Question:

How does low-key lighting add to the narrative of the photograph?

Introduction:

Photography is made to tell narritives, to capture and tell the story of whats happening within the photograph, from pre calculated and thought out photography shoot to quick and simple snaps all images have a narrative element within them but certain lighting techniques can add so much more to the character to the set in which the character is involved in.

Figure 1:

Low-key lighting photography is one form of photography that can turn a portrait into something mysterious and spooky. This can be done by the addition of harch lighting on one side of the person’s face it creates a harsh shadow on the non-light part of the person’s face, this use of lighting gives the image a much more dramatic effect and feel to the image as can bee seen in figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3:

Through this essay, I want to talk about and explore the effects and uses of low-key lighting and how they can be an effective way of creating a narrative within a photograph

Section 1-

Photography narrative is a way of telling a story through individual photographs or a series of photographs. In photography, a narrative can be used to record an account of an event or a moment in time, convey emotion, and express the model's mood. By adding these, it creates the key elements of storytelling in photography.

In portrait photography, the narrative is constructed via the making of the image. The model is a key element in structuring the narrative, and through their emotions and the way they express themselves, a story is told. Furthermore, with the use of a lighting setup, the narrative can be made even more powerful and meaningful. Through the means of portrait photography, the narrative of a photograph can be used to tell the viewer a great deal about the sitter of the photograph, as the narrative allows the image to be presented with more purpose and meaning. David Campbell (2009), a documentary photographer, makes precisely this point:

“As a photographer, you must take on the role of visual storyteller, researcher, and editor as you begin to make choices that impact the narrative you are creating. By utilising a variety of camera controls and creative tools, you as a storyteller can begin to craft a narrative through your imagery by highlighting what is important, what is not, and asking questions like "What is the story I want to tell?"’

This is a key statement as Campbell explores the use of narrative within photography. It is a fundamental element, as the photographer needs to become a visual storyteller for the viewer. This, then, enables the viewer to see the expression of the work and see what the photographer is trying to convey within the photograph. It facilitates the use of an aesthetic language in the form and context of the image.

Firstly, this essay explores the language of David Bates and the work in his book “Photography the key concepts” (2009, 79-100), specifically the chapter entitled, “looking at portraits”. Of interest is the sub-section titled ‘Industrial portraits’. In this section of the book, I focus on a passage where David Bates draws upon the importance of props, location, backgrounds, and costumes, which have the potential to change the narrative. This is made apparent in the statement by Bates, “fixed in one location, props, backgrounds, and costumes could all be stored at the studio and provide a variety of possibilities for clients to choose how to appear in their portrait” (2009, 68). From his experiences as a photographer, Bates acknowledges the significance of props, background, and costumes and their impact upon the creation of the narrative within the picture created.

Adding these accessories to the shoot enables and supports the story by characterizing the person in the image. The creation of a specific portrayal may provide the opportunity for the person or model to become someone else; a different persona is created and documented. This point is also referenced within the same sub-section of the chapter, as he states that, “immediately one can see the studio context provided the opportunity for people- clients- to see themselves in a picture as they wished to appear.” This indicates that people, clients, desire a narrative for their image. Individuals want to be someone they are not; they yearn for a narrative that may disguise or exaggerate certain characteristics in their portraits, and for this storytelling, props and costumes are employed to make their lives seem more interesting when they are in front of the camera. People want to alter their perception, and by performing a character role, they can change the individual in front of the camera.

To continue, the work within the book by Graham Clark is of particular importance. It is called ‘The photograph’ (1997, 100-122), and the section in the chapter titled “the portrait in photography” is referenced in this essay. In this chapter, I focus specifically on the part where Graham Clark discusses how people look to tell their stories. For example, by referencing the images (2009, 111), he considers the contrasting work between the images by Paul Strand entitled ‘Blind Woman’ and Vandyk’s portrait of Edward Prince of Wales and Lloyd George: “both, in different ways, involve complex typologies of significance - interacting sets of social and cultural codes.”

This relates more to some of the individual thoughts on each image as the photograph taken by Vandyk has different ways of presenting themselves in the photograph compared with the ‘Blind Woman’, as Graham Clark says of the Prince and Parliament: “look at the way they stand, their feet placed in suggestive stance towards the camera” suggesting “their sense of power and self-confidence”. This shows the viewer that the way the men in the photograph carry themselves is depicted through the way they dress and stand. They have an air of confidence, a different way of life from the poor beggar women. Through the image, it narrates the context of their class and their way of life. They are from a class of privilege, and this privilege is reproduced in the setting of the photograph, their dress, and stance.

This image perfectly narrates to the viewer so much about these men of standing; it freezes them in history, facilitating a tale to the reader of the story of their lives, their riches, and power. When comparing this to the ‘Blind Woman photographed by Paul Strand, the viewer can see that the narrative of each person can be shown in a different way,y as Clark says, “the subject has no name, merely a number registering her as an official beggar”. From analysing the two images, the reader can understand the difference in how each person can be shown differently due to their class and social mobility, through the items they wear and hold. Which is a clear way to tell a narrative through photography, as costume is one way to show class and explore the narrative of the person.

Figure 5:

Figure 6:

An important way that low-key light and narrative have been used within photography and even more within film is through the sub-genre of noir or detective noir. Mostly through the means of detective noir, which was a style of image making used within the early 1940s and the 1950s (ref). This style of film was new and brought with it a new style of lighting, making actors and actresses within the film project a mysterious and sinister feel to the characters within the film or photograph. A film effectively showing this technique was the 1947 detective noir thriller ‘Out of the Past’ directed by Jacques Tourneur. And with the cinematography for the film being carried out by Nicholas Musuraca, the story of the film is of a

Small-town gas pumper Jeff Bailey's mysterious past catches up with him one day when he's ordered to meet with gambler Whit Sterling. En route to the meeting, he tells his girlfriend Ann his story. Flashback: Once, Jeff was a private eye hired by Sterling to find his mistress Kathie, who shot Whit and absconded with $40,000. He traces her to Acapulco, where the delectable Kathie makes Jeff forget all about Sterling. Back in the present, Whit's new job for Jeff is clearly a trap, but Jeff's precautions only leave him more tightly enmeshed (Crawford, date IMDB).

Figure 7:

Figure 8:

Figure 9:

From stills taken of the film and some portraits taken alongside the film, the viewer can see the use of low-key lighting throughout the film in many different scenes. Some of the best come from when shooting the main character, Jeff Bailey, played by Robert Mitchum. In many of the shots of his character, they have been lit to make the character more mysterious and giving the film a sinister feel when we see these scenes (below are some different stills from the film showing the technique of low-key lighting within the film).

Each of these images illustrates the use of low lighting; for using, this technique for this genre, in particular, can add to the narrative of the story, making scenes more chilling and sinister. In addition, with these images, the use of the lighting also creates this element of power alongside with the lighting technique. This is shown by the way the character is presented to us; he comes across within the photograph to be noble and heroic but with the use of the props he also gives off an anti-hero feel, as the use of a gun and cigarette makes the character have a slightly evil and mysterious side to the character. This shows why this lighting is so technically effective as it can make a person appear completely different within the photograph, and from this, this lighting technique has been advanced over the years to work not just in moving image.

Section 2:

In photography low low-key lighting is often used for more dramatic lighting, but through this lighting process, it can also give the photograph more meaning and give the photograph a narrative. But how does the photographer do this? For the dissertation, I wanted to work with lighting and to have a complete understanding of how to use low-key lighting to give an image narrative. Using low-key lighting, I explore how the use of lighting can give the photograph with the model more emotion, and understand what makes the image more dramatic,c and thereby know how the light can tell the story of the person sitting in front of the lens. Studio portraits shot using a low-key lighting setup; this is a simple process as the setup only includes a dark backdrop with the subject in front of the backdrop, the light is set off to the side of the shoot, and then directly opposite the light. It is a very simple setup, but if used and understood correctly can be used to great effect to project more emotion onto an image, giving it more narrative.

Figure 10:

Low-key lighting is a technique used by photographers to give an image a serious or dramatic narrative. Many photographers use this lighting setup within their work one of these photographers is the very well-known English photographer, David Bailey. He made his way to fame during the early 60s. One piece by Bailey showing the use of low-key lighting is from his book archive, one with a portrait of Sandie Shaw (image onthe left-hand side).

This image was taken in 1965 for an issue of Vogue. For this photograph, it is taken with the sitter straight, with the light coming from the left-hand side shining down on the model.

Looking at this image, the viewer can see that Bailey has used a low-key lighting setup to a very effective manner. The model is highlighted, showing the contrast between her pale skin and the dark colours of her clothing. With the use of the low-key lighting, Bailey has been able to make the eyes of the model look more intense, as with the direction of the light on the model, her eyes are so piercing. With this shot, Bailey has been able to capture the beauty of the sitter as the use of lighting has made the model have a glow to her face, making her have an angelic look, but also bringing an intense stare.

Looking at different images taken in different time periods, I now want to look at the work of American photographer Dan Winters with a photograph taken in 2014 of the very famous. And well-known New York actor Al Pacino.

Figure 11:

This photograph, taken by Dan Winters used low key lighting to light the actor for the photograph. Unlike the work of David Bailey and the piece of Sandie Shaw, where the lighting is brighter on one side more than the other, in Winter’s work, he uses the light lower down, highlighting the older features of Al Pacino, the texture of his skin, the wrinkles on his face and hands.

Looking at this image, though, with the use of a low-key lighting setup, it shows that with the change of model, the lighting can make the sitter have a more dramatic effect. In the image of Sandie Shaw, the low-key light makes her look angelic and shows her off as an example of beaut,y but, with the same lighting set up, on Pacino, it makes the older actor look more interesting and causes his portrait to be more captivating to the viewer. But using the lighting and the wrinkles on Pacino’s face, this helps tell the narrative and show the viewer a glimpse into the life led by Al Pacino.

Exploring another image by photographer Dan Winters of a photograph taken of the late great actor Heath Ledger, taken in 2001. This image of Heath Ledger is interesting as with the use of a low-key lighting setup, it tells us about his life, and with the use of the darker side in the image. It focuses on the later life of the actor, and with the darker side of the fac,e it relates to the actor’s struggles later in life with mental health, and then eventually leading to the tragic suicide of the young actor in 2008. Dan Winters shot this image many years before the tragic passing of Heath Ledger, but this portrait of the actor tells a lot about the life of the young actor. With the darkened side of the portrait made with low-key lighting, it also creates a part of the photograph that gives this image more meaning and an element of reflecting on the life that the actor led. It shows the darker side and the pain that the actor went through in later years of his life.

Figure 12:

When the use of narrative photography is used with portrait photography there are many ways to tell the story of a person and through the means low key lighting, I feel that the narrative can be told though how the light is on the sitter of the image as in the case of Sandy Shaw the lighting is used to highlight the beauty of the sitter telling her story through her beauty. Then with the photograph of Al Pacino telling his story through his wrinkles that the light highlights on his face and hands, which shows with age, helping to tell the story of his life. But narrative through low-key light can also show the sad reality of lif,e showing the hidden struggles a person can go through without anyone noticing. For me, though, I feel that low-key light can be a key tool to show the viewer so many different stories. They can show the happy side of life, the ups and downs life throws at you, and how age can show wisdom and intellect in the sitter. Low-key light can show the viewer so many different narratives about the sitter, but narrative is key in portraiture as it can add context to an image, allowing the photograph to have a much deeper meaning.

Section 3 :

Low-key lighting was a technique I had not used before so I wanted to challenge myself to try something new. I started to investigate the use of low-key light, looking at the work of David Bailey who used low-key lighting in a few different portrait shoots. I then looked at the work of the American photographer Dan Winters who uses low-key lighting to express the emotions of many different types of people. After looking at these photographers, I now understood how to use low-key light and set to undertake photoshoots within a studio environment. Here I used some different models to get the desired effect showing emotion and create a piece that shows the narrative of the sitter.

Before shooting, though, I started looking at different low-key light setups and found that it was a very simple set up but also found out that there is a couple of different styles of low-key lighting. One of them being Rembrandt lighting, which is a style of lighting made famous by the 17th-century Dutch painter who was known for focusing the lighting on his subject's face, leaving a small triangle of light under the subject's face.

Figure 13:

The other style of light that helps when using a low-key light setup is the use of short and broad lighting within a low-key light setup. Broad lighting can be used when the photographer frames the portrait so that the brighter side of the model's face is closer to the camera. With short lighting, the darker side of the model's face is the one closer to the camera. These lighting techniques can massively help show more details on the model's face allowing for the portraits to look completely different depending on how the lighting is used which can end up affecting the narrative of the photograph.

Conclusion:

Finally, it may be concluded that when looking at the style of low-key light, it is a key method within portraiture. It can be traced back to painting with the famous artist, Rembrandt, making this style popular within his portraits, giving the people within his images a mysterious and lifeline feel to the subject being depicted. Its second main use is to create suspense, when it was used within the genre of the detective noir style of photography and film, where it was used within scenes to create dramatic shots and make people look sinister.

But within its use in portrait photography, photographers could use this lighting style to make their subject have a feeling of a sinister or even a dramatic feel. Then this creates the narrative for the viewer to make up dramatic stories for the character that sits within the frame. But it is also being used to highlight the beauty of a model creating these dynamic portraits, as all this is shown through the slight section of light on their face. It produces an aesthetic style of beauty in the portrait, accentuating the model’s features within the photograph.

Through using this light setup up I have learnt a lot about how useful this technique can be as through this process of using this setup, I have learnt that the way low-key light holds a special place within photography. Using this technique, the effect given through this process it gives off this heightened sense of dramatic tension. This technique has to be held in high regard due to its very effective range of narratives in the photography; it is carried through to the produced photograph. Not only are these techniques important for storytelling in photography, but also important within art itself.

Figure 13: low-key light portrait 1: Mollie portrait (2023)

Figure 14: Low-key light portrait 2: Eleanor portrait (2023)

Figure 15: Low-key light portrait 3: Rhys portrait (2023)

Figure 16: Low-key light portrait 4: Mollie portrait (2023)

Figure 17: Low-key light portrait 5: Mollie portrait- smoking(2023)

Figure 17: Low-key light portrait 6: Rhys portrait (2023)

Figure 18: Low-key light portrait 2: Eleanor portrait (2023)

Figures:

Figure 1: Diagram of a standard studio lighting setup ()
Figure 2: portrait example of this lighting ()
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
Figure 5: Vandyk- The Prince of Wales and Lloyd George (1919)
Figure 6: Paul Strand- Blind Women (1916)

Figure 7: Out of the Past- Jeff Bailey played by Robert Mitchum (1947)
Figure 8: Out of the Past- Jeff Bailey played by Robert Mitchum (1947)
Figure 9: Out of the Past- Jeff Bailey played by Robert Mitchum (1947)

Figure 10: David Bailey- portrait of Sandie Shaw (1964)

Figure 11: Dan Winters- Al Pacino (2014)

Figure 12: Dan winters- heath ledger (2001)

Figure 13: Rembrandt- self portrait (1660)

Figure 14: Collection of my work using low-key lighting- pre-edit (2022/2023)

Figure 15: low-key light portrait 1: Mollie portrait (2023)

Figure 16: Low-key light portrait 2: Eleanor portrait (2023)
Figure 17: Low-key light portrait 3: Rhys portrait (2023)
Figure 18: Low-key light portrait 4: Mollie portrait (2023)
Figure 19: Low-key light portrait 5: Mollie portrait- smoking(2023)
Figure 20: Low-key light portrait 6: Rhys portrait (2023)
Figure 21: Low-key light portrait 2: Eleanor portrait (2023)

Bibliography/ reference:

Bailey, D. (1999). ‘Archive One’ Thames and Hudson,

Bates, D. (2009). ‘Photography the key concepts’, Oxford and New York: BERG, available at:

https://wapja.com.au/images/Document_Resources/2009_David_Bate_Photography_The_Key_Concepts.pdf

Campbell, D. (2010) PHOTOGRAPHY AND NARRATIVE: WHAT IS INVOLVED IN TELLING A STORY? available at: https://www.david-campbell.org/articles/photography-and-narrative

Clarke. G. (1997). ‘The photograph’, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, available at:https://monoskop.org/images/c/c6/Clarke_Graham_The_Photograph_1997.pdf

Strand. P.(1916) ‘blind women’. Photograph from the book Graham Clarke, the photograph from page 113. Available at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/267748

Tourneur. J. (1947) out of the past. Director of the film, available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/

Musuraca. N. (1947) out of the past. Cinematographer of the film, available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm

Winter, D. (2001). Portrait of Heath Ledger, available at:https://www.artsy.net/artwork/dan-winters-heath-ledger-hollywood-march-12

Winter, D. (2014). Portrait of Al Pacino, available at: https://danwintersphoto.com/PEOPLE/ACTORS/30/thumbs-caption

Vandyk (1919). ‘The Prince of Wales and Lloyd George. Photograph from the book ‘Graham Clarke The Photograph’ from page 112. available at:https://natedsanders.com/david_lloyd_george_signed_8_5___x_10_5___photo__wi-lot40156.aspx