Now You - Fearing the Camera

i guess i'm unusual in that i don't mind my photo being taken. i think bad photos are funny. i love weird, unusual, stupid photos of myself and others. of course, my friends and family don't like this about me and wish i would edit (and delete) more! i take many self-portrait (informal) pictures of myself. trying to get a good shot of my hair, new glasses, funny expression...the number of pictures i have of my face...oh boy!

like many kids, my parents (especially my father) always took pictures of me. being an only child, i think that was the reason there are SO many pictures of me...this contributes to my ability to "model" for almost anything!

i think much of my adult comfort with being photographed comes from my time working for a school photography company. i was lucky to get in at the end of the film days and move into digital photography, so i've seen a lot change over the past 10 years, and i've done much changing at the same time. i was a travelling school photographer for 2 years, and i've taken tons of photos of kids and adults. i've learned many things from this...the funniest thing i've learned is that the people who hate their pictures being taken the most??? Teachers and Photographers!!! most kids really don't care, don't worry, don't fuss too much about how they look. that's why it's important for the photographer to make sure their necklace is straight, their collar is adjusted, their hair isn't puffy in one spot. i find myself still looking for these things in everyday life and i point things out to people all the time, especially if they're going to have their photo taken. i was trained well! :o) i also do this thing where i smile at the subject when i'm taking a photo...people in my every day life have commented on this, but i think it helped kids (subconsiously) know it was okay to smile. at least, i hope so.

i really miss the days when i had a shutter cord and could take the photo while i was looking at the subject when they didn't know. i did research on photographer Ernest Withers when i was an intern at a museum in college, and he used a small box camera (i have no idea what it was called) that he held near his waist. he took pictures during the Civil Rights Movement and it allowed him to take many unnoticed photos. they're really extraordinary when you see them to know that he would never have gotten those photos if people knew he was taking them. click here to see some of his work.

on a personal note, here is a comparison photo of me (after losing 30 lbs). in doing this side-by-side, i had a hard time finding a full-length photo of myself. it's important to take pictures of yourself every so often, because you never know when you're going to get lost and your family has to put a horrible picture on a milk carton!