Artist Research - Yousuf Karsh

When looking on the Internet for great portrait photographers I came across a list of the 18 top portrait photographers. Yousuf Karsh was one of these photographers. The reason I have chosen to look at these images is because of the lighting the photographer has used and also the styling and composition of the image.

What I like about this image is the lighting coming from the side, and the subject facing into the light. His facial features are glowing so you can see them but not too over the top so that they are too in your face. Also the photographer has got really close up to the subject, capturing loads of detail in his face. Also like the pensive pose on the model.

There is a really soft use of lighting in this image, possibly created by a soft box. Gives the skin a really nice glow without bleaching out the features on the subjects face. I think that the lighting also reflects the natural sot look on the subjects face. I like that the photographer has got her hands in the frame. It gives her a holy look, the soft glow and the almost praying pose.

I have decided to look at these two together, I think that they are very similar, what I like though is the emotion in these images. I think that this is mainly down to the pose that the subject has created. Its really intense, and almost comes across as stressed. Maybe this is a representation of what these people are under job wise? The dark tones and black background add to this intensity. 

These images offer me ideas of the type of lighting I might use for my shoot, the ideas that I am having currently may result in me exploring this style further.