Hm.

Apr 14, 2007 at 10:23 AM
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Had a talk with my brother that threw some things into perspective yesterday when it comes to the limitations and stumbling blocks with my own "style" and aesthetic vision.

Maybe I've got the idea of showing who someone really is pretty well; photography is like playing a guitar, easy to pick up and hard to master, and I'm somewhere between Stairway to Heaven and Hotel California. So I'm not saying I'm Annie Leibovitz, just that, of all styles and perspectives, that's what I'm best at.

Yesterday it occured to me while talking with Tim that pictures which are not necessarily honest in that way are not automatically and necessarily "bad."

Sometimes the point isn't to celebrate and show the person as who they really are, but to show the person as who they want to be.

Interesting. I wonder why that never occured to me before?

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It has always been my philosophy to do what the good ol gut tells me. No one ever knows who people "really" are because people will even lie to themselves about who they are. Its always been impossible to see a true person; everyone has skeletons. It is ok though that the photographer, being an artist, paints a picture to the viewer about what he or she sees. Its your perspective and no one else. You may find yourself having to project the view of someone you work for, but its ultimately you the artist what you show people. Stay true to what your gut tells you and let people hire you for that. Don't watch trends, don't watch styles, just watch what you life.

This is all subjective and we all must bend to that which is popular and average. But its your finger that holds the power to show people what you see.

Loved the line about the guitar. It is so true.

"Sometimes the point isn't to celebrate and show the person as who they really are, but to show the person as who they want to be."

So true, and something I wish more photographers understood. Sometimes what needs to be shown is not necessarily what is, but what is possible.

The other thing that I'm becoming more and more aware of is just how much camera's can lie. One young woman that I shot last year was so hot IRL that cars were tooting her whereever she went and guys tongues were hanging on the ground - but for some weird reason she wasn't that easy to photograph. Sometimes working digitally and changing the image can make the photo of the person more like what they look - and feel like IRL.

I'm ridiculously hard to photograph -- I tell people that's because I'm projecting a prettier outside into their heads. :D

Hm.

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