Thursday, December 01, 2005

Can I have a part of your face?

So I have spent all day doing something that I absolutely love...taking pictures of people. I am running a casting shoot for an upcoming commercial. It is actually kind of a blessing because usually we shoot it on video and it is very cookie cutter. For several different reason, the director decided to do this one with stills. So I am set up in the studio with minimal props to spend the day getting people to give me specific expression (something else that I love to try and capture).

But between shoots I realized why I enjoying doing this so much: besides the challenge of getting the lights right and the settings on the camera straight (since I like to do everything manually), it is a sterile relationship. I almost never shoot anyone (in a studio setting) that isn't family or significant other. When I take a picture of someone in a focused setting, it is intimate for me. I make the distinction "for me" because it could mean absolutely nothing to the person I am photographing. I feel like they are lending their selves to me and intrusting me to capture a part of them that will last. I realize this sounds kinda fruity and weird, but it is the clearest way I can put it into words. And by taking pictures of 35+ people in one day, I am able to have this brief relationship with them (in most cases that they don't even realize) and learn how to capture someone without that kind of foreknowledge that I usually have.