Enter George Heisler’s website, click portfolios and you are met with an array of categories, or paths if you will, of different ways to digest his work.  I opted for vibrant, and I was not disappointed.

Coincidentally, Alonzo Mourning’s photo that we discussed, then tried to replicate during studio time was in this set.  As I cycled through his works, I was stopped by the portrait of Kevin Spacey.

It was exactly that, Vibrant. Most striking is the lighting followed by the eclectic color palette both worn by Spacey, and then the encompassing background.  The lighting appears to be cast from above [overhead] and slightly behind to the left according to the shadow of the nose and the silhouette of the head cast on the right shoulder.  The lighting frames his forehead, eyes, nose, mouth and chin, for a dramatic effect. Opposed, the ears and the details of the hair are lost as collateral in this drama.  He is wearing a black suit which works as silhouette in the shadows, but brightness of his innards [shirt and tie] contrast lovely against the magenta in the background.  The bright mustard color found on his apparel is almost exactly replicated at the top of the frame, adding another layer of cohesiveness to the portrait. Wether this was intended or not, it is successful, and his gazing eyes through the camera and subtle smirk capture the feel good energy of this shot.

In Gregory Heisler portfolio site of all the pictures he has taken. This one grabbed my attention the most due to a weird sense of small confusion. It was under the label “strange,” and when I stare at the image without thinking to hard or to long about it. It definitely has a sense of strangeness. In the image he only seems to be using two light sources, one being the moon to light up the world and the second being a man made light primarily on the subjects face which is a front light in this case, to expose it more than anything else. while the mans body is the darkest thing in the image. completely separating him from the grey snow around him.

The fact that the front light is only exposing his face is the strange part of the image because it sorta causes the face to look weirdly fake, and to add on to the strange side. The man clearly has a shadow of his body behind him on the floor meaning the light is hitting his body but somehow the body is still blacked out with no detail to show besides the outline showing the shape of his body. With only these two lights sources it also gives the background a eerie feel or a supernatural feel with the far distance and emptiness and how dark it is. Kinda makes it look abandoned or has if the man in the image lives in these huge empty acres all by himself.

This image gives me curiosity about everything in the image but also gives me a feeling that makes me never want to visit this strange huge empty farm like area at night.

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.

When I see both images, Beyonce picture seems to use front light so that her entire body lights up nicely without to much exposure but as well as not to dark but instead has soft shadows. The soft white light used to take the image also feels more natural.  With the soft front lighting and her pose of her kneeing down on the grass and her hands on her stomach, it feels like elegance with beauty and care. While Demi Moore image is using Rambrandt lighting from the right of the camera with a more harsh light and stronger shadows. It feels more empowering, like as if showing that pregnant women are strong, independent, and with a huge amount of pride on her face expression.

Demi Moore announcement of her pregnancy was put on magazines for the time that it was taken in 1991. While Beyonce was put on her personal social media since now anything on social media can blow up so fast and spread around the world in less than a day compared to a magazine. Also making it easier to land on magazines everywhere.

My thought on the reasons for the different styles that the actress are doing is probably due to how during 2015 to 2018 people have been more open and publicly shaming women/mothers for breast feeding in public. Though the shaming started before the 21st century it started to become more public in recent years, so women tried to not get put within the cross fire of these debates especially actresses. while during the 20th century, women breast were being more sexualized and so women posing naked on camera wasn’t a huge problem, at least not publicly but they still had to censor or hide women’s breast on magazines

Demi Moore’s pregnancy photos taken by Annie Leibowitz’s for Vanity Fair Magazine in 1991, sparked worldwide controversy becoming one of the most influential photos of all time. The photo portrayed Demi in all of her nude glory posed in a side profile covering her left breast and supporting her baby bump. The photo appeared to be front lit creating shadows around the subject standing against a plain grey background and looking off camera. Leibowitz went into the shoot with the concept being “glamorous and sexy” photographing Moore in an array of couture gowns and jewelry, only taking the nude photos towards the end of the shoot. The photos were originally only intended for Moore’s family as she had done with her first pregnancy. Leibowitz joked that the nudes would “make a good cover” but never expected it to be the final pick. She believed her best work was actually featured inside of the magazine, but the cover seemed to outshine them all. The photo stirred up a huge controversy with some people loving the portrayal of motherhood and the idea of being sexy while pregnant but some found the photo pornographic or indecent. Overall, the photo bought ideas of female nudity and pregnancy out of the closet to be more widely accepted by the public.

In 2017, Beyonce’s pregnancy photos by Awol Erizku drew widespread interest gaining The Guinness Book of World Records title for most liked photo on Instagram within 8 hours. In the photo, similar to Demi Moore’s Beyonce is posed in a side profile supporting her pregnant belly. She is looking into the camera partially clothed, wearing a greenish veil, in a kneeling position, set against a deep blue background and in the middle of a wall of flowers. The photo appears to be evenly lit probably using both a main and fill light cropped comfortably around the subject. Erizku was inspired by classical artworks like Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus also focusing on color and composition. He utilized flower arrangements and re-purposed items throughout the whole series photographing Beyonce, her husband Jay-Z and their first child Blue Ivy.

Demi Moore’s photograph was shot by Annie Leibowitz, a decorated photographer who most recently has taught a lesson on masterclass platform.  This photograph was taken for Vanity Fair, headlining their cover of the August issue, 1991.  It was a cultural shock for a repressed society who some viewed the pregnant female body as obscene or repulsive, much less having it grace the cover of a leading publication bare.

Demi’s body is turned to her right, but her face is captured in a three quarter view. I suspect broad lighting is used here by way of the larger area of her face being lit with the shadows sitting on her right eye, cheekbone and chin.  The background is flat and free of distraction, allowing you to focus on Demi.  Demi is standing, and has created a “hand bra” or used her arms to simultaneously cover her breast and embrace her belly.  This frames the focal point of the photo.

Beyonce photo was captured by Awol Erizku. It’s intended purpose was her public pregnancy announcement across social media.  Culturally, it was embraced and celebrated as it (at the time) went on to be the most “liked” photo of 2017. Times have changed.

Beyonce’s body is also turned to her right, but she is kneeling.  Her face is slightly off-center but not enough to qualify as three quarters. The photo is well lit, I am going to assume a butterfly and a hair light might be in use.  The veil makes it difficult to determine because of the appearance of minimal shadow, which I only see on her neck.  Her hands are placed more closely together, encasing her “bump”.  She is visibly earlier in her pregnancy than Demi.  The colors of this photograph are rich and vivid, from the blue sky, eclectic flower arrangements (which frame Beyonce as the focal point), to the green hue of the veil, and baby blue fringe of her bottoms.  This all helps to add texture, layers, and a depth to this photo.

Annie Leibowitz photo of Demi Moore from 1991 and Awoi Erizku photo of Beyonce from 2017 are similar but different in a way. Demi Moore photo can be looked at as more risky and bold than the Beyonce photo because of the sense of nudity that is being shown in the photo.  The chose of wardrobe for Beyonce may have been the deciding factor to why it was the most liked photo of 2017 on Instagram.  When it comes to the lightning it is more complimentary to the Beyonce photo than the Demi Moore, looking at Beyonce the light seems to be more subtle and smooth while Demi Moore is more harsh and the glow that is on her face proves it.  Composition and props also play a key role to these photos and Beyonce photo once again takes the cake. The blue sky background with the arrangement of the flowers really helps the photo pop more, you may say that less and simple is better like the Demi Moore photo but I believe when shooting a women who is going to give birth you would want the background and the things around her to look inviting and not as plain as the grey background in Demi Moore’s photo. There is however a similar position of the subject where both women are not exactly placed in the middle maybe the photographers were using the rule of thirds placing their subjects more to the right than centered.

Yousuf Karsh was a Armenian Canadian photographer known for his portraits of important and famous men and women of politics.  His photography can be seen as strong and powerful because of the different sets of lighting that he used.  When shooting famous politicians you would want them to stand out and look just as important as they are and I think Yousuf really captured them that way. Through expression and props he shows that he really got to know his subject before capturing them in the moment.  The photo I chose from Yousuf is the photo he took of Pablo Picasso and in this photo I believe it shows exactly who Picasso is and what he believes is important to him. The lightning that he chose seems to be a broad lighting capturing a lot of the right side of Picassos face.  The vase with the women silhouette was a clever and key prop to showing off the artist that is Pablo Picasso.

Nadav Kander is a London based artist, director and photographer who is notorious for landscapes and portraiture.  When looking at this photographers work you’ll see that his photos captures a sense of personality from his subjects. The way the lights are utilized are interestingly and amazingly done.  Some of his photos give off a unorthodox feel where the subject is used in a way where you’ll leave being mesmerized and curious. The photo of Nadav Kander that I chose was the one with Sadiq Khan where the light is shadowing a bit of his forehead and chin boxing in his eyes and nose almost like Kander is trying to show how strong and bold of a personality his subject has.

When entering a new assignment after looking at Yousuf and Nadav I think I should focus on my subjects personality and try to match the lightning to the mood my subject is giving off.  Using a broad lighting set up can be good for people with a strong, bold and confident personality or a person with a soft side to them who are kind hearted maybe butterfly lightning or short lightning will be good for them.

Before Beyonce’s head turning pregnancy, that drove the whole media and fan base wild, we had Demi Moore’s pregnancy in 1991. Of course with these pregnancies. came the photographs of these women. Starting with Demi Moore’s which was photographed by Annie Leibowitz, the photograph turned lots of head, one half of the people did not like it at all, the fact that Moore was in the nude was an act of “indecency” and was viewed as “scandalous”. The other half embraced the fact that Moore felt comfortable and, Moore was representing motherhood in a way that has never been publicized before. This even paved way for a new concept that photographers would use in the future where it is all about capturing the the beauty of pregnancy. Moving on to Beyonce’s photograph, this captured the eyes of everyone and it was plastered everywhere (annoying.) you could not escape it. Beyonce uses a fine arts insinuation, which was Paula Modersohn-Becker’s painting “Sixth Wedding Anniversary”, you can see Beyonce holding her belly the same way Paula did. Comparing Moore’s and Beyonce’s pregnancy photographs both photographers use different approaches for example in Moore’s we see that Leibowitz used a broad light on her, which compliments the left side of her face and ears, her right hand covering her breast and the left hand holding her belly. For Beyonce’s it looks as if Erizku used a front light, there is a balance of lights and shadows, which would be a really flat and boring picture, but what really puts everything together is the flora in the back, the vibrant colours give this photo a beautiful finish, which is symbolic as well, since flowers represent love, beauty, purity and, that is every emotion and thought that goes through a mother when she first holds her newborn in her hands.