This week we were asked to compose a photograph that is inspired by another artist. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I chose to imitate the style of Vermeer; specifically "The Woman with a Lute", which is shown below. I did not want to copy it exactly, but imitate the lighting, colors, and general arrangement of objects. I asked the model to dress in similar colors (yellows or creams), put her hair up, wear long earrings, and bring a stringed instrument (the one shown is a mandolin). Unfortunately, I didn't have a window with the sun shining in on the same side as the painting, so I set it up with similar objects in a mirror image in a window to the model's right, and then flipped the picture in post-production. I chose to take this picture a few hours before sun-down so that the sun would come deeply into the window, and create the bright light on the subject's face, like in the painting, and would create the deep shadows in other parts of the room, making the furniture in the foreground a silhouette. The original photo was longer from left to right, as the window in the house was farther to the right, but to reduce white space, I moved the window closer to the model, and made the resulting picture more narrow, like the original painting.
Model: Erin Hartman
Props: Mandolin, mini-piano, piano seat, various pieces of luggage
No comments:
Post a Comment