Week Three: Windows on the Water

A Sailor and a Wanderer

As I sat at the LAB in costa mesa editing pictures today I stumbled across this photo. I guess this is technically cheating because I took this photo prior to this class beginning- but I promise I took a bunch of pictures of light this week (spider webs, people, architecture) but I did not feel ultra inspired to write about the lighting in any of them like I did when I came across this one.

I was recently commissioned to do this couple's session on The Yankee Ferry docked on the south side of Brooklyn, with these two amazing young women. One is an actress and the other works on the ship, which is the only remaining boat from WWI that is still in the water. The ship itself is incredible- filled with strange old detail and warped wood that carries more stories than I ever will. The sun was setting on the water, and light was pouring in through the port hole windows like buckets of gold. The light from the window was coming directly from the sun, and also indirectly from bouncing beams off the bay.

The light in the photo is picking up all their tiny little details. Individuals hairs are picked up, the texture of their clothing is detailed and obvious, (particularly the aging cotton of the blue and white shirt) and a lots of minute texture is exposed. The beam coming in from the left of the photograph has the stroke of a par can. In fact, with the size of the port hole, it just about is a par can. I have bright, raw natural light coming in at a high intensity.

And yet, the picture feels romantic and beautiful. The photograph juxtaposes raw intense light with gentle loving embrace, and it feels exposed and powerful. It seems that when a story or emotional element is clear, lighting can be used to make an additional comment on the scene, or juxtapose the emotion rather than outright re-iterate the mood or atmosphere of the piece. I'm trying to think of an example of this, and I am recalling a scene from The Dwarf. The moment where the Princess finally confesses her sins (all the lovers she has taken) instead of falling into intense darkness to perpetuate the sinful and dark elements of the intense scene, the deck opened up into a flood of white light, creating a stunning and unanticipated comparison- that the princess had nowhere to hide. She was exposed, and in raw, bright light and was exposed to The Dwarf's judgement. Instead of helping confirm something that is already clear, the light added another layer of complexity and comparison. I feel the same way in this picture. The light is reverent and revealing and raw, layered over something clearing soft and loving.

There is some additional intrigue to this photo for me. The blonde woman's face is the most lit part of the photograph, and yet due to the angle of her face is the most hidden. The other lover's face is exposed in angle, but softer and more diffused in light. Typically the lightest part of the photograph (or the stage) will be the central point of focus, or rather, point of interest for the viewer. Yet in this photo, I feel the central focus is in the smaller woman's face and expression. It's a photo of the smaller woman, looking at the blonde woman who is lit. Did that make any sense? We are looking at her, looking at her, and it's lovely.