Indian Girl With Raised Arms Sepia Street Portrait Photography
Strong Sunlight and Shadows Across a Child’s Face
This portrait came together quickly while I was moving through a street in India. The girl was close to my camera, with both arms raised above her head and her eyes looking directly toward me. Strong sunlight cast bands of shadow across her face. I responded to the combination of the gesture, the light and that direct look, keeping the frame close enough for them to become the main elements of the photograph.
Her face occupies most of the image, with the raised arms entering at both edges. The shadows fall across her forehead, eyes and cheeks in uneven lines, while the brighter areas retain fine detail. Loose strands of hair break up the edges around her face. Her open mouth adds another distinct shape below her eyes, and small embroidered patterns appear along the dark clothing at the bottom. The background is largely blurred and reduced to bright patches around her head and arms.
The restrained sepia treatment gives the image a slight warmth while preserving the strong contrast of the original light. I wanted to keep the shadows as an active part of the portrait rather than soften them away. They give the photograph much of its structure, but her eyes remain its clearest point of attention. Looking back at this image from 2010, I remember the speed of the encounter and the need to react while everything aligned. The close framing holds that brief moment, with the gesture and expression still inseparable from the sunlight.
© Dan Kosmayer, 2010
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About My Fine Art Photography
Every photograph in my collection comes from my own travels, explorations, and years behind the camera.
I create my work as photographic art rather than mass-produced decoration. From street portraits and abandoned places to landscapes, architecture, and the unusual subjects I discover along the way, each image begins with something that made me stop and look.
My photographs are available in multiple sizes so the same image can work in anything from an intimate wall space to a large statement installation.
