Inside the Photo #25

Talking with Shaun Stubley

Happy Tuesday, my dear friend! We are entering the part of the year I love the most, when days are long and sunny and warm. This is an injection of positive vibes.

Before jumping into today's Inside the Photo I want to thank you all for being here and reading my articles. I appreciate it a lot.

My guest for this month's appointment is a super talented photographer, dealing mainly with portraits. I met Shaun's art on LinkedIn and, let me tell you, it's something impressive.

I was born in the market town of Loughborough, situated in the heart of England where I attended the Loughborough College of Art and Design.

However, my love for art in general began at a very early age when as a small child I was constantly sketching portraits and animals, so applying to Art College seemed the natural choice.

I chose to attend the Graphic design course which allowed me to learn the basics of commercial design and photography and put me in a stronger position to find my first professional occupation. It was during my years working as an Art Director for several advertising agencies both in the UK and in Italy that my fascination and passion for photography began to grow and finally became my main form of creative self-expression.

During my first years as a photographer I concentrated mainly on portrait photography, gradually developing my own “signature style” which is paramount for anyone who enters this profession.

My images, the majority of which have been converted to monochrome, have been described as being both cinematic and evocative which is mainly due to my fascination of the portraits from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Shaun's black and white conversion is a clear signature, as he says above. His way of creating his portraits is fascinating and marks in a unique way a perfectly recognizable style. His models are portrayed to always evoke emotions, deep feelings and introspection, like the one you can admire here below.

Of Times Gone By - © Shaun Stubley

If I was asked which of my many portraits resonates with me most it would be this one.

This photo of my model Viktoriya was taken some years ago in the beautiful setting of an old abandoned castle but still remains one of my favourites.

At a certain point during the photoshoot I noticed that my model was gazing into the distance and looked completely lost in her thoughts, creating a slightly melancholic and nostalgic mood and I found myself wondering what or even who she was thinking of. Of course I will never know the answer but her gaze conveyed a wonderful depth of emotion which touched me profoundly.

The final image resulted in a thought provoking portrait which I hope connects with the viewer, prompting him/her to ask many questions while looking into her eyes.

To some extent the photo could even be classed as a storytelling portrait as it aims to capture my subject’s character and not only her physical attributes.

Evoking a powerful emotional response from the viewer has always been my main objective in portrait photography as it undoubtedly is for many photographers who choose this genre.

Back in the studio I converted the photo to sepia and added a little texture to enhance the nostalgic and vintage mood as I do with many of my portraits.

I totally love this image and the story behind it. And I love most of Shaun's portraits. I recommend you have a look at his website to admire his entire body of work. It's absolutely worth it.

Website

Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful portrait, Shaun!

Take care and talk soon!