Patrick Demarchelier – Top 5 Techniques (ANALYZED PHOTOS)
#747
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Today we’re going to learn tons about an amazing photographer by the name of Patrick Demarchelier. We’ve seen his work in a few articles, but nothing this in-depth. Who was he and what are the top 5 techniques he consistently used to create such remarkable photos? There’s literally only one way to find out!
Patrick Demarchelier? Who Was
Patrick Demarchelier (1943-2022) was a French fashion photographer. He was born near Paris, one of my favorite places in the world. He spent his childhood in Normandy with no sisters, four brothers, and his single mother. Life started to make a turn for the absolute best on his 17th birthday (1960) when his stepdad bought him his first camera! It was an Eastman Kodak camera, so he eventually had to learn how to develop and retouch his own film.
As many beginner photographers did, he started shooting friends and eventually weddings. What really changed his artistic journey (see #425) was in 1975 when he decided to move with his girlfriend to New York City. This is the ultimate hub for fashion photography, and Patrick eventually tapped into the scene. He worked as a freelancer at first, and also had the pleasure of working with none other than Henri Cartier-Bresson (see #472).
Eventually, Patrick’s work started to gain the attention of popular magazines like Elle, Marie Claire, and others. He’s also well-known for his striking photos of Princess Diana.
In 1992, he started a 12 year collaboration with Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines to shoot commercial photos for some of the biggest brands in fashion. You know, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Channel and many more.
Now that you know more about this iconic photographer, let’s dig deeper and discover the top 5 techniques he uses in his artistic style.
Patrick Demarchelier Top 5 Techniques
There are some techniques that are pretty obvious. Can you guess what they are by looking at this first image? He primarily shoots (1) black and white photos with (2) females. He’s photographed male celebrities, but the majority seem to be female models. Nothing wrong with that, I definitely never had an interest in shooting men.
Blank Background
One of the main techniques Patrick uses is a blank background. Much like Annie Leibovitz (see #466), he does this to simplify the visual clarity and improve the figure-ground relationship (see Day 21). I love this first one with the quirky scene and the hair being perfectly defined. The visual clarity is crystal clear!
Patrick didn’t shoot many color photos, but we’ll see a few of them scattered throughout the article. I personally enjoy his high-contrast black and white photos more. In this next photo, we get a glimpse of his textured backdrop. Nice decisive moment here too with the man hovering above the ground. Bresson would be proud!
Next we’ll see several different examples of how he simplifies the scene with a blank background. Most backgrounds aren’t white like this next one, but rather a medium gray that will change depending on the light source.
Without the light blank background here, the crimped hair wouldn’t be as emphasized. So nice!
This one is using the light to dark technique (see #624). Do you remember it?
Bulky Fabric
The next technique Patrick uses is bulky fabric. Sure he’s a fashion photographer and fabric comes with the territory, but notice how bulky it is. The material is thick and robust-looking. There are materials that are thin and sheer, but the ones he selects usually have a structure to them. See how the left side of the woman’s gown is stiff and supporting the weight of itself? That’s what I mean by structure.
We can see it here too. The fabrics used here have strength…like they were sprayed with starch.
Look at all of the material in this one! Nice dresses for sure, but check out the fabric. It’s thicker, almost like they would wear back in Roman times, or what we’d see in a Da Vinci fabric drawing.
Watch for the stiff material he uses in these next few examples. It definitely contrasts well with the softness of femininity.
The hair is a nice touch in this one too!
Unique Hats
Here’s one you wouldn’t think about. Patrick is fond of using unique hats in his photos. So much that it’s become part of his artistic style. This next one is excellent and we can see how the hat is clearly identified thanks to the blank background. Oh, and would you look at that…bulky fabric! We’re getting to know Patrick pretty well, don’t you think?
This is another unique hat and he uses the blank wall to help define it.
This isn’t a hat, but he’s definitely accessorizing the hair with what looks like thick fabric.
These next few are pretty stunning! Especially this one, where the shadows cast onto her face.
Quirky Poses
Every photographer will have a general idea of how to pose the model, but Patrick took it one step further. He sometimes had his models pose in the quirkiest ways. Like this next one, where she’s bending downward above the water. This isn’t your typical, “Ok, now put your hand on your hip and raise your left knee.”
Ok, who would’ve thought of this pose? Not me! This model is going above and beyond to make a great photo.
The twists and turns in this one are so nice! The feet, hands, tilt of head…it’s all perfectly defined and posed.
This pose looks awkward and borderline painful, but she pulls it off like a pro. Notice the blank background Patrick uses to clearly define the subject.
Nice aspective view (see Day 78) in this unique pose!
Simple and nice!
Please don’t sniff your hands after this Madonna!
Implied Nude
**NSFW
The last technique is that he likes to capture implied nudes. If you’re scrolling through this article at work, you’ve been warned. Implied nude isn’t full nude, but rather a trick to make the viewer think the model is nude. For all we know, Cindy Crawford is wearing a bikini here. It’s implied that she’s nude though.
This one actually shows a little more nudity, but he has to keep it classy because he’s a highly respected fashion photographer. They don’t use full nudes as much.
Here she’s fully clothed, but implying that she’s exposed her breast.
Here we see more nudity, but it’s camouflaged by her hair. We have the blank background and bulky fabric too!
Here we have a couple more to enjoy. Try to notice how he exposes skin without going full nude. It’s sensual and not pornographic (see #538).
Conclusion
Overall, we can say that Patrick kept things fairly simple. He didn’t use extravagant lighting setups, special effects, unique environments, etc. He used a blank background, posed the model in a unique way, and used bulky fabrics and cool hats. These are all things most photographers can achieve. Are you feeling inspired yet?
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