First Exposure: My Introduction to Photography
I was very blessed to have a non-traditional education. As a child I didn’t think much about it; as an adolescent I often wondered what I was missing out on from mainstream schools and peers; as an adult I am able to look back and be grateful, and know that I didn’t actually miss out on anything monumental. Rather it was a gift to have more out of the box encounters and have those experiences at an early age. During elementary school we had a mentorship program where we were connected with a professional in the community and once a week for the school year we got to “work” and train with them. My mentorship: a photographer.
Being able to have such an in-depth exposure at an early age was magnificent. At the time I didn’t genuinely understand the magnitude of what the whole program encompassed. I had 1:1 camera lessons, learned how to use and manipulate in a dark room, understand and set up still life, play with lighting techniques, and how to set up an image in the frame to best suit the aesthetics which the human eye and brain crave. They were college and intern level concepts that I was learning at age 10.
Although I don’t remember every detail or even some of the larger lessons, a few key things have stayed with me over the years: It doesn’t always matter so much the equipment that you have, but the photographers understanding and comfort level with what they have. Many photographers can look at the same subject but their images may vary drastically, not only in how they interpret the subject but how they understand and position the subject in the frame. There is a balance that needs to be met between capturing what exists in and around the subject, and that which the human brain needs in order for it to be appealing.
I was shooting 35mm black and white. There was no digital photography at that point, no instant gratification beyond a Polaroid. It took time to set up your shoot, manipulate your subject, capture the images you thought you wanted, develop these images and from there transform them again in the dark room or on paper. One frigid winter afternoon we were at a park going over composition (how the subject and background are placed within the image). Our subject was a woman walking along a path. We shot the same image for an hour. We changed the direction we were standing (lighting), where the model was looking (direction of image), how she was positioned when I captured the image (placement of subject within frame), the speed at which she was walking (played onto clarity of subject as my camera at that time was a point and shoot). On that afternoon it seemed tedious and unnecessarily repetitive. By the time we were done that day my gloved fingers were red and numb. At least the model was moving back and forth to stay warm.
It wasn’t until the next week once we processed the images and began to edit them that I began to have a greater appreciation for the overall image capturing process. There was so much more to good photography than just point & shoot or happening upon the ideal circumstances of light and subject. Even with a very basic camera there is a lot that can be manipulated by the photographer; these are the things that differentiate between an image and art. From the proof sheet we then selected images with the best composition, something that is set at time of image capture, and we began the creative aspect of post process editing. Cropping and enlarging can alter the direction and focus of the image. Adding color can transform the overall tone or feel of the image depending what the photographer wants to portray; and as these were black and white prints, I was adding color by hand to each specific image. If I didn’t like something I tried, I started the entire process over again for each image I wanted colored.
This was my first exposure to color-pop images, my first association with photography as a creative outlet. Although today this process can be repeated through digital processing software, there is something that satisfies my intrinsic artistic need to paint an image by hand. For my own processes, I relate it more to creating something new by physically painting a photograph using the photograph as a blank canvas rather than merely creating versions what already exists on the screen pre-printing.
Ironically up until this time, I struggled mentally with my approach to photography; I was inflexible about capturing realistic images. I felt compelled to capture still life images, raw and rigid. They could be powerful as such but they lacked layer due to my inability to apply creativity to my approach. I saw photography as purposeful yet inflexible and not as a creative medium.
I'm not certain when or how I was able to adapt my approach to photography. Perhaps it was my transition through adolescence, my exposure to other creative outlets, from my experiences being on the front end of a camera lens, or exposure and in depth work with candid photography. Possibly it was all of it combined; no matter the reasoning behind it, my approach to photography and the subsequent images evolved. It continues to evolve; the more I grow and work with it, the more my images develop as well.
I still aim to capture real life, natural beauty as opposed to composed fine art; but my approach is fluid not as rigid. This works better for the final image, the subject, and me as it mirrors life’s ebbs and flows. Rather than trying to orchestrate a flat realist subject, I focus on removing my point of view as much as possible and fueling the focus as much as possible to get the subject in its idealist element. This creates a moment, an experience, a story; it is this story that I want to capture and share.
I can still artistically manipulate the final image and let my creativity flow by use of angle, lighting, and subject arrangement. However the overall life of the images radiates from the subject itself. It doesn’t matter is the subject is human, animal, or nature, they all are capable to emanating the beauty of life. My goal is to capture this in its own essence, not how I think it should be but how it is of its own fruition.
What were your first experiences with photography? Was there an immediate connection? What aspects did you find yourself struggling with? How have you and your photography grown over the years? Which areas would you like to learn more about or become a master?
