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It’s not hard to recognize when a person has an incredibly powerful charisma on camera. There’s an energy that commands the audience’s attention. In film this is easier to spot, but in a single photograph, this sort of charm is instantaneous and instinctive. It’s more distinct in just the single expression they have where it is as if they’ve peered through to you in the difference of space and time that separates the viewer and the subject, and it’s that grip that refuses to ease its hold.
For Belle, there’s no doubt in my mind that this definition best describes the presence she has on camera. Her expressions are often beautiful and assertive, while holding an ere of mystery. She’s smart and reserved, and by explaining just a brief description of the concept I had in mind, she already knew how to translate this on camera through her body language as the shutter was firing off.
Photography, in a sense, is like a dance. Both participants play to each other’s strengths and its a communication between what the subject is doing and how the photographer is actively capturing the moment as it happens. Belle’s facial expressions are strong and affirmative, so I wanted to keep the framing as intimate as possible. Keeping her gaze off camera, for some of the photos allowed more flexibility to dive into the mood of the image, which felt like we’re able to get a glimpse as to what she’s feeling or thinking.
For this shoot, I wanted to focus on warm, vibrant tones to capture the mood of summer. I love warm tones for their nostalgic effect, as a viewer, so I wanted to utilize this in combination with Belle’s presence, as it almost feels like the emotional distance between strangers and viewer and subject is reduced. In effect, I wanted the audience members to feel as if they know the subject, and that there’s this established connection between them.