I have been looking at the work of other photographers who have shot different genre’s of music. It’s interesting to compare the photoshoots conducted for various types of artists and the energy they forward to us though the images.
Dante Marshall:
Marshall’s musical portraits exude a lot of attitude and character in a really simplistic and natural manner, it’s sometimes difficult to tell if the photograph has been posed or he was just in the right place at the right time, it pushes an element of mystery upon the audience. Marshall’s use of soft and fairly natural lighting creates an eerie yet inviting feeling about the visual.
Mattias Hombauer:
Matthias Hombauer’s portraits capture the musicians in a natural essence, far from anything posed or styled for the camera. They seem like they are relaxed and at ease in their own clothes with the lighting and post production being kept simple; no added colours or effects. Hombauer’s images differ from Marshall’s as Marshall seems to like focusing on the aesthetic. I like Hombauer’s minimalistic style of shooting because sometimes there is no need to dress up a shoot when the personalities of the subjects speak for themselves.
Georgia Kuhn:
Whilst exploring Kuhn’s website, the first thing I noticed was how highly exposed some of her images are, this level of white light sometimes radiates an angelic vibe onto the subject. Paloma Faith’s images in particular have the light coming in through the window from right above her which I find really interesting and striking, paired up with the golden props beside her and her infamous red lipstick and pin up beret hairdo, she generates an almost regal or majestic kind of image to the audience. However still, its simple and effective; similar to Hombauer’s work. There isn’t necessarily much added to the images but these show a bit more of a day to day lifestyle than Hombauer’s; a lot of use of doors and other furniture.
Ami Barwell:
Barwell is a rock ‘n’ roll photographer who has shot numerous album/single covers for artists and tends to produce a lot of black and white high contrast images. I’m not so familiar with the rock ‘n’ roll genre but from Barwell’s images I can see that music instruments and facial expression/body language are highly important and keep the focus of the viewer onto the details and the character of the artist above all else. I really love black and white images so Barwell’s photography appeals to me, sometimes the contrast is so high in the images that the facial expressions are just about noticeable. She has marked the style that works for her and the artists and distinguishes the rock ‘n’ roll genre through this.
Nikolaj Lund:
Lund’s photographs are indeed very captivating because of the way he directs the musician’s poses to align them with their surroundings and environment. He uses a lot of the outdoors and simple spaces and the musicians have their instruments featured in the photographs almost all of the time. Each one of Lund’s images tell a story and they are intriguing enough for the audience to spend enough time trying to decode the different components of the image. Lund’s photography is actually my favourite of the lot because he keeps everything exciting and fresh with new ideas each time. Some people might consider classical music as ‘boring’ but Lund proves otherwise and doesn’t let the visuals get uninteresting and I admire that.
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKBOOK 