The New Sheriff, 1926

Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd
based on an original still by Leif Sinding
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• Collectible giclée fine art print;
• Hand-printed in England, with individual embossing;
• Ships with a Certificate of Authenticity;
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ABOUT THIS IMAGE

Taken 1926, Norway
(Nasjonalbiblioteket)

"A rare production still from the silent movie Den nye lensmanden ('The new sheriff', or, 'The new commissar'), directed by Leif Sinding to international acclaim. The film, released in September 1926, was his third outing as a director after a prior career in journalism. Haakon Hjelde (pictured) plays Franz Joseph, a drifter who 'arrives in a mountain valley, where they are awaiting the new local sheriff. he decides to pretend he is the man they are waiting for.' Unsurprisingly, this sequence with the half dressed women was cut by censors.

A surprisingly difficult photograph to do. Earlier black and white photography tends to skew the shades of grey, and I had to make additional adjustments to get it looking right; particularly the water. The chiffon fabric is semi-transparent, which made painting the women's skin difficult because you have to follow the folds to determine where flesh is closer to the edge of the fabric whilst retaining the overall body shape at the same time. There was very little information I could find on this film in both Norwegian and English, so references were nearly non-existent. The final 'look' is modelled after genuine Autochrome Lumière photographs which yielded a much more realistic and pleasing result."

– Jordan J. Lloyd

This historical photograph has been meticulously researched and rendered into colour from a black and white original by a skilled artisan, continuing a craft tradition that has existed since photography began.