Standing on Johannes Vermeer's Shoulders

Johannes Vermeer, my favorite painter of the Dutch Golden Age, lived during the 1600s. He was a master at portraying interior scenes using ambient light. Perhaps the most well know of his work is Girl with a Pearl Earring (The Hague) although I love Woman Holding a Balance (National Gallery of Art in DC).

With Vermeer, there is no doubt wherein lies the focus of his painting. He used natural light to revel his subject with contrasting darker areas around. The Woman Holding a Balance

shows a young women lit by sunlight shining from a nearby window. All the focus is on the woman and the small items near her.

The picture I have chosen to show using this technique is a portrait I took of a character player washing dishes in Old Salem, NC.

Jennifer