A restaurant for foodies, an atmosphere for artists; Rest. Restaurant is by nature a place where adventurous tastes are refined to satisfy. It is the appreciation of art, simplicity and eccentricity that guided the theme of portraits portraying their staff.

Vojta, the owner of this foodie haven, brought up the idea over grilled calamari and a fine Moravian wine.

He opened up a book of art and pointed out a still of Andy Warhol eating a hamburger. He wanted to do something like this - simple and understated.

Via email, another sample was sent. A portrait of writer Jonathan Safran Foer was the supporting image to the still of Warhol.

Jonathan Safran Foer by Uffe FrandsenJonathan Safran Foer by Uffe Frandsen

Then a video reference for lighting, a music video by Editors - A Tone of Love

So, that was the guiding imagery.

The thought was to create portraits that could be hung as prints in the restaurant, adding to the artwork and decor. Black and white, simple with a bend toward the eccentric.

We agreed that each staff member would bring something that represented their personal life or place in the restaurant.

Then, following the composition of the sample images and the lighting of the music video, we would create the final images.

Oh, and I needed to be able to do this in a very compact, international-travel-friendly way. Budget and 10 days of prior travel required it.

(Click on an image to open the whole gallery.)

Equipment:

Canon EOS 70D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4

Canon 580EX

Canon 430EX II

MeFoto RoadTrip Tripod

Steve Kaeser 7’ Light Stand

…plus a white cloth napkin and my wife’s scrunchie to diffuse the background flash, and a light-colored ceiling to bounce the on-camera flash.