In 2014 I was invited to have an exhibition at the Museo de Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende. My idea for the exhibit was to photograph a large cross section of the population of the city that in 2015 was voted by Conde Nast the most beautiful in the world. I photographed over a 100 people some native to the city, many expatriates and visiting tourists. I doubt I could have found anywhere else so a willing and unique group, made up of all ages and backgrounds with which to collaborate. They all agreed to pose in my Sfumato Light Box, a contraption made up of wood and mirrors. The only light source, a powerful moonlight strobe, is placed directly behind the subject and a scrim and the defused light refracts around the subject’s features and form creating a landscape of peaks and valleys that seem to float in space. This is the exact opposite of traditional portrait lighting where the light source is placed in front or at an angle to the subject. In my Sfumato light the tip of the nose being furthest from the light is the darkest point. These images, approximately fifty to sixty, life size and printed on both sides of the paper and hung in the center of the exhibit space to create a maze.
George Krause