And it?s over to you

And it’s over to you

Part of my modus operandi when I photographed models is that I send them small and unedited copies of all of the images, so that they can choose which ones I edit for them to post on their profiles. Sometimes, nothing comes back: sometimes the model asks for one or two extra edits.

As part of my project working with models over the age of 40, I photographed Lanie Anne, who is in her mid-fifties. The session was particularly successful and we seemed to have a common understanding of the sort of results that we could achieve. But the really novel thing is that Lanie provided a commentary on each of the images that she chose, saying why she liked it, and which aspects of her character it brought out.

That sounds as if it could be rather tedious, but it was exactly the opposite: it provided a real insight into what she was looking for, and stimulated my own thoughts about the images. It also left me absolutely certain that I want to photograph her again.

Of course I’m not saying that every model ought to do this! But with an older model who is a reflective person, and who thinks about what she’s doing it’s quite fascinating. To show you what I mean I’m going to quote a couple of Lanie’s comments:

How could I not choose this! My more dynamic yoga pose! I look and felt powerful, my warrior Goddess coming out ‘I embrace her’. I love how you captured me off the ground.

Again, as with pic three, I love the colours, highlight and shade. I love the symmetry in this of my arms, hands and closed eyes, a sense of balance- my balance side that I am always trying to achieve (Some times easier than others). Love my curves too. This is a lovely reclining pose, excellent lighting.

This isn’t essential feedback, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not immensely valuable! This is the sort of thing that feeds into the creative process. It gives me insight into how Lanie sees herself, how she thinks. Her world view involves a lot of feelings, but also a lot of mentation. I used to think of my work as an auditor as driven by my emotional engagement with the world, but requiring that I apply my intellect to the full in actually doing the job.

So… I’m more certain than I’ve been for a long time that I need to work with a model again. I don’t know how things will play out, but I know that the results will be outstanding.