Natural light photography has a life to it that produces the most astonishing effects.

MAASAI PORTRAIT

The opening image is a close up of a Maasai headman. The background is a dark door deep in shadow. The soft glow around his head is a result of careful positioning of this handsome man. This allows reflected light from a nearby wall to perform like a reflector board and he is in the penumbra of the shade. The boundary line between light and shadow. The sand on the ground is reflecting light upwards and there is dappled sunshine behind me. 

Look closely at his eyes - the highlights are me as I am wearing a white shirt to allow the eyes to have that sparkle of life. This is the most affective way to use natural light. On the edge of deep shadow where other natural light sources have a slight but profund impact on the exposure. 

The standing shot of two Massai was taken in the entrance of a Swahili home in Kenya. The light outside was fierce but the entry hall was illuminated by the glare outside and these two were waiting their turn at the exterior studio set was a few yards away.

We were talking in a mixture of Swahili and English and I asked the standing Maasai to step up onto the bench that his friend was sitting down. I wasn’t sure what I was after by asking this but I wanted some difference in the composition as their looking straight at me seemed too formal. Then the standing Maasai naturally placed one foot on the wall in this most nonchalant pose while the house owner’s dog appeared in the doorway. That gaze to the distraction while one was looking straight at me was unforeseen but makes the shot work in my mind. Equally majestic and terrifying in the most benign way.

This resulted in the main image. A standing portrait of ine Maasai against the backdrop of a dhow sail that was hung from a tree. Both this portrait and the head close up are currently available as large format archival limited edition prints and as a smaller scale posters Unframed and framed.