Cinematic Cinemagraphs

Monday January 9th, 2012

With so many photographers diving into motion these days, Tamar Levine decided to start experimenting for herself. Both Tamar’s assignments and personal projects have garnered her much attention, winning awards, and even getting her chosen for ADC Young Guns. So it was a given that her new foray into motion would be just as successfully executed.

Having only dabbled in traditional motion pieces before, Tamar decided to start with something different. She scoured the internet to learn how to create her own cinemagraphs—still photos with minor movement. “Motion is something I am definitely interested in, and cinemagraphs seem like a kinda cool bridge between the two mediums.” Tamar was inspired to create a series revolving around the concept of the days of old cinema.

Tamar poured over cinemagraph tutorials and worked hard to flesh out the photo shoot’s concept. According to her, she prepared “quite a bit.”

I shot it loosely for a new online magazine so I had to make sure to have stylists who could pull enough looks, and then include them in all the shots. Also, since I was shooting both stills and video, I definitely needed to plan my shots out more than usual, especially since we were shooting on location and had to deal with sunlight. Additionally, I always spend a very long time looking for inspiration before I even pitch the idea and contact my team. For inspiration I watched films by Alfred Hitchcock, Samuel Fuller, and others, as well as re-watching some episodes of Mad Men, and made screen captures to refer to. I also looked at tons of fashion shoots, including some from vintage Vogue issues.

The results of Tamar and her team’s hard work certainly paid off. The cinemagraphs are both alluring and slightly mysterious, and capture the concept of old cinema perfectly.

Tamar was happy with the outcome, and especially likes the photo on the man and woman against the wall, “I like how it takes a moment of watching to notice the movement. It is the most subtle to me.”

Now, Tamar is working on creating more motion pieces, including a music video.

View more of Tamar’s photographs on her website, tamarlevine.com.

- Maria Luci