THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTISTRY OF GEORGE HURRELL

In 1929 at the age of 25 artist turned photographer, George Hurrell, irreparably changed the way cinema studios and the movie going public perceived many of the greatest stars of the '30s and '40s. His highly stylized, sensual studio portraits of the great and soon to be great stars became the epitome of Hollywood glamour and mystery for a Depression weary movie going public.

The incredibly dramatic use of light in his portraits not only created a new, exciting look in movie tableaus, but actually influenced the way movie sets were lit for the next two decades. His ingenious use of a boom to place a light above his subject's head highlighting the hair was quickly adopted by all the major studios and remains to this day an important lighting implement in cinema, video and still photography.

  thanks to The J-Walk Weblog