Most here that know me well, and have heard me say, many times over, I’m not much for picking “favorites” of anything lesson I happily learned from being a fumbling, stumbling parent.
It has a lot to do, for me, with being in the moment and reinventing my “favorites” each and every time I shoot.
In a couple of hours, I will be live with Jefferson Graham, a true co-equal in the iPhone photography space.
We’ll be talking about the ins and outs of street and portrait photography. (see link below)
In preparation for our chat, I looked at, literally, thousands of iPhone portraits I’ve taken over the past handful of years.
Good gadhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
Every single portrait, even the casual ones, has added, in its own way, a thin layer to my emotional constitution in life.
I am, who I am, in large measure, because who I photograph.
It wasn’t until today that I sincerely and honestly realized that street and portrait iPhone photography is tough as hell.
You have to juggle, equally well, and at the same time, so many variables.
You have to be a soothsayer, a clairvoyant, a counselor, a psychologist, a diplomat.
You have to be humble, human, honest, vulnerable, and transparent.
You have to be photographically extroverted
You have to learn to quickly connect with a perfect stranger, in only seconds, and gain their trust.
You need to be comfortable and confident in your own skin and able to manage rejection.
Above all, you need to be a master craftsperson so that the creative part of portraiture, becomes reflexive.
I used to think and teach that street portraiture was just a matter of following a few rules and mechanics.
But nothing can be further from the truth.
Street portraiture, like you are seeing here, is tough as shit. Seriously
It takes herculean efforts to move outside of yourself and focus on “the photograph”.
I think, and I’m sorry about this, that I may been somewhat disingenuous about painting a picture that street and portrait photography is effortless. It’s not.
That’s not at all the full story
Truth be told, it might be one of the most challenging tasks, in iPhone photography, you’ll ever encounter.
But if you do manage to make it past the fear and fright stage, true……. rush, gush, and blush await you.
Join me and Graham, today, for an honest talk, on what this side of photography looks and feels like.
And enjoy, what I’ve been enjoying all day long portraits and secrets of intimacy
Click.
Jack
