11/29/2023
A few days ago I posted this portrait of Hedy Lamarr on my personal FB page. This is a fantastic example of 1930’s – 1940’s era Hollywood studio photography and I thought here on my photography page I’d take a little time to discuss it in more detail.
The photo was created by Lazlo Willinger, a Jewish-German photographer who escaped Hitler’s Germany in 1933. Eugene Robert Richee (The head of studio photography for Paramount Studios) invited Willinger to come the US and work as a studio photographer. Richee and Willinger are probably responsible for the majority of iconic photos you’ve seen from that era of “movie stars”. Even if the photos you’ve seen weren’t actually made by one of these two, their style almost certainly influenced any studio photographer at that time.
Now let’s take a moment to look at this Lamarr photo and discuss some technical and historical considerations. To begin with, one cannot help but notice the sheer technical proficiency that I dare say is probably beyond most photographers today. I count at least five lights, or maybe a combination of lights and reflectors being used to get the right mixture of light and shadow under that big hat and around Hedy’s shoulders and hands. No doubt there was some really nice darkroom work done as well but one has to keep in mind this is many decades before anyone would use the kinds of digital magic we use today. In those days they worked really hard to get the shot right and they didn’t have Polaroid or digital previews available.
It’s important to note that neither Willinger or Richee invented this lighting style, in fact they probably got their inspiration for this lighting from 17th century Dutch painter Rembrandt (this Lamarr photo is a classic example of advanced “Rembrandt Lighting”). It isn’t difficult to see the similarity between the lighting in Rembrandt’s 1640 portrait of Herman Doomer and Willinger’s Lamarr photo for instance. This is very different esthetic approach compared to what most photographers use today. This Lamarr portrait is complex even for an example of Rembrandt lighting… its Rembrandt lighting on steroids. Contemporary photographers using “Rembrandt Lighting” setups are typically relying on rather simplistic techniques with a single strobe and reflector, which actually ignores a lot of Rembrandt’s technique (his use of “hot spots” behind his subjects for instance).
Another interesting feature of Lamarr’s portrait is her pose and the general composition. Part of the reason for the elaborate lighting is the fact that this is not a close-up of Lamarr’s face, you can almost see her entire body. She’s arranged at an angle that should almost look awkward but doesn’t and instead being centered in the frame in any way, she crosses it at an angle, almost like a check-mark. These are all classic composition principles deployed very elegantly.
I hope this little discussion inspires some of you to look a little more closely at some of photos from this era, and think about the influence of previous art and artists. Maybe next time you see some Rembrandt’s in a museum, Lamarr’s photo will come to mind?
