Portrait of a Mask

A gothic revival of sorts

A good portrait, to me, should tell a story. One looks into the person's face and tries to figure out their life story merely by a glimpse of one moment. I love to work with people to tell this story, whether it is truly a portrait of their life story or a story of my own invention that I am endeavoring to tell.

This was my first time working with this particular model, who was very cooperative. I had been wanting to do a goth scene and I thought she would be perfect, and she was. I hope to work with her again. A million thanks to her!

Also of interest is the mask used, which the rest of the studio set was built around. It is one of my favorite masks of my own design.

Portrait of a Mask

My title-photo of the shoot. I love the model's expression and the framing of the branches turned out well. The title has many meanings here.

Poised

This photo gives to me a feel that the person in it is waiting, in control and completely prepared for what comes next -- whether love or war.

Dark and Dangerous

While this photo is essentially the same pose as the photo above it, the angle I switched to gives it a very different feel. Taken from above, looking down the photo now has darker shadows lining one side of the woman's face, giving her expression a more sinister look.

Masked Meeting

Again, changes in the camera's position make for a completely different telling of the story than before.

Glamour

In this photo I was experimenting with different color shades. The warmer tones of this portrait give a more glamorous feel to the photo than a goth one. However, what also should be remember when considering the title is the older meaning of the word "glamour." It is an old English term used to describe the magic of the fay, and their ability to make people see whatever they wanted them to see. Maybe things are not so benign here.

See

I chose to use this photo because of the many small details I like in it: how the hair and the feathers blend together, the slight fuzzyness of the tips of the feathers, how her hair falls over her shoulders, and most of all the single eye that can be seen through the mask. In fact, it is almost the only feature of the face you can make out. It is a tantalising glimpse, and what connects the viewer with the picture.

The next several photos are studies of the model without the mask covering her face. Some were taken before posing with the mask and some after.