FINE ART Portrait Photo Shoot - ''Silence''

Not long ago, I was given a photo assignment for the coming visit of the one and only Nadav Kander! (If you have no idea who he is, check him out – his work is incredible!)
Nadav is an amazing photographer, known internationally and having worked with some serious celebrities. His photographs are just breath-taking and his personality is even better. Although, while chatting to him, I couldn’t get out my head, proposing him a business to read lullabies…. His voice was so soothing… I’m not weird, I swear! Other people mentioned that too…

The aim of this assignment was to grab a random person and photograph them in their uniqueness. I saw this lady, and immediately was drawn to her confident, gracious but strong energy. She agreed to participate. This portrait was taken in a studio, and the whole session lasted about 15 minutes.
I have taken this photo, using one light source, a softbox – placed closely to the object to create a strong contrast between light and shadow. The light here creates ying and yang effect (not the best description I know)- just notice the way her bright face stands out against black background and how her black hair stands out between a lighter background… a complete split of tones….

(The out-takes from the photo shoot)

She was wearing clothing of her choice and was quite nervous to start with, she kept trying to smile into the camera, but I was more interested in capturing the ‘real her’. I asked her to look into the light, and then told her ‘’Think of the moment in your life, which defined you as a person – and made you who you are today’’, I immediately snapped the photo, mastering that decisive moment. Although quite simple, the photo is very emotive and portrays such beauty!
Painting a scenario for a photo subject to follow is very usual to me, you need to be descriptive in what you want to achieve, especially when you’re working with people who never have been photographed before.

I named this piece ‘’Silence’’, and managed to get it featured in a Dark Beauty magazine! :) Submitting to magazines is a very effective way of marketing your work and building a strong network around you, however it is hard to achieve sometimes, so I was so happy for this portrait to make it past the editors!

(Me and my derpy face with Nadav Kander...look, he even shed a smile! ;) )

Ohh…. and of course, got a positive feedback from Nadav!!! Which was incredibly wonderful but also hard, as I was trying to maintain a professional approach and not go all ‘fangirl’, jumping in joy in front of him saying thank you!
It was a great day, and this portrait is still one of my favourite photos <3

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Cheers!

Marta x