portraiture.

the other day we read an article in class by Richard Avedon entitled "Borrowed Dogs". we have just been getting into studio work in class and a portraiture triptych assignment so it seemed fitting to read a famous photographer's thoughts on portraits. when i first finished reading it i wasn't quite sure what Avedon was trying to say, and whatever it was, i felt like he was making the issue far more complicated than necessary; however, after reading it once more and having some time to reflect on it, i believe that i understand and actually agree with the main idea that Avedon was aiming to express.

"portraiture is performance..."

basically, what i realized is that even in those moments, the times when it seems like someone has finally let go and relaxed enough for you to make the perfect image, even then there is still performing involved. first through the model, how they are dressed, their image, how they manipulate their appearance for the world. second is through the photographer, how we choose to portray the person, what light shall we show them in , in which angle...should we zoom in or out, include a plain or complicated background, use props, or have them strip down completely naked.

it's all about how we think another person should be portrayed.

and at the same time, how can we help it if they are putting on an act, for maybe this is simply how they wish the world could see them.

some people consider posing for the camera as their chance to show the world just how beautiful an unique they really are, but as photographers, sometimes we perceive such qualities in a different way.

this happened to Avedon when he shot photos of his aging father.

"my sense of what is beautiful was very different from his."

he wanted to show his father in a way that seemed fitting to him, rather than how his father thought he should look.

"all of the photographs in our family album were built on some kind of lie about who we were, and revealed truth about who we wanted to be."

that line pretty much says it all.

"for our means secure us and our defects prove our worth."

kareem black.

although we have been hearing the same things from our photo teachers for the past fifteen weeks or so, attending the lecture by kareem black was rather eye opening as to what it takes to be successful in the “real world” of photography.

There were several important points that he made that stuck out in my mind as some things to remember…

make connections.

this one is the obvious one, true in most aspects of life, but it’s something that we like to pretend isn’t true. Sadly, it almost always is just about who you know, and who they know , etc etc etc…

the one detail I though was interesting about Kareem’s story was how he originally started his professional career, by promoting himself and taking a job as the sole photographer for Fader magazine. His connections there in addition to the magazine sized portfolio that he had made for himself became the first step of his professional success.

Speaking of self-promotion…

This was something I hadn’t really thought about before, but getting your name out there is definitely crucial. Even though our class only has ten people… :p …there are way too many photographers in the world, plus all of the people that think having a fancy camera and photoshop makes you a photographer…and all of the people that believe them…

regardless…Black’s ideas on creative self-promotion, such as stickers and murals, were pretty unique and simple ideas and easy way’s to get your name out there.

which

is

important.

I really want to make stickers now…

if anything just for the lolz.

I think the biggest point of the entire lecture though was the emphasis on shooting for yourself.

yes making money is important, and sometimes you have to take jobs that you are not going to enjoy in order to make a living…

So basically the most important thing to do in order to stay happy is to remember to continue doing projects that make you happy, shoot for yourself and no one else.

remember why you are a photographer…

and what you love about taking pictures.

good timing too given that it is winter and we’ve been stuck inside learning basic studio set-ups.

God bless the january thaw, I need to wander off campus and do some random shooting before I die.

Final point.

kudos to whoever brought in a young photographer to speak to us.

As a freshman, the “real world” and graduation seem so far away, but it’s amazing how fast it goes and I think this was a nice reminder of that.

scary.

home.

family.

after not being home for a month and finally getting some time of of school to relax, the last thing i wanted to do was pick up the camera and start shooting my assignment. this was one of the harder assignment for me so far, simply because it is not how i am used to shooting. i would much rather wander around outside by myself for several hours and get lost in thought...just me and the camera, no distractions.

i thought about just doing a series of still lives to represent my family, but i felt like i really needed focus on practicing portraiture.

shooting people is hard enough for me, i hate that the image depends so much on what the person is doing and that in a split second the perfect moment could be gone. people are also so weird around the camera, forcing themselves to look how they think i want them to instead of just relaxing and letting me do my thing. it's rather frustrating to say the least.

what was even more difficult is the mere fact that this was my family. i as a photographer i feel like when i am shooting i am separated from everything else in the world...everything that is going on around me. it's hard to stay involved and still focus on doing a project. this made things difficult, especially because it was during the holidays. it was a challenge for me to take part in the festivities and catch up with family members that i haven't seen in months, and yet still remain an artist and focus on making images. there were so many ideas i had before getting together with my family, but by the end of the night i had only tried out one.

in the end i wound up just dedicating an entire day to shooting, from the time i woke up, all the way through dinner. this made it easier because as the day went on everyone became relatively used to having the camera in their face, and i actually had some fun with it.

after viewing everyone else's project's in class during critique, i realized, once again, how much power one has as a photographer. depending on how you choose to portray a situation entirely depends on how the viewer perceives it. it's strange to think how something as real and true as family can be manipulated however you like. issues between family members can be ignored, softened, exaggerated, mocked....relationships can be made to look or perfect or on the brink of disaster. reality can change depending on how you as a photographer want to portray it...