is a digital copy of an 11x14 gelatin silver print made on the rich warm Agfa Portriga Rapid, which was partly bleached in potassium ferro-cyanide, then treated in Kodak Selenium Toner.  I always liked the blue/sepia split tone effect this processing yields.

Technical
Camera:	Leica M2
Lens:	Leica 90mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit-M
Exposure:	Agfa Pan 400, f/5.6 @ 1/30s
Lighting:	Broncolor studio strobe
Support:	Gitzo Studex Tripod with #2 Pan/Tilt head
Location:	Globe Building Studio, St. Louis, MO
Dates:	Capture - April 17, 1991, Processed April 17, 2011
Processing:	Lightroom 3.3

Portrait Theory: The Psychological Portrait

Edward Steichen's 1903 photogravue of tycoon J.P. Morgan is frequently cited as a prime example of the psychological portrait, one that shows the inner man.  It is one of Steichen's most celebrated works.  The fierce expression, stiff posture and highlight on the chair arm looks at first glance like a  trench knife is thought by many critics to catch Morgan revealing himself as a sociopathic business man.  But is that the case?

I've been meaning for some time work through the general assertion that great portraits should all be a deep psychological study that reveals the soul or some deep inner truth about the subject.  This came to a head for me when my wife, Susan, read to me that John Updike, and others, criticized portraits by John Singer Seargent for "not being deep enough".  Irving Penn's portraits get a similar note, being called cool and distant.  What on earth could that mean?

In response to the idea of the phsychological portrait, I developed a thesis, which I found is not new or unique to my thinking, that a portrait cannot capture anything like the heart and soul of the subject.  In fact, I think the concept of the phychological portrait is fatuous.

My Exhibit A is this mug shot of actor Nick Nolte.  It has all the elements we associate with a psychological portrait.  We can see a man in apparent crisis, caught in a vulnerable moment, all pretense dropped.  There is a defiant resignation in his stare.  Would Sargent have painted a picture like this?  Highly unlikely.  Was the photographer seeking to capture the inner man?  Well, it is a mug shot, not a sitting for Vanity Fair.

Looking at examples critics hail as psychological portraits, they all seem to have these characteristics in common:

• The picture is not flattering.  J.P. Morgan rejected his portrait.
• The sitter must look fierce, uncomfortable, drunk, vulnerable and/or lecherous.
• The more severe the "hatchet job" is on the sitter, the more celebrated the picture is as being "deep"

I really think any powerful portrait reveals more about the artist and viewer than it does the subject.  Penn and Sargent don't enter the sitter's world - they pull the subjects into theirs, without apology.

I'll close with a quote by one of my favorite portrait photographers:

"I am convinced that any photographic attempt to show the complete man is nonsense. We can only show, as best we can, what the outer man reveals. The inner man is seldom revealed to anyone, sometimes not even the man himself." - Arnold Newman

Portrait Theory: Single Light

Photographic portraits that aim to emulate classical paintings are usually made with a single light source.  Complexity and nuance are enhanced by using flags and reflectors to shape the light.  This portrait of model Trisha Bradshaw was lit by a single Calumet Quattro beauty dish with a shower cap diffuser.

A new find for me, LightingDiagrams.com, provides an online tool for creating, you guessed it, lighting diagrams.  I thought I'd give it a try for this series.

The Quattro is angled to skim the gray ultra-suede background.  A mirror opposite the main light and behind Trisha creates the rim lighting.  A black foam core square behind Trisha flags the background and adds a geometric element.  The camera, a Nikon D700 and 105mm lens, is about six feet away, angled very slightly up.

Not that Trisha needs it, but this style of lighting has a slimming effect on the face because the shadow side is toward the camera and the rim light adds to the 3D illusion.