I feel weird taking all the credit
I feel weird taking all the credit if I’m completely honest. When someone raves about my images, I get just a tiny bit uncomfortable, and wriggle in my seat. I feel like the awkwardness is written all over my face.
Yes, I picked the spot that you thought was an unlikely location for a portrait. Yes, I was the one who told the terrible joke to get a bit of a grin from you. Yup, I clicked the shutter on my camera. And yes, I did the editing to get the colours ‘just so’. But really, I always feel that every single item of my work is a co-creation. My portraits would not exist without your ‘permission’; without the life that you breathe into it and the honesty that you share in front of my lens.
The absolute best feeling during a session is when the person that I am photographing gets to the point that they completely trust what I am doing. They let down their guard, and completely put down whatever preconceived ideas they had about having their portrait taken. Their insecurities are forgotten, and they let me see them, even if it’s just for a moment. There is often an audible exhale, followed by them looking straight down the lens. It’s at this point that I get a flutter in my stomach, I think to myself: “YES! WE GOT THIS.”
I think what I am trying to say in a roundabout way is THANK YOU. Thank you for trusting me, and working together with me making and taking beautiful portraits. Thank you for ‘getting’ what I do. And thanks for pretending to laugh at my terrible jokes, always with grace and humour.
Thank you Xx