Images of My Thoughts

Just an assignment I had to redo for a class.  I had everything planned out, the location (Green Pond Lake), the time and the people, but when I got to Green Pond, the tools that live there say that the dock is private property and so is the community.  So instead of a nice sunset ambiance, I had to find a smaller lake with trees that are blocking the sunset.

And after a couple shots, the battery decided to die.  So, instead of get everything done at once, everything was dragged out until the next day.

I like the images, just not the backgrounds.  Only if I can have some nice weather in the past two days, I would of be a lot happier but these shots still work for me.

Thanks Anthony and Chris for helping out.

type of portraiture.

These are County College of Morris professors.  When I was shooting this project, Instead of having time to carry on a conversation, I had about 1 to 2 minutes with each subject because of the time constraint.  Therefore, I tried my best to be as genuine as I can, telling them what this shoot is about and pretty much just show sincerity and that usually make people act the same way and are able to be more comfortable.

I told the subjects that I just want a genuine expression, if they can’t do that, then just do something comical.  But, these three portraits below show their personalities and characters just from their expressions on their faces.

Couple weeks ago, I said that I wanted to photograph portraits with a different approach, trying to imitate the way that Platon does it.  The communication, the relationships and level of comfort between the photographer and the subject, and the ability to click that shutter when the eyes see the emotions and compositions.

Therefore, for my studio lighting final portfolio, I decided not to pose my subjects, instead, we have conversations and as that carries on and the comfort level increases, I click the shutter at the moment where there is a genuine feeling involved within the conversation.

It’s really difficult for me because I am not a talkative guy; however, this exercise taught me a lot.  My professor said something in one of the classes, “There are two types of photographers who does portraiture, the first one is where the photographers are more active and they tell what the models should do and the models follow that instruction;  the second is where the photographers are more passive and they are there letting the models do what they want and capture the moment when they believe it is right.”  There are pros and cons to either type of photographers, but to me, I rather be the second one.  I feel like the first type of portraiture photographers, they are there to capture the physical side of the models; for the second type of photographers, they are there to capture the emotional side of the models.  Therefore, to me, it is in much difficult and interesting to see the inner being of a person through photography because usually, that is not the intention of photography.

There is something that money cannot buy, and to me, that is the genuine expression on people’s faces that I am able to capture.

What does our minds go through when we see street musicians?  Do we categorize them as beggars?  Do we see them as low end of the society?  This is what’s wrong with everyone in the world today (not judging, I am the same way); we like to place people on a scale of our own before we even know who they are and what they are capable of.

For the longest time, I thought to myself that street musicians are nothing more than people who knows a little bit of their instruments trying to make a living from it.  Well, that is before I got to know them; now, I do not share that same feeling and my respect toward their dedications are sincere.

Most of them have regular jobs, but during their free times, they want to do what they really enjoys, their passions, even with every judgmental eyes that pass by them and every comments that goes through their ears, they are not phased, not when they truly know what their passion is about.

Those people make me think about myself, am I willing to put myself out there for the world to see, take all the criticisms and still stand up tall?  Well, at the point, there is no other options for me.  Since one year and a half ago, I told myself I cannot fail at any cost, since I have done so once already.  But I would love to know where those people get their courage…

From politicians to athletes, Platon has shot them all.  With one simple front light, he is able to show the personalities of the portraiture.  How does he do it?  Communication.  Portrait photography to me is one that causes much more difficulty than any other genre of photography because of the concept of posing people and being unnatural.  First of all, I am uncomfortable of telling people what to do; how to place their hands, how to tilt their heads; how to sit a certain way in order to achieve the shots I want.  Even if all the poses are the way I wanted, I am rarely happy with the images that come out because everything seems forced.

Platon on the other hand, his ability to talk to the subjects and able make them comfortable in front of the camera amazes me to no degree.  The posture, expression as well as the level of confidence that all the subjects possess in his photographs, and then to capture that in a confined time and space, it is a gift that I would gladly have without a second thought.

So, I am going to try a new way to shoot portraiture.  Whenever I am shooting portraits, I am going to set up everything and then sit the subjects down and try to connect with them so that they are able to show who they are really are and at that point, take the shot.

The more I look at photographs, the more I am amazed how something that seems so simple can be the most difficult thing to achieve.  Photography takes discipline, that includes the patience, the ability to take control of the situation, the skill to see what the camera sees instead what our eyes see and the knowledge that everything can be improved upon.

Here are some images of Platon, I might try to include some of mine with the idea of mimicing Platon’s style later on, but we will see =P.

President Vladimir Putin

David Beckham

my child is a prize
she adds color to my eyes
and to all my different lives
but the truth of her beauty lies
in the black and white insides
the depth that color hides
and the mother in me cries
as the child in her dies
holding onto prides
knowing she is wise
but still a sadness tries
to prolong the goodbyes

- Sue

This beautiful poem is written by Erica (the model)’s mother, Sue.  She was looking at the color version of this image (October 9th) and this one at the same time and without the distraction of color, she notices more how beautiful and thoughtful Erica is in the cyanotype image and hence the poem to describe her thoughts.

As an outsider of this mother and daughter relationship as well as the author of this portrait, I cannot help but wonder the different meanings that this image give to people because of the different social background everyone is at in relation to this image.  To me, this image is a part of something greater, it is just a piece of the puzzle; however, to Sue, that is obviously not true.

When I first heard that she wrote a poem because of the image, I was overjoyed.  The idea of reinterpretation of images is part of the main reason why I love photography so much.  Now, people are expressing their thoughts behind my images and this idea makes me feel like I am going in the right direction.

As I told Sue, “An image without thoughts behind it is just a dead end picture; but with this poem, the image has become a tale that connect the mother to the daughter,the readers to the author and the viewers to the photographer.”

Here is the B&W image to match the poem:

I believe that the way people live have become more and more degraded as the convenience and the popular trends embedded into people’s minds. People have forgotten their basic instincts and their abilities to act and react. We are numbed by the injections of laws and rules that without a set of rules we cannot function. The problem is that we never question those rules.

And because of those rules, we have stopped challenge ourselves to become more than what is socially acceptable and because of that, the art of individualism is lost. The most common interpretation behind the Japanese proverb today, ” See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” is usually describe the people who do not want to be involved into situation and therefore, they turn their heads the other way to avoid the confrontation and wrong doing.

This following image tells exactly the opposite of the proverb. We need to see the bad influences around us and be aware those things so we that those influences will not be affecting the way we should live. We need to see the rules and decide for ourselves that whether they apply or not, no more following the what is popular but know what exactly what you want.

Of course, it is always easier to say than to do. But, this is just an encourage for people that we should be more than a puppet of society and start to become individuals.