Image Of The Month - January 2021
Tianna Jarrett-Williams
What an amazing start to 2021! The Focus Portrait Awards begins it’s second year, and each month we are seeing more and more entries from talented photographers around the globe! Our January 2021 Image Of The Month winner Tianna Jarrett-Williams stunned the judges with her black and white maternity portrait. Here she shares some details of what went into creating this work of art!
Winning image by Tianna Jarrett – Williams
Congratulations Tianna on winning the FPA Image Of The Month!
Thank you so much for asking to interview me! It was such a huge surprise to learn that I had not only been awarded a gold award but also the judge’s choice too. How fantastic!
What was your inspiration for creating this portrait?
I love the way that the fabrics are gently composed around them and the posing is soft yet encompassed a strong disposition.
My main inspiration came from the styling and posing seen in Greek mythology. I love the way that the fabrics are gently composed around them and the posing is soft yet encompassed a strong disposition. I love the gentle beauty yet strength they carry. I am also deeply inspired by Lola Melani and my client also loves her work and shared an image she liked of Lola’s so we created our own.
What do you love most about maternity portraiture?
Enabling women to see their sheer beauty, strength and power is something I adore. My style can be bold with strong colours but I do love to keep things simple too, because I want much of the focus to be on the pregnant woman.
What lighting setup did you use for your Image Of The Month?
I often like to keep things simple and so my set up comprised of an elinchrom D lite 1, diffused by a 175cm octabox. This was positioned camera left, fairly high and feathered in a way to give an even spread of light on the background but maintain beautiful light on the client.
Why did you decide on black and white?
I decided on black and white because, well I have a soft spot for this finish. This image looked beautiful in colour but the black and white gives it such a strong dimensionality and tonal range that I fell in love with. I love contrast and shadows, therefore I felt that this image just had a little more to offer with being black and white.
How did you help your subject of this image feel at ease?
By offering so much encouragement during the sessions, I laugh with them and smile, treat them as my friends. I am lucky really, as this client is not only a friend of mine but also a photographer too! So I was nervous but she trusted me and we had a vision to create work like this.
Your portraits often portray empowerment. What or who inspires your creativity?
As mentioned, my biggest inspiration is Lola Melani. Her take on fashion and creativity just gives me such a great feeling. Her work is so unique and i always find myself scrolling her art often. I sometimes look at Peter Lindbergh’s work too. I will say, my last career was in midwifery and so, empowering women was totally what underpinned my practice.
Tianna thank you so much for not only taking part in the FPA and sharing your work with us, but for taking the time to share with us, a little about yourself and your creativity.
You can view more of Tianna’s inspiring work here
What are the FOCUS Portrait Awards?
The Focus Portrait Awards started in April 2020 and has grown so much in this short space of time! We welcome submissions from photographers in a variety of genres and those who are members of FOCUS are able to enter one image per category each month FREE of charge!
Our aim is to celebrate creative artists and recognise their talent by awarding worthy images with bronze, silver or gold awards. Each month the judges choose one gold awarded image to receive the title of ‘Image Of The Month’ the winner of which receives a custom designed framed print from our sponsors at Digitalab
Click on the button below to read more about the FPA and the criteria for entry –
