Gage Allen

Congratulations to our Top Pic of the Week, Gage Allen!  Check out his amazing Black and White photos and the story behind each below.

It wasn’t really until I stepped away from home that I became obsessed with capturing every moment that passed in front of me. The people and places became moments in my life I wanted captured. Clicking that shutter is to remember long after they’ve gone. It’s been five years of shooting and perfecting my style and I have come to find that portraiture is what strikes this deep emotional connection to the medium. To express yourself through another’s soul and capture that singular moment in a frame is beyond powerful. 

There is something beautiful about shooting in the snow. An ethereal glow surrounds your subject. Something that even most reflectors and diffusers cannot repeat. This was shot in the dead of winter in Fairbanks, Alaska. Traveling with a Canon 5D mkiii and one of my all-time favorite lenses, a Zeiss 50mm Planar 1.4, I had this incredible balanced light, simple composition, and beautifully refined gear that really let me focus on connecting with the subject. Creating a simple, bold and concise image.

The more I have grown in my photography pursuit, the more that I long for the process. Going back to film and having everything stripped away to only the essentials was beyond rewarding. Photography takes all the senses and condenses them down to a single visual story. Look closely and you can hear the scene, feel the emotion in the air and see a story of another’s life.  Halfway through my first roll ever of Ilford Hp5 on a newly purchased Hasselblad 500cm, I created this image. Looking through that beautiful ground glass and hearing the heavy mirror slap, she recounted her early life in Auschwitz.

Some of my favorite work is really my simplest. I shot this on Ilford HP5 with a Hasselblad 500cm and 50mm f4 CF. Lighting was a single Profoto D1 in a 39” Elinchrom Rotalux Deep Octa feathered directly over the subject. When a dramatic intensity is your ending visual goal. Go wide, crop tight and really isolates your subject from the background. 

I have only scratched the surface of this beautiful art form we have all come to love. At the end of the day, the camera is a tool for us create our vision. Focus on the powers of observation and connection to your subjects that will evoke those images and be etched in your viewer’s minds.

Thank you, Gage for allowing us to share these wonderful stories. Check out more of his work via his Instagram: @GageAllenPhoto and his website: www.gageallenphoto.com

Are you interested in being our Top Pic of the Week? Tag #kehspotlight in your photos for a chance to be featured.