Capturing craftspeople at work and their finished products is the type of photography I love. It’s a cross between reportage, people at work photography and product photography. Hugh Barlow-Brown is a young talented Luthier (guitar maker) creating a name for himself as a skilled and dedicated maker of stringed instruments. I spent a few hours in his Brighton based workshop capturing images of him at work and in his surroundings. With a tools and pieces of rare and exquisite wood that will in time be found in the guitars he produces.
The light in Hugh’s workshop was great and didn’t need any help from artificial sources, and lighting the guitars in the studio was complex but came together easily with three lights. Not dissimilar to lighting a portrait, with one main key light, a back light and a fill light from the side. Getting the deep black background right helped make the guitars pop in the image and playing with angles and compositions to show off the craftsmanship was really fun!
Here’s a few images below and some screen shots form Hughs website and a banner for exhibitions.
If you’re a talented craftsperson and would like some new photography, please get in touch 🙂
