Keep it or Let Go.

As a photographer who has a hard time letting go. Often thinking, once the image is deleted, so goes the memory. I can assure you, that train of thought might score you an appearance on the show “Hoarders”, if not in a chair with a licensed psychotherapist. Therefore, I highly recommend that you regularly revisit and delete photos that no longer feed your art. Trust me. Your closet and computers hard-drive will thank you.

As someone who’s been a slave to that before mentioned belief, I’m incredibly grateful for both the space I’ve created and the emotional freedom of not holding too tightly to the past. When I think of my earlier days of getting peple to show up at my tiny home studio in Hoboken.

Looking back, I can’t help but recall Roksolana. Her energy and personality were and are unmatched. She was always two steps ahead of me while often sharing her own ideas. And rather hard to keep up with. In the end, she helped to teach me about patience and expression through her beauty and personality.

Photographing People

Though it’s not always easy to get the right subject to sit in with you. Photographing people has, for me, always been the most rewarding aspect of photography. The eyes, expression, and peeling away the layers that allow the true soul of the person to appear. There’s honestly, nothing like it. While many of the people who I wanted to photograph weren’t confident or comfortable in their own skin. Others, flat out turned down my offer. “No. I hate being in front of a camera.” are words I’ve heard countless times. The hardest part for me was not taking their refusal personally. The times when the reaction was positive and the answer was “Yes”. Put me into this instant happy place.

When meeting the woman above. I was captivated by both her beauty and talent as a musician. It wasn’t long before I realized she was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met. The image above is from our third and final session. The final results were rewarding, as I convinced her to peel away some of her makeup and change into a fun and laid back tee shirt. One of the hardest things for me has always been telling people exactly what I want. My life as a photographer became a lot easier when I learned to better communicate with the people I photographed and express exactly how I envision them.

Photographing People

After gaining some lost sense of balance. I’ve decided that I want to start photographing people again. Not that I’m nessecarily interested in models, actors or musicians. Just the exercise of a good portrait. One that tells a story of delves deep into a persons personal story and personality. I miss that. I miss that sense of capturing a moment or a mood. In recent years I’ve gone from an extrovert to a wallflower, and I’m not sure I like it. So here goes. Maybe this week I’ll strike up a conversation with a stranger and propose a session. I used to be quite good at talking to strangers. Maybe I can still pull it off. If I do. You’ll be the first to know. Here’s to following your heart.