I liked this shot when I saw it for the first time on the negative strip. I thought it was pretty, and something about it seemed genuine. I sensed a real connection, as I did in person. J. is beautiful, and it is technically sound, but it is not flashy–no innovative lighting, trendy photoshop antics, or show-stoopping, death-defying posing techniques. Which is exactly why I started to doubt it.
The value of simplicity is easy to lose in photography, especially lately, with the mad rush to out-trend the DSLR-toting client. It quickly becomes about manipulation of the image for a profitable sale. Subtlety, authenticity, soul, and connection, it seems, can become mere background noise.
So I was surprised–though I shouldn’t have been–when J.’s mom loved this shot. She even admitted shedding a few tears (which may or may not have had anything to do with being 9 months pregnant with a fourth girl). She said it was a look she knew and loved, and in the storm of J. becoming a pre-teen, had seen far too infrequently lately. (If you are a mother of a girl who is not yet 8 years old, ignore that previous sentence. Nothing, nevermind, you don’t need to know, goodbye.)
I always return to the connection. Photography–both people photography and otherwise–is to me, all about connection. The camera, somehow, helps me to sense that connection. When I trust that, with authenticity and simplicity, it just works.
Here’s what that smart guy had to say regarding the matter:
A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. (Albert Einstein)
