Pierrot Portraits by Malcolm Nabarro
PIERROT PORTRAITS – quite an experience
Back in May I was invited to shoot a series of portraits for a CD cover; a new release by the soprano Claire Booth and Ensemble 360. The album was to be called ‘Pierrot Portraits’ and it features music inspired by the commedia dell’arte character Pierrot, sometimes known as the sad clown. Someone, in their wisdom, decided that with such an album concept then a set of portraits of the musicians, complete with Pierrot make-up, would make an ideal album cover And that’s where I came into the project. Why me? Well I have to declare an interest in that my son Benjamin, is a member of Ensemble 360, and they were looking for a photographer with musical sympathies and a low fee demand, very low!
The shoot took place in Sheffield, in the Crucible Theatre. A make-up artist was hired and we had just a morning to get the job done. The musicians were in the middle of a major chamber music festival in Sheffield and the soprano Claire Booth came up from London. I soon became aware that the pressure was on.
My chosen setup was a simple off-camera flash reflected through an umbrella with a diffuser, a kind of home made soft box. My favourite lens for portrait photography is a Tamron 70-180, which allows me to stand back from the subject but gives lovely sharp results.The brief was for close portraits but including a glimpse of the instrument of each player. As the make-up was of course predominately white I went for a black back-drop.
The shoot was challenging and although I knew the musicians and they knew me, the fact that they were out of their comfort zone, transformed with quite extensive make-up, meant that they were at times self-conscious and unsure how to ‘pose’.
It was marvellous how all of the musicians bought into the project and the end results were certainly appreciated by all concerned, much to my relief. It was a very satisfying project to be part of and gave me an experience of pressurised commercial photography.
The CD is now released on the Onyx Classics label. It’s an important piece of work, particularly as this year is the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth, the controversial composer of the 20th century with his ground-breaking work Pierrot lunaire being the main work on the recording. I am quite proud to have played just a small part in this great project.
Malcolm Nabarro