The Art of Black & White Portrait Photography: Techniques from a Master Photographer

Rating:
Summary: Vulgar.
Review: Mr. Lozoya's portraits can only be described as vulgar. There is nothing subtle about his images. The lighting is harsh and contrasty giving his portraits an apparent dramatic quality. His ability to "capture" the character of his subjects has less to do with Mr. Lozoya's ability to capture personality or "character" and more to do with taking advantage of his subjects -- the battered faces of the homeless, blind, handicapped, legless, toothless people. Otherwise Mr. Lozoya resorts to cheap theatrics of make-up, masks, horns, ridiculous dramatic poses, props and even fake blood.

For the publisher to publish Mr. Lozoya under it's "Masters Series" is deceiving and insults the true masters.

If you want to learn black and white portrait photography look at at the portraits by Yousef Karsh.

Rating:
Summary: Vulgar.
Review: Mr. Lozoya's portraits can only be described as vulgar. There is nothing subtle about his images. The lighting is harsh and contrasty giving his portraits an apparent dramatic quality. His ability to "capture" the character of his subjects has less to do with Mr. Lozoya's ability to capture personality or "character" and more to do with taking advantage of his subjects -- the battered faces of the homeless, blind, handicapped, legless, toothless people. Otherwise Mr. Lozoya resorts to cheap theatrics of make-up, masks, horns, ridiculous dramatic poses, props and even fake blood.

For the publisher to publish Mr. Lozoya under it's "Masters Series" is deceiving and insults the true masters.

If you want to learn black and white portrait photography look at at the portraits by Yousef Karsh.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning Imagery
Review: The images in this book are breathtaking and beautiful. The variety of subjects from classic portraiture to publicity and folklore is impressive. I very much enjoy learning about different cultures and found this book to whet my appetite for the Mexican/American traditions. The text next to each image helped to explain individual photographs as well as why Oscar Lozoya started creating series of works. The homeless series made me look and see that he views the homeless as individuals with their own personalities that show through in the portraits he presents in this book.

Having seen original prints at an exhibit I must say that a good deal of tonalities were lost in the reproduction in the book. (As is to be expected when a photograph is copied for mass reproduction.) Mr. Lozoya's mastery of studio lighting in stunning in it's technical precision. As a photographer the lighting diagrams helped considerably to visualize the arrangement and placement of the strobe lights. There is also a good deal of information on how he contacts models and how the concept of each image took shape. The photographs in this book are sometimes classic portraits and there are also images that are strikingly different from the normal and challenge you to think. All of the photos are hard to forget.

This book helped to inspire me creatively and challenge the way I see photography as an art form. I would highly recommend it for anyone studying photography or wanting a creative jolt.