Chris Knight On Creating The Dramatic Portrait With Style

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Chris Knight is a photographer based in New York City. We sat down to talk about his upcoming book, The Dramatic Portrait.

He combines his unconditional love of art history with his conditional love of technology, topping it off with a flare for the cinematic and an uncompromising eye for detail.

Chris also has a full blown workshop via RGGEDU.com called Dramatic Portraiture & Lighting With Chris Knight.

Use the code: TIFFINBOX (to get 15% off for a very limited time)

The Interview

The questions I asked Chris:

1) I love reading biographies on photographer's websites and yours stands out a bit.

Speaking of yourself you say: “He combines his unconditional love of art history with his conditional love of technology, topping it off with a flare for the cinematic and an uncompromising eye for detail.”

Where did you acquire that kind of discipline?

2) Your photographs remind me of paintings that one would see in a museum. Is that your end goal?

3) Why is drama so important to you in portraits?

4) You give light and shadow almost equal value in telling a story. Most of your photographs don't draw attention to the use of artificial light. Is that a skill that was taught to you or is it something that you have honed yourself?

5) Let's talk about your book, The Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Crafting Light and Shadow. What prompted you to write this book and who is it for?

6) Most photography books about portraits jump right into loop lighting or Rembrandt lighting. You spend nearly 40 pages describing the history of portraiture? Why do you believe this is important?

7) You say: “The hows and whys are inextricably entangled in a successful photograph, and hitting both of those points shows mastery of the technical medium.” Can you explain that briefly?

8) What does it mean to you to have a published book? Does it open more doors for you to teach?

9) What can we expect from you next?

10) How can people find you and your work online?

The Dramatic Portrait

Buy Chris Knight's book now or buy the PROEDU.com tutorial today. For a limited time, PROEDU.com is including the book with the purchase of the tutorial.