So I was standing there among the noise of about 20 other photographers of varying genres, interests, skill levels, genders and so on. The only thing that separated me from the rest as that I was a teacher at the conference, they (and 3000 other folks) were attending. This was an after-hours class being hosted by another teacher who gave the group autonomy to create what they wanted.
These two amazing talents were standing in front of the group, in their state of undress and going through the motions of basic poses that most subjects do when they are not directed by photographer/s. I wasn’t even holding my camera to my face, as I listened to thousands of little clicks and hesitant breathing from the others as they scrambled to create.
I was silent, listening to my imagination create the story.
“They are lovers that have more akin to hunters, than soulmates. They’ve stalked each other for hours at some dive, weaving in and out of battle as each strove to determine who had the upper hand – who was going to dominate. And now, moments for the first probing touches they still don’t know and that uncertainty makes the pleasure all the more powerful.”
Then I realized that the 20 other photographers were all staring at ME, because I was slowly and mischievously chuckling. I felt embarrassed for a moment and was about to attempt to explain myself when one of the students (who had attended all of my classes at the conference) said “five bucks says he’s making a story right now – this is gonna be good!”
I smiled in gratitude that my efforts in teaching had made such an impact and then directed “keep shooting what you see, focus on your angles.”
Then I changed mine as I brought my camera up to my face. I walked 45 degrees away from the group and stood alone as the two models looked at the group now so far away from my lens. “The first of the two models that looks at me, they are going to dominate this night of passion.” As if he could hear my silent-to-him mind, Drew turned and looked at me and I hit the shutter button only once to capture this:
I smiled and mouthed the word “dominate” and he moved his gaze back to the crowd and began to shift Abi around in their locked pose, so as to give her the scene, the focus of the photographers and place himself in a position of power behind her. I hit the shutter button again:
This story is not anything new and of course could be argued that it runs the risk of being typical of a heterosexual male photographer capturing couple’s boudoir. However, I would argue that the STORY itself came about because the humans in front of me let part of their story come to life and I cast it where it needed to go. I began looking for flattering portraits to take, focused shots of hands that indicated more of the story to come, emotions to project upon the talent and let them portray another breath of their passionate story. I sought to fill my camera with beautiful portraits all the while capturing moments of timeless artwork that can only come from photographing a story, not a “portrait session.”
Within a few minutes I had what I wanted and then returned to my role of a teacher and helped the others around me find their voice, the story in front of them and their chance to capture artwork.
There is nothing more rewarding than to teach and help others find their passions, all the while capturing my own. When the class was finished, the instructor invited me to stay for a short private session where I could solely focus on my craft and fill in any missing portraits that I wanted. We three made a lot of great work in a short amount of time and we said our goodbyes over many hugs and heartfelt thanks that we shared that time of art-making and the joy it would bring.
This adventure and so many more like it, are what Legend is all about. Find the story, create the art and live the timelessness of a legend.
