The high key style of photography was a method used throughout the 50's and 60's by photographers such as John French and David Bailey and in simple terms it's aim was to reduce shadows yet make every part of the subject matter visible. John French (1907-1966) was an English fashion and portrait who originally worked with the Daily Express but went on to pioneer a new form of fashion photography suitable for production in newspapers which involved the inclusion of reflected natural light where possible and low contrast to produce high key prints where most of the detail was in the lighter areas. To achieve this , he often rejected popular tungsten lighting for softer daylight photography, by bouncing light off reflector boards. I've chosen this image of Patti Boyd in a Mary Quant dress with the Rolling Stones, England, 1964 as what I see to be an example what was produced by this reflected natural light as it also includes the white backdrop which has since become a main feature of high key photography.
Now the above image still contains various amounts of shadowing to the some of the faces that would imply the lighting in the foreground wasn't completely balanced, with even a suggestion of natural light, yet the lack of shadowing on the backdrop suggests that it was still evenly lit to ensure this and in turn produce a high key image. Now I've included another image of his Marla Scarafia in a Federica printed cotton sunsuit, London, 1958 to show how with the backdrop lighting being set 1 or 2 stops higher than the lighting on the model, then the backdrop then becomes blown out yet the detail and tones are visible evenly across the model with minimal shadows. I would also take this opportunity to point out that this is merely my interpretation on the lighting of both these images as I haven't been able find any additional information on his lighting techniques as yet so any feedback would be appreciated in the comments box below .
On his death his wife donated a large proportion of his images to the V & A Museum but if you'd rather just see a random selection then I selected mine from a live fashion journal at bygonefashion .
Bringing things forward a little, modern high key photography is often interpreted as simply a bright white background with the subject dominated by bright tones, usually relatively low contrast. Now you can drive yourself bonkers ( I have) reading different peoples opinions on what is and what isn't, but high key is simply a high setting on the key light to bring out the detail on the subject where as low key would do the opposite. I've included a lighting diagram that best explains how this can be achieved and as I said earlier the way the blown out background is just simply a matter of having the lights behind the model set one or two stops above those trained on the model.
This is a standard set up and the thing to keep in mind is that the light on the subject should be evenly spread and that there are no harsh shadows or contrasts. You can also use a white reflector placed between the 2 front soft boxes (and below the camera, obviously) to help bounce light back and fill in shadows that may occur under the chin. You could also prevent the light falling onto the subject by placing some panels to block light spilling onto the subject from the lights facing the backdrop.
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This is my interpretation of high key photography with this being shot in the studio using a medium format camera. You'll notice I've managed to remove the majority of the shadowing under the chin via the reflector but the lighting comes across as slightly uneven to the left hand side of his face perhaps brought about by the slight twist in his head but I feel I could prevent this by either a slight reposition of the light or even just controlling the light via the use of another reflector or polyboard to bounce the light back down that side. A lot of high key photography is considered to convey a positive or upbeat tone and could be considered to be flippant, lively, dreamy or young with many high street portrait photographers using such images in window displays to promote their trade as they are usually eye catching and often used in accentuating the cuteness of children or the more as a ,more flattering approach to photographing the fairer sex. Personally I'm not such a big fan of the modern take on high key photography, especially when it becomes borderline over exposed, it does however serve it's purpose well in such instances as newborn baby portraits, glamour and even as floral wall art.
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