The Art Within Portrait Photography: A Master Photographer's Revealing and Enlightening Look at Portraiture. Klaus Bohn
an invitation to the viewer.
Over the years I have photographed many grads from all over Saskatchewan, the rest of Canada and the United States. I like oversized heads, especially when I produce grad or high school senior photographs with this unusual style. I have been criticized by other professional photographers who comment, “How can you make photos so large, bigger than life size?” My response to this question has always been, “How can you make photographs with head sizes smaller than life size?” Distortion has always been there in paintings as well as the other arts including photography. It is really a matter of proper viewing distance from the image. Study old paintings and you will be surprised how large some of the paintings were!
The largest grad photos sold in my studio were 40 by 50 inches and we sold quite a few over the years but a more popular size was 30 by 40 inches like the image on the opposite page. I am a professional photographer as well as a good salesman believing in my product and what I am able to accomplish for the client. The expression in her eyes compliments her lips and creates a pleasing image from the right viewing distance. It is important to not make the mistake of having one’s client smile too forcefully as it tends to distort the face making the eyes smaller and hence very uncomplimentary.
Have you ever wondered why there were fewer smiles in paintings years ago? They refer to da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as the smiling Mona Lisa. If you have been to the Louvre in Paris and viewed the painting you couldn’t say that she was smiling, not ear to ear like so many grads photographed by school photographers.
My system of photographing grads was no different than my regular photography. A consultation was a must and so was a projection a day or so following the photo session to review the images. I would accomplish all three in one day for students from out of town. We had a number of loyal and energetic employees to help during these busy times but I always did all the consultations, sessions and projections myself.
The image you see was mounted on canvas as were a lot of my photographs at that time. My brother Brian operated the framing and mounting part of the business as it took skill to produce a good canvas.
What a privilege to influence young lives as well as their parents to appreciate photography in completely different ways.
This woman came into my studio and wanted some modelling photos. She was only in Canada for a short time and wanted them before travelling back home to South Africa. I believe I photographed her sister’s wedding.
“I like your work,” she said. Words like that always give me a warm fuzzy feeling and it was a great experience to work with her. She realized that being a little older could have some drawbacks but the experience was worth it for both of us.
Being refined and slight in build made each pose easy to form and illustrate her uniqueness. I loved working with her and went the extra mile in lighting and was engrossed in our conversation. Her homeland has always fascinated me even though I have yet to travel there. South Africa, the land of beauty with wildlife beyond compare and yet a place with a tumultuous history, much poverty, the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and so on.
Dean Collins popularized this lighting technique with translucent flats and I learned from him when I took his course in San Diego, California. Forty-one by seventy-six inches, the framework is made from PVC pipes with elastic rope. Flats can be snapped together with ease and various nylon materials can then be stretched over the frame. I loved the effect so much that I bought the whole set. I had the opportunity to judge with Dean and we once spoke at the same convention. Over the years we bumped into each other from time to time.
In photographing this woman this lighting method was used; a translucent flat on the left side facing her with power light 600 in a soft box. This added a very soft flavour to the light and complemented her complexion. A flat was also utilized as a reflector on the opposite side to fill in the shadow, wrapping the light around and still keeping the shadow side three stops or so deeper. Finally, a background light was used to add depth to the overall image.
I love to play with the positioning of hands in many of my photographs. I first observed this technique in paintings and then took a course with Don Blair who spent a great deal of time educating us about hands. The woman’s hands not only help support her head but also frame her face to add the feeling of warmth and touching. The design of this photograph is like the shape of a kite, suggesting her ability to fly high in whatever her future holds.
Working with shapes allows me to continually discover more possibilities in my work. There is no end. Look at nature, in the woods, every imaginable and unimaginable shape exists to be discovered over and over again. Why are we satisfied with just a few designs repeated over and over again? Are we so confined due to others or are we too lazy to work at putting more effort into design? My poem “The Driven Man” which appeared in my first book 50 Principles of Composition in Photography reveals that it takes more than just effort; it takes a burning desire to be driven.
May I never be too timid or lazy to go the distance whatever that is perceived to be. There is the story of a Greek runner back many hundreds or thousands of years ago who won the race and kept on running all the way home to his village to tell them of his victory. You can’t just stop when you are finished, we need to go on and tell others, tell the story over and over again. To use the brand “Feeling more deeply about photography,” my natural life’s work is all about photography. It is ingrained, infused, imbibed; breath it in, become a Breatharian!
When this new mother came in for her consultation she was already familiar with my procedure because I had photographed her once before. I always start with a consultation first, followed by the photo session and finally a projection appointment that allows us to work together to choose the best image, size and finish. In this instance the finish was her prime interest. During our consultation she indicated that she wanted the image to have an art look. To satisfy this requirement the photo was printed on watercolour paper using Lysonic inks which are known for their longevity and have an estimated life of sixty-five to seventy-five years.
She shared a funny yet true story with me. Being a nurse in Los Angeles her friends and co-workers asked, “Why are you going to Canada? For a vacation?” “No,” she said, “I’m going to see my photographer.” Stunned, they asked, “Why go all the way to Canada?” She said, “Wait until you see the art piece, you will be green with envy.” I don’t know if it was so but I do know that both of us loved the feeling we got from looking at the finished piece.
Let’s look at this photograph together and see if it means more to us than a picture, perhaps reaching beyond the barrier of a photographic print to an artistic print and even a piece of art. First we may feel the impact and yet a gentle, soft and