THE ART OF REMOVING - Why less creates better portraits
I have always been drawn to images that feel simple. Not empty. Simple. There is a difference. Over the years, I have learned that sometimes the strongest thing I can do to a photograph is not add something. It is remove something. Colour, too much styling, too much makeup or too much retouching. A distracting background or too much equipment. Until there is almost nothing left and then you realize that the only thing you really needed was already there. The person.
01 – I love black and white for a reason
Colour can be beautiful but colour can also be incredibly distracting. A strong colour. A fashion piece. A particular background. A certain colour grade. Suddenly your eyes are looking everywhere except at the person. Black and white takes some of that away. And when the colour disappears, other things become louder. The eyes. The skin. The expression. The light. The smallest details in someone’s face. That’s one of the reasons black and white portraits stay with me. They don’t try to impress you with colour. They ask you to look.
02 – Less makeup more person
I often tell people before a shoot: „Come with as little makeup as possible.“ Not because makeup is bad. Because I want to see you. Real skin. Real texture. Freckles. Small imperfections. The details that make your face yours. Sometimes people cover those things without even thinking about it. And I think it’s a shame. Because those little details are often exactly what makes a portrait feel alive. I don’t want to photograph a perfect version of you. I want to photograph „You“.
03 – You don’t need a wardrobe
The same thing applies to clothing. I have seen people arrive with half their wardrobe because they think more options automatically mean better photographs. Usually, it doesn’t. Bring one or two things that fit you well. Things you feel good in. Things that belong to you. That’s enough. Because when there are too many choices, too many colours and too many details, the photograph can start becoming about the clothes. I want it to be about the person wearing them.
04 – The best retouching is the retouching you don’t see
This is probably one of the most important things I have learned about retouching. I don’t want someone to look at an image and think: “Wow, that’s heavily retouched.” I want them to look at it and simply see a beautiful photograph. Retouching should support the image, not announce itself. It should be subtle. It should have a purpose. And sometimes the hardest part is knowing what not to touch. Because once you start changing everything, you can very quickly remove the person you were trying to photograph in the first place.
05 – I learned to work with less
I never had much money when I started. I couldn’t buy every camera I wanted. I couldn’t build some huge production around every photograph. I had to make things work with what I had. And somehow, that stayed with me. Give me the best camera in the world and, of course, I’ll appreciate what it can do. But take it away and give me something cheap? I still want to be able to make a good photograph. Because the camera isn’t the photographer. The technique isn’t the vision. And I honestly believe that the more you rely on equipment, the more opportunities you create for something else to get in the way. More equipment. More settings. More things that can go wrong. Sometimes less gives you more freedom.
06 – One camera. One lens. One person
At the end of the day, I don’t need much. A camera. A lens. A person. And light. That’s it . Everything else is optional. The more I photograph, the more I realize that photography is not really about how much you can add to an image. It is about how much you can remove without losing what matters.
07 – Until only the essential remains.
Maybe that is what I mean by The Art of Removing. Take away the colour when it distracts. Take away the styling when it becomes too loud. Take away the makeup when it hides the person. Take away the retouching when it starts changing reality. Take away the background when it competes with the subject. Take away the equipment when it gets between you and the person. And eventually, there is very little left. A person. A face. A look. A little light. And hopefully, something real.
