RGB Gas Mask Triptych - the Eyes have it...

[FootLoose]

You can analyse the light sources but you need to take into account the processing also, eg dodging and burning. The lighting is much harsher in the version which you have linked here. But it is not just the lighting, natural or artificial, that makes this a successful image of a what is basically a man in a hat and coat. Consider the shapes and lines, the strong diagonals (which are more prominent in the earlier print) and the layers of light and shade. The two rising diagonals not only frame the face but are powerful elements used to signal the power of the subject. All of these elements frame the visible side of the face and work to focus attention on the eye and say something about the character.

[Manfred M]

The images we are discussing here are platinum / palladium prints. These are not made using an enlarger, but are contact prints using an ultraviolet light source (the platinum / palladium process is not sensitive to visible light), so dodging and burning, in the traditional sense, is not possible. My understanding is that what Penn would do is re-coat the developed print in areas that he wanted darker tones was to locally re-coat these areas with more of the platinum / palladium solution and re-expose the print.

His shooting style was to carefully light his subjects and to create high contrast images.

Regardless of how he got there, what struck me about this image was the camera right eye, which is what inspired me in my image.