A very particular photographic style was born a couple of years ago, that created a huge trend in the industry: the ‘gritty’ effect, also know as the ‘dragan’ effect, which consists in over-sharpening, over-contrasting and under-saturating the original photographs. The result is an extremely striking picture, slightly blurring the boundary between photography and illustration.
This is a very neat effect, maybe a tad over-used by now, but this style is still very popular.
One of, if not The, pioneer of this style is Andrzej Dragan. His wonderful portraits are the unofficial definition of the style, and he is lucky enough to have the effect named after him, the ‘Dragan Effect’. One of his best known photographs is probably the black and white portrait of David Lynch.
Check out the rest of Andrzej Dragan’s portfolio at http://andrzejdragan.com/.
Another master in the effect is Dave Hill.
You can check out his portfolio at http://www.davehill.com/.
And finally, another great photographer who embraced this style is Jim Fiscus.
Check out his great photographs at http://www.fiscusphoto.com/.
Keep on gritting!
