Today I gave a demo in my 101 class that featured the concept of North Light portraiture. North light holds a special place in the history of portraiture because of the way Western European artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer took advantage of the son remaining in the southern horizon all year long so that the light coming into north facing windows is always indirect and soft.
When photography became a professional trade in the 1840’s portraits continued to be made using natural north facing window light because flash wouldn’t be developed until the 1950’s.
I made this portrait of Elijah as a means of illustrating that a cell phone camera can incorporate the wisdom of the past to create a meaningful image similar to those made with large format cameras if you can just slow down and have the subject remain calm and still before clicking the button.
Simplicity in lighting and stoic poses can draw upon the power of historic portraits.
Here is another portrait I made of Tristan that incorporates symmetry.
