Environmental Portraits

I started my analogue black and white portraits of artists in spring 2021, the second year of the pandemic. I wanted to photograph actors in Berlin over a longer period of time. This was the right moment because theaters were closed and filming of movies had largely been stopped. I decided to shoot some kind of “environmental portraits” in public spaces. I wanted the location to be part of the portrait. In addition, local health restrictions back then allowed gatherings of exactly two people outside, which was a perfect fit for my project. So, I photographed the actors outside, in the park or on the street, outside of their roles, away from the stage and the set, in a personal, more intimate situation.

Available Light

I was looking for a chronological sequence of the portraits, so I wanted the transition of the seasons to be visible in the photographs. That’s why I chose to work with “available light” and to use analogue large format, which can better compensate for poor lighting conditions and captures more detail and nuance. At the beginning, I used a Graflex Crown Graphic, a 4x5 field camera, because it is very handy and easy to transport. Later, I also used a Sinar F1 because it allows tilt-shift photography. Working with two cameras allowed me to comfortably use two different focal lengths, as changing lenses on large format cameras can be a bit inconvenient.

Reliable

All pictures were shot on ILFORD HP5+ film. I wanted a decent, yet not too hard, contrast, making use of mid tones, and a grain that would not be too pronounced. This film is very reliable with poor light, the result looks very high quality, yet at a reasonable price. I photographed over 100 actors in almost 2 years. When the pandemic was declared to be over (at the beginning of 2023), I completed my photo series and published it as a book in autumn 2023 with Kerber Verlag (“Character Arc”, 210 x 260 mm, 168 pages, 103 images, ISBN ISBN 978-3-7356-0931-1)

Pascal Haas

Franziskus Claus

Pascal Haas

Lamin Leroy Gibba

Character Arc

Subsequently, I went on to shooting analogue medium format head shots. While my “Character Arc” portraits had mostly been full-body or half-length portraits, now I want to be closer. These portraits are more rigorous and frugal, tight frame, with neutral light and no discernible background.

Loyalty

I remain loyal to the ILFORD HP5+. I am very enthusiastic about the nuances of the black background tones in the images. For these photographs, I use a Pentax 67. For me, it is the ideal medium format camera for portraits because you look directly at the sitter through the lens instead of looking down into a waist-level viewfinder. Here too, I am trying to show the artist approachable and vulnerable, free from any artifice. I want to capture my subjects as they are, and not as they are when being photographed. I see my portraits mainly as documentary work that reflects the uncertainties of our time.

©Pascal Haas