Art takes many forms. For me photography is the bridge that connects the art and technology, blends painting to image, from brush and canvas to a digital photograph. Paintings and photographs are not a replacement for one another, but they do stand side by side as reflection of visual form and interpretation of reality.
Classic painters understood the use of light long time before photography enter the word of art. Chiaroscuro is an Italian term for light-dark in art and is defined as the use of strong contrast between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians to describe the utilization of light/dark contrasts to achieve a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects and figures. Similar effects in cinema and photography are also called Chiaroscuro.
Sfumato, also an Italian term, is a painting technique for softening the transition between colors. Leonardo da Vinci was the most prominent practitioner of Sfumato, using it in many works, including the Virgin of the Rocks and in his famous painting, the Mona Lisa. He described Sfumato as "without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane."
Composition and placement of models is essential for any digital image, especially when working with more than one model in a frame. I stage my compositions, creating the scene (in camera, as much as possible) while merging elements of light and dark, sfumato and chiaroscuro, culminating in my classically inspired and psychologically relevant photographic style.
Behind the Scenes
