Why I photograph

An essay



There is this great quote by Annie Leibovitz, that says When I say I want to
photograph someone, what it really means is that Id like to know them. For me,
discovering photography was a turning point in my life. Erstwhile, I have always been
very, very shy and taciturn, so photography made me come out of my shell and teached
me how to approach people, because now I had a reason, and my reason was that I
wanted to photograph them. I chose fashion and portrait photography, because it appealed
to me and because I prefer photographing dainty, beautiful people. This may make me
seem superficial, but thats not the way I see it. My thought on this is that choosing to do
this allows me to space out, to not think about how self-conscious I am, about my low-
confidence issue. This is why I photograph.
Another reason for choosing and practicing fashion photography is because I have a
fondness for organizing my photo shoots. I love running around, trying to find a make-up
artist, a hair stylist, I love sending hundreds of e-mails to all the stores in my small town
asking them for clothes. I love driving around in my car, striving to find the perfect
location. This is why I do fashion/editorial photography. Because that moment when all
is ready and when I have the ideal set is the moment I feel the best about myself and
accomplished, like I am actually good at something.
Ever since I was a child, I experimented with art; I loved to draw. Unfortunately for
me, I have always been the type of person that gets bored easily, if Im not stimulated.
Hence, Id given up drawing, dancing, ballet or any other activity that I liked. So for me,
practicing photography for this long means that Ive found my purpose in life.
Looking back, I regret the fact that I had not given a chance to any other kind of
photography. For me, there was only fashion and portrait photography. But I am more
than ready to start experimenting with the other areas. I have always appreciated street or
documentary photography, but I thought I wasnt made for that. Even though I did not
practice these genres, throughout time, photography has helped me see. In other words,
what previously passed by as background, now has become a point of interest and I am
more aware of the beauty surrounding me. I cannot count the times I have spent
wondering what a certain scene would look like as a photograph.
To get to the point of this essay, one of the many reasons why I photograph is because
I am completely addicted to that feeling you get after you know you got a great shot and
that feeling you get when, after hours and hours of struggling and editing your work, you
are finally pleased and possibly head over heels in love with it.
I'm a photographer, so naturally one of the things I do is look at the photographs made
by other photographers, trying to find my influences. Firstly, I have always admired
Annie Leibovitzs work. It never ceases to amaze me the fact that her creativity has no
limits. If there is a word to describe her work, that word would be magic. There is one
photograph of hers that I truly enjoy and to which I always find myself come back and
that is the one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Personally, I think that it captures their
relationship brilliantly.
Another contemporary photographer I really enjoy would be Mario Testino. I have
watched a couple of interviews and behind the shoots with him and I absolutely adore
how he communicates with the client and the model, how he comes up with so many
exceptional ideas. Other photographers from our days would be Mert & Marcus, because
I fancy their way of manipulating the photographs and also Juergen Teller.
Secondly, there are a few classical photographers that influence me. For me, one of
the most important ones would be Irving Penn. From the moment I laid my eyes on his
work, I named him the master of portraits, because there is no other artist who captures
a portrait quite like him. When you look at one of his magnum opi, such as the portrait of
Al Pacino or the one of Pablo Picasso, you feel the way you do when you want to read a
line of a poem twice (Robert Frank). Other old school photographers which I like are
Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon. I also admire Man Rays Le Violon dIngres.
In conclusion, I leave you with a really good quote by Karl Lagerfeld : What I like
about photographs is that they capture a moment thats gone forever, impossible to
reproduce.