Because I’m The One Taking The Photos

An irony for most photographers is that they have few photographs of themselves. It’s true. You hear the common refrain, “I’m the one taking the photos.”

I’m no different. I can pretty much tally every non-ID photo of me (adult me) that I have in my possession or have at least seen that I didn’t take myself: 1 photo each from two different jobs; one solo and one group pic from my 10-year high school reunion; 1 with Mary*, Dawn, and the dogs; a couple of Xmas pics, and a couple of pics from the reception following my dad’s funeral. Rounding up to allow for a faulty memory or photos I haven’t seen, and that’s about a dozen (maybe fifteen) over the past thirty years.

In that time I’ve taken many thousands of pictures of other people. Very often I’ll be handed a camera and asked to take pictures. Other times I’ll be specifically asked to shoot some photos.

Amazingly, I don’t much mind. I’ve never been one to seek out attention from in front of a camera lens. Despite what you might assume from these blogs, I’m a private person. For the most part, the fewer images of me, the better. I’m usually pretty aware of where cameras are and I’ll try to not be in their field of view. If I carry any neuroses with me, camera-shy would probably be the main one. Naturally that would lead me to become a photographer to assure myself of a place out from the camera’s unblinking eye.

There have only been two situations where my lack of a captured visage has been any sort of issue at all. When I have to compose an artist/writer bio, I’m often asked for a photo to accompany it. So far, I’ve managed to beg off by truthfully saying that I don’t have anything recent. The other comes from the social networking sites. I see friends posting photo after photo documenting their lives. Me? I’m lucky that I have one photo to use for my profile pic.

Why this reluctance? Hard to say. I mean, I know that I’m no Joseph Merrick, but I’m also no George Clooney, either (and how am I older than he is? But I digress.).  There is no empirically aesthetic reason for my reluctance. I think some of it is just a native shyness I’ve had since childhood.

Of course, things in the world of photography have changed. Except for some disposables, it’s all digital now. People can take picture after picture without having to incur the expense of film and processing. The money thing really put limits on how free we used to be with the picture taking. Now, without that roadblock, picture taking has been proceeding unfettered. Everyone (else) seems to be posing for and taking pictures wherever they go, although I do notice that people of my era have fewer than the snap-happy youngsters. Photography isn’t just for special events and national parks anymore.

Because of the needs of the profession of photography, I learned how to hang back and not be too intrusive in regards to the events transpiring around me. That persists. Get me in a group and I’ll try not to be intrusive, for the most part, unless I’m required to be. The net result is that I’m usually out of camera view or in the shadows. Fortunately, no one goes out of their way to violate my hanging-backedness.

I sometimes wonder how the celebrity world would change if the photographers themselves were photographed and publicized. Before long, they would themselves become celebrities and the other photographers would capitalize on that. Before long, the paparazzi pit would just be one incestuous snap-fest of photographers taking pictures of other photographers. Would the celebrities mind?

As for me… even though I’m not doing all that much, I’m actually taking more photos than I ever did as a pro.

Again, the economies of scale that result from digital versus film are amazing. I’m still not taking any sports photos. That specialty is really one for younger people. Now, I’m mostly taking people pictures and photos that might end up as nuggets of reference for future art.

I’ve still not embraced the idea of intentionally committing art with photography alone. I know it can be a very powerful medium. All we have to do is look at the amazing photo by Dorthea Lange to see how amazing one image (out of five shot) can evoke so much. To be fair, Ms Lange was not trying to make art at the time. With the great depression having hit, she was working for the federal government to bring to the public’s attention the plight of those who really got socked in the gut by the nation’s economic collapse.

In regards to art photography, I think the starting point is serendipity, and it’s from there the photographer takes over. The photos I took that I like the best are all products of fortune smiling on me. (With available-light sports photos, that’s mostly what you have to go with.) Much of the work really comes in the darkroom (whether wet or digital). The cropping, the retouching (Dorthea Lange retouched out the women’s thumb on the post from the image so it wouldn’t draw the eye down) the exposure corrections, and much more…it all comes after the image gets captured.

In any event, the fact is that I am infinitely more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it. The reality of that means that while the cupboards of others will be filled with their images, mine will be comparatively bare. That’s probably for the best. A little CJ goes a very long way.