Lighting, painting and photography

Dead pan/ flat lighting

Deadpan is literally defined as a flat or emotionless face, the word ‘pan’ being slang for face in nineteenth-century America. Traditionally, it is considered a mode of rhetorical delivery, used in speeches, public lecturing, and comedy, in which humour is delivered without change in emotion or facial expression, usually while speaking in a monotone pitch. It also suggests a kind of ‘artless art’ in its dry and direct mode of delivery.

The deadpan approach is a mode of photography that seems emotionally detached or ‘neutral’ in the sense that it does not make outright judgments, and thus tends to emphasize what might be called an ‘evidentiary’ condition.

Vinegar, Aron.(2009). Ed Rucha, Heidegger, and dead pan photography. Photography and the deadpan, 32(5), 852-873. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8365.2009.00708.x

Rineke Dijkstra  

Kolobrzeg, Poland, July 26 1992

Beach Portraits (1992–2002) - series of photographs that were taken on the beach of people, who are at the age between childhood and adolescence. Due to the fact that she used large format camera that takes longer to set-up and subject age portraits look awkward, emotionless. They look uncomfortable, does not know how to pose yet, not used to their body changes. 

Rineke Dijkstra used flat, fill in flash and narrow depth of field that pops out subjects from the background. 

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro in art is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. 

Giovanni Baglione. Sacred and Profane Love. 1602–1603, showing dramatic compositional chiaroscuro

Side-light

Side-light is when object is lit from one side.

Penny Klepszewska. Living Arrangements 

Viktorija Smidtaite, 2014

Night, Golden and Blue hour

http://petapixel.com/2014/06/11/understanding-golden-hour-blue-hour-twilights/

Night

It is time, when the sky is black and the only natural source light can be moon. But usually objects are lit using unnatural light like street, car lights, studio lights, etc. Pictures taken at this time are usually dark, objects are barely visible.

Edgar Martins

Golden hour

The golden hour, sometimes called the "magic hour", is roughly the first hour of light after sunrise, and the last hour of light before sunset, although the exact duration varies between seasons. During these times the sun is low in the sky, producing a soft, diffused light which is much more flattering than the harsh midday sun that so many of us are used to shooting in.

This type of light produces less contrast, reducing the chances of losing parts of your subject in strong shadows or blown-out highlights. The warm glow adds a pleasing feel to the scene, and the long shadows help to pick out details, adding texture and depth to the image.

Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Hustlers

Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Hustlers

Viktorija Smidtaite, 2014

Blue hour

During the blue hour the sky has a deep blue hue with a cold color temperature and saturated colors. At the beginning (evening) and at the end (morning), a gradient of colors, from blue to orange, can be seen right in the place of sunset and sunrise.

In the cities, buildings are still lit and streetlights on, making it an ideal time for urban and city photography. It’s also ideal for landscape photography because of the different shades of the sky and color saturation.

In the evening, the blue hour coincides with the end of the civil twilight, just after the golden hour. In the morning, it coincides with the initial part of the civil twilight, occurring just before the golden hour.

Gregory Crewdson

Viktorija Smidtaite, 2014

Window light

Window light is the soft light, which comes in through windows when the sky is slightly on the overcast side. It is usually used for portraiture indoors. It is a natural light source similar to side-light. Direct sunlight through window is harsh and produces sharp shadows. The Diffused light usually produces less contrast compared to the normal light, here the shadows are gentle. 

Tom Hunter, Woman Reading Possession Order, 1998

Viktorija Smidtaite, 2014