----- Original Message ----- From: "Russell Baker"
When things are going well and I feel that there is
a real chemistry flowing between me and the person I am doing photos of, I feel the same as when I am on stage and I am performing for a real good audience.
Photographer Sam Tata once wrote:
" I have a three-part recipe on how to take a good protrait: the sitter has to agree to be photographed, the photographer has to have a distinct sensibility and thirdly, the photographer has to have rapport with his subjects."
There is a lot of "acting" in the process of building this rapport during a shooting session. But, with the involved photographer, this "acting" is only apparent. It is a complex process of reaching out to the soul of the sitter. And the the split-second when the shutter is triggered is the moment in time when the frail contact has been established.
I would think that, under the guise of his role character, the good stage-performer does nothing less than reach out to his audience to establish a contact.
So it is not so much you "performing" as a Photographer that will bring a successful shot. But it is that you have actually "become" a "photographer interacting with his sitter", when you are not so outside of a sitting.
Hope this makes sense.
Best,
Guy
