Posts Tagged ‘Akiko’
- Akiko
I’m on a “back to basics” kick right now, which for me comes down to the connection with the people I photograph.
I’ve been thinking about why it’s so satisfying to me right now to use this little camera and I think a lot of it has to do with eliminating a barrier between me and the subject. The size of my 5D with a wide angle zoom lens on it + a flash is intimidating and I think people respond differently to a smaller camera. It’s like when you pull out a Polaroid camera. Most everyone is happy to have their a Polaroid picture taken when asked. Maybe because people feel part of the experience, since they can see the result immediately, as opposed to the photographer just taking something; there’s an exchange.
Also, because I only get maybe 2 or 3 shots of something, I’m not interrupting the flow of things as much, and I can actually be there in the moment instead of obsessively recording it. Letting go of the need to control everything has been amazing. There’s nothing to tweak on the Yashica, it’s 100% how you frame and anticipating the right moment to shoot (there’s a slight lag between the time you press the shutter and when the photo actually gets taken so you have to be a few fractions of a second ahead) and THAT’S IT.
I’m interested in shooting people so I can know more about them, I shoot what I want to see more of. You know how when you ‘re at a family gathering and things that you keep hidden resurface and inevitably part of the experience is going through tense and uncomfortable moments? And you realize later that no one took any photos of those moments? Maybe I notice more because I would normally be taking pictures of everything. I photograph what I want to remember, what I want to see more of.
My friend Sarah just had her thesis oral at PNCA on Friday and said some very interesting things about her desire to photograph to preserve memories, out of a need for comfort, for reassurance. Maybe if we try hard enough things will live forever.
I really like Hedi Slimane’s work. He captures the back of people’s necks more beautifully than I can ever hope to.
So, in taking these pictures of Akiko when she performed with her band PRE last week, I feel like I have been going in a specific direction, where I realized that I don’t want to shoot to please other people, a magazine, an editor, or to end up with that kind of generic concert shot look to it. It feels so liberating. I don’t know what this means as far as me taking live pictures but I want to concentrate on the more personal side of things. Maybe follow a band closely for a while or shadow them and do projects around that. (I’m very glad to reassure anyone who is still wondering that I don’t expect to ever get rich doing this).
I am interested in Akiko as a human being, an individual, in her facial expressions when she’s talking, and that extends to her as a performer, and she really is an intense performer, but the reason I take pictures is I’m longing to both make and record a connection. I sort of fall in love with my subjects every time. When I’m taking a picture of you, for a few seconds I want to delve deep into your eyes and take everything you will give me and give you everything I have in return .
Anyway, the full set is here. There’s a pretty striking difference in the mood of the color photos vs black and white ones. I feel like the black and white takes away a lot of the sexuality and makes her more of a sculptural shape. I thought it would be interesting to contrast the two.
If you read this and want to comment, I’d love to know what you think.
