This fierce shoot took place at Jet Studios in London with fashion and celebrity photographer, John Wright. The picture was done with five girls, one chariot, a Leica S2–70mm lens and over 100 shots. The art of this picture lies not only in its master photographery, but also in the special effects. The girls at the foreground of the shot are also the battle victims in the background. It was retouched initially on site to create the first draft of the battle scene, then sent to a retoucher in the USA who did the finishing work on the girls’ bodies. John Wright called the file quality “brrrrrrilliant.”
Here’s a glimpse into how the photo was made:
In regard to the S2 John says, “Leica is one of the premier camera manufacturers in the world and I’m delighted to have this opportunity to be involved with the S-System. My initial experiences have been extremely positive. Ease of use, reliability and incredible image resolution are all essential in my work, and the S2 has delivered in every department. The sheer presence of the camera on the shoots I’ve used it on, its beautiful design and build quality, as well as the instant impact of the Leica ‘red dot’ have all brought something to the whole shoot experience with clients and subjects alike.”
UK celebrity and fashion photographer, John Wright’s meteoric rise to the top of the celebrity photography sector has seen him become the premier provider of images in music, television and show business across the world, creating some of the most iconic editorial pictures of the past few years. His picture of Lily Allen dancing with panthers won ‘Magazine Cover of the Year.’ In March 2010 John Wright partnered with Leica Camera to use the recently released S-System on high profile shoots throughout the year. You can see more of John Wright’s work on his website, http://www.johnwrightphoto.com/ or on his blog http://johnwrightphoto.tumblr.com/.
Lainer
What is the point of this? 100 shots all done up in Photoshop. You could have used a Canon or Nikon for this. Leica isn’t about this. I’m growing weary of it all. Seriously, what’s the point!
Tyson
I agree with the above poster. This is not a photo but an illustration. The girl on the left looks extremely unnatural, as well as all of their abs which were amplified in post.
I understand that there are some professions which require this kind of art but it should be on an Adobe CS blog, not a photo-centric one.
George Washington
Great camera, lousy ‘photograph’.
Jas Z
This is pretty cheesy, no subtlety about it, it’s well over done and looks too smooth, hardly something Leica should be proud to associate themselves with – the shoot was also part of a shoot with Alex Reid – the Z-list so called “celebrity” married to none other than trashy Jordan – hardly the Pinnacle of celebrity portraiture if you ask me.
Zvonimir Tosic
Some photographers do have fun, and nothing is wrong with it. Others spend their time on even more futile (ad)ventures or lack of them. One can argue the purpose of such a photographic feat — well, fashion doesn’t need any more tangible purpose that more money in its purse — and that’s about how far criticism can go.
Is it art? No.
Is it advertising? Yes.
What it will mean tomorrow? Who cares.
It’s done with a Leica, and the religion continues.
Frank Jonen
The funny part is: That’s not what female abdominal muscles look like. It’s interesting how a single light source can cast shadows in so many directions 🙂 Or how the ‘lens’ of the foreground has such a different refraction than the lens of the background and instead of a Bokeh we have a ‘nice’ gaussian blur.
For a fun playing around it’s… well “fun” but hardly professional work. You can see better comp shots on 4chan.