This is the first in a series of 8 posts about our journey through Don Giannatti’s 8 Week Portrait Class workshop. Check back next week to see our progress while we study some of the best portrait photographers to ever pick up a camera. We start with Victor Skrebneski.

As artists, we strive to continually push ourselves forward. Sometimes the best way of doing it is by looking back – really looking – to those who came before us. That’s what Don Giannatti’s 8 Week Portrait Class workshop is about: each week is dedicated to studying a different photographer, and, taking inspiration from their work, creating portraits of your own. First up? Victor Skrebneski.

Week 1: Victor Skrebneski

You can’t help but to be blown away by Victor Skrebneski‘s work. Whereas most contemporary portraiture shows a tack sharp, “frozen” subject, Skrebneski was not afraid to use long exposures (with motion blur) and soft focus, to impart movement an character to an otherwise static frame. His use of diptychs to show dynamics was especially intriguing to us.

Speaking of frame, Skrebneski’s usage of it also broke boundaries (no pun intended!): his placement of the eyes very close to the edge of the frame, cutting the subject right above the eyebrows, creates a huge expanse of negative space and forces the viewer to connect with the subject in an almost uncomfortable, yet highly effective way.

His lighting style is also very distinctive. Most of his studio portraiture work is based on a single light source, but size and placement vary according to mood and intent: a big, soft source above the subject for a darker mood, or a smaller, more focused, “harder” light closer to the camera for a more flattering look – especially for women, as the harsher light from above can be rather unforgiving on skin.

In another complete departure from the traditional portraiture “rules”, Skrebneski will often let the subjects’ body blend into a dark background, with no separation – again, forcing the viewer to connect with the face. His use of the black turtleneck jumper was an integral part of this dramatic look, and served double duty by providing dark contrast for the jaw line.

Our takeaways:

Here’s the list of what we set out to do, based on his work:

• To capture motion in the frame.
• To make our own version of the black turtleneck without using one; instead, we made a black ruff that can be worn over a normal top as an accessory.
• To use the light to be dramatic and allow background to meet the subject.

And based on the above, here are our results:

(with our heartfelt thanks to our lovely model Iana Fingert, who embarked on this amazing journey with us!)

The Dyptich + 1:

No words needed, just lots of fun in front of the camera:

The Black Ruff:

After playing with the motion triptychs we had a go at a more classical profile pose, with the black neck ruff:

The Dramatic Lighting:

When using top lighting, having your subject look up will be more flattering and make sure you get light in the eyes. On the other hand, those deep shadows also provided their own charm… and playing with Skrebneski’s technique of blending background and person together, this is what we got:

Coming up for Week 2: Yousuf Karsh (walking with the giants here!). Stay tuned…