Bela Lugosi got me into visual arts. I was very young the first time I watched Dracula, to this day Bela's eyes speak to me. He could say so much with his eyes and only his eyes. I consider this a great gift, one that is rare. He can convey emotion with as little as a squint. I think of photography in a similar fashion. We try to show an emotion or a story with our pictures, he did it with his eyes.
vintage horror films is appealing to me, it always has been. I find the elaborate sets and makeup much more interesting than computer generated props. In photography I feel the same way. This picture is so simple, yet it has stayed with me since childhood. It has power. In my own work I tend to gravitate towards pictures that are similar.
One goal for me is simplicity. This photograph is boiled down to an essence of a feeling. Not only is it black and white, but there is little gray. There are truly only two colors. The face and the hand are the only real distinguishable appendages. You only see what you absolutely need to.
The lighting is simple. It comes from one direction and creates a dark shadow that blocks part of the face. It leaves a lot to the imagination. He could be anywhere, even in the dark of your closet. Location is not important. What is is that he is staring and pointing directly at you. The whole picture doctored so you can only look at him. The strength is in the simplicity. I first learned about the power of simplicity from images similar to this one. It was a great revelation that I now apply in all aspects of my life. Grand elaborate spectacles become cluttered and often are more likely to be misinterpreted.
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