THE VAN GOGH LIKENESS Photo

Photographer’s Note

THE VAN GOGH LIKENESS

My new, but already good friends, Arnold and Daniel Ludwig, are seen in a double portrait. The father-son duo flank a pair of small paintings, Father’s Day presents, created by artist Daniel, for his father. The portraits, inspired by Gauguin and van Gogh paintings, respectively, are prized possessions in Arnold’s home in Providence, Rhode Island. Daniel Ludwig is an extraordinarily talented professional artist whose other works can be seen in Art Net. Arnold Ludwig, a preeminent academic, a professor emeritus of psychiatry, is the author of a number of excellent books, including ‘King of the Mountain,’ which examines, compares, and ranks the effectiveness of world leaders of the 20th century.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), the iconic Dutch/French expressionist, produced thirty self-portraits in the span of only five years, and the shear number and expressiveness of his works evokes the modus operandi of the Dutch Master Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), who lived 2.5 centuries earlier and left behind a diary of his own appearance with 57 self-portraits in oil alone (another 50, when etchings and drawings are included). The original of the “Self-portrait of van Gogh with Bandaged Ear,” depicting the artist shortly after he cut off his own right ear, was created in 1889, and now hangs in the Courtauld Institute Galleries, London. A series of self-mutilations culminated with van Gogh committing suicide just a year later. It is almost certain that van Gogh suffered from schizophrenia, and indeed a pair of clues exist: in one of the artist’s most famous paintings, Dr. Gachet, his physician, is seen holding the plant ‘foxglove.’ It is from this plant that digitalis, used in treating the schizophrenia, is derived. Meanwhile, it is also known that a side effect of the medication is “yellow vision.” This in turn explains the artist’s famous “Yellow Period,” when he was painting endless sunflowers, and rooms with yellow wall paint. The portrait of Dr. Gachet brought almost $83 Million in an auction in 2000. (That sum represented a record, until 2004 when a Picasso portrait of Dora Maar sold for $95.2 Million.)

On a note integrating science and art, the Impressionists, and following them, the Expressionists, introduced hitherto unseen brilliant colors as an unexpected manifestation of the Industrial Revolution. Factories, with skyscraping smoke stacks, were able to produce much higher temperatures than ever known, and in the process new oxides of metals were observed. It is from these oxides, in turn, that some of the new colors were produced. Thus the shimmering effects in magical works by Monet and Renoire, then by van Gogh and others have an indirect connection with the Industrial Revolution that enhanced the quality of human life.

In the photo, I regret cutting off the top of Daniel’s head. In several other photos that I shot, the head is not cut off, but the camera flash is seen to have created an annoying shadow of Daniel on the blue wall. Nikon D70, 18-70 mm Nikkor lens, ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/60 sec; flash, no tripod.

As a postscript, I would like to thank my good TE-friend, John Maenhout, who observed that in modern (photographic) portraits, heads are frequently partially cropped.

isabela_sor, levocan, ChrisJ, meltemi, jhm, salvator, AROBN54, Ertan, ALIRIZA, ahmetgedikli, thea0211, papagolf21, mursaloglu, gunbud, puzzle, pablominto, kdialyna, zeca, vagabondtravels, stego, tigra, branley, keribar, alvaraalto, omerozden has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

isabela_sor (41913) 2007-05-06 11:14

My salutes to your friends,Bulent..and must admit the paintings are very good :)Good double portrait and a great note too
A nice Sunday
Isabela

mesutilgim (36291) 2007-05-06 11:34

Selam sevgili Bulent,
Güzel bir fikir ; başarıyla çözülmüş. Bilgiler muhteşem, flaşla çekilmiş olması da çok rahatsız etmiyor.
Ellerine sağlık, tebrikler
MESUT ILGIM

ChrisJ (69588) 2007-05-06 12:11

Selam sevgili Bulent

The guy on the left does bear a striking resemblance to the central portrait. Good sharpness, colourc & pov. Tfs!

meltemi (9746) 2007-05-06 12:38

Hello Bulent,
great portrait, sharpness and lightness are perfect, many details to see, and very expressive smile of both your friends. And even more, I love how the image tells a story, all with just one image, and very lovely presentation as well.
Kindest regards.
Stella

jhm (81719) 2007-05-06 14:11

Hello dear Bulent,

I find your crop excellent, the small part of the head, this is the modern methode in the photography, the smile of the two man make this picture very lovely , also the quality is very well, one advise Bulent, use a monopod or a tripod for these pictures, higher F and no flash, ISO 400 or more, you shall have a nice result. TFS.

Have a nice evening,
John.

AROBN54 (10689) 2007-05-06 15:00

Hello, dear Bulent,
A most amazing portrait. The likeness to Van Gogh is uncanny. Your light and color are marvelous and your friends have the most pleasant of expressions. The details are beautifully sharp and this is just a really great shot. Warmest regards,
Shelly

Sekhmet73 (4131) 2007-05-06 15:42

Nice idea for a gift! I must remember that....
As usual, a very good shot, sharpen, well detailed and this time with nice "family smiles". (I saw today your email, thank you!)
Sabrina

Bluejeans (31613) 2007-05-06 16:22

Oloa Bulent , parabens !!!que bela foto com estes dois amigos teus !!!Bonitos quadros muito bem pintados .
Um abraço Gonçalo

ALIRIZA (16195) 2007-05-06 17:23

Merhaba Bülent Abi,
Fondaki resimlerle çok hoş ve samimi bir ikili portre. Bilgi dolu notunula güzel bir sunum. Ellerinize sağlık...
Selam ve saygılarımla...
Ali Rıza

ahmetgedikli (21577) 2007-05-06 17:26

Merhaba,
Harika çekim ve netlik ile nefis çifte portre; yüzlerindeki mutluluk ifadesi çok hoş...
Selamlar, saygılar.
Ahmet

delic (6735) 2007-05-07 2:27

Merhaba,
Lovely photo. I admire the son's creativity. Great technique with the flash. Slight crops are not harmful in such cases.
Best wishes,
Hakan

thea0211 (1355) 2007-05-07 3:16

hello bulent,
your new friends have friendly smiles, indeed :)! - ... lots of Van Gogh(s) in your image :)! i checked the link you provided and Daniel Ludwig's work is truly outstanding - he is very talented, you were right - am sure his father's work is just as brilliant in his own field.

very good resemblance here, nicely portrayed by the artist and by the photograph, aswell.

can't remember if i told you that Van Gogh is one of my favorites - the day i saw one of his "Sunflowers" was during my first visit to London and is a day i will always remember (it was early january, grey, raining and cold outside, and i had such a revelation while watching that warm and full of life painting for the first time!!!)

on the other hand, i was a bit dissapointed by the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, or maybe my expectations were too high? ... still i have a soft spot for Van Gogh in my heart - thanks for bringing him/and his work up.

thanks again for introducing your friends to us!

stay well,
dora

salvator (18743) 2007-05-07 3:33

Hello Bulent Bey,
Superb double portrait. Your use of light, the colors, their expressions are superb. The sharpness and clarity outstanding. Best personal regards. Salvator.

Ertan (2979) 2007-05-07 3:47

Merhaba Bülent Abi
Notunu ilgiyle okudum.Çok bilgilendirici açıklamalarda bulunmuşsun.Flaşla çekmek harika fikir bence.Çok net ve kaliteli fotoğraf olmuş.Ellerine sağlık
Sevgilerimler

Ertan

papagolf21 (55978) 2007-05-07 4:58

Bonjour, mon ami Bulent,
J'aime cette photo originale qui ne manque ni d'humour ni de subtilité. De plus, la note d'accompagnement est très riche d'enseignement.
Vos amis ont du talent !
Très bonne journée.
Amitiés.
Philippe

mursaloglu (5068) 2007-05-07 6:24

Dear Bulent bey
Is a very humouristic but really well done portrait picture enriched with the master's selfpicture. The symetric sense is too great in this picture. Bu arada bana yazdığınız övgüler için cok tesekkur ederim. Really great job. My best regards ihsan

gunbud (27547) 2007-05-07 9:21

Hi Batalay,
Wonderful twin portrait of this father son team. Very warm clear colors and sharp details. One can sence the the closeness of thier adult relationship. Excellent informative note.
Regards, Tom

sothy81 (8496) 2007-05-07 11:13

Hello Bulent,

Here you have a great portrait with such kind of nice detail note. Technically, the picture is composed with appropriate exposure. Cutting the head is not a big deal. We just want to see the face, that shows who he is. This is my thought: I would let them look at the picture, and then you shoot them without them knowing you are shooting. And this is just an idea. Then you may want to focus on the elder man with the photo in the frame to show how they really look like each other. Again, just a thought. Overall, the photo is well composed, with great colors and lighting.

Sothy

puzzle (700) 2007-05-07 12:55

merhaba hocam,

cok canli,cok renkli,pozitif enerji veren,gulumseten bir fotograf.
elinize saglik..
Daniel Ludwig 'in Art Net teki calismalari gercekten basarili,her nu calisma estetik duygusuna sahip olamayabiliyor,ama Ludwig'in her calismasinda ayri bi estetik var gercekten.
Not icin cok tesekkurler!

Leyla

pablominto (40008) 2007-05-07 14:35

Hello Bulent,
This is a funny situation, and let me add... well captured!
The paintings are most interesting, and I think you reproduce the colours well but it is hard for me to judge since I never saw the original...
Interesting work by both of you!
Greetings,
Pablo -

kdialyna (3068) 2007-05-07 15:25

Good evening Bulent.
Very good idea the...triple portrait.
Your new friends really looks nice persons. They have nice and warm smiles.
The Daniel's, Van Gogh style, portrait from his father looks great.
Very good work from you also Bulent with a very good presentation.
My warm regards
Kostas

vagabondtravels (6097) 2007-05-08 8:50

Hi Bulent

Nice TE photo and a great note. Funny double portrait. Very sharp with good detail. Well done.
Ben

stego (22336) 2007-05-08 18:14

Hello Bülent,
Truly a great portrait, the only minor flaw being precisely that cropped head top. Much vivid an pleasant to look at, for their smiles and your wise compo.
Regards, José.

tigra (2966) 2007-05-09 22:14

Wow! Nice capture, Bulent.
The likeness of this man is really incredible!
Katia

zeca (20026) 2007-05-11 10:52

Hello Bulent!
Its nice to know real people and art in your gallery! The portrait is perfect, with nice colours, sharpness and, specially, lights... without shadows.
Regards,
Zeca

branley (3681) 2007-05-12 5:13

Hi Bulent,

I love this shot and there is an uncanny resemblance between the painting and Arnold, all that's missing is the spectacles and the pipe! Van Gogh is our favourite artist, partly due to his eccentricity but mainly due to his brilliance. He had a style that no one else came close to, even to the present day. I wonder though, if he'd been as popular during his lifetime as he is now, would his work have been so good or would he have presented a more commercial approach? A fine capture my friend and it's good to be back.

Regards

Stephen

keribar (42724) 2007-05-19 2:29

Hello Bulent,
You really take a serious time in order to write a great story, and let alone that the picture is so appealing, ths story which comes together is also worth to be read down to the end.

I wish an excellent week-end - Izzet

alvaraalto (5227) 2007-10-03 12:46

Hi Bulent,
Indeed a nice likeness of the man and the painting. Especially the moustache and the nose are van Goghiaans.
I underline the remark of John. He is right. Not only in pictures but also in painting it gives a scene more tension and a less static composition.
Groet Rob