Yesterday, April 22, 2023, I spent a good part of the day, shooting, as is my annual habit, iPhone portraits, at the Sherwood Forest Fair, in McDade, Texas.
On two separate occasions, the persons I was photographing said, not in exactly the same string of words, but close , “You made me feel beautiful”.
I melted. I always melt when I hear this. It’s so genuine and touching.
It’s a photographic intimacy that only portrait photographers really know.
You, anyone, even the most accomplished among you, could go on and on, even to my face, about my technical and mechanical skills, in Portrait photography, but, truth be told, even sincere flattery of this kind, as lovely as it is to hear, rolls right off my shoulders and rarely resonates with me.
Blab, blah, blah.
But when someone sincerely tells me, from the heart, I made them feel beautiful, I am validated.
The rush turns to mush and gush.
It’s one of the reasons I do Portrait photography. So I can be an ambassador of self-esteem, self-assurance, and self-confidence in, with, and toward others. Click.
We, as Portrait photographers have, in our pockets and palms, the power to influence and impact, in that very moment, and for all time, the emotional health and well-being of another, single, cosmic pilgrim, trying to find their way in and through this world…like us. We can use our photography for life-changing good.
The reality in Portrait photography, which so many photographers never quite get is this-it’s emotional attitude, not technical aptitude.
“You Made Me Feel Beautiful”
I hear similar sentiments repeated, frequently, from the folks I photograph.
What always inspires me is that most, almost universally, say these words, without ever having seen a single photograph.
Think about what they are saying….. “You (the photographer, not your camera) make me feel (not look) beautiful”.
Thank you.
In the Portrait bubble that we share together, often lasting only seconds, we experience a sort of emotional intimacy, without words.
It’s a beautiful thing and only the domain and dominion of the photographic process.
Click
Jack
