I have been photographing people for around 4 years now. And at some point, I realised I have an approach to capturing people. There’s something I look out for in every single one of my portraits and a way I go about finding that.
I’ll be honest. While I’m writing this post partially as a first step to tackling SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), I also want to take this opportunity to share with you how I view portrait-making so that you know what to expect when you hire or collaborate with me.
Unlike photographing a piece of still life, there are a lot of opportunities for inter-mingling of ideas and senses when photographing a human being. I see a lot of beauty in that. I’m naturally curious about people and their life experiences, and I approach every conversation with the hopes of learning something new.
I’m not sure about you, who you are, and how you communicate. But I can confidently say this is how I communicate best and my best photos come from an open conversation about who you are as a person, your likes and dislikes, and your life philosophies. I ALWAYS relish in the opportunity to know you as a person first and photo subject second. And if we stay as friends after the shoot, that’s a bonus for me.
If that sounds like the portrait experience you would like, please read on for my approach :)
I approach a portrait shoot with 3Cs in mind:
1. Curiosity
2. Comfort
3. Connection
Curiosity
My first step to photographing people is to have a genuine, unfettered curiosity about them. Although I’m most parts Introvert and being around people for long periods of time drains me, I enjoy being around them. I believe every individual is unique and I'm not just saying that to sound worldly. The reason why I say this is because no one in the world has the exact circumstances as anyone else, even twins, and circumstances shape world views and world views eventually form personality. When two individuals come together (in this case you and I), there are infinite number of ways our energies can interact and infinite amount of knowledge we can glean off each other. Isn’t that wonderful!? (At this point you really should be thinking this, otherwise you wouldn’t have read this far)
That’s Step One, I want to know you, before I photograph you.
Comfort
After talking to and photographing countless of people, I realise not everyone is equally open to sharing about themselves. It’s not a good or bad thing. It is just what it is. I can’t do anything to change that behaviour, but what I can do, and always do, is to create a safe space for you to express yourself. I try to take a non-judgmental approach to better understand people. It really doesn’t matter who you are, what I’m curious about is your motivations behind what you do.
Comfort comes not just from thinking you can trust me as a person but also knowing you can trust me as a photographer that wants the best for you. One thing I usually ask my clients is: What are you trying to portray through your portrait? What “information” do you want people to extract from your photo at first glance? Knowing that information is powerful because I can help you create that.
I don’t believe in telling you “just relax”. I believe in Trust.
Connection
This is the ultimate thing I look for in my photos. I’ll be honest with you: I love glam moments (I mean who doesn’t like to look good right?) but I love genuine moments more.
I romanticise the idea of the Photograph (sometimes to a fault) and its ability to immortalise a unique splice of time in the universe with one frame. And that splice of time where I notice your genuine connection with me or the camera is what I aim to capture. It is special to me and I can only hope it’s equally special to you.
I think this blogpost covers broad base my approach to portrait-making. I don’t think it’s the only way but it’s my way. And that’s how I consistently achieve the type of photos you are seeing on this portfolio.
Feel free to let me know your thoughts, I’m always happy to learn something new!
I’m also making it a point to write ONE blogpost every Monday to share my thoughts, solutions or fun new projects. If you’ve something you want to know, hit me up and I’ll connect with you.
- Matt