INSTRUMENTS
& BOWS
VIOLINS & VIOLAS
Several people have said to me that the instruments look better in my photos than in real life. I see it as presenting the instrument or bow in its best possible light, rather than improving on how it looks in real life. A certain type of light is good for lighting the front of the instrument, and a different type is better at penetrating the varnish and bringing out the flame in the back. The lighting I provide could occur naturally with daylight yes, but it would be rare and I think only makers, players and those so familiar with seeing the wood of the same instrument, in a variety of types of light previously - really know it’s potential. So I harness all that is good about those types of flattering light, take those principles and reproduce them in the studio, lighting the instrument from a variety of angles with the relevant type and temperature of light, so it will never look better.
Below is a selection of images photographed over the years in the UK and overseas; for books, magazines, catalogues, auction houses, certificates, insurance purposes, dendrochronology.
