“Wow, that’s a really nice camera you got there!” … Is something photographers hear a lot, often from the person in the room that knows the least about cameras. :)
A friend of mine Francesco (and bad ass photographer) used to say to me, “When people eat great food at a restaurant, do they say, ‘Wow! This food tastes good. The chef must use a really nice oven!’? No.”
The point is, to me, the camera is irrelevant in some ways. If you don’t know how to use it, or if your subject isn’t feelin’ the moment, if the light isn’t giving you that glow or that edge…. the photo will be flat, emotionless, —bad.
At the moment, the only photo I care about, is this one. …
And it was taken with my iPhone… an “old” iPhone as many might say. But this photo is real. This photo captures how I truly feel inside as a mother.
And it is that realness that I am always working to find when I am photographing a couple, family, or individual. What are the gestures, the actions, the expressions we make every day, that tell the story of our real life— the human experience. We don’t smile blankly… we give subtle glances, we laugh, we hug, we snuggle, we take deep breaths.
So people, I am glad you like my camera. Yes it is a tool that helps me do what I love to do. But a camera has absolutely nothing to do with why I am a photographer, or how I want you to feel when you look at my photos.
Life is why.