Tableau Vivant - French for "living picture."
According to Wiki : The term describes a striking group of suitably costumed actors or artist's models, carefully posed and often theatrically lit.
I've been thinking a lot about this concept because of the Tableau Vivant created and produced by Sarah Small (SarahSmall.com). Her show is in every way an extravagant group of costumed and non-costumed actors and models. They are indeed theatrically lit and Sarah moves about them posing each individual and couple as the show progresses.
Sarah is a photographer - and as such she also takes photos during these performances. Her photography from past Tableau Vivant performances has been breathtaking and intriguing in the extreme.
Seeing her work has lead me to think about capturing movement and emotion in my photography. Ideally an image should convey something of the subject one is photographing (that may be stating the obvious, but you never know). But beyond the obvious emotions often displayed in more theatrical images - even a simple portrait should capture something of the inner thoughts and feelings of the subject. However is this even possible as every image is interpreted by the viewer in a very individual way? Can one convey a pure emotion in photography? Does it have to be an extreme outward display of emotion (crying, screaming, laughing) to convey the true meaning? What do you think?
I thought of this when I captured these images last night.
Some artist friends have come to visit us in the big city from up state NY and being in our home - they instantly became models as well as tourists :)
Jesse Owen, a visual artist from Woodstock was kind enough to let me post these for an example of the question I've been mulling over. Three images with slightly different expressions - a slightly different pose each time - what do these images say if anything about the person being photographed. Is the movement in the photographs enough to make one think of the actual movement in real life? Does it take more than one image to make one think of a "living picture?"
In any event I would love to hear your thoughts on the concept of a Tableau Vivant as well as these images and how they strike you.
