The Concept: A Strong Woman Keeps On Fighting
Never mind the bruises and blood on her face, a strong woman keeps on fighting, always. This portrait of a female boxer was made in collaboration with makeup artist Lidia de Tena. For a while I had the idea of photographing a model interpreting a female boxer. My goal was to create a series of conceptual portraits using realistic makeup to create bruises and blood. However, I didn’t just want the boxing gear (gloves, clothes, bandages, etc.), I wanted to create a more realistic illusion.
With this photo series, and this photo in particular, my intention was also to tell a story of strength and determination. I wanted to remind the viewer that sometimes, regardless of our bruises we all need to keep fighting. This is specially true of women who don’t always have it easy in this world. When I started this photo session I was searching for this portrait in particular. A portrait of a strong woman that despite the bruises and blood on her face and, regardless of fatigue, still wants to keep fighting.
The make-up work was in charge of Lidia de Tena, an Amsterdam-based make-up artist. After seeing her work in other projects I thought it would be interesting to bring her on board. We discussed the concept together and eventually developed a plan for executing the project. As for the the role of our female boxer I asked my friend Myriam. Back then she was practicing boxing at the gym. Because she was familiar with the boxing moves.
Setting Up the Scene
The lighting for this portrait of our strong woman followed the paramount lighting pattern. The key light consisted of a large softbox positioned in front of the subject, slightly above the model’s eye level. My goal with this setup was to produce soft, downward shadows. The photo was made in a studio in Amsterdam. For the background I used a dark studio backdrop. I wanted to keep the background clean to isolate the subject and draw attention to the model. This is also why I asked the model to wear a grey hoodie. It allowed me to create separation between the dark background and her hair. Otherwise the hair would have been lost.
Model: Myriam
Browse other photos in this series: Female Boxer in Boxing Stance, Bruised Female Boxer Clenches Her Fists and, female boxer with bruised face