Light, Luminescence & Lumens ...
- Chris Hilton
- Dec 28, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 18, 2025
To be honest, I just like alliteration! A few weeks back we had a discussion evening about light in photography. It ranged wildly through photographers and artists from the present day back to the Renaissance and if there were one thing to remember, it would be this ...
Whilst the image on the left is dark, there is a strong, directional light which, by definition creates strong, deep shadows; the image on the right is flooded with soft, diffused light which creates very little in the way of shadow.
We can see the Caravaggio style of lighting in the work of photographers like Alex Webb, Harry Guayerts and Raghubir Singh.
Another interesting comparison between art and photography is is the well known image 'Aproaching Shadow' taken in 1954 by Fan Ho and Edward Hopper's 'Room by the Sea' painted in 1951 ... both contemporary of each other but still very modern in their feel ...
There is a much softer light in this image by Gregory Crewdson but it is no less dramatic because of it ...
Crewdson is known for shooting elaborate, cinematic scenes with a large format camera ... if you would like to get one of these in for the club competion in January then you'd better start now!
Other photographers that we discussed on the night included Saul Leiter, Ernst Haas and Angie McGonical.
Our visting judge, Tim Booth, has said that it is not the light but what the light does after it has left it's source that is interesting ... so if you think you're going to enter a picture of street light, think again ...
Good Luck ...
