I'm very curious about what you learnt from Susan Sontag.
I was never afraid to go back. When I did a portrait sitting, if I didn't feel satisfied I went back again. A lot of people don't do that; they think if they don't get it the first time, that's it.
That's the thing about the soul in a portrait. When someone says, "You really captured that person," I laugh, because a portrait is really just a moment with somebody. You can get very close to what a person is about if you go off and spend ayearwith them. But the reality is you're in and out, usually in a day or two. It's just a moment with someone.
This is taken from a magazine article where Annie Leibovitz talks about portraiture "the soul in the portrait". How do we mentally prepare to shoot a subject whom we have never met? When I was in India I found it incredible as everyone wanted their photograph taken, and in that instant, time and time again they were so real, so raw. Many were so poor that the idea of having their photograph taken will live on forever this was the greatest gift for them. One single photograph meant so much more to my subjects in India then it does to many other subjects I have shot in Australia. And as Annie mentioned it is a moment with someone, a moment can tell so much. If you shot the one subject each day of the week, it would be different every time. Thoughts ??
That is so interesting that they wanted their portrait taken - they wanted to be seen to exist in the modern world and by having a portrait of them somewhere in the world that was achieved.
ReplyDeleteWhereas we get our portraits taken and it is almost second nature. For me, I had to get a passport and I am so petrified to look at it in a year or two because I will have changed so much (my hair style isn't even the same now and it was taken a month ago). The notion of a moment with someone, and that is what a portrait is; capturing a subject in a moment in time and space.
Reading this post reminded me of Toronto photographer, Jeff Harris, and his ongoing self portrait series. I find it so fascinating that he continues to take photos of himself every day, no matter what has happened to him, and in the end, it is what is his meditation I think he calls it. His persistence as a photographer and as a human to push himself and photograph himself doing interesting things instead of “...365 images of me sitting on the couch each day". He then forces himself to go outside and do activities as it will make for a better image. In regards to your question Rebecca, I think Harris has been able to remain photographing himself for so long (he is up to his 14th year of daily self portraits) as he is constantly pushing the boundaries and his creativity in creating an exciting image. You can tell so much about him from the way he captures each image, yet would it be the same if these were 'selfie' type self portraits taken with a phone from someone who isn't a photographer or artist?
Article: http://lightbox.time.com/2012/01/03/jeff-harris-self-portraits/
It's really interesting to hear that from such a well known photographer, that she believes she cannot truly capture a person in a portrait session.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense though- as you cannot truly know someone after 1-2 days, therefore how can you truly 'capture that person' in camera. You can capture a moment, but not the entire person.
I can't help but compare this to Sally Mann's work with her children. How can you know someone better than family. Is Sally able to capture something in these portraits that is otherwise impossible without such a close bond? Quite probably.
I experienced the same thing that you did in Indonesia, I was visiting a group of children at a soup kitchen and they all loved having their photo taken so much. It meant a lot to them and they would always burst into fits of giggles when I showed them the images. I wish I could have left the images with them somehow. It would have been nice to have a polaroid camera with me.
Georgia so true. It does makes your think about how we capture the true essence of a person. How long should we spend with the subject beforehand? How much research do we need to do on the subject to get the desired outcome? It is all relative. I believe if the photographer and the subject have respect for one another and are comfortable then you have a great starting point. As we know the more time you spend with your subject during the shoot, they relax, photograph better etc. And yes when it comes to photographing children so much easier then adults they have so much more spirit and laughter. A polaroid is a great idea.
ReplyDelete