A few days ago, I met up with a girl I photographed during the first annual all-girl alley cat race.
At 3pm, Sonia walked down the stairs behind me and we met again. I recognized her instantly as the girl I nicknamed ‘Duran Duran’ at the race. She was dressed in a vintage prom dress that she bought to bike in as well as a brown pea-coat. Sonia had fantastic eye makeup and was exactly the kind of person I needed to photograph that day.
I wasn’t sure WHO I was going to photograph because the session was a prize I donated for the the all-girl alley cat race. This way of finding a subject was unique for me because the relationship was inverted. I did not seek out my subject. Rather, through a series of semi-random events, my subject came to me, and ultimately it worked out well.
Sonia has a great personality and was really easy to work with. I decided on 2 rules for this shoot:
1. Use only my 5D + 50mm
2. No directing the poses, and going for as much of a neutral situation as possible.
Both of these rules were a way to get as close to the truth of the moment as I could. Of course, the moment two humans interact at all, there is some chemistry which alters the situation in some way. These two rules were meant to head that off at the pass, as much as was possible. A 50mm lens is pretty close to human sight in terms of angle of vision. By not directing poses and encouraging Sonia from the beginning to self direct her position and to be neutral, I attempted to divert the idea that most people have to ‘smile and say cheese’ when someone is taking their picture.
We all have masks we wear in front of others in life. We show people what they want to see, or at the very least, hide some of our inner feelings to prevent from being vulnerable. It’s only natural.
My favorite portrait photographers break through the masks of their subjects and reveal something true. I’m not saying I nailed it this time. However, I can say that I was being mindful of it. Hopefully, some of that mask came away in these photos.
At the very least, I hope you, dear reader, find them interesting.
-Kirk
