For this project, I aim to explore the interplay between contrasting lights and how different colors, intensities, and qualities of light interact with shadows and illumination to reveal dimension, mood, and drama in portraiture. I’m interested in examining how light and dark contrasts, as well as color temperature variations (warm versus cool light), can transform our perception of identity and emotion in portrait photography.
This is a photo by Angela Markew that captures what I wish to achieve in my photos. The subject is the main focus as the background is blank, and the subject’s face has a combination of warm and cool lighting that brings out their facial features.
The artist I will study is Ian McCausland. Ian MCausland is a Canadian commercial and editorial photographer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, who has spent over 30 years mastering the art of storytelling through portraits and documentary work. I am drawn to his approach because he centers on creating images that reveal the authentic character of his subjects, often through bold experimentation with lighting and color that directly aligns with my own exploration of contrasting light and shadow.
What particularly interests me about McCausland’s work is his sophisticated understanding of chiaroscuro principles in portrait photography. He employs dramatic lighting setups to create depth and dimensionality in his subjects, a technique I want to develop in my own practice. Like Rembrandt’s masterful use of light and shadow, McCausland sculpts his subjects through carefully controlled illumination, allowing darkness to define form as much as the light itself. His philosophy of “flip it and trip it”radically changes his approach mid-shoot by swapping gels, altering poses, or reversing light placement, inspiring me to adopt a similarly experimental mindset that transforms technical mastery into emotional storytelling.
I find McCausland’s work particularly relevant to my intent because of his exploration of color contrasts and reflective surfaces. In his “Colour Light” series, he demonstrates how complementary colors, such as red and blue, can create visual tension while the interplay of light on different surfaces adds layers of meaning to the portrait. This experimental approach to colored gels and their reflections offers me a contemporary interpretation of traditional chiaroscuro that I can incorporate into my own work, especially as I continue exploring reflections in more personal, realistic settings.
McCausland’s emphasis on authenticity and revealing the “soul of the moment” resonates deeply with my desire to use light and dark as metaphors for life’s struggles and moments of brightness. His ability to strip away superficial elements and focus on essential character through lighting choices parallels my conceptual goal of contrasting life’s darkness with its relieving moments of light. The three-dimensionality he achieves, making subjects emerge from shadow into illumination, serves as a powerful visual metaphor for overcoming difficult times, which is precisely the message I hope to convey in my work.
By studying McCausland’s techniques, I aim to combine technical precision with emotional depth, drawing on his willingness to experiment with unconventional setups to develop my own photographic voice while exploring themes of struggle, relief, and the human capacity to find light in darkness.
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