Photographer Works In Collaboration With Sitter For Portrait Photograph

Portrait photography is being reevaluated as an art form

. An artist who currently showcases his portraits at the Pittsburgh gallery says his work is motivated by a reaction to the character of portraiture being traditionally confrontational. He did not feel satisfied with his career of taking pictures in a laid back sort of way.

He has an insight. Media portraiture, in particular, which has a large following and is widely perceived as cool, is, in reality, often ephemeral and vapid. Upon the instructions of the photographer, the subjects begin to take on different poses and gestures for unexpected settings.

Getting sitters to contribute more in the shoot is the solution to getting rid of the banality in this type of work.

13 portraits of creative people living in the city of Pittsburgh were done in a collaborative effort. Each sitter can freely choose the setting and can contribute his or her own ideas. This is different from what is commonly practiced in the profession.

He does not think ahead for any one project. Essential to the collaboration is a preliminary meeting whereby the general concept of the photograph is drafted. He then sets out to find a suitable site, often helped by the sitter. Sets are usually constructed, and they resemble confined cell like structures.

A sculptor decided to have his photograph along with his work, and a writer picked a bar scenario. In the case of one actor and director, the idea of bridges suggested itself as the possible site, although in the actual photograph it has become a very incidental element, subordinate to the sitter and the extraordinary costume selected by him.

He is able to create complex and difficult lighting effects in his photographs, which displays his great skill. These are not technical additions done during the developing and printing phases.

The spellbinding effects of color he makes are produced by combining colored gels with lighting equipment. The exposure times for these photographs would last for a long period of time.

The nocturnal portrait of a person outside a bar required an exposure of some 15 minutes, during which the sitter could literally walk into the camera's range and walk out of it.

He could then get back and, using a wand of light, trace letters in the air which the camera can record. There is hardly any indication of the presence people leaving or entering the bar which can be found on film during the exposure.

In another set of night setting photographs, you can see that there is a simplicity and seriousness in the lighting in the picture.

He learned photography on his own, though he is very professional in his work. He seems to exert a lot of control in his work which proves to be quite challenging when collaboration is involved. The final decisions are made by the artist in the end. The photographs, being reversal prints, have all been professionally printed.

by: John Chambers

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