Visual Analysis: Peter Lindbergh, Madonna in Motion
Peter Lindbergh, Harper’s Bazaar Magazine 1994
This black and white photograph by Peter Lindbergh of pop music superstar Madonna was taken in 1994 for a series of images used in a fashion editorial feature for Harper’s Bazaar magazine. One of my all-time favorite portraits, this image is composed of several elements that create visual balance by focusing on hard lines, contrasting shapes, and saturated values. Lindbergh’s use of negative space, bright lighting, and highlighted textures adds a level of interest to the viewer that draws the eye to explore all corners of the portrait in detail. This image’s tight composition and focus on the subject demand our attention. We cannot help but be intrigued by the lightness of the eyes cast in shadow complemented by the symmetry of the human face.
Although black and white photography is a visual representation of the subject purposely created with the absence of the color spectrum, the intensity of the blacks and the brightness of the whites offer contrast and depth to the field of focus. The deep value of the black shadows gives the illusion of sharp lines. This effect helps to separate the subject from the background while giving areas of the face more attention than others. The dark shadow above the eye crease, under the nose, and above the lower lip creates beautiful balance while illustrating the rule of thirds. The biggest shadow under the chin forces the eye to focus on the center of the frame that highlights the eyes and nose. The intensity of the white areas including the eyes, background, and highlights on the hair are punctuations of light that brilliantly reflect and simultaneously balance the heaviness of the black areas. What is left are variations of grey which take up most of the space and add softness to the overall composition.
The human face is not a perfectly geometric shape, it bends and curves organically, however, Peter Lindbergh’s use of light and shadow makes Madonna’s face appear much more symmetrical than it looks in real life. There are repeating crescent shapes from the top to the bottom of the image. The curves in the hair on the horizontal plane are repeated by the curve of the brows on the vertical plane, which again repeats at the curve of the eyelid, the side of the nostril, the top of the mouth, and finally the bottom of the chin. The perspective of the camera is looking down and diagonal on the figure thereby accentuating the oval of the face and eyes, the symmetry of the brows, and the straight cut of the hair across the forehead. The curves of the lines in the brows, eyes, and mouth illustrate the energy and softness happening simultaneously in the expression of the eyes. The strong horizontal line created by the bangs gives the image a solid foundation, while the diagonal line of the shirt and chin gives us a sense of movement in an otherwise still pose.
Lindbergh leaves little negative space around the subject, in fact, the only area left unused is just above the right shoulder. The positive space fills the frame and creates the balance that draws the eye. By cropping in so tightly, there is no room for distractions in the background or foreground. We only see Madonna looking back at us. This use of space combined with high contrast exposure creates a sense of the image being hand drawn and gives us a feeling of classical art. Within this small space and two-dimensional plane, the figure has a three-dimensional quality to the form because of the use of the light and dark areas. Without the sharp contrast shadows and bright white background, the figure would look much flatter. Madonna appears to almost be popping out of the frame, leaning towards the viewer and away from the wall behind her.
This portrait is mostly exceptionally smooth, the skin, hair, background, and shirt have little textural detail. In contrast, the eyelashes, eyebrows, and bangs are high-definition details so sharp we can see the individual hairs while the rest of the face is ever so slightly out of focus adding to the smooth effect of the photo. Madonna’s hair is lacquer black and reflects the extreme contrast lighting with some bright white highlights adding dimension and interest to the upper third of the photo. The photographer clearly wanted the viewers’ gaze to rest on the eyes, by providing such sharp contrast we cannot really look anywhere else.
Peter Lindbergh’s portrait series of Madonna during this time captured a side of her previously unseen. He created a scene of a stripped-down artist with a passion for art and dance. He did this by removing the distractions of color, background, and superfluous clothing. This minimal approach to portraiture created a mesmerizing image that is unique and of the era, a touchstone of late 20th-century photography.
