Mastering the Art of Light: Media Arts Inspired by Iconic Photographer

As staff and students take on their mid-year assessments, St. Michael’s College School (SMCS) media art students recently put their finishing touches on a project that closed out an interesting unit.

Grade 11 Media Art students completed their unit on studio lighting, which was based on the work of Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh, one of the most important portrait photographers of the 20th century.

“During the Karsh unit, I learned about different lighting fixtures and how to properly set up a portrait-style photograph,” says Hugo Thomas. “This unit taught me not only the lighting aspects of portraits but also the camera settings needed to achieve the perfect shot I was aiming for. I really enjoyed it!”

For the assignment, students were tasked with selecting a Karsh portrait and figuring out how to light their photo in the same way.

“Students study the importance of using light in a very deliberate manner, so that the light itself becomes a protagonist in the finished image,” says Gus Escobedo, media art and visual art teacher at SMCS.

“From this Karsh photo assignment, I learned how to analyze the way lighting affects subjects in a photo and how to apply that to my own work,” says Dylan Ahn. “I also learned how to edit photos; specifically, how to change the intensity of highlights and shadows to create depth in the photo.”

This year, for the first time, many members of the SMCS faculty and staff were gracious enough to pose for these portraits.

Check out the gallery below to see the work of some of our talented students: