The photographer Antonis Engrafou portrayed the Olympic team from Cyprus in high-contrast black and white shots.
Antonis Engrafou: “I was commissioned to create portraits of the athletes representing Cyprus at the Olympic Games. The advertising agency overseeing the project tasked me with capturing their likeness to build national support. We opted for striking, high-contrast black-and-white portraits to portray the athletes as larger-than-life figures, highlighting their strength and determination.
In addition to the portraits, I was also tasked with creating a second image for each athlete, this time displaying them in action within their respective sports. These dynamic shots, set against a clean white background, continued the dramatic high-contrast theme, amplifying their energy and athleticism.
Some of the shots were taken in my studio, where I had full control over the environment, while others were done on location, where lighting presented more of a challenge. On location, I needed more power and precision to achieve the desired high-contrast effect. To tackle this, I utilized nearly all my lights and modifiers.
I began each setup with a beauty dish as the key light to sculpt the athletes’ features. To illuminate and separate them from the background, I used softer modifiers on the sides, such as the 30x120 strip and the 75 octabox. For the off-white background, I relied on the P70 reflector. This combination of high-contrast lighting with softer modifiers allowed me to highlight the athletes' determination in their facial expressions while capturing the intensity of their physique and skin.
For the action shots, speed became the primary challenge. We aimed to maintain the same dramatic effect as the portraits, but also needed to freeze their motion. For this, I used the broncolor Grafit A4, which gave me precise control over the flash duration and speed. The results are stunning, perfectly capturing both the energy and intensity of each athlete in motion.”
