A photographer has taken striking portraits of his wife, a nurse, to illustrate the importance of why we must stay home during these unprecedented times. The pictures serve as a visual reminder of the front line workers facing a daily battle against the current pandemic.
Ray Briggs, of Okushi Photography, took the images in a DIY studio he created in their garage, enlisting one of his sons as a lighting assistant. One of the predominant pictures then features his other son, as he hugs his mother, while she stares directly into the camera. “Stay home… so I can come home,” reads the accompanying caption.
The portraits were lit using a key light center and above the subject, accompanied by a rim light behind her, off to the left. A reflector was also used to the right of the frame to illuminate his son.
Briggs says the inspiration comes from wanting to tribute the commitment of all the healthcare workers currently risking their lives to save others. Posting to his Instagram, he wrote:
Let’s applaud our nurses, our doctors and all our medical field for working in the trenches and being the front line in this war against the virus. Praying we all get thru this soon, please do your part, stay home, practice social distancing and enjoy the time with family while you can.
Check out the portraits below, including a behind-the-scenes shot of the garage set-up.
See more of Ray’s work at his website or Instagram.
All images courtesy Ray Briggs of Okushi Photography, and used with permission.
Eh, these do not really tick the striking category for me.
Stay home anyway, or at least stay away from nurses when you get the virus.
I commented on the quality of the staged narrative photo's not being striking. You are projecting that I'm not following current public health policy, which I am.
Or you can do what this "nurse" depicts and that's coming home from working with infected patients and giving your child a hug while wearing your contaminated scrubs and gloves...
Hey genius - maybe they depict a scene before she leaves for work.
"Striking" is a subjective term, Johnny. Got any critique of greater substance?
I think they are technically well executed and convey their purpose.
Consistency of toning through a series, lose the dated glamour glow especially if you are going for a sports illustrated style light setup. 4th image is back focused. None of this adds up to striking in 2020.
Agree 100% poor lighting and inconsistent processing.
It would have been striking in 2019?
Thank you for these pictures.
Stay safe.
The first one is okay.
I rarely comment, but couldn't let this one go.
It would seem that some of the "commenters" are missing the point of the images. Also - Johnny Rico (is that a real name??) and Charles M - where is your stellar portraiture work on your pages? Or maybe you're just "posers" that like to be critical of other work? People who live in glass houses....
Thank you Ray, to you and your family for their efforts.
In my opinion, these are very powerful images during these sad times. Ignore the negativity. Art is subjective. You will always get criticism from narcissistic personalities ;)