Nadav Kander
Biography
Nadav Kander is a London-based photographer, artist and also director, well-known for his portraiture and landscapes. Kander began his photography journey at the mere age of 13 on a Pentax camera that he had bought with money received from his Bah Mitzvah. Kander has produced a number of books; had his work exhibited widely; he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2015, won the Prix Pictet and a World Press Photoaward, and his work is included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the Société Générale, Paris, Pictet & Cie’s Art Collection and other museums and galleries.
Style
Kander is best known for his Yangtze - The Long River series, for which he earned the Prix Pictet Prize. The river in these images the river serves as a metaphor and Kander will usually give his work a depth just as he did with this photo. Another example of this was his interest in 'aesthetics of destruction'. Kander's most recent project ‘Dust’ explores the vestiges of the Cold War through the radioactive ruins of secret cities on the border between Kazakhstan and Russia. Will Self has said, “These images do not make beautiful what is not, they ask of us that we repurpose ourselves to accept a new order of both the beautiful and the real.” This is an incredible power to have as a photographer. Making people think is something that I aspire to as a photographer. Kander also claims that the pictures that he took in his beginnings, although unaccomplished, have the same sense of quiet and unease that is part of his work today.
En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Nadav Kander. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadav_Kander [Accessed 27 Mar. 2018].
Influence
On 18 January 2009 Nadav Kander had 52 full page colour portraits published in one issue of "The New York Times Magazine". These portraits (from a series titled Obama's People) were of the people surrounding President Barack Obama (image at the top of page), from Joe Biden, the Vice President, to Eugene Kang the Special Assistant of The President. This is just one of the many amazing portraiture works by Kander, which I have been especially influenced and inspired by. He is able to capture an intensity as well as beautifully explore colours to create his idea of what an image should be.
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I created an image that was inspired by Kander by using lighting that wasn't plain, but coloured in attempt to emulate some of the colour he incorporates into his works. He also believes when staging the subject, in terms of fashion, authenticity is key. In terms of probs, minimal is better as this draws the focus more towards the subject.
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Through Kander's lens, we are offered a fresh view, whether it be of Erin O'Connor as Millais's Ophelia, Cheryl Cole as a curled-up bunny, or the mask of Christopher Lee. As Kander puts it: "In any session there are as many as 100 pictures made, but only a few will be portraits, in that they hold something so much more than just a likeness." This is something to remember as a photographer as we have to remember that not every shot will be beautiful and that we have to work to get that perfect shot.