Brian Duffy

During the 60's he was one of the most influential photographers in Britain. However one day he just gave it all up and burnt most of his work in his back garden. Recently his son has discovered what was left of his work and this inspired him to take it up again.

This image was taken during the 1960's. The model is Joanna Lumley who at the time was a struggling model and single mum.  Prior to this image being taken Lumley had become one of Duffy's favourite models and as soon as he found out she was a mother he told her to bring her son with her. I find this image very strange to look at because Duffy has used contrasting clothes for the two models and the hair colour is different. Lumley is also wearing quite dark eyeshadow. This amount of dark areas in the image is surrounding the face of the young boy; which is emphasising his importance in this image. The fact that Lumley is holding the boy close to her and to her face is also showing the emotional attachment that a mother would have for their son and the importance that they have in their lives.

The lighting looks like it was used to not only illuminate the models faces but also make the white backdrop very clean. This use of space would also help to make the models the main subject. I think that a main light would have been used from above and in front of the models due to the shadow that is under the arm. However this wouldn't illuminate the faces how it has, so I also think that another was used from the right just for that purpose which is what the young boy is looking at. I also think that two other lights are focusing on the background in order to diminish the shadow from the first flash. However the light on the left is less intense; I think this because of the difference in density of the shadow behind the body and the feet. The shape of this image is square which isn't completely visible however this suggests that Duffy has used a medium format film camera.

 Taken in 1965; this image shows John Lennon looking very relaxed and happy for the image. The black jumper is the classic look for all the members of the Beatles. Whilst they were on stage they would also wear dark suits. The background looks like it would have been a dark colour as well; using the right lighting even a dark backdrop can be used to create tonal variance that looks really smooth for black and white photography. The simplicity of this image and casual feel to it would suggest to me that it might have been used in a magazine as the image for an interview with the singer/song writer. 

I think that three lights were used; two for the model and the other for the background. The light used for Lennon would have been positioned above and to the right. You can see this with the shadow that is formed underneath the jaw and the nose. However there is a light reflection in Lennon's eyes and the side of the hand is also visible which wouldn't be possible with just the one. This suggests that Duffy has used a camera mounted flash to create more of a shape to the model instead of using soft lighting to blend him in to the background. The background looks like it is only lit with one light from the right; however this is very intense and makes the darkness of the models jumper stand out clearly against the background. I am lead to believe that due to the shape of this print and the time period it is from that Duffy would have used a medium format camera.