After looking at Gregory Heisler’s work there was an impression of calmness and he was attentive when choosing the models for his photographs. When shooting the portraits Heisler seems to have made sure that his subjects were in the right angle for the light source to give the subject a dramatic look. The calm expressions and the black and white filter gives the photo a dramatic tone and, the photos with colour are also very well done, they are well lit and have a cheerful tone to them. In most of Heisler’s work you can see that select parts of the photo are blurred out and usually the clear part is the subject’s face or figure which is another dramatic tone that these photographs have. One photo that stood out to me was one of the old man who seems to be a monk of sorts, Heisler seems to be using Rembrandt lighting, it gives the man a look of “I have so many stories to tell” which is great because every photo should tell a story. The triangle shadow that the man has is also a good touch and goes to show the great lighting that Heisler uses.
The photo you selected really relies on shallow depth of field to isolate the plane of the monks face. Neither his nose or his ears are in focus, just his eyes. And yes, this is Rembrandt light. As a lighting style, it is so flexible.