Maxine Helfman is a self taught photographer, she worked as a stylist and photo art director before she realize the only way to get what she really wanted was to make the pictures herself. She invokes the lighting of Baroque masters like Rubens and takes traditional status portraits of African Americans, along the same lines as Kehinde Wiley.
Hellman shoots just below the models' eye level to give a look of prestige and status. It looks like she has a very controlled set up, but keeps her exposure very dark staying true to the Baroque chiaroscuro. She keeps color out of the frame, draws the focus to either white or black. None of the models are taken straight on, all are 3/4 posed.
I like reference to historic painting techniques in contemporary art. It gives not only a knowledge of technique but also gives a comparison, whether the times are similar or vastly different. Simple idea but gives profound connotations to current issues. Hellman herself that recent events prove her premise correct: "justice continues to lie just out of reach".
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