Monthly Archives: September 2019

Inspiration #2

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I liked more Yousef Karsh more than Nadav kandar. Do not get wrong Nadav Kandar has some good work. What I like about Yousef Karsh work is the use of black and white, mostly all of his work is in black and white but he really knows how to use the lights very well. He also knows where he wants the light to focus on the person because you could see the highlights. One of my favorite portraits from his is “Elizabeth Taylor”, what I like about this portrait is that this was taken as short light style. I really like how the light is hitting one side of her face. I also like how the light is hitting the side of her hair.

On the other hand, Nadav Kandar work is also black and white. But he uses black and white differently than Karsh because it also has a little bit of color to it. The use of black and white on his portraits look very unrealistic which is cool. At some point, it looks like if it’s a painting canvas. I also noticed that almost all of his portraits have this shallow of depth and shadow. What caught my attention was that there is this shadow background in all of his portraits. I also like the use of mood, expressions and poses in his portraits. One of my favorite portrait from him is “Mike Tyson”, I like the use of light. On this portrait, it looks like he’s using butterfly light. I also like the use of shadow in the background which makes Mike Tyson and the white pigeon stand out. I also like the use of the expression that Mike Tyson gives. We all know that Mike Tyson is a tough guy but the way he is posing looking sideways and a little bit of seriousness don’t make him look scary. It shows the other side of him and I think to have him hold a pigeon on his hand also helps because he has this obsession with pigeons.

Yousef Karsh & Nadav Kandar

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Yousef Karsh and Nadav Kandar are both very talented photographers with similar yet different styles. They both specialized in portrait photography.

Yousef Karsh’s photographs were in black and white. What I liked about his photographs where the lighting. I love how he brought out the shadows which added texture to the black and white. Sometimes when I see a black and white picture feel it doesn’t go with the picture but Yousef Karsh made sure it makes the pictures work together with the black and white.

While Nadav Kandar also works with black and whites and also adds a different texture to some of his pictures. What I love about some of his black and whites is when he adds a tint of blue. It makes the picture feel very warm, this was a very unique technique. I feel that black and white photography can show a sense of seriousness and when he adds the blue it lightness up the mood.

 

 

 

Insperation #2 -Yousef Karsh & Nadav Kandar

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Rami Malek

Rami Malek, 2016

The photographs that Nadav Kandar has taken are really interesting. Most of his images are really artistic and conceptual. For example, in his National Portrait Gallery, majority of the people are simply floating in the air. But when it comes to the last four of the that gallery, are more serious close up portraits. They are black and white with 3/4 view giving us short light but with fills. In his Solitary Portraits Gallery it is mix of photos, ranging from conceptual, artistic. black and white, to split light, broad light, color and short light. Again, a lot of his photos has fills in them. A lot of his photos tend to be on the dramatic side but they’re some that are silly. The photo that drew me in the most was one with Rami Malek, while it’s somewhat hard to tell, for me. I think the photo has short light, you can tell because the side of the ear is darker with areas of more darker shade/shadows. It would seem that this photograph has a lot of fill on it. Perhaps I can emulate the way he uses fills in his photography in an upcoming portrait assignment. A lot of his photos are very fill heavy. And if possible I would also like to try out conceptual portraits because some of his photos in that category are really captivating.

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr, 1962

When it comes to Yousuf Karsh, it is mainly portraits of famous figures. The gallery includes Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Andy Warhol, Pope John Paul II, and many others. His photos have a mix of portrait lighting styles. In his gallery you can see some short light portraits, front light portraits, possibly butterfly light, and some split light. I’m not 100 percent sure on this but I do believe he is using fill in some of his photos. Another characteristic that I noticed in Karsh’s photos is that all of them are in black and white. No color in sight. Another characteristic is how the portraits convey a range of emotion, from delightful smiles, playfulness, to idealistic stares, and serious faces. The photo that grabbed my attention the most is Martin Luther King Jr., I like this portraits with the way he is somewhat starry-eyed, looking away from the camera. You can see his face is at 3/4 view giving off a short light portrait style. What I can try and emulate from Yousuf Karsh, I could try and bring the emotional range that he has in his photos.

 

Inspiration #2

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Both Karsh’s and Kandar’s work have a deep,dark moodiness about them revolving their subjects. After looking at Karsh’s work I noticed that his style is exclusively black and white, but also have a lot of emotion held within them. The black and white effect is a nice contrast compared to his subjects who are energized and seem to have a positive aura surrounding them. Kandar’s work is similar, yet also quite different compared to the work of Karsh. Kandar’s work has sort of a cool monochromatic color scheme using a mix of blues, greys, blacks etc. And while Kandar’s work has some kind of color in it his subjects appear to be a lot more moody compared to Karsh. A majority of his subjects look deep in thought and emotional, also with a lot of them not looking at the camera. One tacit that I learned from looking at Karsh and Kandar is to maybe work on human emotion in my photos. Instead of the person looking stiff and emotionless maybe try to convey a little emotion from them in my photos. Not just with the subject but maybe with the background or any other photo effects etc.

” YOUSEF KARSH / NADAV KANDAR “

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Ok! For me, I like Yousef Karsh picture and style more then Nadav Kandar but both of them are super amazing at photography and has so many amazing pictures. First Yousef Karsef who is an Armenian-Canadian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. For me, he inspires me to take more portrait, especially in black and white. I am not fun of black and white picture because to me when I see the black and white picture I always having the same feeling of the photo which is “sad”. I feel like that not right to me because photo should make us feel and tell more than that. When I look at Karsh portrait it’s all black and white which is cool because that is his style and theme also, every picture of his has different feel and story behind it and that amazing how he is making the viewer feel it. Also, most of his picture he used studio light like broad and short lighting.


Nadav Kander likes to try all kind of style not just one like Karsh. So Kandar is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. Kander has produced several books. He has so many styles and looks more modern. I like his work on Titans of the Stage because every picture has a strong visual and amazing story behind it also really powerful

I like this picture because when looking at it from far you see a guy who is in a really bad mood and lost hop and looking in the praying for god. But when you come close to it you will see him look at you with a really scary way. It’s amazing one minute I feel bad for then right when I see close it's scared me. Also, the lighting style helps the mood a lot

Yousuf Karsh & Nadav Kander

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When looking at Yousuf Karsh’s photography work, one can see that there is a theme going on. All of his photos are portraits in black and white, showing less than half of his subjects’ body, or a medium close up, while they are pensive, or lost in thought. There is a lot of contrast because we can clearly see the details and expressions in each image. The lighting style, short light, for most of them is also the same, considering that the poses are all three quarter views. We know this because the lighting is coming from their left side which causes for there to be a shadow on their right side which seems to have been diffused. Karsh did a good job framing and capturing the photo because none of the subjects’ head is cut off at the top. He does a great job overall setting a tone to the images he captures.

 

Nadav Kander, on the other hand, has a tendency to lean more towards, what seems like, gel filters. In this case, there is a constant use of blues and greens. Even though his photographs also consist of a lot of portraits, most of them are using broad lighting. Just like Karsh, he uses a three quarter view, where you can barely see one side of the face, but are still able to see both eyes. There is also a theme of transparency in his photos. Some have an image placed behind them that bleeds through the main image, which is the subject and the others have a very blurred out background which could mean that he used a very low aperture.

Yousef Karsh & Nadav Kandar

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Yousef Karsh has amazing photography skills. His photographs remind me of film noir, it brings me into a peak of interest. From his photographs I noticed that his point of interest does not fall just on people but on objects as well. In his photo archives seen on this link I can say that when it comes to close ups of people he liked to use broad and short lighting. For his landscape images he tries to keep somewhat a balance between light and shadows he wants contrast. An interesting photo he’s taken was ” Elixr ” which is a photograph based on optic and surrealism in which appears to be a bottle and in it, an image of three women, a beautiful concept in which is somewhat exquisite. In another example, Mr. Karsh had taken a photograph of Princess Juliana, it seems to be a family portrait. In this photo you can see a key light and a back light, Im not sure if there was a third light due to the fact that, if you look closely you can see light on the princesses’ hair.

Nadav Kander on the other hand appears to have one point of interest, faces. He grasps the character of the person, he grasps their true identity or perhaps a hidden one. In a fine example shown here Kandar takes a photo of the honorable Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. He captures his image in fine black and white tone, his face sided looking into the distance to grasp the presidents identity of thoughtful and busy, concentrated yet agile. In another example we have Erin after Caravaggio, 2004. A stunning image of a young lady looking down at her reflection, a picture can say 1000 words and it can tell a story. This image shows her beauty but when you look into the water .. you see something different, you see a distorted face in the water, you see sorrows, perhaps this photo is trying to bring out her inner self? or perhaps her mentality? flawless yet flawed. Mr. Kander’s photos were grasped in both color and in black and white. He captures a persons image gracefully and even horrifically in others to show perhaps a demented or distorted mindset.

Dawoud Bey – Antone Herbert

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Dawoud Bey’s portrait style comprises multiple elements. In most of his photos he frames his subject with their lower torso up. Bey never cuts off their heads, leaving a decent amount of headspace. The background is blurred indicating the use of a low aperture. This leaves the subject to stand out well from the background and become the main focus or the photo. The backgrounds are all different. All the students eyes are captivating. Bey’s subjects are always well lit with what I would think is front or butterfly artificial lighting. I interpret that all the students seem guarded in there photos. Their arms and hands suggest as they are in front and always seems to be “protecting” themselves from the photographer. Most of the students did not smile except for one girl. 

Im not sure how I would approach portrait photography after looking at his photos. But these set of photos inspired me because they are the type of style I strive to create when I’m doing portraits. They evoke emotion and realism. You feel like you’ve met the students and I want my photos to feel that way. Often times I worry too much about backgrounds and not enough about my subject. Bey uses a variety of backgrounds in schools, a place I imagine most people wouldn’t find all that photogenic. I want to learn to pose people like Bey can. I want to learn how to create a unified style throughout multiple portraits that evoke the same emotions. Bey’s photos teaches me that subjects you wouldn’t find interesting you can make interesting by crafting masterful portraits.

Dawoud Bey

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Dawoud uses the lighting from one angle capture the features of the students perfectly. Highlighting the most basic features on a person like the eyes and somehow capturing the sense of innocence and pureness. The subject is at the focal point of the shoot and with the background being being out of focus makes them pop more than if everything was in focus. As well the colors of the students clothing and the contrasting of the background make the the student standout due to the fact that the background is more colorful and lively but the students’ with muted clothing capture the viewers eyes more taking away from the busy backgrounds. The posing of the students create the sense and feeling of innocence and being more mature than their ages. Bey captures those elements well with the angles and lighting of the students to create that helpless sense and in their need of guidance although in their stories them seem to have that already. Bey’s portraits of the students wants me to focus on the subjects features more and how i postion the person in the frame. To take more photos from the front of the subject rather than moving all over the place.

Inspiration #1 – Dawoud Bey

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Bey uses the expression and pose to show what these high schoolers have been through. For example, in the photograph with Shalanta, you see this girl who’s smiling and posing with a confidant look. It demonstrates that she is an outgoing girl who enjoys having fun and being around other people, which reaffirmed in the brief description next to the image. Another out example would be with Kevin, the pose he has give a sense of “up in your face” kind of look, possibly showing independence. The tone of his expression has a very serious look to it, giving off maturity, independence, and a loss of innocence. The lighting he uses is available light, which comes from the windows. The natural window light really lights up the room just enough and nicely, giving the feel of a somewhat calming vibe to photographs. From what I can tell, it looks like all if not all his shots seem to be broad light, like the portraits of Usha and Antoine. The background of the photos are set in a classroom area, I believe that this is meant to make the teens appear more sympathetic because it would remind the viewer that these are still young teenagers, hardly grown but have been through a lot or show how ambitious they are. It’s to basically remind people that these teens are still human beings, and not some self-entitled children who believe they deserve something. The way he frames the portraits is up close, you can see the expressions of the teens, the gestures and poses their upper bodies are in, and parts of the background. To me the reason why he frames it like this is because you get in depth look at the teenagers, to interpret their personalities, what they could have been through, and where they were during the shoot. Well lighting is something to consider, that can enhance the look and feel of the portrait. As well as the poses and expression of the model. I can take those into consideration when taking a portrait shot of someone.