The turbulent life of Caravaggio, chiaroscuro, and how The Cardsharps became a turning point that shaped an iconic art style still influencing artists today.
John the Baptist (sometimes called John in the Wilderness) was the subject of at least eight paintings by the Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610).
The term chiaroscuro stems from the Italian words chiaro, meaning clear or bright, and scuro, meaning obscure or dark. In painting, it refers to strong tonal contrasts used to suggest volume and form. The technique focuses on shadow and a single source of light to achieve depth and dramatic tone. Although most associated with oil painting, early Baroque artists demonstrated how striking the method could be, which is why it continues to influence artists today despite its technical difficulty.
‘Emperor’s Truth’ — underwater Vanitas still life photograph, dated 2010.
Some of the techniques used to achieve chiaroscuro include layering tonal values, working from dark to light, and careful modulation of shadow. Artists renowned for their mastery of the technique include Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Goya, and Georges de La Tour. All were acutely aware of its emotional power. Creating chiaroscuro photographically, in camera, has taken me decades to refine, using light to paint the subject so that the image takes on the visual weight of oil on canvas.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio led a turbulent life marked by violence, exile, and controversy. His passion was poured directly into his work, producing radical realism and a dramatic use of light and dark that reshaped painting. One of his earliest masterpieces, The Cardsharps, marked a turning point.
Caravaggio, The Cardsharps, dated 1594.
The Cardsharps depicts a card game between three figures: two cheats and their unsuspecting victim. Through gesture, costume, and gaze, Caravaggio constructs a narrative of deception and lost innocence. The obscured eye of one cardsharp heightens the psychological tension, a hallmark of his dramatic vision.
Caravaggio, Still Life with Fruit, dated 1603.
Born in Milan in 1571, Caravaggio’s early life was shaped by loss, plague, and displacement. After training in Milan and exposure to Venetian masters, he arrived in Rome with nothing, eventually gaining the patronage of Cardinal del Monte. Despite success, violence continued to follow him, leading to repeated exile.
His later works show intensified contrast and urgency, pushing chiaroscuro toward what would become known as tenebrism. In these paintings, light pierces deep shadow, isolating figures against darkness and heightening emotional impact.
Caravaggio, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, dated 1608.
Caravaggio’s final years were marked by flight, imprisonment, and physical injury. He died in 1610 under circumstances still debated, yet his influence endures. He did not invent chiaroscuro, but he transformed it into a dominant expressive force, bathing figures in light while plunging surroundings into darkness.
Caravaggio, Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, dated 1604.
Tenebrism, deriving from the Italian tenebroso meaning dark or gloomy, exaggerates the contrast of light and shadow even further. While often confused with chiaroscuro, it is distinguished by its near-black backgrounds and heightened theatricality.
‘Heraclitus II’ from the exhibition ‘Rastvoyrennaya Pechal’, Triumph Gallery, Moscow, 2013.
These influences remain present in my studio today. Black functions as both colour and concept, a ground from which form and meaning emerge. Working underwater allows stray light to be absorbed, enabling the full dramatic potential of chiaroscuro to be realised within analogue photography.
Critical responses have drawn direct parallels between my work and Caravaggio’s moral and dramatic use of light. These observations reaffirm my commitment to a process that privileges depth, patience, and in-camera integrity.
‘Wicca in Red’, dated 2014, from the series ‘Rastvoyrennaya Pechal’, Moscow. Unique chromogenic print, 60 × 45 cm.
Now working as a late-career artist, I have isolated myself to continue distilling meaning through deep blacks and restrained colour. These images may appear simple at first glance, but they carry layered narratives shaped by time, loss, and persistence.
Photography’s greatest strength — reproducibility — is also its weakness. Since 2013 I have produced only unique prints, challenging assumptions about value and singularity, and reasserting photography as an object of contemplation rather than consumption.
Working exclusively with analogue equipment and without post-production, this lifelong dedication to in-camera purity establishes provenance through preparation, discipline, and material truth.
