K20 – S4831 – Dancer Limbering Up – Derek Chambers
K24-S7244 – A Beautiful Face – Derek Chambers
K26 – S8362 – The Imperious Lady – Derek Chambers
The “Dutch Masters” Series
As I entered my teenage years, a life long interest in paintings awakened, by classical artists more than modern (except for Escher and Mondrian). Over the years I have seized every opportunity, when traveling to world capitals, to visit their national galleries. Like most people, my tastes have evolved. For the longest time, for example, I would gravitate towards the each gallery’s Impressionists paintings. In the last decade or so, though, it is the early Dutch Masters, such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Hendrick Terbrugghen which capture my time and attention.
Inevitably I am drawn, as a photographer, to try to create images that emulate the works of an artist from that time period (roughly 1500-1700). Of course, the photographic medium produces much sharper works than an artist’s paint brush could depict (excluding Photo Realism paintings). However, I can still strive to duplicate the mix of colour and shadow which so marks the works of those Dutch Masters.
In the following images, Kendra is depicting an imaginary young lady from that time period, Elsje de Graff, living in Leiden in the year 1628. She is married to an important and wealthy merchant and dresses appropriately for her station. (I hasten to add that my actual knowledge of that time period, and its fashionable clothing, is almost nil, so that much of our creation is imagined and not based upon fact.)
K21-S5318 – Elsji de Graff, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5328 – Elsji de Graff, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5328 BG – Elsji de Graff, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5328 BG3 – Elsji de Graff, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5539 – Elsje de Graaf, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5608 – Elsje de Graaf, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5667 – Elsje de Graaf, Leiden 1628 – Derek ChambersK21-S5667 – Elsje de Graaf, Leiden 1628 (Different Background) – Derek ChambersK21-S5802 – Derek Chambers
The Cabaret Series
In this series of images, I imagine the interior of a smoky cabaret, in Berlin circa 1930. The model, Kendra, appears in various roles. Smoky black and white images provide the atmosphere. Who is the girl? What is her story? How did her life’s journey bring her to this moment, in time and place? What will happen to her in the next decade or so?
K19-S4649 – Cigarette Girl, Berlin Cabaret, Circa 1930 – Derek Chambers
The imagined dim and smoky atmosphere of the cabaret is emphasized by presenting the images in Black and White. Somehow colour just doesn’t have the same feel:
K14-DCP9146 – Derek Chambers
But sometimes colour really fits:
K24-S6973 – Cabaret Dancer Waiting for the Music to Begin, Berlin, 1930 – Derek ChambersK24-S6975 – A Doubtful Glance – Cabaret Dancer, Berlin Nightclub, 1930 – Derek Chambers
Medieval Series
Trying to emulate the great masters of earlier periods has led to, courtesy of Amazon and China, purchases of “period” costumes (whose primary use, I am sure, is for Halloween parties). The dress in this series is advertised as Medieval. Of course, none of this is historically accurate because of the difficulty of finding, let alone the expense of acquiring, period accurate clothing
K22-S5932 – Derek ChambersK22-S5945 – Derek ChambersK22-S5951 – Derek ChambersK22-S6038 – The Lady and the Candle – Derek ChambersK22-S6117 – The Book – Derek ChambersK22-S6117 – The Book v2 – Derek Chambers
Lady of the Manor
K22-S6290 – A Woman’s Work Is Never Done (so says the lady of the manor) – Derek ChambersK22-S6392 – The Lady of the Manor – Derek ChambersK22-S6373 – Derek ChambersK22-S6395 – Derek Chambers
Fun With Fur
K22-S6406 – She’s The Bear’s Ears, The Bee’s Knees, … – Derek ChambersK22-S6451 – Wilding – Derek Chambers
Black and White
Hollywood Style
Here I am trying to recreate the look of those photos, of famous movie stars of the 1940’s and 1950’s, which were used on posters and sent to fans.
The photos of that time were taken using specialty lights, equipped with Fresnel lenses that could not only precisely focus the light on the face but also vary the sharpness of the light spot, and wide aperture camera lenses that had very narrow depths of field. Typically the photos would be blurred around the edges with only a small sliver of the face in sharper focus.
K23-S6932 – Shades Of Hollywood -1 – Derek ChambersK23-S6932 – Shades Of Hollywood -2 – Derek ChambersK23-S6951 – Kendra – Hollywood Look 3 – Derek ChambersK23-S6898 – Furs, Pearls and the Hollywood Look – Derek ChambersK23-S6831 – Elegance – Derek Chambers
For this next photo I am unable to decide which I like the best, the Black and White or the Colour:
K24-S7069 – Hollywood Movie Star, Publicity Photo BW – Derek ChambersK24-S7069 – Hollywood Movie Star, Publicity Photo Colour – Derek Chambers
At The Train Station
K23-S6610 – Waiting For The Train On The Sorrowful Journey Home – Derek ChambersK23-S6622 – Will That Damn Train Ever Come? – Derek ChambersK23-S6499 – Waiting – Derek Chambers
Earlier Portraits
K9-S6263 – Derek ChambersK20-S4816 – There was smoke, but no fire and no mirrors. – Derek ChambersK8-D0083 – Derek ChambersK8-D0065 – Derek ChambersK8-D0012 – Derek ChambersK7-S2519 – Derek ChambersK3-D206 – Derek ChambersK3-D095 – Derek ChambersK2-D084 – Derek ChambersK12-S7534 – Derek ChambersK11-DCP7333 – Portrait of a Lady – Derek ChambersK15-DCP9761 – Derek ChambersK15-DCP9570 – Derek ChambersK15-DCP9419 – A Young Queen Elizabeth? – Derek ChambersK15-DCP9383 – Derek ChambersK14-DCP9026 – Derek ChambersK14-DCP8559 – Derek ChambersK19-S4624 – Derek ChambersK19-S4519 – Derek ChambersK19-S4493 – Derek ChambersK19-S4483 – Derek ChambersK19-S4467 – Derek ChambersK19-S4409 – Derek ChambersK19-S4286 – Derek ChambersK18-DCP2788 – Derek ChambersK18-DCP2355 – Derek ChambersK17-DCP2005 – Derek ChambersK17-DCP1831 – Derek ChambersK17-DCP1808 – Derek ChambersK17-DCP1786 – Derek ChambersK17-DCP1746 – Derek ChambersK16-DCP0644 – Flower Child – Derek ChambersK15-DCP0174
Portraits By Derek 