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Rangefinder
Magazine
September 2003
Profile: Sarah Silver by Linda L. May
Capturing Bodies in Motion
Sarah Silver of New York City moves gracefully around
her subjects, freezing movement and motion in time. She is well known
for her unique photographic approach and style. Combining fashion and
movement, she creates timeless digital images for a long list of clients,
including: Ralph Lauren, Radio City Music Hall, Abercrombie & Fitch
Quarterly, Marshall Fields, Nesnadny & Schwartz, Proenza Schouler,
Taschen Books, White & Warren, Ziccardi Partners and many others.
Her work has also been published in many major magazines, including:
New York Times, Elle, City Magazine, French Vogue, PDN, Harvey Nichols
Magazine and V to name a few.
For as long as she can remember, Sarah
Silver has been exposed to photography. Her grandfather was a baby photographer
for 50 years and her aunt was
a fine art photographer. Before she was old enough to operate cameras,
she was posing in front of them. Her grandfather taught her custom black-and-white
darkroom printing techniques, and gave her his Mamiya RZ-67 when she
was 18, which was her first medium format camera.
Sarah wanted to be
a ballerina; however, her dance instructor at Vassar College recommended
she photograph the class instead, which is how she
found her passion for photographing movement. After graduating from Vassar,
with a degree in Middle Eastern studies, Sarah then earned a master’s
degree in photography and related media from the School of Visual Arts
in New York City. She knew the competition was fierce in The Big Apple,
and to be truly successful, she had to be fully prepared. Sarah began
taking photography assignments while still in graduate school. By the
time her studies were complete in 2001, she had already built a client
list and was ready to open her studio. At first, Sarah worked in her
apartment, creating stunning images in spite of the small space. A little
over year ago, Sarah moved her business into a 4000-square-foot studio
in Manhattan, which she shares with four other photographers.
“
My Dad used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter where it was shot,
if the idea is strong, the image will speak for itself’ And that’s
true because some of my best images were created in that small apartment.
Coming from so little space, there’s nothing I can’t do.
Somehow, I’ll make it happen! Back when I was shooting in my apartment,
I had to make things happen. I had real clients in my living room and
changing in my bathroom. But they told me they enjoyed the homey, comfortable
feeling there,” Sarah says.
Left: Model: Olivia Bowman. Middle: Shot was first
published in Surface magazine No. 26; Model: Olivia Bowman. Right:
Model: Olivia Bowman. |
“
The moment I started photographing dance, something clicked. For me there
was no better feeling than that split second perfect moment when the
camera froze perfection in human form. My timing was completely intuitive;
all I needed was someone to dance for me. True, I needed to perfect and
modify my process. First, I wanted to shoot dance in the studio, where
I was the choreographer. Next, I wanted to shoot dance with real fashion
instead of costumes. Finally, I realized it was time to start using fashion
models instead of dancers,” a Sarah Silver quote from the January,
2003, issue of the Hasselblad Forum magazine, describing her work.
Using
the proper tools, and being one with that equipment is necessary, according
to Sarah. That’s why she uses a Hasselblad 503CW medium
format body with a Sinarback 23, creating a powerful digital tool. A
fiber-optic line connects the back directly to an Apple G4 laptop. As
for lighting equipment, she uses Broncolor Grafit power packs, with Pulso
and Primo flash heads, and a long list of accessories, including the
new, large 220cm Broncolor Para 220 umbrella, which is specially designed
for extreme flexibility in lighting characteristics and can be used for
direct, hard or very soft light.
Proper lighting is critical when shooting
motion, especially when using digital capture, according to Sarah. “When
people are moving, the fastest moving part always gets the blur; for
example, the foot,” Sarah
explains. “If the flash duration is really long, then the whole
picture is blurred. Because my style is sharp, when shooting movement
with studio strobes, suddenly the flash duration, and not so much the
shutter speed, is an important factor for me. I like working with umbrellas,
a reflected light source. Sometimes, I want very contrasty light, and
sometimes, I want hard light, but mostly I use one umbrella, or a softlight
reflector, with lots of reflector cards and Fome-Cor for fill.”
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“
I don’t go for reality lighting. Instead, I prefer lighting that
is thought provoking and dynamic. I’m lighting for the movement,
so I see what the colors and textures are, and the movement the model
is creating, and I light for that. Naturally, I’m going to light
a very flowy material differently than a shiny, metallic fabric. My interest
in photography is from a theatrical viewpoint. I use a lot of backdrops.
I’m very interested in contrasting shapes and colors, and I’m
constantly tweaking the lighting. Everything needs to be lit so things
pop from the background.”
While still in grad school, Sarah decided
to embrace digital imaging. She realized that if she was going to succeed
in today’s world,
she had to use the latest technology, so it was natural to go digital,
instead of film. Many clients come to Sarah specifically because she
shoots digitally—the results are instantaneous. There’s fewer
mistakes and re-shoots, because clients view the final photograph on-site
and approve it right then. They don’t have to wait around for film
processing and proofs. At the end of the day, Sarah often uploads the
final edit directly to the client’s FTP server online, and the
job is done. “With digital, you can’t get away with missing
anything because it’s all there before you.
Model: Olivia Bowman |
Stephen Petronio Company |
There is no excuse
for bad lighting, soft focusing or poor exposure. You have to do it right
from the beginning,” Sarah says.
Sarah Silver’s future is
as bright and colorful as her striking images. In time, she hopes to
expand her market to include larger advertising
clients and do more international assignments. Readers may contact Sarah
Silver via e-mail at: sarah@sarahsilver.com; or view her website at:
www.sarahsilver.com.
Linda L. May is a writer living and working in the
Midwest.
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