By Caroline Cannon

Welcome to the final edition of Caroline’s Snapshots for the 2019-2020 school year! It’s crazy that I’ve stuck with this column for over a year now, and I’ve greatly enjoyed exploring new artists, breaking down their styles, and sharing my thoughts. And thank you all for sticking along with me! 

For this edition, I will highlight photographer Drue Schnelle. This talented portrait and advertising photographer is originally from Kansas City but recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue photography full time. His shots are stunning, and they range from creative portraits to advertisements for iPhones and other products. First, let’s take a look at some of his extremely impressive portrait work. 

I absolutely love this image, and the first time I saw it, I just could not take my eyes off of it. Go ahead, spend some time to just look at these amazing details! The floor pattern behind her, and pattern of her dress, the color contrast between her hair, her outfit, and the water…it’s all so creative and comes together to create a really intense, sort of eerie, portrait. I love how Drue kept the colors in this very natural during editing, and I think it adds to the overall creepy vibe of it all. I love how mysterious this picture is, and it raises lots of questions. Who is this girl? Why is she in a pool or body of water? Why is she nicely dressed? What happened before this picture was taken? Did she fall into the water? Why? These are just some of the thoughts I get when I look at this picture, and it really captures my interest. This is easily one of my favorite works of his! 

Another one of my favorite works of Drue’s, this picture is an awesome example of some of the street photography he does. I really love the blurriness of this photo, and I think it provides a nice contrast with the laid back vibes of the model. The background is very fast, but the model seems very slow. Overall a pretty cool concept! I also like how Drue decided to transform this picture into black and white. There’s a saying in the photography world that if you want to make a picture more interesting just add something red or turn it black and white, and sometimes a black and white photo represents just that: a photographer just wanting to be noticed and seen as something “different” or “unconventional”. When in reality, sometimes it just makes them seem more conventional. This is an interesting idea to think about, since I myself really love black and white photographs. And with the right photo, black and white could add a new layer to the photograph and make it more interesting, which is what I think happens here. Through removing the colors from the pictures, it allows for the viewer’s eyes to gaze on the model and the movement in the background instead of getting drawn to something bright and colorful. These are the strengths of this portrait, and I really love the way he captured this moment!

Those past two pictures are just a few of the amazing photos that Drue creates. Check out more on his instagram (@druephoto), his Twitter (@DruePhoto), or even buy some of his best works on his website (https://druephoto.darkroom.tech/#). But portraits are not the only type of photography that Drue is known for. A few years ago, he started working for different companies around LA to shoot some of their new products. He has created some stunning shots, so now let’s take a look at some of the best advertisement and production photography Drue has done. 

These two photos are some of the photos that Drue has taken in partnership with Apple, and each time I see them I freak out for a few seconds. I mean, just seeing electronics as expensive as iPhones submerged in water makes me extremely nervous! But, I guess it is a good way to test the waterproof features of a phone (still nerve-wracking, though!). Anxiety aside, I think these photos are super well done. The clarity of the product and the water itself is stunning. The colors contrast beautifully with the dark phone against a bright blue background. The angles of the phones themselves in the water makes the picture more interesting, and overall it just looks like a very well done advertisement! 

Although this next one wasn’t done in partnership with a specific company, I still really enjoy this image. I appreciate the creative touches of color that Drue added to this picture in editing, and the colors add to the product itself. Without the color touches that Drue made, this would be a very boring picture of a white portable speaker. But, the color streaks make the speaker seem more interesting, and remind me of the colors at a dance party or something. Similarly to the previous iPhone pictures, I like the angle that he chose to lay the Speaker at. I think it makes the picture more interesting, and allows for the colors to really bounce off of the speaker. Once again, a really captivating advertisement! 

Overall, I find Drue’s ability to effortlessly cross styles of photography to be very inspiring. He is always coming up with creative ways to take a simple portrait or advertisment to the next level, and his persistence is something I greatly admire. His photos are never boring, and he always finds a way to engage his audience. He’s very active on all social media, and is always encouraging other artists to share their work and try new things. He is one of the most creative photographers out there, and I absolutely love his work! 

Thanks for another great year exploring photographers with me! Now, I’ll leave you all with a few other images I just couldn’t help but share.