Black and white portraiture

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I always had a special pleasure on doing black and white portraiture of the informal type. So some friends and relatives, or just people I met, often came in for a sitting in my living-room or in the studio.
Only the last shot was made while on assignment. The man is a worker in a large quarry in the mountain of Monchique, south of Portugal, where I improvised a small studio in the dining-hall. I just loved the way he came and sat there, full of dignity. Sadly, I don't know his name.

Ana

Barbara

Florian

Filipa

Francisco

Irina

Luis (my son)

José (my father)

Sara (my daughter)

Stephen

Worker

All photographs on this post were made using a camera by Hasselblad (either a 500 C/M or a 500 EL/M), and a Sonnar 150mm, made by Carl Zeiss. Phantastic gear, designed for hard-work of the highest quality.
Light was sometimes made by a single portable flash by Metz, aimed at an umbrella, or using Hensel Studiotechnik equipment, built in the nice german town of Würzburg. I usually prefer to keep my portrait lightning simple, using very often a single light source.

The photographs were scanned directly from black and white prints, produced on the traditional wet-darkroom. Somehow, they lack some detail and get too much contrast for my taste. I really need to do some home-work on scanning!
I apologize...

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