DAY 255

PORTRAITS

Landscape

NIK STRANGELOVE, PHOTOGRAPHER

This is an example of where location can drive the image that you are planning to make.

Nik was deeply influenced by the art and persona of René Magritte, who would often include a bowler-hatted man in his paintings. Magritte had been photographed wearing a bowler hat and a long black coat, so when we discovered this great location in the Peak District of Derbyshire in England, I felt it suitably represented a surreal backdrop and landscape in which to portray Nik dressed as Magritte. The landscape in the image was further enhanced in the frame by distorting it and curving the horizon line by utilizing a fish-eye lens on the medium-format camera.

This portrait was shot on black and white film and while it does not show his face completely, represents Nik enough to recognize him and convey his love of surreal art, landscapes, and Magritte. —SA