2/2 Rankin Shoots Rembrandt: The Culture Show

First broadcast: Oct 2014. World-renowned photographer Rankin takes on the challenge of interpreting Rembrandt’s portraits of old age, adapting the Dutch master’s techniques for his camera. Rembrandt’s portraits are some of the most arresting images of old age in western art. He captured the vitality and vulnerability of his subjects, highlighting the effects of time in a candid way that still resonates today. Rankin collaborates with Terry Gilliam, Ken Loach, Zandra Rhodes and Una Stubbs to create his own contemporary versions of four Rembrandt portraits. He explores Rembrandt’s use of light, his technique with paint and his ability to capture the ambiguities of facial expression and subtleties of personality with startling effect. Drawing on all these elements, Rankin attempts to produce photographs that capture the essence of these 17th-century images, created by one of the world’s greatest portrait painters.