Photographer Research - Nick Fancher

Why I've chosen him

Nick Fancher is a Columbus, Ohio-based portrait and commerce photographer as well as an author and educator. He specialises in lighting, specifically in unconventional locations. Many of his portraits are captured with minimal lighting and often rarely in a studio. Fancher makes the most of his own surroundings with one light, and captures stunning portraits with what he has. What I admire the most about his work is his commercial and food photography, because it's very neat, sleek and filled with fun patterns. I have chosen to study Nick Fancher as part of my photographer research because he photographs food in an artistic fashion; instead of capturing meals and structured dishes, he simply uses confectionery sweets and bold block coloured backgrounds to make his work appear slightly pop art and very vibrant. He also uses a white background often and light boxes in his work to give products a strong reflection, which is a formal element I would like to experiment with by using a light box myself. The colours that Fancher uses are also uplifting as all of the bright colours have the connotation of happiness, positivity and energy - which is represented in his work, as he doesn't have one bland or boring piece.

In this photograph, Fancher has captured an interesting irregular pattern of plates, spoons and ice cream cones. There are different flavours of ice cream on each plate, all displaying a different colour, supporting the irregular pattern. The plates are situated in an untidy triangle, whilst the rest of the props in the shot are scattered around in a random assortment. The frame is landscape, and has been captured from a birds eye view point, resulting in thin shadows cast next to the subjects formed by a light coming in from the top left hand corner. This lighting is effective because it allows the positive colours of the ice cream and white plates to shine against the dark background, forming a contrast that works well in this piece of photography. I think the framing of this piece is also successful because it allows for plenty of space to create a pattern, as this is a formal element that Fancher portrays in the majority of his work. The composition is what inspires me with Fancher's work, as I want to reinterpret his style through capturing my own table shot from a birds eye angle, with food items dispersed around the frame in an irregular pattern.

This is a more simplistic photograph captured by Fancher, still conveying as much pattern as the image before. A crushed eye shadow has dispersed itself around the frame, creating the sense of an explosion taking place in the frame. The subject has remained in a crowd in the center of the frame, whilst the dust and smaller parts of the palette has blown across the rest of the frame, mainly in the top half. The bright blue against the white background is an effective contrast, as it makes every particle of the make up product visible. If a black background was used, parts of the subject could perhaps become lost in the frame, whereas with the combination of white and blue the pattern is clearly evident. This type of photo would work well in a multiple imagery piece, with the subject changing colours, so that each square in the multiple imagery would consist of the same photo but display a variety of colours. The formal elements pattern and colour would work productively together if this type of piece was created.

The pattern featured in this piece is evident in the woman's nail art. There are geometric shapes on her nails, all of different colours, complimenting one another and shining under the beam of light. The added ring on her finger is also a touch of femininity, making this piece extra elegant. The pinks and blues on the nails contrast with the woman's white jumper, which is blurred due to minimum depth of field. The nails are the focal point of this photograph, which is why they are the most in focus in the frame. I like the composition of this piece, as the woman is only holding the mug in order to show off her manicure - it acts as an effective platform to display the design. It's a relevant prop, and has inspired me to perhaps create similar pieces, as I was thinking of taking photographs of certain nail art myself, which I could now capture by having the woman's hands holding something that contrasts with the colourful pattern.

This is a commercial piece of photography that Fancher captured in a studio. He had a selection of fancy glasses that he laid on top of a light box in order for their reflection to appear beneath them. This use of formal element works well in the frame as there isn't much else going on. There is a large quantity of wasted space in the top half of the frame, which could be seen as effective as it directs more of the attention onto the products being advertised. The glasses are the pattern, along with their reflection, however I don't think the pattern is as strong as some of Fancher's other work. Despite this, the mixture of colours all compliment one another and result in it being a successful piece of photography. I may experiment with using a light box for some shoots in my project as I find the reflection and bright background work together well to create a captivating, effective and stylish image. 

How he has influenced me

Fancher has inspired me immensely when it comes to shoot 3 of my coursework and shoot 6 of my exam. In these shoots, I looked mainly at different layouts of confectionery, capturing them from a birds-eye view and altering the pattern, sometimes irregular and sometimes symmetrical. This style of work is something that the first picture of Fancher's in this post inspired me to carry out. To develop these types of images, I will next need to explore different coloured backdrops to compliment some of the colours found in the subjects.

Summary

Overall, Nick Fancher's work is fun and vibrant, with a variety of lighting used for each photograph. He is a very exploratory photographer who shoots different themes for a range of projects. My favourite pieces of work comes under his food theme, as he often uses two block colours as backgrounds which I rarely see by photographers. I admire the irregular patterns that he creates, and the more simplistic ones that are refreshing amongst the chaotic patterns. He introduces many formal elements into his work which explains why they are effective and successful as stand alone pieces - very inspiring for my work.