23/06/2024
Photo of Peter Markusson.
We met at a café yesterday, to have a cup of tea and talk about Film Noir photography. I took a quick shot, right before we left the café.
Technically, this is a Low Key photo, because, while the lighting is Film Noir style, it lacks other Film Noir elements. If I was a painter, I would call it Chiaroscuro (Italian "light-dark"). A cinematographer might go with the term Neo Noir, or Film Noir if they feel gracious and encouraging.
Important to me, is that the terms Low Key, Film Noir, Neo Noir, and Chiaroscuro are all used in different contexts. They are not just about the placement of lights, or having dark shadows.
Chiaroscuro emerged as a technique during the Renaissance, though there are indications it was used as early as 500 B.C.
Film Noir is a French term for American movies. It is both a genre and a style, encompassing plot elements, tone, and lighting. The Maltese Falcon (1941) is often regarded as the first major Film Noire, though films as far back in the 20's and 30's, in both Europe and the US, had Film Noir elements, or were full blown Film Noir.
Neo Noir is a modern version of Film Noir, with movies like Bladerunner, Dark City, Sin City, and others.
In photography, low key photography is used for Fine Art (including Fine Art Facebook does not want me to tell you about). Photographers also emulate Film Noir and Neo Noir in pictures, on occasion.
For those who believe it matters (It doesn't really.): 1/60s, f/8.0, ISO 1600. I used an off camera hotshoe flash at EV -0.7, and a speed grid. The speed grid is actually important, because it kept the light from spilling over where I didn't want it. I deliberately underexposed the background, in order to create a picture with strong contrast.
After some initial adjustments, I used a Rollei Retro 80s film emulation. This can produce very good results, or totally muck up a picture, depending on what the picture looks like initially.
