We Live Here

I

wasn’t sure what to say about these pictures because many of them are commercial but a portrait is a portrait and as a photographer I’ve never been “slick.” I generally make pictures “my way.” That is not to say that I don’t listen to clients, creatives and editors. I reckon that you hire me because of what I do, not in spite of it.

All of that said, there are a lot of genres within photography. I work within many of them but my favorite genre is people. People are who we are. It makes sense that I like working with all sorts of people. I’m lucky because I can. I’m not fearful. I talk to everybody. See that woman on the top left? She’s an example. She was sitting outside singing with a friend who was playing guitar. I walked up to them and asked if I could take their picture. They nodded and I did.

It’s better that way. Sneaking around and shooting from behind something with a long lens just doesn’t work for me. That’s why I dislike so much of what passes for street photography theses days. The pictures often look like the photographer was scared of the person he or she was photographing. Why should that be?

Or, is that the answer?

Maybe that explains the surge in mass shootings. Nobody wants to get to know nobody else so they are afraid them. It may be easier to kill them rather than actually talk to them.

Sick, I know.

It’s just a thought.