The business side of photography
During a portrait session, if the subject jokingly asks if my camera will steal their soul, I’ll answer, “I hope so.”
It rubs me the wrong way, a camera. It’s a frightening thing. Cameras make ghosts out of people.
– Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan)
Sometimes a photographer will try to steal a bit of their subject’s soul. This is what separates a great portrait from an average one. Ideally a portrait should allow the viewer a moment’s chance into the subject’s world.
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Last week, I covered a large press conference staged by a federal political party inside a big factory. The party’s media flacks told photographers where to stand, what to shoot and what not to shoot. As one of them said, “It’s our press conference. We tell you what to do.”
When reporters asked questions that the party didn’t want to answer, the reply was, “We don’t want to talk about that today” or “We’ve answered that in the past.”
The political party could’ve just sent out a press release but it wanted the photo-op showing its leader standing next to its new slogan-covered sign and mingling with the blue-collar workers at the factory.
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The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) just published a rather silly study under the catchy title of “Perspective Distortion from Interpersonal Distance Is an Implicit Visual Cue for Social Judgments of Faces”. The study claims to show that “the distance at which facial photos are taken influences perception.” The authors of the study even say they’ve broken new ground. (Yes, every photographer is laughing at this.)
Here’s the CalTech press release and the study. Feel free to read them but the study just duplicates what every experienced photographer, model and actor have known for +90 years:
(i) If someone takes your picture with a short lens, the closer they stand to you when taking the picture, the more distorted, or unflattering, the picture will be. (It’s just well-known physics.)
(ii) An unflattering portrait tends to create unfavourable opinions in people who view that portrait. (It’s just well-known human behaviour.)
This CalTech study certainly qualifies for a Captain Obvious award.
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With apologies for the length of this post, here’s my annual rant:
The 37th edition of the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is underway. From a photographers’ point of view, TIFF has always been considered to be very poorly-run event. Although from a movie-goer’s point of view, the film festival might be heaven.
I’ve been covering the film festival since 1988 and little has changed over the years. Off hand, I can count only four positive changes over the past 24 years:
(i) A photo pit was covered to protect against rain;
(ii) Many steel barricades were covered;
(iii) A red carpet was relocated from the small east side of a theatre to the much larger west side;
(iv) The central hub of the film festival (TIFF’s new building) has fast wifi (which works about half of the time – perhaps it’s overloaded during the festival?).
Let’s look at a few things (in no particular order):
Last week, a Quebec woman drowned while being photographed in her bridal gown during a “trash the dress” photo shoot. A “trash the dress” is where a woman is photographed a few days, weeks, or maybe even months, after her wedding while wearing her bridal gown in a wet, dirty or otherwise unorthodox location. One would have thought that this fad disappeared after the 1970s but it became trendy again a few years ago.
The family of the victim released a statement which seemed to place blame on the photographer:
These character traits made [the victim] very trusting in others. … One thing we are certain about is that [the victim] would have never put her life at risk. Her love for life, for her husband and for her family would never allow it.
(…)
She trusted [the photographer’s] recommendation for the location and felt safe enough to attend the photo shoot alone with the photographers. She followed their directions and put trust in their professionalism.
While no lawsuit against the photographer has been launched, (the funeral has yet to be held), one might guess where this is heading.
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On a sports photography forum, photographers were discussing the best ways to handle the thousands of pictures they each shoot during a game.
On a wedding photographers forum, one person said he usually shoots over 3,000 pictures per wedding. Another said he often does 5,000 pictures.
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Media accreditation information for the upcoming 2012 World Football Challenge was sent out a few days ago. In this case, “football” means soccer.
One of the rules stated: “Media who are approved for credentials should not wear apparel supporting any of the competing teams.”
Normally, one would assume that this rule is so obvious, it need not be said. But the fact that this professional sports event had to actually mention a dress code means a problem exists.
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