The shot is actually quite "candid" in that it was done during an open house at the studio, the couple are married and things were more or less winding down when I suggested they get onto the backdrop to do a bit of couples posing. I was up on top of a 12 foot ladder so wasn't directing at all. Spontaneous shoot, spontaneous pose. If I'd done this in, say, a motel room it would have had an entirely different feel to it. Studio shots like this provide a certain distance, a detachment from the pose that allows the viewer to see it in a more artistic light. In a motel room setup I'd have been getting comments about violence against women, (which is 180 degrees away from what was actually going on).
This is a really powerful image and caught my eye immediately. The man tugging her hair makes the image provocative and suggests a theme of male dominance. Without it the image would not have leapt out. The only thing that lets it down, in my opinion, is the crumpled backdrop. The obviously-studio setting spoils it for me. (It's just a personally preference, I suppose, as I prefer candids.) I would have found it much more powerful with a natural (or at least seemingly natural) setting, perhaps a bedroom with daylight streaming in through an open window? I imagine you were limited by what was available at the studio, but I'd be interested to know what your thoughts are. You could always digitally change the background if you're into that sort of thing.
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{K:209486} 9/21/2004