Your Character Is What You Really Are
June 2009
A good portrait does not happen when someone poses. It happens when they forget the camera is there. I spent two hours photographing a woodworker in his studio in June, and the frames I ended up keeping were all from the last twenty minutes, when we'd been talking for long enough that he stopped adjusting how he was standing and just got on with what he was doing.
Your character is what you really are — not the version you present when someone says "smile" or "look here." The way a person holds a tool they know well. The things on their workbench that they keep within arm's reach. The way the light falls on the side of their face when they're concentrating. That's the frame I'm after.
The Reflect portfolio series has the more formal portrait work, including the maker portraits. For commissions in this area, [email protected]. The portfolio overview has more on how I approach this kind of work, and prints are at the prints page.