Course · Moscow · 2018

Photoband 2018

My second crash course on producing and staging complex portrait shoots, 1–6 May 2018: lectures, hands-on workshops and three large-scale shoots.

days in a row

lectures

On being a commercial artist, planning and pre-production, light and SFX, post-production.

large-scale shoots

Shoot 1: Vive La Révolution

Three young actors in French Revolution costume pose on stacked chairs in smoke, one raising a flag.

The course’s first shoot was a collaboration with Infundibulum, a hand-tailored clothing brand, and three young theatre actors. The theme? The French Revolution!

The Vive La Révolution moodboard

An actor in an orange suit sits high on a chair in drifting smoke, holding a striped flag.

An actor in a striped suit stands on a dark box in smoky light, a brass horn in his hand.

An actor in a long grey coat leans on a dark pedestal, one bare foot up on its base.

Shoot 2: The Polar Stalker

Vladimir Chukov sits on old luggage in a forest clearing as orange smoke drifts through the trees.

The second shoot was a collaboration with Vladimir Chukov, a professional explorer and president of the Arktika Public Foundation, which supports expeditions. For such an extraordinary man we came up with the Polar Stalker.

The Polar Stalker moodboard

Vladimir Chukov in a red parka sits on old trunks in a misty forest, a kettle beside him.

Vladimir Chukov, white-bearded, in a red parka among autumn trees.

Vladimir Chukov in a red hood looks up as snow falls through the branches.

Shoots 3 and 4: The E.T. and The Raven

The course’s last shoot was pure improvisation. No moodboards, no sketches: just a clean white studio, a film actor and a fashion model. Add the stylist and fashion designer Tali Rutman to the mix, and the creative flow has no limits.

Three black-and-white frames of a gaunt actor in black, his hands twisted like claws.

The actor in a black feathered cape perches on a scaffold in front of a large white light.

The actor in a black feathered headdress lies among dark folds of fabric, lit from above.

The actor in black feathers crouches on a scaffold, one leg stretched out, before a white light.

A model in a silver-scaled headpiece and costume turns away in soft blue light.

A model in a costume of silver scales against a black background.

The actor raises a finger to his lips, in black and white.

The model in silver scales stands in a bright white studio among scaffolding and light stands.

The model in silver scales in close-up, light flaring across her face.

The model in silver scales leans on a windowsill and looks back over her shoulder.

The model in silver scales stands by a tall, bright studio window.

The model in a scaled headpiece looks over her shoulder in pale blue light.

The model in close-up, her hands framing her face, silver scales at her neck.

The course students and crew in a black-and-white group portrait in a white studio.

Production crew

Concept and art direction: Andrei Kovalev · Producer: Anna Bednieri · Technical director: Timur Ivanov · Stylists: Ilya Varegin, Tatiana Almond, Tali Rutman · BTS videographer: Nikita Goryachkin · BTS photographer: Gleb Kalinin · Students: Asya Mardo, Julia Vazina, Natalia Kharitonova, Ekaterina Domnina, Zako Danelia, Alina Yavtushenko, Gleb Kalinin, Eka Shonia, Alexey Konstantinov, Denis Tyrin, Pavel Kondratiev, Alexander Rasputin, Diana Usmanova, Vyacheslav Konev