Just recently, Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental 2018 Karen Gallman brought magnificent news to her Filipino fans after bringing the crown in recent competition. The gorgeous Filipino-Australian beauty queen announced that she and long-time partner Ian Garton are engaged.
While we have seen our fair share of photorealistic art paintings which look amazingly like photographs, it’s not often that we come across photographs which look like paintings. Throughout the years, we’ve seen those amazing photos pop up here and there.
Painting Inspired Photographs from Rodney Torres Photo
Philippines-based photographer Rodney Torres was the man behind the engagement photo shoot of Karen Gallman and Ian Garton. The rising photographer first started playing around the camera by transforming his subject’s photos into Old Masters painting in mid-2017.
Rodney infuses the luscious beauty of paintings into his beautiful fine art photography. Photography represents a new career path for Rodney Torres. He attended Ateneo de Manila from prep until he graduated with Bachelor’s Degree in AB Communications. At a young age, Rodney has been a businessman but his love for photography was with him at all times.
The young and skilled artist began printing his photos in Manila only to be disappointed with how the prints turned out. The colors were off and the prints faded at a fast rate. During one of his travels overseas, he saw exhibition prints which got his attention. That’s the time he started thinking how he could bring this print technology to Manila so he could also create exhibition-quality fine art prints that are fade-resistant and vibrant.
Behind the Scenes of the Prenup Photoshoot
The newly engaged couple shared the good news as they were in the magical beauty of Santorini, Greece, postponing the announcement so they can have the quality time just between the two of them. A few days before, their engagement studio photos were taken by Rodney Torres at Giclee Manila in Mandaluyong City, Philippines.
One good thing about Rodney Torres is that he’s a one-of-a-kind photographer whose portrait images makes a person feel as if he is walking through a museum and viewing a painting. His style is inspired by the masterpieces of the old master painters. He combined different principles and techniques to establish depth using dark and light contrasts. Rodney strives for “soft and imperceptible” transitions by layering tones and colors. His mastery of light is one of his skills that he carefully uses in each of his photo assignments.
At first glance, a person might easily mistake one of Rodney Torres’ images for a Dutch Golden Era of painting. These types of paintings are photographs made up of butterflies, jewelry, objects, insects, fruits, flowers and broken pieces of porcelain. Others are motivated by the symbolic Vanitas paintings in the 16th and 17th centuries, along with skulls.
Rodney is in love with the paintings of the old masters, in fact, he was fascinated with them. However, he creates his personal story with every work. Every photo takes a careful planning to create: several weeks to imagine, researching, and collecting the props and even building the sets.
Without her saying so, it’s apparent to anyone with a background in art history that his work is inspired by the Baroque movement, which spanned at least two centuries. These are typically defined and characterized by names such as Rembrandt, Poussin, Vermeer, and Caravaggio.
The movement was famous for defined and distinct lighting, lavish decoration, and somewhat dynamic composition. What’s probably so intriguing is how well Rodney Torres performs that look, because the concept isn’t novel. A lot before him have tried before, but most have not succeeded in the way he has. The photographs represent true knowledge of the kind and real planning. Furthermore, that planning and pay off has led Karen Gallman and Ian Garton to his door. There is no doubt why Rodney is one of the well-anticipated artists of today’s generation.
He believes that photography is the art of storytelling without any words. That’s why he believes in having fun during every session. If a person is enjoying and laughing, he will be happier, confident and relaxed. All those qualities shine through the images he captures.
Every time there’s a session, he can do ‘no wrong’ – he will provide lots of direction, poses, and ideas. He will also offer the subject freedom to laugh, talk, walk, joke and even take a break in between.
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