It's a standard fashion catalog trick of scrimming the model and using the sun as a fill while supplying an electronic main light. See any J Crew catalog for the same effect. I personally don't care for the hand coloring, it makes it too kitschy. I am embroiled in the commercial world too much to object to a lighting technique moving from commerce to art. They usually migrate the other way, with no objection from the commercial shooters, but us artists really sneer at the ring flash, Octabank, etc. intruding into the realm of art photography. Perhaps we should consider that his pictures make these indigenous people more accessible to white bread westerners when shown in "fashion" lighting. Although I think my hero Mr. Penn did a much better job of it.(posted 8702 days ago)Yep it's really coffee, left over from breakfast. You can see some uneven staining on the left edge.
I liked Phil's work much better when it was in "Lenswork" mag and I couldn't see the selective coloring. The Tibetan work is really beautiful, that little girl holding the shell looks emotionally present and capable as well, and the father/son shepards is a very memorable image, and I think a genuine document. I didn't get the same empathy from the Somalian work, perhaps it had become more formulaic by then, or maybe he was worried about the militias and getting his ass killed in the process. Actually I think the Tibetans themselves (and my personal empathy for them) were the main reason for the success of those images, but Phil really had to put himself out there. I can't criticise him from where I sit... t