German photographer Stefan Schildhauer has produced a dramatic low-key photo series of historical busts which demonstrate how powerful minimal lighting can be. The marble busts of famous Germans (politicians, scientists, artists) were assembled by Bavarian King Ludwig I in a neo-classical 'Greek temple' near Regensburg, Germany.
Schildhauer delivers a twist in his interpretation of the images: “I wanted to create the feeling that the faces are coming out of the dark and are watching us from ‘the other side'. Instead of presenting the images as 'Manuel Kant' or 'Ludwig van Beethoven', I decided to associate the 'characters' with the demons of the Greek myth underworld. All the names have dark meanings: Apate ≈ deception; Thanatos ≈ death; Hypnos ≈ sleep; Erebos ≈ darkness; Fatum ≈ destiny and the portrait of King Ludwig is 'Hades' – the boss of underworld!”
Enjoy the low-key series below…
Apate
Erebos
Fatum
Hades
Hypnos
Thanatos
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