Yousef Karsh is a 20th Century American-Canadian photographer is well known for photographing celebrity and prominent figures of his time. Wilson Churchill, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Queen Elizabeth II are just to name a few. He was particularly successful in his portraiture because he used dramatic composition to convey a particular perception of his subject. He accomplished the dramatic composition by using a high contrast in lighting for strong political figures such as my favorite of Dr. Martin Luther King. The light is directly placed on his face as he looks up to the sky because it is a representation of his high hopes and dreams of the future. The dramatic contrast is a representation of the song figure that Mr. King was in our American history. Karsh also photographs Mr. King in his University robes with books in the background in order to portray how well educated he was. When he photographed Queen Elizabeth II, he photographs her in a soft light because she is to be seen more as a loving motherly figure. Overall Karsh very successfully uses lighting and background display to create a classic portrait style.
Nada Kander is a British-Israeli photographer well known for his portraitures and landscapes. His passion for photography began at the age of 13 when he bought himself his first Pentax camera. Kander’s style is a little more modern in that his portraiture is more playful and not as serious as Karsh. The portrait of Mark Rylance immediately caught my attention. Kanders’ use of soft light and heavy use of shadows creates a sense of mystery. Even though Mark is in the dark, the candle he is holding draws you towards him and wanting to see more of him. I believe Kander chose to photograph him this way because it is a representation of Mr. Rylance profession which is a play writer. He is technically never in the spotlight but ultimately his creativity is the fire to all his works. I have never heard of Nada Kander until this assignment but I am glad I did because he is someone I would definitely look for inspiration from.
Yousuf Karsh wasn’t afraid of a stereotype like we might be today. His photo of King uses the obvious upward gaze to represent the idealism of his life’s work. This is also classic short light.
Candor’s Rylance photo with the candle is a very interesting one in that it implies that the candle is lighting his face which of course it is not.
I agree with your characterization of Kandar as less serious than Karsh but I think this has more to do with the formality of Karsh’s era compared with relative informality now. More period style than anything else.