Body research

For research task I've chosen three artists: two painters and one photographer. Because human painting was very popular trend from the old times therefore lots of portrait creation technique to photography came from paintings. Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer (baptized in Delft on 31 October 1632, and buried in the same city under the name Jan on 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. His one of the best works is “GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING” (Meisje met de parel), c. 1665-1667:

Vermeer writers have frequently noted that no line defines the profile of the left-hand side of the girl's nose. The bridge is given precisely the color and tone of the adjacent cheek. The lines of the right side of her nose and nostril are lost in shadow as well. Moreover, the blue section of the turban has been reduced to two essential tones of ultramarine blue, one lighter and one darker.

These and other characteristics have lead more than one scholar to believe that Vermeer had created the Girl with a Pearl Earring with the aid of camera obscura, a sort of precursor of the modern photographic camera. The imperfect lens of the period camera tends to eliminate line and reduce the tonal range of lights and darks.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606[1] – 4 October 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt's later years was marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships.

Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn (III) by Rembrandt

Jacob de Gheyn III is a famous painting. Rembrandt painted it in 1632 and is the most stolen painting in the world. It has been stolen and recovered from galleries at least four times, making it the world's most stolen painting. Every time the painting has been recovered anonymously and as a consequence nobody was accused of the theft. This painting by Rembrandt is so well known that it would be difficult for a thief to sell it.

Rembrandt lighting is a lighting technique that is sometimes used in studio portrait photography. It can be achieved using one light and a reflector, or two lights, and is popular because it is capable of producing images, which appear both natural and compelling with a minimum of equipment. Rembrandt lighting is characterized by an illuminated triangle under the eye of the subject, on the less illuminated side of the face. It is named for the Dutch painter Rembrandt, who often used this type of lighting.

Hendrik Kerstens uses his daughter as his model, immortalizing her, picturing her in relation to events in her own life as well as projecting onto her his fascination with the Dutch Master painters of the seventeenth century.

His ‘Paula Pictures’, one of which won the PANL Award in 2001, are reminiscent of Vermeer's painting. The austerity and clarity of the photographs, coupled with the serenity of the subject and the characteristic ‘dutch’ light all combine to create striking, beautiful and haunting works of art.

Kerstens won second prize in the 2008 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for his iconic work ‘Bag’ which is shown at the National Portrait Gallery. Born in Hague in 1956, he is a self-taught photographer whose work has been exhibited in over 40 exhibitions across Europe and the United States.