Looking closely at studio portraits reveals the small decisions around a face. Light and framing guide the eye, while the person in the picture remains open to more than one reading.
Damian Erdman
Damian edits Omiya and writes about how photographs are made and read. His essays follow the choices around a face in a frame, with a close eye on where the light falls and what the photographer leaves out.
The stories
Seen from above, pavement becomes a field of light and a passerby changes the composition. An essay on framing the street while leaving room for a person to interrupt the plan.
When the daylight goes, a familiar street acquires competing colors. Following green window light and an orange doorway through a few photographs made after the shops have closed, with enough darkness left between the brighter areas.
A window gives the same room a different set of conditions every hour. Following a small studio arrangement through an afternoon, with attention to the reflections and shadows that keep refusing to stay in place.
A lowered gaze, a turn away, and a direct look at the camera give three portraits different places in a sequence. Returning to the images at home, I follow their shared orange palette and the small changes of angle.
After a trip, the photographs arrive in the order they were taken. Making a series means trying other orders, changing the scale, and deciding which frames can carry a memory without requiring its whole explanation.