In response to an email this morning...
"I see from your work that you have a very good eye for reaching the soul of a person. "
I am pleased that you can see that ability in my work. Some people, rightly so, are even afraid of what might be shown to my lens. Others step up to the plate looking for some inner vision that they, themselves, do not have. Something about shifting out of the subjective view is healing to them. My studio partner does work which is vastly different from mine in that it attempts, successfully, to imbue a sense of fantasy and a sheath of imagery-laden with captial "B" beauty, to ordinary people. Another interesting process to watch unfold, as the images try to match some inner, mythical, story that these people tell themselves about what beuaty is. I try to shy away from "classical" poses, from poses at all, hopefully. I find that the best, most emotion-pulling shots happen during the last 15 minutes of a two hour shoot, when the masks have dropped and the person is comfortable with themselves in front of me. It does not take long for someone to realize that I make Shame and all her nasty attendants wait outside the studio door. It takes people a while to let go of that, for themselves, though. Shame can be a mightly shield from Truth, and even those who speak of shunning her, use her to their advantage on a daily basis. There is truth. And there is Truth.
Yeah, I can make a "nice" and "pretty" picture happen for people who pay me, and certainly, commercial work pays damned well, but the heart of this photographer is beating in the flutter of the mask which wafts to the floor and sighs just as it comes to rest at the foot of the subject. THAT is when I can be heard to say... "Don't....move..." and the shutter goes into a spastic sneezing fit of dancing f-stops and exposures.
Exposure. That, my friend , is the key.
