Athena

Nothing gives me more joy as a photographer than to make someone feel beautiful. So when Nazaneen reached out to see if I’d accept a commission to create a portrait of her as Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War, it was a dream come true.

The portrait was taken at my now-defunct studio PORTRAITLANDIA!, a 5,000 sq ft facility with dozens of video and photo sets on NE 28th here in Portland. The mechanics of the shot were fairly simple: dominant directional light with modest fill. Costuming, styling, and props were all done in-house. When I began post-production on the image, I used a selection of work by my favorite painters as reference and inspiration, including Vermeer, Fragonard, Reggianini, and Gentileschi.

This is one of my favorite portraits from that period of my life, a great example of marrying in-camera effects and post-processing to create an image which conveys the subject’s strength and beauty as well as my fascination with light. You can see more portraits in this style on PORTRAITLANDIA!’s IG page, https://www.instagram.com/portraitlandiapdx/ — hope you dig them!