CORNWALL, Ontario – How does one illuminate a chicken coop for a photograph?
Cornwall photographer Frank Burelle doesn’t know – but he’ll soon find out.
Burelle is in the midst of completing a personal project to photograph dozens of people in interesting settings and circumstances for his 100 Portraits Project.
The biggest challenge with an upcoming project will be to shoot a man and his guitar, while in the confines of the individual’s chicken coop.
“We were discussing his portrait and he said he had this guitar,” said Burelle, lamenting his struggles with trying to bring the portrait to life with more content. “And this guy asked me if I wanted to shoot it with his chickens.
“That’s an instant hell yes.”
The 100 Portraits Project is just that – a collection of local people who submit to have their photos immortalized in black and white so that Burelle can hone his skills in the name of Yousuf Karsh – a world-famous Canadian portrait photographer.
“I was obsessed with his stuff for the longest time,” said Burelle. “This is a guy who has done Hemingway, Picasso and Churchill.
“I wanted to be become better with that kind of portrait. But I had no experience with that.”
But Burelle has parlayed that lack of experience into a gallery of 33 images that speak to viewers because they tell the story of individuals and their passions.
There are intimate images of people swimming, acting out, playing sports and just smiling.
“I created the project to bring the portraits to me,” said Burelle. “I picked 100 because it’s a big enough number to be a challenge, but not too big that it is (daunting).”
But there were challenges.
“I didn’t want to do 100 portraits of children,” he said with a laugh, adding that not long after he announced the project parents were lining up to have their children and babies immortalized. “I didn’t want it to be that exclusive.”
Some photos have been shot in studio, on location and even his living room.
Next up is the chicken coop.
“I don’t know how I’m going to light that,” he said. “And will the flash freak out the chickens? I don’t know.”
Burelle is seeking more subjects for his project. You can get information on the 100 Portraits Project here.
