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Rangefinder
Magazine Profile: Joseph and Louise Simone by Terry Deglau The telephone answers first in French, “Bon Jour, Simone Studio,” and then in English, “Hi, Simone Studio.” This was the beginning of a wonderful telephone conversation with two marvelous international photographers and teachers, Joseph and Louise Simone of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They have been a team since 1975, the year they established their Montreal studio.
Always striving to reach a higher and higher level, the Simones’ clients are the benefactors of a continual growing and learning process. “We consider the portrait to be a sacred art. We seek to create an heirloom that will last for generations. Our subjects are photographed under carefully monitored lighting, incorporating refined and meticulous rules of composition that enable one’s personality to express itself. We couple the technical aspects of portraiture with a human and warm welcoming approach.” Simone portraits reflect this attitude and once printed at 30x40 or larger, the images are breathtaking.
As examples of the Simones’ evolution, just a little over a year ago, the studio was completely film-based. Because backgrounds have always been an important component at Simone Portraits, Louise would look at the cli-ent’s clothing, and then create chalk sketches on a 10 foot seamless paper background, adding tears, well placed holes and shapes to create a multilayered effect. She would then often add fabric of different textures and colors, often draped over or around the subject, while Joseph adjusted the lighting and applied colored gel background lights at different depths and intensities. It was a rather complicated process, but necessary to achieve the desired results. The Simones have always been true craftsman. Who would believe that the Simones could or would want to be totally digital within one year and also completely change their method of creating their unique backgrounds?
The Simones have lectured internationally
in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Martinique, Guadeloupe
and the United States. They
also regularly teach week-long schools. Their extensive travels not only
enable them to share their methods with fellow photographers but it also
provides them the opportunity to photograph a huge number of backgrounds
to be used with their new Scene Machine virtual background system. The
Simones are continually adding to their growing In April 2003, Joseph received his fourth Photographer of the Year Award at the Canadian National Convention. In 1996, Louise received the Photographer of the Year Award for the third time. Joseph and Louise have received approximately 50 awards in Quebec and Canada. This includes over 40 Loan Collection merits registered at the National Archives of Canada, several Loan Collection merits in the United States, and various Kodak Gallery Awards.
The Simone’s fundamental philosophy best sums up the basis for their success, “The love and passion that we invest in our profession is reflected in each image, because a subject who feels respected, loved, and valued will disclose his or her complete authenticity.” It is this philosophy that will enable the Simones to continue to produce outstanding images that immediately capture the attention of both other professional photographers and the public in general. All photographs taken with the Scene Machine Virtual Backgrounds System: www.virtualbackgrounds.net Terry Deglau is the former manager of trade relations for portrait photographers at Eastman Kodak Company and a long-time portrait photographer. He currently owns his own business, Terry Deglau and Associates in Pittsburgh, PA. He can be reached at: terry@terrydeglau.com/. |
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From the very beginning, the Simones have never wanted
their studio portraiture to be just like that which is offered by most
any other studio; nor they did not want to do high-volume portraits.
Instead, the Simones constantly work to give their clients a true work
of art—a portrait that will pull at their heartstrings and command
a very special position within the home or office, much like artist-painted
portraits throughout history. When such a portrait is created, pricing
is not an issue.
Although images produced by the Simones will
indeed stand the test of time with beauty, dignity, elegance and grace,
the pair are never quite
satisfied. In conversation, their modest approach to life allows them
to admit that they are still learning and growing as the profession of
photography evolves. I consider the Simones to be among the industry’s
fundamental leaders, and fortunately for all of us, outstanding teachers
as well. They are two of the most sharing people I have ever met. 
Because
of the many new opportunities digital provided for the Simones to further
enhance their creations, in April 2002, Joseph and Louise
tested creating their first digital images and almost immediately decided
to make the transition away from film and their 4x5 cameras. Their goal
was to be 100 percent digital in less than one year. At the same time
the Simones were discovering digital, they also discovered a completely
new way to create their backgrounds, which not only made their lives
easier but also greatly expanded their creative possibilities. In addition
to custom chalking full size backgrounds, the Simones had been creating
other unique backgrounds by using three Carousel slide projectors to
project a composite of art work that they had photographed in Europe
as “ethereal type” backgrounds for children, young adults
and family groups. They strobe-lighted the subjects in a nearly dark
camera room (the modeling lights had to be turned off) and then they
dragged the camera shutter for one second to get proper exposure for
the art projected on the background. The method was both primitive and
complicated but the results were spectacular. 
Just after teaching at
the Texas School in April of 2001, the Simones traveled to San Marcos,
Texas where they met Henry Oles, developer of
the Scene Machine virtual background system. They had heard about the
virtual background process but never really looked into it. The Simones
immediately recognized that they were creating their backgrounds “the
hard way” and that the virtual background process would enable
them to take their backgrounds to an entirely new level of sophistication
with much greater flexibility. Louise is now “painting” many
of her backgrounds on 16x20-inch art boards and pho-tographing the board
on transparency film and then projecting it up to 10x10 feet with her
Scene Machine. She is also able to instantly modify the focus, brightness,
proportional size, and even the color balance. She is also now “drawing” backgrounds
on her computer, often including bits and pieces of modified classical
art work and producing transparencies that can also be projected with
the virtual background process. And, instead of throwing away backgrounds
after they are used, she is able to store her creations for further use
in slide boxes. 
Today, the Simones are 100 percent digital. The 4x5
cameras have been replaced with Contax 645 cameras using a Kodak 645
digital
Pro Back.
The pair regularly create portraits as large as 40x60 without problem.
Nearly all of the backgrounds for their studio portraiture are created
with the Scene Machine virtual background system. While they use some
of the slides that the manufacturer has available, they continually create
their own background images that reflect their unique methods and style.
Joseph and Louis Simone are truly artists and craftsmen as well as talented
photographers.
The Scene Machine has been an exceptional tool to help
the Simones expand their creativity in the studio, enabling them to bring
the outdoors,
special locations, elegant interiors, National Parks, known municipal
buildings, school locations and much more into their camera room. We
all have experienced a rainy week during the Senior Portrait Season,
and know how it plays havoc on the schedule. The Simones have taken this
equipment and made their own backgrounds that are works of art in their
own right. Just imagine a background that includes a door way to an old
barn in Southern France with a rustic street light, all painted and aged
just like the wine this barn holds, and then work the resulting composite
image with “Painter” and “Photoshop” and you
have a scenic background that could stand alone in an art gallery. The
Simones then project this image in their camera room, combining it with
some appropriate “Off The Wall” or “Scenic Design” props,
with the perfectly posed subject with enhancing lighting, and perhaps
some vignetting. The recorded results are a true composite—blending
subject, lighting, props and pose. After the sitting, no doubt, Louise
will add just enough “Painter” digital enhancement to add
some motion to the image. 
With strong composition and design, Simone
subjects will come forth in the resulting image with strength that reveals
his or her personality.
The Simone’s photography becomes the mirror of the soul of both
the subject and the author. Look at the examples of their work and marvel
at how the new digital technology and virtual backgrounds brings their
im-agery to the highest level. 
background library.
Their peers have repeatedly rewarded the Simone’s for artistry,
creativity, passion and talent. Even with this history, it’s nice
to see that they continue to drive themselves to excel. While awards
are indicative of success, true success is also measured by their customers
who clamor to own a “Simone Portrait.”