In this thesis the effect of light on the perception of mood in portrait photography was examined. The aim was to connect technical and aesthetic knowledge of studio lighting with contemporary scientific understanding of light perception and to systematically test how changes in lighting parameters affect the emotional message of a portrait.
The theoretical part reviewed literature from the physics of light, the psychology of color, and the history and contemporary practice of portrait photography. Particular attention was paid to the fundamental properties of light such as direction, quality, intensity, and color temperature, and to the ways in which these are used to create mood in a portrait. Classical portrait lighting patterns were also examined, alongside the work of established portrait photographers whose deliberate use of light shapes emotional impact.
In the experimental part, a studio portrait series of the same subject was produced under six lighting scenarios in which color temperature, intensity, direction, and quality of light were systematically varied while all other variables were held constant. To evaluate the emotional effect, a mixed-methods survey was conducted with 30 participants; the responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the non-parametric Friedman test for related samples.
The results confirmed that light, as the sole manipulated variable, systematically modulated the perceived mood of the portrait; ratings between the extreme scenarios differed by approximately three steps on a seven-point Likert scale. The hypotheses were confirmed, with the exception of the sub-hypothesis positing a binary relationship between warm (positive) and cool (negative) light, which the data rejected. Interactions between lighting parameters elicited emotional responses that cannot be explained by any single parameter. The results support the view that the photographic language of light rests not on aesthetic convention alone, but on measurable physiological and perceptual mechanisms.
|
