CROSSING OVER TO THE DARK SIDE

With the thoughts of the fall season and Halloween shoots still fresh in the photographers editing bin, and the onset of the shorter days and darker nights, the dark thoughts begin to creep into the artistic mind. The months of summer flowers and flowing spring dresses are a memory until next spring and photographers and models alike are looking for creative outlets in the winter months. Of course, for those of you in the southern hemisphere or warmer climates, this may not pertain, and all of us in the snow riddled north hate you for it, but I digress.
The fall and winter months seem to bring on a lot more of the dark and gothic themed photo shoots. Over recent years with the vampire and werewolf movies and television shows the theme has grown and the darker side of photography has begun to come into its own. Possibly it is just a throwback to the era of the romantics with the dark and moody paintings and artwork, perhaps it is a change in society, but whatever it is it is hard to resist the lure of the dark side. Personally, as a photographer, I have stayed the path of the traditional outdoor natural light settings, and even the rare occasions that I shoot in the studio I still throw as much light as possible on the subject. The makeup and wardrobe for me stay fun, flirty, and traditional. That being said, the artistic value of the images that I see every day from photographers and models following Darth Vader's words and going to the dark side, are astounding and attract my attention more every day. For some photographers it is just something fun and artistic, for some it is a reason to learn new lighting techniques and develop newer photography skills. I think for me the allure is the sheer artistic and creative side of it. The wardrobe and makeup that the Goth and steampunk world opened up are very creative and interesting. The ability to come up with new and not previously done ideas is fantastic, as is the thought of the endless new editing techniques and ideas that can be learned and developed.
I have recently worked with a few photographers and models who have yet to embrace the Gothic and dark look, but all have shown interest in trying it out. For us traditionalists, it is a bit of a scary thought, and a learning curve, but something that seems to be the trend and well worth trying. It is a broad spectrum theme that allows any other theme of photography to be implemented in its own dark way. Gothic and Steampunk can easily be done as a fashion or lifestyles shoot. Dark photography is now becoming a great trend in professional headshots as well. Artistic and digitally manipulated images lend themselves well to the darker style and themed shoots. Although I do not see myself becoming a Macabre photographer and going the way of the dark side, I do feel that Darth may have been right, and I shouldn’t underestimate the power of the dark side. This being said, I now start my journey to learn the art of the dark photographer. Hopefully, I will return in future months to show you the riches of my success. Until then, keep your lens clean and your batteries charged.

~Jonathan Route of J. Route Photography