al larson Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Does anyone know how Paolo Roversi gets his unique feel for his photographs? I know he uses an 8x10 Deardorff, 360mm Goerz f 6.8, cross processes 804/809 for chocolate polas. I think he uses some tilt and shift in his shots too. I would enjoy a discussion about his technique and appraoch from forum members who know him or have worked with him. I believe Roversi's work is timeless and stands apart from anything anyone else is doing. Here is a link to one of his Cerruti ads http://www.vogue.de/vogue/4/models/content/00096/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier_koning Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Funny, I was just reading a Roversi interview in a French magazine. "I'm anti-technical" he says. Like Avedon, it's all about his relationship with the subject, not so much about technique (of course he knows his 8X10 Deardorff like the back of his hand). He uses HMI lights combined with available light, doesn't use a light meter, and he likes the very slight blur caused by 1/4 to 1 second exposures. That's all I can tell you from the article. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 There's an interesting article on Roversi, and his technical approach, in the March issue of Photo District News. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al larson Posted March 22, 2005 Author Share Posted March 22, 2005 Thanks Oliver and Andrew. Oliver, it is kind of funny but my experience in photography is like a spiral or a helix...I keep getting reminders to keep it simple. Funny how that works. I enjoy the texture and delicacy of Roversi's images but maybe I enjoy the relationship he has with his subject and the resulting expressions more. With HMI lights and no meter and 804/809 cross processing he must spend lots of time with his subjects. I have shot large format the same way and it is very time consuming and very expensive but very pleasing. I have not achieved the result...yet. I better work on my interpersonal skills! I have a head start as I love people...the camera and the process really distracts me...maybe I want it to be perfect for my subject. If you have any advice for how to defrag the distraction, I am all ears (I'd really like to watch Mr. Roversi work...I could learn alot). When I find the look I am looking for I will post it here. Andrew, I am trying to buy the reprint...was it March 05? Maybe it is still in the stands. Thanks. AL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Al, Yes, it's March '05. In it, he says that he works with Deardorff, Rollei and Leica. There's also an interesting section on how he uses a Mag-lite torch. I think you definitely need to get this article :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack_carlton Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 This is also a good reminder that people photography is about people first. Then comes photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 "This is also a good reminder that people photography is about people first" Actually, I'm not sure that Roversi is a good example of this. I think his work is very much about putting women on a pedestal. It's all very idealised. This is not meant as a criticism but as an observation. If you read his interview in PDN I think you'll get a sense of what motivates him and his work. I think it's very romantic, with a captal R, work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al larson Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 Thanks Andrew. I received the March 05 PDN last night. The article is excellent. It appears that he prefers natural light and real slow speeds. The article says that he uses Arri HMI lights when needed. I'm wondering if one could replicate the light using strobes or tungsten light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewlamb Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 It's not really going to work with strobes but tungsten lights might do the trick. You could either use tungsten balanced film or put daylight correction gels over the lights. The latter might be the best route but you must remember that the gels will knock off a lot of light and the darned things get very hot. Proceed with caution :) Another thing about tungtsten lights is that they can be a lot harder than the light offered from HMIs. You should defintely consider softening the light as much as possible. Another thing worth mentioning, is Roversi's choice of models. A lot of them are slightly other worldly or ethereal in some way. He doesn't really go for the Sports Illustrated type of girl............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua_lake Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 The April issue of W magazine has a 10 image layout by Roversi, beautiful work. These images remind me of the green-blue effect flourecent lights have on a camera balanced for daylight. Just a thought since we're talking about technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_lindy Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Pleased to be here. I am also trying to achieve this look. For the moment i am more interested in Roversi's color images. the cross processing as far as i understand is for the chocolate/sepia: 8x10 Neg portion crossed with color side in the polaroid processor. But how about Roversi's color images, which have an elegant, low-saturation, rich texture. Is there any image or emulsion transfer going on here?? Or does the color neg processed with the color positive produce these textures and pastels by itself? ...when the light and the model are the mark. - Are there any transfers going on??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al larson Posted May 3, 2005 Author Share Posted May 3, 2005 Andrew- The April issue of "W" magazine has a full color spread by Paolo Roversi featuring his favorite model. It is kind of fun to look at but no classic or memorable images in my opinion. If you like the look, the May issue of "W" has a color spread of Natalie Portman that is awesome. The photographer is not Paolo Roversi but the color and feel are very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nello Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 The "W" shoot with Natalie Portman was done by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. They work as a team on their shoots, and together were recently ranked as #13 in American Photo's "100 most important people in photography" isue. I was surprised as well as I initially thought it was a Paolo Roversi shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel_goh3 Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Yes,he is using the cross process as what he told us in my ex-school in Paris,he is teaching in that photography school but from what i heard he is seldom attend to class much now,cz he`s bz doing his book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al larson Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 FYI- I just received a copy of Paolo Roversi's new book "Studio". For any photographer it is very nice to review. His publisher does not spend much on the physical book but this is typical for a Roversi book. The work is very cool. It is the first time we get a glimpse into his studio(which he compares to the inside of his camera). There are some wonderful portraits and we get to see his Deardorff along with his lens of choice, a 12" Goerz Dagor 6.8 in Acme or Illex(?) Shutter. It makes me want to go into my studio with my Wisner 8x10, a 12" Dagor and some Polaroid 803/804 and get to it. The inspiration makes the book worth it. Now, when is he going to have a show in the United States? Bravo Mr. Roversi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_hughes15 Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 The book "Studio" looks like every kids portfolio out of Art school, similar to Nudi, poorly constructed & ridiculously over priced, it's $210 when it should be $50. Nice work but nothing just about every Fashion photographers assistant trying to get a break in the late 70's and early eighties didn't do with weird models 8x10 and polaroid. Deirdorffs. D2's, Darlots, Dallmeyers, Goerz, Ektars some vasoline and cross processing & long exposures. Throw lith printing in the mix. ... Nothing new. The key to Paolo's work is being so well connected in the fashion industry. You don't get jobs or accolades like Paolo by walking a portfolio and having allot of photo know how. It just doesn't happen in Fashion without serious connections. Take Paolo's book and cut the pictures out, put them in your own portfolio and no one would think anything of them other than them being nice pictures. Don't even get me started on Steven Meisel who got work through connections with Mademoiselle without having a portfolio or any photo knowledge what so ever, then or now. I know, I was there & his tech assistant for 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_hughes15 Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, thats funny, like Guzman, the Douglas Brothers, Davis & Starr. It takes 2 people to make the photo but without the connections and Over hype they look like everyone else. It's all about the Hype & Money spent in Fashion, I wouldn't walk across the street to see a photo show of fashion photographs....quote by Irving Penn..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_hughes15 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Jaques Bagios , mar 23, 2005; 10:15 a.m. This is also a good reminder that people photography is about people first. Then comes photography. I had to respond 1 more time after reading this post. You couldn't be any more wrong. Having worked for a long list of fashion photographers in NYC in the early 80's, Many never uttered a word or very minimally while shooting. Many were down right rude. Penn would make AD's wait in the hall until he was done shooting and he had no patience for models. Horst on the other hand was just the opposite, he would get the assistance coffee. Bill King & Meisel rarely spoke to anyone, never gave models directions and didn't know which end was the front of the camera and they reached the top of the ladder of people photography. Meisel never owned a camera until he had been working for over 5 years. He rented my Hasselblad & Nikons paying for them 15 times over early on. He was more interested in putting on his own makeup during shoots many times handing the camera off to someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galen schlich Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Well, this is a bit late since a year has gone by but I just wanted to respond to the last comment by Dave about putting people first, then photography thing. I'm not one to jump up and wave my hands around about who've I had the opportunity to work with, but I think what the original poster was trying to say is that some photographers such as Roversi do put their subjects first, I know because I have worked with him. He is very much interested in creating an atmosphere with his subject and sometimes I have witnessed him unable to achieve this and other times I have witnessed the way he can bring a calm to a model just by a touch. He very much puts his subject first because he believes if he can't get that atmosphere of peace in his subject then he will definitely be unable to get a photo that expresses his emotions. Everyone has there thing, but to me he remains faithful to the spirit of the emotion of photography and to say he has not paid his dues is also false. He came to Paris from Italy and started working as a simple reporter, he has been around, believe it or not. Not everyone in the fashion arena is just a lackey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vien_thee Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 To david hughes, do you still shoot? Do you have a website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylercheung Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 kind of off topic, but just wondering whether anyone here would know the best way to get a print of the latest NYT style magazine cover shot with Eva Green? The NY Times photo reprint service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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