Amateur Photographer & Cinematographer (1937)

December 22nd, 1937 The AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER p 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER a ictures in the Making Every week the picture reproduced on the art page opposite will be analysed in detail for the benefit of readers of the paper who are seeking to improve their pictorial work. “ THE CLOWN,” by Paul Shillabeer . HERE is another thing to remind us that Christmas is but a few days off, for clowns and circuses and things are hardy annuals that pop up about this time and do not a little towards the general merriment. And of a clown the portrait is charac¬ teristic. The way the head is shown — peeping out from behind a screen — is reminiscent of his sudden emergence upon the scene with a wit¬ ticism that convulses the house, and his coyness in waiting for the inevitable applause. It is very interesting and lifelike, and, in its class, it is a decidedly good example. Moreover, the fact that it is a product of a miniature camera is noteworthy, and, seeing that the subject was taken by artificial light, it provides an illustration of the extended range of its capabilities. I should think — but do not know for cer¬ tain — that the subject is the result of an instantaneous exposure, the camera being held in the hand. So much might be inferred from its nature, the fact that it was taken by artificial light, and from the way the expression has been caught. There is a whimsicality about it that, I feel, could not have been held for long, and its spon¬ taneity does not seem to suggest that the subject has been bothered to pose or made to wait for manipulations of the camera. My assumption may be wrong, but if the subject should have been posed and the whole thing deliberately arranged, it reflects no less credit upon the author, for it is exceedingly well done, and there is nothing from which the contrivance can be deduced. The technical details, too, are most precisely arranged, the focussing being most exact and the definition being as sharp as it well could be. The texture of the skin through the make¬ up is very much in evidence ; the added accessories — even to the division between the face and skull mask — are perfectly plain ; and the details of the difference between the actual facial features and their grease-paint distortions can readily be perceived. That all this has been provided from a negative but little larger than a postage stamp is, when we come to think of it, very marvellous ; and illustrates the advances that have been made in lens and camera con¬ struction during the last few years. The same standard of workmanship extends to the making of the negative and print. The latter is of excellent quality, and, if the background strikes one as being rather heavy for the brightness of the face, we do not know the circumstances under which the subject was taken and have to assume that nothing lighter was available. As far as composition is concerned, there is little more in it than seeing that one of the eyes is placed off the centre but in a sufficiently strong posi¬ tion to form a focus-point of interest. The one on the left just misses the vertical centre and is well above the horizontal, so that, positionally, the condition is satisfied, and the only other thing that calls for remark is the fact that the way the head is inclined suggests a diagonal form of composition. That adds to the force of the presentment and makes it virile and immediately attractive. The lighting, too, so hap¬ pens that the face is thrown into prominence in compari¬ son with the neck and such of the body as is visible. This is an excellent point, and, while the nature of the sub¬ ject will not render it equally acceptable to everyone’s taste, — no two think alike in these things — pretty well all the elements which I have singled out for mention could be applied in connection with portraiture of other types. A similar lighting, for example, might be most effec¬ tive with either a portrait of an aged man lined of face and shaggy of hair, or a girl of seventeen with rounded features and perhaps a dimple. The inclination of the head is a pose that would be appropriate in both, and the position of the eye would be equally effective whichever the case. I do not say, how¬ ever, that, in the case of the girl, such fineness of definition would be as acceptable, for, if make-up did happen to be employed, and its presence were as plainly revealed, it could scarcely be expected to be viewed with equanimity ! However, it might be passed over at this season, particularly if the photograph were not the only present at the same time, but the experiment is one I should not like to recommend even to the most caustic of the prac¬ titioners of candid photography. And their libellous horrors do demand some punishment, judging from some of the things I have seen, and, if any of them are seen to be at work on the 25th round about dinner-time or after, banishment is too light a sentence. Merry Christmas. “ Mentor.” 22 701