Yousuf Karsh is a 20th Century photographer who photographed well renowned individuals. Looking at his portraits, it seems that Karsh used light to distinguish each subject’s personality. There is a difference in emotion with subjects of different professions. You could tell the lifestyle of the sitter just by looking at Karsh’s portraits. For example, the portrait of Joan Crawford is more playful than Albert Einstein’s. You can Joan Crawford’s full body and she is in an unusual pose that shows her holding a cigarette. The backlight is more prominent that Einstein’s. This makes her look luxurious, whereas Einstein looks like serious and like someone who intellectual. Karsh depicts the lifestyle of his subjects well and doesn’t choose lighting just because it looks good. The one portrait that I would like to emulate is his portrait of Barbara Ann Scott. I like that he chooses to use long exposure to show movement which makes sense being that the subject is a figure skater.

Nadav Kander is a photographer that is still working today. I would his style of photography as bold. I see that he is not afraid to characterize his subjects in certain moods. Kander seems like the type of photographer that likes to experiment with as much ideas and then finalize the one that best suites his vision. I don’t he focuses much on the lifestyle of the subject like Karsh, but he uses light to evoke more emotions. Kander also positions his subject in a not so traditional way. Some of his subjects are facing away from him or looking at something else besides the camera. The one portrait that I would like to emulate is Florence Welch. The lighting is very elegant and bold at the same time.