Windows

When we look at one another, when we look into each other’s eyes, we are saying ‘I see you. I recognize you.’ We break that invisible bubble that we maintain to protect ourselves from knowing that we exist. Energy is exchanged. We flow into one another. We connect. The miracle that is you co-mingles with the miracle that is me, if only for a few minutes. Love is that recognition. To see each other, to really see, is to love one another. 

We are windows. Each of us. We are windows that look out (or in) to great and majestic lives. A whole life is contained there. A wisdom. A set of experiences that rivals any library. We have so much to teach one another. Each and every one of us. There is a deep, and fertile ocean in every human being and sometimes, just sometimes, you can capture the depths. In a photograph. 

A successful portrait combines light and texture to create a sense of wonder and mystery. It makes you feel as if you are standing there, in front of the person. If you feel slightly uncomfortable you know it’s working. You should feel a vortex-like effect. You should feel sucked in. When I was looking for a photographer to take my book jacket photo, this was what I was looking for. That was long before I became a photographer myself. Now, those are the kinds of photos I try and take.

I’m not a ‘headshot’ guy. I don’t take passport photos. I can but I don’t. I search for the human being and then, if I can, reflect that. In that way you get authenticity. You get the person. It’s a certain quality that comes through. If that’s what you’re looking for you found the right guy.