I can’t help but be somewhat nervous about the final quality of my photographs for this project. In my opinion, people are the most elusive, temporal, and difficult subjects in photography. The formal portrait has become an almost subconscious social norm: when a camera appears, most people smile, posture, and stare dead-center into the lens as if it were a reaction as natural as blinking. Such rehearsed behavior makes an excellent snapshot for a photo album or formal portrait, but ultimately creates a photo devoid of any mental depth, emotion, or interest. I am not against using elements of formal portraiture—photographers like Richard Avedon, Annie Leibowitz, and Hans Namuth use formal elements in a unique and emotionally probing manner—however, I want to try to go beyond into more nontraditional realms. The language surrounding more innovative, non-traditional portrait photographers often emphasizes honesty, authenticity, and realism; I am equally as hesitant to strive for complete “authenticity,” as I think such a goal can create results just as dishonest and superficial as formal portraiture.
Instead, I hope to explore the middle ground between realism and staged formalism, much in the way Alec Soth’s portrait work combines relatively traditional staging within unglamorous and “normal” surroundings, managing to take intimate but also somewhat “mysterious” portraits. Of the photographers I examined, I found that Soth’s work kept drawing me back. I will use Alec Soth as a template of sorts for my portraits; I am neither willing or able to mimic his style, but I hope to achieve at least a modicum of the honesty of Soth’s portraits. In shooting, I have attempted to place my subjects in the center of the frame, in surroundings that are plain but still visually interesting. Like Soth, I want my subjects to be comfortable enough to let their guard down; so that their expressions do not cross into cliche. I plan to stage my photographs to an extent, but I do not want to control the actions or expressions of my subject. Ultimately, it will be a struggle to pay attention to design elements while simultaneously focusing on a subject.
