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Studio Thoughts - part 4 of 1 2 3 4

by David Williams Published 01/11/2005

Don't get me too wrong - I love the studio, but I agree we can take it too far...there's a little thought:

Why do Americans love making films in Australia and New Zealand? One of the reasons is that in the 'States you have a team of brilliant lighting technicians that can direct 10 gigawatts of totally pristine light replacing and controlling the light existing on the scene'.....'In Australia, we're used to the last actor on the set leaving the door open' (it's a joke by the way...)

Not all existing light is wonderful, nor is all studio light. It's down to the individual. At some time there will be a return to the studio. How we respond to that will ensure our future. The biggest mistake we could make is to return to what has been done, rather than learn from other sources.

We found our portrait market decaying due to over-promotion 10 years ago. Many studios were producing work which simply didn't compete with the in-store photographer (not different enough). I personally think that there will always be a demand for studio photography, but I look to the beautiful editorial portraiture from Vanity Fair and the like for direction.

For me, (and this is just my opinion) I don't think the future lies with the standard lighting set-up, standard backgrounds, and standard poses. (BUT to know all of this is vital).

Many Aussie studios which experimented with glamour photography used exactly the same lighting they would for families - no study of Hollywood's Hurrell, Bull or Hesse, no study of Horst or Parkinson, no study of Schrebnezki, Bailey, Lategan or Scauvello. If they'd studied (particularly the latter) they would have realised that the lighting is the simplest you can find, and is not reliant on gobs of make-up and cheesy gauze to make a woman look superb.

I believe there will be a demand for the elegance of Norman Parkinson pictures from the 50s - it's already appearing in editorial portraiture...Are we ready?

I know what I'm going to blow my Christmas book budget on!

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1st Published 01/11/2005
last update 09/12/2022 14:59:24

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