“I don’t really have a single ‘favorite’ photograph, because that would mean relegating many other photographs to second choice. But this image of Apollonia van Ravenstein in an evening gown by Frank Govers, shot in Naples in 1985 for the now-legendary magazine Avenue, does meet several of my criteria for a ‘good’ photograph.
First and foremost, it has to be pleasing to look at—it has to please the eye—which is something instinctive. It must also capture a singular, unique moment. The photograph should tell part of a story and stimulate the imagination or provoke thought, including thoughts about what might be happening outside the frame.
It should not look contrived or composed in terms of lighting and composition. It should feel unconstructed, unforced and natural, made directly from instinct, spontaneous and unaffected.
I don’t like it when you can immediately tell from the technique, lighting, location, pose or set that a great deal of thought went into the photograph; that it was created artificially; or that it is meant to represent something it really isn’t…
I haven’t worked for several years now, but one of the things I always enjoyed most about my profession was seeing what would happen when I sought out reality with models, stylists and makeup artists, purposefully, of course, and went out into the street to make room for chance, which is so tremendously important in photography. Everything would suddenly become real, and although the assignment was for fashion or advertising, I could work like a documentary photographer.
But appearances can be deceiving, and nothing is what it seems. That remains true…”
Text: Bart van Leeuwen
Name: Bart van Leeuwen (1950–2017)
