Saturday, January 7, 2012

Illustration and Photography

At the dawn of the 20th century, and early in his career, Lejaren à Hiller was an accomplished illustrator, and in time his attention turned to photography. He became known as the creator of American photographic illustration, staging complex tableaux, and much like a movie director, he visualized the sets and directed the models while an assistant operated the camera. Not to compare myself to him except in philosophy, Hiller was "more interested in the final result than the means used to achieve it".

Below, he staged Aspasia, a renowned figure in Athenian history. If you're interested at all, google her, there's some good information. And below that, an example of his earlier illustrative style, pretty good in my opinion, with nice design qualities.

Lejaren à Hiller — Aspasia of Athens — 1933

Lejaren a Hiller — Life magazine — October 1914

1 comment:

Kendra Melton said...

Ah man, these are stunning! LOVE the color on that bottom one especially. Such a strong bold image