The image on the card is black and white; a torso shot of a woman who stands with her shoulders facing the camera, her head turned slightly to the left. Her eyes are looking into the camera lens, the whites of her eyes are incredibly vibrant. The camera is focused only on her face and the top portion of her head; the rest of her - the sides of her head, her hair, her neck, her shoulders, her chest - is out of focus. There is a good amount of vignetting around the corners of the photograph. The focusing of the photograph, and the prominence of the eyes captures me as a photographer and a person. Her eyes speak for her expressionless face. I can't help but wonder what this woman was thinking when the photograph was taken. She doesn't appear to be uncomfortable or out of her element. I want to know what is behind her eyes; who is this person? What has she been through? Where is she going? I look at the photograph of this woman, and while the portrait is strong standing alone, I wonder if it is part of a larger set of photographs, all meant to document and profile her and her life. Her essence.
As an artist and a writer, I'm currently studying the exploration of storytelling. I am trying to branch out of internal exploration and learn how to uncover external stories; stories of other people. What do I notice in these stories that may be overlooked by someone else? What does the world gain through storytelling? How do you capture and portray the essence of someone both in words and in a portrait? How can you do one without the other?
Last year, my most personally prized project was a profile piece I did on a close friend of mine. I took a series of photographs of him in his house, as well as photographing his bedroom. The project was criticized as being solely a subjective portrayal of him, as opposed to an objective portrayal. I wasn't even sure how I would capture the opposing portrayal differently, and I still don't know today. But what I am realizing is that all portrayals or profiles of a person, especially with photographs are, in some small way or another, subjective. That does not necessarily make them weak. I really want to explore these concepts further - storytelling through portraits; how can I capture the essence of a person? And how might my openly subjective portrayal of them bring more to the table, the world, the art of photography and storytelling, than someone who tries so hard to maintain an objective eye? I'm not a journalist, I'm a storyteller, and stories have emotions and passion in them. I want to try and fill my portraits with those elements.
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