Hasselblad Masters

Volume 7: Enlighten

Colour, light, and general “mood” have been a part of Ramón Vaquero’s photographic lexicon for years. “I try to bring to light real beauty and melt the charismatic personalities of models and lighting in just one unit.” Ramón’s work moves beyond simply finding an editorial look. He strips away elements that distract from the true human components, blurring the lines of beauty, fashion, and classic portraiture.

The viewer is immersed in the images at first sight. Ramon’s style is intentionally simple in order to have few distracting elements and leave the initial reading of the image instantaneous.

But as the viewer becomes immersed, they find more subtle nuances and a deeper understanding and message behind the image; as Ramon describes, “I like to build a large entrance door to let anyone walk into the scene.”

But to break down to this essence and simplicity, many factors are brought in behind the scenes as Vaquero constructs the image from the ground up. “The model is the one who really inspires me. Always. Then I surround them with all my stuff - lights, colours, backdrops- in a space as the studio or a location, and build my images up.”

Ramon relishes creating an image from scratch. Starting with a neutral environment like a studio and being able to tweak and creatively explore all the parameters of the final image to reach his artistic vision. From the original concept idea, he goes from model casting to delving into lighting scheme design, styling, shooting and processing.

When shooting this series, Ramón Vaquero wanted to put the X2D’s colour ability to the test, shooting with vibrant colours instead of natural tones. “With the X2D, I discovered that it’s so smooth and pleasant, both technically and emotionally, as its colours are rich and soulful, with plenty of endless transitions.”

“The X2D fit into my workflow, so naturally, I did not have to change it a single bit. I feel at home shooting with Hasselblad from the very start.”

The final stage, post-processing, is a particularly creative phase in Vaquero’s workflow. He adjusts the RAW file in Phocus and puts the finishing touches in Photoshop, artfully crafting the desired ambience and character. “I love to give the look of a highly polished image but keep it simple at the same time. I’m energized by the evolution process of how to make it better each time.”

ABOUT RAMÓN VAQUERO

Rámon Vaquero is a Hasselblad Master based in Vigo, Spain. He has a long history with photography, stemming back to being given his first camera at just ten years old. His photographic history spans a variety of genres and has been featured around the world, garnering a host of awards, including a Gold Graphis, A Tokyo International Photo Award in Advertising, and Photographer of the Year in the Fine Art edition of the Monochrome Photography Awards. Ramon believes an artist should never stop learning, both technically and aesthetically.