Nature's Pencil: Inspiration: Robert Demachy
Demachy was not concerned with the faithful reproduction of detail. A good negative was just the starting point for the eventual image. He strove for a painterly quality, like in oils or pastels and acheived it with the Gum-Bichromate method of printing and a lot of re-touching
His compositions are simple, with strong subjects, and no clutter. The lighting is often dramatic, with strong shadows. He likes to depict people, movement, or both. Another common characteristic is a blurring of the boundaries between his figures and their setting.
His most famous image is his 1904 shot, Speed, of a solitary sports car of the time, throwing up a cloud of dust as it speeds by a telegraph pole on a deserted road.
To represent his work I have chosen a shot from Behind the Scenes published in the same year, and featuring one of his favourite subjects - ballet. It could almost be a painting by Degas.