Lately, I’ve been focusing on taking portraits. I am finding that most people don’t really mind having their portrait taken at all, and in many cases, they are practically begging for recognition. I see these people everywhere — alone at a table in a restaurant, on an empty, soggy street corner, or just at home, in the solitude of reflection. There’s something about a portrait that can be strikingly real, even if the picture is prompted. It’s the presence of the camera that prompts a self-reflective state of mind. Each person is given a momentary opportunity to come to terms with their own body, and react to the thought of their image as self. Some smile, some stare, but each person feels, for just a moment, as if they are the center of their own attention — as if they are holding the camera and I am just a bystander. Finding comfort with the camera is coming to terms with one’s own flesh.
