At Your Service: Photo Op
September 1, 2008
The way I handle portraiture," says photographer Fred Licht, "is to put the person in an environment that they’re comfortable in, as opposed to a sterile studio." This technique, the inspiration for which he attributes to 19th-century portraiture, "is not so much about a realistic, objective view of the individual, but more of an idealized view of them in a setting."
Licht emphasizes that it is necessary to allow the subject to influence how and where to take the photo, which, in many cases, is in their home. With Leonard and Susan Nimoy, whom he photographed at their residence, "their garden was something that was really close to them, and it created an emotional response," says Licht.
Furniture designer Rose Tarlow, on the other hand, was shot in her showroom on Melrose Place in Los Angeles. "We wanted to get an assemblage of those pieces—her art—grouped around her like a landscape setting," explains Licht. And architect James Freed was snapped in his 1993 expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center. "The idea is to keep a natural quality to it, so that you feel as if you’re viewing them at a moment of their life."
Licht also makes his own lenses. He finds that lenses that are
too perfect "create mirror images of the world, devoid of emotional content. I
want lenses and portraits to
be more evocative."
Fred Licht Photography, 818.790.1400, www.fredlicht.com
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