I am a huge fan of Google Analytics, a free service which provides you with all kinds of more or less informative statistics about your website. One of the most interesting things about it is a filter telling me which sites are linking to mine (referring sites). I love to browse this category and see who is linking to my own site, what these folks have to say about me and why a picture or sometimes just a link appears in someone elses scribbling. Most of the time it will be someone’s blog using one of my images and is kind enough to provide linkage. Some time back a list of 99 remarkable photographers was posted on digital-photography-school.com, sending thousands of photo enthusiasts to my site.

Today I found the blog of Allison Ghegan, reviewing the work of visual artists. Here’s an excerpt of what she had to say about me:

“… I really like Henri’s photos and how he incorporates different angles and perspective throughout his portfolio. Henri photographs both black and white and color photos exceptionally well; proving his capablilities as an equally talented photographer in making use of color or lack there of. I think his strongest capabilities lie in his ability to take a undeniable emotionally charged picture that is interesting and unique to the viewer.”

(by Allison Ghegan @ http://aghegan.wordpress.com )

Sometimes a feel like a kid opening a present, when I have a look at who’s following my work. You never know what you are going to find and I am extremely grateful for all the love I’m getting out there. It really keeps me going.

A big surprise was PLSR.net, a site who’s sole intent is to showcase the portfolios of noteworthy photographers. Suddenly I saw hundreds of hits coming in, so I had a look. The biggest surprise was that me, Nicolas Henri was the best rated photographer on PLSR! (They have a voting system over there, where visitors have a chance to rate the quality of the featured photographers. Make sure to give out your vote on PLSR !!!)

Another interesting one I found is Artists of Phtoshop. While I am first and foremost a photographer, Photoshop does play an important role in my work. So I was happy to find myself listed there - and even with a good rating by visitors! Check it out here!

These are just a few examples. There hundreds of other sites, some big and some smaller ones who’s authors felt, that my photography was noteworthy in some way. I feel very honored about this, I would never have thought that things would take on a life of their own on the net. So for all you folks out there who feature me and my work in some form: Thank you very much!

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Posted by nicolas_henri on June 25th, 2009 :: Filed under Technology, Uncategorized, Web
Tags :: blogs, google analytics, internet, Photography, portfolios, rating

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This one has been a while in the making…

I always try to think of fashion in new ways. Fashion is, to a large extent, about texture, about contrast and form. Some time ago I came up with the idea of a fashion shoot made of nothing but shreds of paper. The dress, the setting, everything! I did this as a personal project, not with a commercial, but a fine art afterlife in mind.

I approached Jana Keller, designer of RoyalBLUSH to craft a paper dress for me. She was all over it and started sketching right away.

Early on I realized we would need a special model to make this one work. I turned to Option Model in Zürich for suggestions and it soon became clear that a black model would provide the necessary edge for the idea. We cast the talented and lovely Mariatu, who performed admirably!

Before the shoot me and my beloved girlfriend Fräulein Scharlach spent three evenings shredding over 100 square meters of paper and another evening rigging it all up in the studio.

The Lighting setup consisted of a beauty dish on a boom above the set, which served as the main light and was balanced for normal exposure. A strip light, about one stop over, was used as a rim light from the right. As fill I set up a large softobox camera left, dialed down 1 stop. In addition to this I used a gridded spot, about half a stop over, as a little kicker, slightly off camera axis to add some light to Mariatu’s face and torso. (I used Broncolor generators and heads)

Hair & Make Up was done by the incredibly talented Rachel Wolfisberg. She’s always full of fresh ideas and just great to have around!

And this is how it all turned out:

But wait, there’s more! Where there’s paper… someone might get the idea to paint on it! Check out the behind the scenes video for all the technicolor juice… Enjoy!

NICOLAS HENRI: PAPER - Behind the scenes from Nicolas Henri on Vimeo.

(If you are reading this via email, click here to see the video!)

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Posted by nicolas_henri on May 16th, 2009 :: Filed under Artist Technique, Lighting, Making Of, Photography, Uncategorized
Tags :: Behind the scenes, color, Fashion, Making Of, Paper, video

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Deutsche Telekom, Germany’s foremost communications corporation, recently launched a new online photography magazine called Augenblicke.  Affiliated with T-Online, their prominent web platform, Augenblicke features news from the photographic community and the portfolios of contemporary and emerging photographers around the world. I was very honored when I was approached by the PE of Augenblicke to have an excerpt of my portfolio shown! It went online last night - have a look here!

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Posted by nicolas_henri on May 7th, 2009 :: Filed under Exhibition, Photography, Uncategorized, Web
Tags :: Augenblicke, Portfolio, T-Online, Web

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