Photographs of Rashid Khalifa's work in the London Saatchi Gallery. In these abstract, geometric sculptural pieces, their setup in the gallery space and the lighting together created an exceptional atmosphere that was a joy to photograph. My main theme was, apart from capturing the shapes of the artist's work, the shadows these pieces cast, the light playing on their shiny enamel surfaces, and the diversity of texture I got using different depths of field.

I visited the Saatchi Gallery in London on a very rainy Saturday afternoon in November 2018 and happened to have my camera on me. Because it is allowed to take pictures inside and I loved this exhibition so much I didn't think twice about shooting.

I have used a Canon 5D MK III (full frame DSLR) and Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM prime lens to shoot the pictures, and Adobe Bridge to edit. The pictures were taken on fully manual mode at a relatively high ISO setting (for the lighting of the space was somewhat dim). I have only done some minor editing on the photos on the computer like sharpening, noise reduction, and white balance adjustment.

I have first shared these photos on my personal Facebook profile, and my post proved fairly popular among artists and people who are interested in art. This was the first time I have photographed such a sculptural installation, and I have discovered that photography can start, dialogue with sculpture which is due to its three dimensional nature. You can walk around it; you can get really close, you can take several steps back. In this particular case, the lighting and shadows added one extra factor which made the whole experience even more intriguing.

Rashid Khalifa – Penumbra (Textured Shadow, Coloured Light)

Gergely Jancsikity

Artist / Photographer / Designer

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