Shadows

I signed up for more classes at the School of Visual Art which helped me study and focus on certain methods and concentrate on the outlines of things like a play of light and shadow. Creating deep shadows, for instance, across half of an image and capturing reflected light as it bounces off on the opposite side of the shadow; one must see details in the shadows and highlighted area. I allowed the shadows to dominate as a highly effective and dramatic device. In order to establish this art, I used a Spot meter and measured the density of each side. A simple mathematical formula would give me the right F-stop for my camera. It was important to expose film correctly, and control the amount of light that enters the camera, because otherwise I would have a hell of a time printing the pictures. I was busy trying to catch images of the dancers, but it was very difficult; the stage was not lit up enough, therefore, I created a kind of chiaroscuro effect, with limited highlights and deep shadows, just enough to see details in the finished picture.

 As a photographer, I enjoy working with shadows in pictures, which integrate certain textural and compositional elements. Including shadows in black-and-white photographs adds interest and strength. Some artistic progress was evident in my images. However, there was a lot more to study and to observe when I went out with Marbeth.










The Italian painter, Caravaggio used this dramatic effect in his paintings in the 17 century. Chiaroscuro technique, Italian for light/dark, was developed by Italian artists of the 15th century during the Renaissance. Caravaggio and Vermeer, who also used dull and gauzy light, are my favorite painters and I tried to copy their technique and images to create similar black-and-white pictures as these two gifted masters produced.







The paintings of many great masters hang in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, including Caravaggio’s and Vermeer’s.  The museum influenced my vision and broadened my outlook artistically and socially. It provided to me a context in which I was exposed to radical new ideas, in sculptures, and in art in general. I tried to be inventive and find new ideas. I am a meticulous and exacting artist, and my mentor said I do have an instinctive sense of proportion and design.






Perhaps it is within my blood, because my great uncle worked with Josef Hoffman. At the turn of the 20th century, Vienna was the European epicenter of innovation in art. Josef Hoffman and Kolman Moser were the original members and founders of the “Wiener Werkstätte” (Vienna Workshops).






The workshops were the idealistic offspring of “Art Noveau” and intended to oppose increasing mass production and industrialization. They were indeed a great success that involved hundreds of artists including Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, just to name a few painters. In the middle of this innovation of art, my great uncle created fine centerpieces made out of brass.