It’s not even necessary to read the news story. The picture says it all.
In a Grade 2 class photo, all the students are grouped together in the centre. Except one. A student in a wheelchair is off to the side. The child’s father said he cried when he saw the photo.
The picture is not just thoughtless, it’s also bad photography. It shows how not to do a group photo. It shows what happens when a photographer doesn’t know what they’re doing. It shows what happens when a photographer or school portrait company, in this case, Lifetouch, is too busy being fast and cheap.
Lifetouch says, “Our school photographers take their role in preserving memories seriously” and “Our school photographers are committed to making each child feel special and valued.” It seems the company failed this class.
Lifetouch initially denied anything was wrong with the picture. But later, the company reshot the picture.
Portrait photography is based on just one premise: make the subject look good.
This means just one thing: make the photography fit the subject and not the other way around.
Not everything goes exactly as planned. A photographer has to adapt to a changing situation. Move the lights, move the camera, move the subject. This classless situation could’ve been avoided in mere seconds just by shifting the kids to the right and moving the teacher to the other side.
Portrait photography is not about pointing a camera and pushing a button. It’s about creating an important memory, (yes, I know that sounds corny). Each portrait has to be as important to the photographer as it is to the subject. Otherwise, you’ve hired the wrong photographer.
